Thursday village

Today I spoke again with Dr. Shiva and she gave me some other project to work on. First, updating the information on the various US patents as it relates to about 500 different Indian plants and cross referencing the already known traditional uses of the plants with corporate patents for those uses. Then also I am to partner with a guy here working on the US side of a campaign against the patenting of yoga moves. I will continue on the seed patent work but only from the international law perspective as we have determined a much more intimate knowledge of the Indian legal system would be necessary for me to work on the Indian law part of it effectively.

When I came back to our apartment no one was home yet so I decided to explore some of the streets in the area I hadn't been yet. There was a really deserted street (notable in India) and I went down that and found some beautiful murals on the walls. While I was taking pictures of the murals two boys on bicycles asked me to take their photos. I did and showed them the result. Their father and sister were close behind and the man encouraged me to take a picture of his daughter as well. The little girl nearly killed herself quickly scrambling off her father's bike to catch her likeness before it disappeared from the screen. Two more children passing by asked with their eyes to join the photo shoot. As I walked further down the street a guard at a building asked me to take his photograph in front of a sign. This was the most curious to me because in taking hundreds of pictures I have never had a grown man ask for his photo taken.

I ventured further and a man entreated me to photograph his son. Each time I would stop and show them how the picture had turned out, garnering reactions from sheepish smile to pure hilarity. Soon I came upon a boy, maybe six, playing with his friends in a heap of trash. Pigs and goats sifted through the mountains of trash leaving only the plastic remains. The boy after seeing me take a photo immediately demanded photos of his siblings, friends, buildings and animals. After a few more shots they ushered me into the village which was described later by Tasleem as a slum. It was probably the worst poverty I have seen in person. It was easily the venue for one of those save the children commercials.

At first I felt foolish going further. I resisted the urge to document the living conditions because I did not want the people to feel ashamed or feel I was judging their homes. Dozens of eyes expressed curiosity and welcome. Any reticence I felt was quickly extinguished by a garrulous woman who descended on my from nowhere, laughing and berating me in Hindi while caressing my white skin. The flock of children now surrounding me insisted I take her picture and I was happy to oblige. She covered her facew with a pan as the children tugged on her arms. She resisted jovially and seemed pleased when I showed her her beautiful countenance. I repeated the word beautiful and all agreed as I passed her likeness around, mimicking, “beautiful.”

A woman cooking dinner shrieked instructions at me in Hindi. I smiled and attempted to bridge the 20 feet between us, being continually stopped by the mob of children seeking their photo. At one point an old man joined us with his water buckets and smiled a bittersweet smile when I showed him his picture. I finally made it up to the woman and she proposed I take a picture of her friend. The friend protested as readily as the first woman however after I showed her the picture- perhaps satisfied her soul remained in tact- she began to pose for the pictures. First with one baby, then two. It was about to be three when the battery, weary from the incessant taking and showing, cut out. I assured them I would return.

The amazing thing is in this stark poverty I was never asked for anything nor did I feel threatened in any way. As I left I took in the heaps of trash which encircled the settlement, the tarp roofs, the baby being devoured by flies. And this literally only steps away from one of the nicest areas in Delhi. Truly hidden in plain sight.

As I related my experience to Tasleem I got to thinking about the nature of naming things. Why should this place be called a slum? It is as much a village in every other sense. But the word village would not necessarily evoke the set of circumstances I found there. But does the act of naming it a slum also bring with it a certain attitude about who those people are and what should be done with them. For some the naming of a slum means a place to go make better, for others it means a place that should be removed to make way from civilized and lucrative development. Calling a place a village injects a clearer sense of the humanity that still exists there, even legitimizes its presence. Slum or village, either way at the very least the poverty that existed there was not one of the spirit.

Going home soon...

I know it sounds a bit crazy but I have decided to go home to be with my family. In all honesty the work I will be doing will be easier to do from the United States. I will continue to work on the project for Dr. Shiva and now with the resources that are available in the US. The only thing I will be missing is some time in the villages and I trust Nick, who is coming in June, will be able to appreciate them for the both of us. India isn't going anywhere and I will be back. My place now is at home.

