Collecting stories has become a favorite hobby of mine. Inspired by a TED talk, I went door to door at a slum and asked residents about their backgrounds, moods, and stories. Then I asked them to rate their happiness from 1-10. Based on the number they gave me, I gave them that number of flowers. Then I went to a commercial district nearby to ask the same questions, but this time interviewing perceivable higher-income people and white-collared workers.  The responses inspired me to “map the happiness” of people across gradients of demographics from slum dwellers, students, mothers, engineers, and bankers to understand relationships between a certain income state and notions of happiness.

Meet:

Abhu-10

Abhu was very happy about the recent rains. He builds statues of the Hindu God Ganesha for a living


Dallu-10

A 14 year old house maid who loves her home and job

Solanki-1

Solanki was very upset when he found out about the government’s plans to destroy his home to widen streets to build bus stops

Jagdish-10

A flutist who has been living in the slum for 50 years. He performed beautifully

Bharat - 1

Bharat told me that his wife died 5 days ago from an asthma attack and is worried for his 5 boys

Rajiv-5

Rajiv works in finance. He claimed that his mood could have been improved had he not been late for work.

D.K-4

An engineer I met on the 4th floor of a building who told me, “To be happy, one must be successful”

And so on

A simplistic “Happiness Map” I created based on the stories I collected (Click to Enlarge):

The variety of responses I got within a 1 kilometer radius was staggering. The people living in the slums consistently expressed numbers on extreme ends; they were either very happy or very sad, always providing honest reasons. On the contrary, I felt less intrigued by the answers from developed areas, as most of them were lukewarm reasons relevant to work, punctuality, or school. I suppose that in a developed state, we don’t have to make as large of a struggle to survive, hence the dramatics of life are diminished.

Furthermore, it is also interesting reading people’s reactions as to why I was asking them weird questions and giving them flowers. Certain reactions emerged amongst peoples living in a certain region and as a result, I ended up tallying the number of people who:

Refused to talk to me
City: 6 
Slum: 0

Refused to be photographed
City: 4
Slum: 0

Asked “What is this for?”
City: 12
Slum: 0

I understand it’s more than appropriate to react skeptically to a girl prying about your happiness and offering you flowers.  If I were on the opposite end for the same situation, I would be weirded out as well. But it was nice that “poorer” people never asked me about my intentions nor did they ever think what I was doing was weird. It made me think: Why is it so weird? Does becoming more mannered and developed thicken us with layers of “social norms”? When can things become “awkward”? As we develop, do we become more aware of our egos? Trust less? Complicate contentness? I find it beautiful that with people that I had the least commonalities with-people whom I had a language barrier with, live under polar opposite conditions, and have the farthest walks of life from me-were the most honestly human with me.

Reb

(Click pictures to enlarge)

A few weeks ago, I decided to pick the first cow I saw and follow it for a day. I then ended up following 3 cows for a total stalking time of 16 hours. What began as an outlandish curiosity to see life through the perspective of a cow led me to some unusual ideas about the development of Indian cities.

Maybe the heat has gotten to my head, but give me a chance to explain why I turned cow chasing into a study packaged with illustrations and diagrams. Cows have been respected deities for thousands of years, and their roaming in cities is a phenomenon unique to India. But as Indian cities verticalize and attitudes change, the cow will change with it as well.  I figured stalking a cow and documenting its reactions to different stimuli could teach me a thing or two about globalization. 

I documented cowtivities and the cow’s favorite places to go. These are sample pages I’m adding to a book I’m writing called “The Boring Things,” which captures life stories of the “banal” that locals encounter everyday to provoke thoughts on development. I chose to sketch the maps instead of paste from Google Earth to show the cow’s connection with the ground. The one above and below are diagrams of a cow lost in a city, as you can tell from all the development and heights of buildings.

Some “duh” correlations between widening of the roads, growing traffic, and the poor cow that needs to sprint to keep up with traffic.

The Invisible Cow Map is as if you were following an invisible cow and saw everything it took and left behind. The above is a diagram shows the path of a village cow. On an autobiographic side note, the worst part of cow chasing is dealing with the poop. I’ve always suffered from cocrophobia (fear of fecal matter). But what’s funny is that having poop-ray vision makes me acutely aware of any sign of poop within a scope of 20 feet. The way that poop scorches my mind made me think very critically about a patch of old poop found on the sidewalk. If there were an efficient waste management system, would it be there? What does the fact that it’s on a sidewalk reveal about attitudes towards sanitation? Would it be old if it were being reused for manure?  

