soloproject (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
soloproject) wrote2010-09-03 07:04 pm
soloproject) wrote2010-09-03 07:04 pm
(no subject)
Tomorrow is my first day off from work. I've only started working this week, since last Wednesday and it's been half busy but also fun. I don't think people quite understand how interesting Implementation Service is...It sounds boring from that viewpoint but to originate a project out of nothing is not for the faint of heart. And while you may think I just said that as a compliment to myself, it's not that easy either! There's research involved, planning, curriculum design to begin with and then onwards to demonstration, presentation, promotion, scheduling, delivery. I was surprised at the actual work people expect me to do here but at the same time, I'm thrilled to be on my own, to meet interesting people and be in an interesting city.
Okay, so lots of people back home have expressed shock at my moving to Mumbai but trust me, it's not a decision made lightly. Impulsively, sure, but lightly? Not at all. People have this preconcieved notion that India is a dangerous, savage land and it's not. Take Manila, multiply it a ten times in density and then coat it in spice and mystery and there you have it.
Two years ago, I wrote an article in the paper called "Same, Same" for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and addressed sameness among Asians based on a trek my sister and I took through Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam. Sometime soon, I'd like to think about it again after having visited Spain and write that down but since my trip to India kind of interrupted that and my thoughts these days are full of this subcontinent, let's just skip ahead to sameness here.
I thought I would be overwhelmed by people, food, general cultural insanity but everywhere I go, I am only surrounded by opportunity and beauty. Some people are tough but so long as they are fair, it's not problem. Some people are less-fortunate but they are alive. Filipinos and Indians are the same in the sense that many of them are hard-working, relentlessly cheerful, grudgingly polite, spiritual and respectful of their elders and adore their young. Same zest for life, same spontaneity, same refusal to accept ugliness. Same affinity for rolling with uncontrollable situations!
Filipinos should learn to be as proud of their own culture as Indians are. Everywhere you look here, it is Indian without a doubt. It doesn't matter what era or colonizer has set upon this land, Indians have not allowed it to distill their culture as much as I think Filipinos sometimes have. On the other hand, Indian people could learn a little bit from Filipino sense of cleanliness and efficiency. Sometimes to get things done here, you have to lean and lean hard and sometimes, taking care of official things is bureaucratic madness.
With that in mind, adjusting to India was not as hard as I thought it would be. It's a matter of keeping an open mind, accepting differences and just keeping a cool head. The best advice I'd gotten before I left was "don't let it get to you" but I gotta say, India's gotten to me and I'm glad I have a year to explore here. Who knows what else I'll learn?
Okay, so lots of people back home have expressed shock at my moving to Mumbai but trust me, it's not a decision made lightly. Impulsively, sure, but lightly? Not at all. People have this preconcieved notion that India is a dangerous, savage land and it's not. Take Manila, multiply it a ten times in density and then coat it in spice and mystery and there you have it.
Two years ago, I wrote an article in the paper called "Same, Same" for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and addressed sameness among Asians based on a trek my sister and I took through Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam. Sometime soon, I'd like to think about it again after having visited Spain and write that down but since my trip to India kind of interrupted that and my thoughts these days are full of this subcontinent, let's just skip ahead to sameness here.
I thought I would be overwhelmed by people, food, general cultural insanity but everywhere I go, I am only surrounded by opportunity and beauty. Some people are tough but so long as they are fair, it's not problem. Some people are less-fortunate but they are alive. Filipinos and Indians are the same in the sense that many of them are hard-working, relentlessly cheerful, grudgingly polite, spiritual and respectful of their elders and adore their young. Same zest for life, same spontaneity, same refusal to accept ugliness. Same affinity for rolling with uncontrollable situations!
Filipinos should learn to be as proud of their own culture as Indians are. Everywhere you look here, it is Indian without a doubt. It doesn't matter what era or colonizer has set upon this land, Indians have not allowed it to distill their culture as much as I think Filipinos sometimes have. On the other hand, Indian people could learn a little bit from Filipino sense of cleanliness and efficiency. Sometimes to get things done here, you have to lean and lean hard and sometimes, taking care of official things is bureaucratic madness.
With that in mind, adjusting to India was not as hard as I thought it would be. It's a matter of keeping an open mind, accepting differences and just keeping a cool head. The best advice I'd gotten before I left was "don't let it get to you" but I gotta say, India's gotten to me and I'm glad I have a year to explore here. Who knows what else I'll learn?