The time I have spent here, though relatively short has been invaluable. I have learned so much. More than in the 3 1/2 months I spent here last time! My discussions with Mukesh especially were well worth the time and I can come home feeling confident that my time was well spent.

Thank you to everyone who has read the blog and supported me! As soon as I have finished my report I will make it available on this site.

Pictures of Hauz Khas

Playing cricket on the grounds

Entance to Hauz Khas ruins

I have also added pictures to previous posts, anything not otherwise labeled is from the Hauz Khas tank area.

Supreme Court

Yesterday I had my meeting with Prashant Bushan, the lawyer who Dr. Shiva recommended I go see. He is worth googling because he is actually very famous. While I was at his office a news team came to interview him about the Supreme Court.

In India across from the Supreme Court is the lawyers’ building where many, though not all, of the lawyers who try cases in front of the court have their offices. While struggling with the guard in front of the Supreme Court a passerby heard my repeated pleas for Prashant Bushan’s office, my voice elevating to bridge the language gap. Luckily he knew Prashant, telling me that all of the lawyers who worked for social justice knew eachother because there were so few of them. It shouldn’t surprise me to hear the majority of lawyers in India are there only for the money.

The role of the Supreme Court in India is explicitly to be the caretaker of the fundamental rights of people, especially the poor. This is an interesting concept especially in the context of the misguided doctrine of standing in the US. Standing is a judicially self-imposed doctrine which among other things has the requirement that there be "actual injury." US Supreme Court cases reveal that even if there is an injury to a person, say from the government failing to obey its own laws, a regular citizen does not have standing to sue unless that injury is distinguishable from that of any other person. By this logic even though the entire citizenry maybe suffering under some act or failure to act of the government (global warming?) they would not have standing.

In India, however, the Supreme Court entertains what is known as public interest litigation in which a person or group of people can file a Writ of Petition with the court to hear a matter of public concern. As with any political body the effectiveness and the progressiveness of this system waxes and wanes. The system, however, I think is good (in so far as you can ensure effective judicial administration) since as in any country there must be some recourse for the people who have been hurt by the policies of the other branches of government.

I took my seat in Mr. Bushan’s tiny office next to a man screaming into his cell phone. The cell service is fickle and as a symptom voices rise and a chorus of hello? hello? hello? hello? plagues the streets.

There were two law clerks there, occupying a space of perhaps 4x6, the rest of the office could be closed off by a sliding door and was no bigger than 10x6. The volumes of the Supreme Court reporter lined the shelves.

We discussed the problems of seeds being copyrighted by corporations and when I left I narrowed it down to three aspects with which to work:
First, perhaps there is a way to prohibit companies from mandating in their user agreements that farmer’s cannot save the seeds.
Second, perhaps there is a way to challenge the novelty of the copyrighted seeds and provide and more rigorous process for copyrighting.
Finally, there is a very lax system regarding certifying the safety of genetically engineered organisms so to assure more oversight and thorough testing would be beneficial.

The challenge is to work within the legal framework which already exists. My preference would be for India (and all countries for that matter) to withdraw altogether from this system of neoliberal economics and WTO policies. Of course that is unrealistic and we have to chip away gradually at the armor of the corporate profiteers.

The more I am reading about how the system of seeds in working in India the more skeptical I am that legal action directed at Monsanto and Cargil is the answer. Unless that action were to force them to withdraw from the country altogether. As it is now farmers do have the choice to use their traditional seeds but a combination of factors allow them to be duped into using the corporate genetically modified seeds which come with user agreements and terms which eventually devastate the farmers. The solution it would seem to me is better education, equipping farmers with the knowledge to make more informed decisions about their future. Perhaps our role here is just to preserve the opportunity for farmers to choose their own seed future.

Although it has not yet happened in India (because the farmers probably aren't worth suing) the precedents in other countries have revealed the willingness of Monsanto to sue organic farmers for not using registered seeds (read: corporate seeds).

After visiting Mr. Bushan, I walked down the street to the Indian Society of International Law where I browsed the library and found out about some courses and lectures I hope to attend. There is one two day seminar on the Geneva Conventions and another week long program on International Law. Even if I can't make it to the whole thing I hope to get a taste of what they are teaching here.