The cows also taught me about people and communities. Villagers in the old city really respected the cow by doing things like crowning it with flowers, hand feeding it baratas, or hugging it. I also had many salesmen try to sell me incense to enhance the quality of my cow worship. On the contrary, people were very hostile to the cow in the new city. It was dunked with water when it got too close to shops and the cars would honk at it rudely (though no concept of road kill, just yet). You see, the villagers in the old city are very communal and treat cows and animals as family. Whereas in the new city, constant influxes of immigrants and businessmen new to the land make the cow less filial.

As we all learned about entropy in high school chemistry, a system’s state can be understood by observing how molecules bounce around in its environment. I figured that in the same way, much can be revealed about the state of a changing society by following how its inhabitants, a cow in this case, “bounce” around its surroundings. Who knew that following a cow could reveal so much about the city’s changing cultural, social, and even political fabric?

Reb

I went to a slum a few days ago and asked a resident, “If you had a college degree and the opportunity to make a lot of money, what would you do with that money?”

Obviously, he’d become a doctor or businessman and move out of this slum.

Instead, he said: “Our village has been established for 200 years and our economy, culture, and way of life revolves around building these statues of Ganesh. I would take the degree and money to become a better artisan and carve Ganesh more beautifully.”

When we think about slums, we think insanitation, poverty, and corruption. Yet I would say that image is quite off key having visited a number of slums and rural villages. I stumbled upon “Hollywood” when I got lost on a rickshaw a few weeks ago.  The things I noticed first were typical of your gawky American: People clashing symbols in a temple, tents lined up with fire stoves all throughout the street, and half naked children running around. But what struck me most were the infinite stacks of elephant idols lined up on the streets. I’m not entirely sure the story behind the name “Hollywood”, but my theory is that the sight of this slum is so contrasting against the two commercial districts nearby that it appears to be a painted set-up you’d only find in Hollywood. 

I came back to Hollywood a week later on a learning mission. The village’s entire sustenance is Ganesh. Employment? Making Ganesh. Religion? Worshipping Ganesh. Education? How to make Ganesh. They produce 30,000 Ganeshes per year, sell them for 90 USD, and make 23 USD in profit. Labor wages are set at 5.60 USD per statue.They supply and make all their own materials. The statues are formed out of Plaster of Paris and coconut fiber.

After talking to the villagers for a good few hours, they shared with me the government’s efforts to evict them due to the environmental hazards the traditions surrounding Ganesh pose. In the fall, thousands will immerse Ganesh statues into water bodies, in turn releasing whopping amounts of toxins. According to my sloppy market sizing, 100 million Ganeshes are released into Indian waters every year. Here is an unusual conflict between environmental consciousness and cultural practice.

Aside from that, hanging out at Hollywood for a day challenged my maturity in perceiving third world development and my notions of happiness. Although I live in the Bay Area, a place that drips financial prestige and comfort, I am constantly surrounded with overly stressed and unhappy people, including myself. Hollywood is an interesting phenomenon in that it is a “dirt poor” slum sandwiched between developed commercial districts. I’ve always thought that people in rural areas are only content with their way of life because they have never encountered first world conditions. Yet they are still content while watching white collars honk by in their Audis and Beamers everyday. I guess happiness doesn’t have to be so relative after all.

Branded by India

I burned myself on a motorcycle engine and a bubble of death 1” in diameter and .4” in altitude started erupting. I will spare you the visual grossness but I have pictures if you are deathly interested in seeing it. It’s also gotten infected so I have to be on antibiotics and painkillers. Boo.

I get lost every single day, sometimes twice a day.

I know your immediate reaction is that Asian girls can’t navigate but you have to give me a break because there are no street names and the city does not work on a grid and block system. The problem is exacerbated because no auto rickshaw drivers speak English and no Reb speaks Gujurati either. What ends up happening everyday is the rickshaw driver and I play charades and we end up involving at least 5-6 people on the streets for directions. However, people have told me that the locals understand English better when said in a British accent, so I have definitely put my British accent talent to good use here.

