Rural, meet Urban

The juxtaposition of old tradition as a back-drop to a more contemporary and capitalistic economy continues to amaze us. Both have beauty in their simplicity and amidst the squalor that appears around every corner. And it is clear to us that things in India are not black and white. Like the different hues of the cardboard that make up the structured homes, so are there so many shades of grey areas in this developing culture. I feel that I cannot even possibly do the complexities and the dimensions of life here justice.

One the one hand, we have NGOs here who accept the depths of the situation and seek to make a small difference in raising health awareness. While, another organization's mission is to create a systematic change and cultural shift. Who is more successful? Who has more sustainability? Who is more transformational.


Today, we visited the fruit and vegetable market, APMC (Agriculture Produce Market Committee), a place that is lost in time, where farmers come to sell their produce to the traders, and impoverished women gut rotting fruit for the seeds. The market was teeming with men of all shapes and sizes who stopped what they were doing to come and observe us. It became clear that we were being observed more than doing the observation, ourselves, especially when the papparazzi showed up and videos and cameras surrounded us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycLGI7zix3A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrTu_xUa13E

Contrast agricultural India with technological India. We visited Hexaware. Cusped on a very modern, western edge, this company is competing with all the large multinationals and has a very contemporary leadership style with respect to employees, recruiting and development, as well as succession planning and women in leadership. In this upper eschelon of contemporary business, women do not seem to be limited in their career aspirations. Well respected, we found strong, confident, independent and capable leadership potential among the women at Hexaware.


And then we got back on the bus, past the urban slums by the swamps and water's edge, through the chaos of people, traffic, vendors and trade, and onward to our contemporary hotel, right around the corner from the Gateway to India, the Taj Palace Hotel and the Causeway shopping area and Leopold Cafe. Rural, meet Urban. In some ways you are so different, but in India, I think you'll find you have some things in common.