The night found us making dinner, my computer perched in a patio chair, the Hindi music punctuated by the rhythmic chopping of green beans and potatoes. We dozed off to the sounds of Aladdin, the only movie I brought from home.

Finally some work

At about 4pm yesterday I was finally able to meet with Dr. Shiva to see what she will have me do. She gave me a handfull of publications to read and told me she wanted me to write up a cause of action against the various agribusinesses under both the Indian and International Law systems for the farmers' rights to be free from intellectual property restrictions in use of their seeds.

Today I am meeting with the lawyer who has been working for Navdanya in their current case, which Navdanya is just an intervenor in, and not the original complainant. The Supreme Court is in recess for the next two months so this will be likely my only chance to speak with this particular lawyer, since he is going on vacation. Hopefully he will be able to give me some good guidance on the Indian legal system.

Dr. Shiva also had me enroll in a class in Juneon globalization which is being taught at her school, Bija Vidyapeeth, in Dehradun. There I will take the class, see the organic farm and speak with one of the other lawyers who is actually teaching the class.

The task is a bit daunting with my current knowledge about the actual legal systems but I think I will at least be able to be of some use outlining a broad strategy for the legal case.

Last night after work we went to the lake with some more of Manu and Mukesh's friends from college. They were very nice girls. All of their friends were in the same masters of social work program so it is heartening to see the young people in India engaged in social justice.

We sat on the lawn surrounded by young lovers lounging together, circles of women passing the time, and precocious kids climbing the ruins. Two little boys made a game of jumping in front of every photo I tried to take. The photos don't do justice to their youthful exuberance. As the sun went down the mosquitos came for a feast of my flesh and we decided to return home.

By nine or ten I was again unable to keep my eyes open so ended up going to bed without dinner. It is such an interesting feeling that I so seldom have in the states. Where your body litterally cannot take one more second.

I woke up at six today and joined the throngs of excercisers around the lake. There is no time where you are ever alone in India so the peace gained from an early morning job is marred by the nagging pressure I feel from the dutiful stares that enfold me.

The first weekend

After work on Saturday we went to Dilli Haat which is an enclosed place with all kinds of shops for which you have to pay to enter. Although I needed to buy some shirts for work I felt too silly shopping like a tourist. We met some of Manu and Mukesh’s friends from college. Two women, and I was glad to be around some gossip and giggling for a while since I have missed female companionship. We hung around there until a torenchal storm came through knocking everything over. It was a much welcome respite from the soaring temperatures and temporarily washed the city from its persistent cake of dust and dirt.

Saturday night we went to the neighbor, Tasleem's, house again. It is so generous of her to make us dinner again. Her, her friend from college, four more guys my age and me. They eat so late 9 or 10 so I am starving by then, having had lunch at 1:30 and just a mango for breakfast.

I spend all of my time with Manu and Mukesh. I feel like sort of a burden but I know they see it as sort of their responsibility to take care of me as their guest. So they almost never let me pay for anything, which makes me uncomfortable because they are just students like me.

I tried to make chai yesterday and it was disastrous. I need to learn to cook something so I can be of some use. The guys say they are pretty helpless cooks but we hope to get some of their female friends to teach us. Last night was the first time we made dinner they made some vegetable thing (cooked cucumber like vegetable with onion and chili) with red rice and sambar (a soupy tomato and onion broth). It was pretty good although I hate the texture of cooked vegetables. Although I spend half of the day hungry I get full so quickly because it is hard to eat when it is so hot outside!

We spent the evening talking about movies and other things. The way they talk about movies and books it is like they are talking about the love of their lives. Everything is “lovely” and “very nice” and is said with such a dreamy look that you are filled with such an urgency to see this thing in order to share in this overwhelming feeling of joy.

I was completely unable to control the weight of my eyelids so was forced to leave many hours before the night would end for the rest of them at three in the morning.