But getting lost has been a blessing for me. For example, a few days ago I got lost in the market and decided to follow a bunch of goats that led me into a beautiful temple. When I sat down and started sketching, some kids crowded me and started playing with my art supplies and sketching in my sketchbook. Finally, a man came by and talked to me. He said,

“I am the great grandson of the Sultan, whose tomb you are in right now”.

India has definitely taught me how to wander.

Bird House

I live in a Bird House. Pigeons have built nests in my room, the kitchen, and the bathroom. There are already whole hatchlings in the bathroom. I have also found eggs in the kitchen nest as well. So being a typical snarky American, I’ve waged a war between the pigeons and me. I leave the windows open at night because it is #@(*$ hot. But a few mornings, I wake up screaming to pigeons crashing into my room. Another morning, I woke up to pigeons courting in the living room. The bathroom is already unusable because there are hatchlings in the bathroom.

Feeling sassy, I told on the pigeons to Suhani, my housemate. But her response was not what I had expected, “We’ve built our houses in their homes, so why can’t they build theirs’ in ours?”

Her response put me in bird’s eye perspective; a response that I believe is the core philosophy of sustainable living. Imagine having your house destroyed. Not just yours’, but all your friends’ houses are gone too. You are pregnant and desperately need to find a place to give labor. After days of searching, you are relieved to find a cozy undisturbed compartment; undisturbed until some gawky teenage girl starts screaming at you.

I face a lot of challenges here but I love them because they’re just so dang ridiculous and much better than stressing out about GPA or jobs or needing to suck up to some MD in a cubicle. Even though 10,000 miles of ocean separate us, the people here are very kind and relatable. I am living quite a Bohemian life right now; running my own research projects, exploring Mughal ruins, frolicking around the markets, chasing cows, watching Hindi Scary movies, going to Indian parties, washing my feet in Mosques, building my immunity with street food, and so mucho mas. Too many more stories to tell but I’m off to Mumbai.

Color Me India!

I am Polar Bear dropped in Sahara. I have no AC in my flat. In 108 degree full humidity weather, even my inner Arizona does not work. The REBel has been humbled.

(1) Pre-India

It began even before I leave the western hemisphere. 4 shots in 1 minute. No, they were vaccinations for Polio, Influenza, Japanese InSyphilis, and Dengue Fever. I also got prescriptions for malaria and fragile-tourist-stomachness. Better yet, I manage to fire up a 103.4 fever as a side effect the night before I leave and become paralyzed in bed. But thanks to my-knight-in-shining-armor pledge bro Vlad, I was successfully shipped to the airport. 

(2) The Perks and GAHs of a Vegetarian Society

On my way to work in an open air taxi, I see 2 dogs and 10 cows on average. Yesterday I got lucky and even ran into a camel. I also saw a flock of peacocks at a farm party last night. While Zoo style streets is kinda fun, zoo style apartment is not. There are pigeons, ants, and funky little creatures acting like my flat is their turf. But because I hope to accommodate them due to their Hindu ordained rights, I have to make peace with the critters, including giving up a bathroom to let a family of pigeons incubate and raise their pigeon babies in there. 

(3) All eyes on me?

On a social note, I stand out like a Martian. The prolonged stares creeped me out at first but considering how I haven’t found another non-Indian in Ahmedabad yet, it must be a shock to people to see a Chinese girl frolicking about. The females are very well covered here, making me look quite revealing with my bermuda shorts. But Gujarati moral codes don’t apply to me since I’m a foreigner, which by the way, gives me a lot of non-wholesome freedoms (buying alcohol, etc.). Who’s the 21 year old now?

(4) Work

is awesome in that I pretty much am driving my own research project with the guidance of my architecture firm and Abellon CleanEnergy, a social entrepreneur group. I will be heading to some rural villages and solar/biodiesel plants on Monday.

All in all, India is certainly very different than I had expected despite the decent amount of literature and research I have done prior to coming. There are so many habits and cultural norms that are so new to me. In the end, please do realize that I take a tourist’s perspective and everything I say should not be assumed as absolute fact of what India is like. Duh, you knew that.

India has so much to teach me…what an incredible place