I’ve noticed more and more during my time here what an advantage it has been in my life that I was raised in a multicultural environment, where I was exposed to people from all sorts of backgrounds. In my time here, I feel like I’ve really been able to draw a lot from my personal experiences as an Asian-American as well as those from having close Indian-American friends. I guess it’s only natural that people here would compare me to other foreigners (particularly Americans) that they’ve met, and apparently I’m relatively more Indian compared to them! From being used to a completely different set of pronunciations, to understanding the respect given to elders, to my willingness to try new foods (so long as they destroy my lactose-intolerant bowels), I’m feeling strangely at ease.
One of my favorite forms of cultural immersion and exchange comes in the form of food. My most recent exciting food experience has been eating a true Gujurati thali.
A thali means a “plate” in general, and the way they do it in Gujarat is to put out a spread of several different dishes on everyone’s plate and continuously serve you until you wanna roll over and just lie down on the restaurant’s floor from a combination of satisfaction and exhaustion. I like to think I eat pretty quickly, but it’s at a whole new level here. The joke is that Indians will “snatch” your food if you’re slow, and I occasionally find myself snatched from. At the thali restaurant, the food came at such an incredible pace that I felt somewhat overwhelmed by the rate at which I had to shovel food into my mouth and try to fend off the servers who didn’t seem to want to take “no” for an answer.
Now an exchange isn’t complete without a transfer of value from both sides, so I tried to do what I could to introduce my office to a little bit of Korean flavor at a potluck this week. Freshly stocked with my mom’s care package, which included boatloads of ramen, I made my version of rabokki, but without any dduk (which I guess it makes it just ramen in ddukbokki sauce…). I had my fingers crossed that I didn’t botch the experience for everyone, but it was pretty well received!
I realize I talk very little about actual work, so here’s a little something about one of the companies we work with. Aakar Innovations is a social enterprise that works to find grassroots innovations and use them to create an improved, sustainable lifestyle for people in rural India. While that official description allows them much room for growth later on, for now, their flagship product is a pack of cheap, sanitary pads for women. It is created with biodegradable material and sells at a price point far below that of leading brands. The government produces a cheaper option that is made of materials with much lower quality. Aakar has positioned itself as an affordable, comfortable option for pads in rural communities where healthcare information is not always as well understood and distributed. It’s just one of many examples of some cool work going on here that I’m glad to be a part of, even if I’m not directly involved.