Mural Painting!

Here are some pictures from Sunday, when all the ITSApreneurs painted their murals! We had one mural dedicated to gender equality, the environment, human rights, and economic inequality. They all turned out beautifully!

Saturday Event--Development in Gujarat

ITSA hosted its second Speak Off this Saturday. We didn’t have a guest lecturer this week, and we still had a great discussion. There were no shortages of opinions. 

            There was a good point brought up about balance in development. There has to be a balance between the old and the new, the urban and rural, the social and economic development. If there is too much of one without the other, the development is not going to be sustainable. In the context of Gujarat, and Ahmedabad specifically, the consensus was that there is too much economic development, and not enough social development. We hadn’t really talked about social development before, even though it is especially relevant to an NGO like ITSA. The balance is needed in development if it aims to be sustainable.           

            At one point, a comparison between India’s development and America’s development arose. America is a young country, and in less than 400 years has become a completely developed country. I think that there is an interesting comparison to be made, in terms of how we developed so quickly, but it was also much easier to develop America because it was a completely new country. India has a culture that is thousands of years old, and traditions surrounding that. I think it is much more difficult to Westernize a country that so clearly has it’s own unique history. India has to figure out how to balance their beautiful ancient culture with a newer, more modern culture.

            Now that the economy is globalized, India wants a piece of it. But while trying to catch up with more developed countries, there is a disconnect between the resources that India gives away, and those which it keeps. The downfall of a globalized economy is that countries, especially the US, are no longer able to sustain itself solely on American products, everything is imported. India has resources that are exported to other countries that depend on them, while India is also trying to sustain a huge population.

            Personally, I have never talked that much about development, I have never taken a class on it or anything like that. Growing up in New York City, real development doesn’t really happen, only gentrification. But India is literally building up around us, with huge buildings suddenly appearing. On our road, there are multiple construction sites where we have watched buildings rise floor by floor. Development has to be more than just buildings. It has to involve the whole community, and include those from all social strata. 

Temples & Wells

The ITSA interns took a tour of some sights around Ahmedabad; we went to the Sun Temple, the Step wells, a replica of a famous temple, and the Gurudwara. It was amazing to think of how old all the landmarks are. India is one of the oldest cultures in the world, yet I know so little about it. I need to learn more!

There were some beautiful carvings in and around the temple, depicting various scenes. I find it fascinating that there are over 3 million gods in Hinduism, and that the same 3 million gods are still a part of the Hinduism today. 

I think that of all the places that we saw  that day, The Sun Temple was my favorite. It still amazes me that something that old could exist, but kind of in the middle of nowhere. It is centuries older than the entirety of the United States! It puts history into a very different perspective. To see how much has changed from the original culture in India, while in America is seems like it is stuck in the past sometimes. Some of the carved scenes showed how revered women were in Hinduism, because they were the ones who birthed the children. Now, India is known for being dangerous for women. Where did that change happen? I guess that if a culture is around for a long time, there is more room for it to change. Change is necessary, but how does a culture become more conservative than how it started out?

The Step Wells were also very beautiful. It was not what I was expected. I thought there would just be a few wells, with a simple temple around it. I did not think that the temples would be built down into the ground. They are five stories deep!

We didn’t have a tour guide for the Step Wells, so I had to do my own research when I got back to the ITSA flat. I found that even though the wells are very beautiful, they were used for somewhat ordinary purposes. People went there to bathe, drink, and wash clothes; they also held rituals there.

There is also a legend attached to the Stepwells. A Hindu king, Rana Veer Singh, was attacked, and killed by a Muslim king, Mohammed Begda. The Muslim king took over his territory. He wanted to marry the Hindu king’s beautiful wife, Rani Roopba, so he proposed. She agreed to marry him, but only if he would finish building the Stepwell. He agreed, and finished it. He reminded the queen of her promise, but because Rani considered her goal completed, which was to finish her husband’s Stepwell, she drowned herself in the well. Tragic, like all legends seem to be. 

After this, we went back home and even fit in some work later in the day. Workshops are still being made, we can't believe that there are only 2 weeks left of workshops! 

Exploring Ahmedabad

On our day off, the interns decided to explore the city of Ahmedabad a little bit more. There are so many malls in Ahmedabad! And while it can be interesting to spend time in a foreign mall, we were a bit tired of them. We wanted to see the real Ahmedabad. A new addition to the ITSA library, 101 Ways to Experience Ahmedabad, gave us some good ideas on where to go and what to do.

First, we started off at Hansiba, the SEWA Co-op Shop. The shop was named after the oldest SEWA artisan. Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) is an organization based in Ahmedabad, which has helped women from surrounding districts get their wares sold. The store was filled with so many beautiful things! The pillow cases, the figurines, scarves, and clothes. It was hard to choose only a few things to buy for gifts! Sixty five percent of the profits of the store go to supporting the artists who made the artwork. We were all glad that we could positively contribute back to the artists.

Next stop was Gramshree, which we found all on our own! It was within walking distance, so we decided go for it. For those who don’t know, Ahmedabad is not a pedestrian city. Most of our transportation takes place in auto-rickshaws. Also, addresses are pretty difficult to find when you don’t know where you are going. There is no numbered system like in the States, and most addresses consist of nearby landmarks, like “near ISCON mall” and that’s it. Once you get to the landmark, you have to find the destination on your own. The address that we were trying to find was 4^th floor, Shopper’s Plaza, opposite Municipial Market, Vastrapur. But we found it, with the help of some people along the way.

Once we got there, we were pleasantly surprised again! It was a lovely store, with some really beautiful clothing. All of the profits went to Gramshee, which is a non-profit organization aiming to empower rural and slum dwelling women. , After the store, we went to a Havmur, right across the street. Most of us got to taste yet another Havmur flavor, Litchee Strawberry! We are on our way to tasting all of the flavors!  

 All in all, it was a great shopping day, with all of our money going towards good causes.