Culturally when someone offers you anything you are supposed to say no at least 2 or 3 times before your host overcomes you and you take whatever they are offering. Knowing this I tried to say no to something to drink, I should have known that my host was knowledgeable enough about westerners to know that usually when they say no they mean it! I have quickly learned, however, to fill my plate with only a little each time because I am so encouraged to eat more whenever my plate is empty that I simply cannot say no even though I want to.

Sunday morning I woke up by six to a relatively cool Delhi. I took the opportunity to take pictures of the ruins and lake around my house. I also took furtive pictures of the locals from my various vantage points, delighting in the novelty of the ironing man and the wood gatherers. I tried in vain to capture the neon green parrots that got lost in the background of green trees and fluorescent water.

Some beautiful little girls, after slowly inching closer to my seat, finally got up the nerve to practice their English with me, asking my name, country and finally whether I would take a photo of them. Their mug shot looks something like a team photo with the girls wincing and writhing awkwardly.

It is half past noon here. I think the time stamp on the blog might be off. I saw Dr. Shiva an hour ago. She popped her head in to speak to Mukesh and I gave her a surprised hello. She said hello and that she would be back in the afternoon. So I will wait. I am still trying to make some use of my time in the office by reading the publications about the plight of farmers here by virtue of the massive subsidies by the western countries of their own agriculture.

Three good statistics from one publication:

- Rich countries spend just over $1 billion a year on aid to developing countries agriculture and just under $1 billion a DAY on agricultural subsidies in their own countries.
- Dairy farmers in the EU get an average subsidy of US $2000 per cow, which is 100 times more than foreign aid per person given to Africa.
- America’s cotton farmers receive more in subsidies than the entire GDP of Burkina Faso- a country in which more than 2 million people depend on cotton production. US cotton farmers receive more than three times the budget of USAID’s budget for Africa’s 500 million people.

Last night Mukesh asked me if western countries used to be as bad as things are in India: poverty, disease, poor sanitation, etc. I said yes they were as bad if not worse in places. I wondered aloud if this wasn’t just the cycle of human development. With this comment I cursed myself for what seemed to me the unspoken implication that white people had somehow “developed” faster. I am the first to point out that the model of development of the West is the worst, least sustainable form that we could have wished for. We contemplated in silence the future of India and the global south as they seek to replicate this model. Or at least as those in power seek to have this system replicated.

Caste and marriage

I have been speaking with the guys about the caste system. I remember learning about the caste system in middle school. The past two times to India, however, I was naive enough to think it was not such a prevalent system anymore. I guess it all really depends who you talk to and thinking back I was not so lucky the last few times to be able to have such candid conversations about race and politics and religion as I have this time.

According to the guys probably 95-99% of marriages are still arranged. All of them plan to have love marriages, however, but they are extemely well educated. There are four categories from which apparently other castes emanate from highest to lowest there are the Brahmins, Kshatrias, Vasisyas, and Sudras. Then below them are the Dahlits (formerly the untouchables). Mukesh volunteered that he was from the Sudra caste which mostly does manual labor. In the universities there are reservations of up to 49.9% (that number was recently mandated as the cap by the Supreme Court) for lower castes.

I asked if the system is something that is perpetuated in any kind of information of teaching by parents or religious leaders. Mukesh said that he didn't even know about the system until he got to college. The system is however, perpetuated through the domination of educational institutions and other sources of power. Thus the system endures de facto though one is only cognizant of its pernicious effects if they are privledged enough to question their historical place in society. There is an element of fatalism, Mukesh described it as an upper caste domination of the conscience of the people.

As for intermarriage between castes it is not unheard of but it is very much prefered to stay within the same caste. Many of the personals seeking wives have the assertion that "caste no bar" as in caste has no baring on the mate. At least one newspaper says that it openly discriminates against adds that do ask for a particular caste. While the idea of the newspaper is certainly progressive in practice it seems that the castes will find eachother. Many of the other "matrimonials" are divided by caste. One of the big concerns is dilluting the purity of the caste through children who would not fit easily into a category.

One of the most disturbing things to me is that although their are reservations in the universities for Dalits and even one has become a governor of a state, there are still some among the caste who remain literally untouchable. Those are the ones with the dismal job of cleaning the toliets. Once India is able to finally move to proper sanitation hopefully these people will finally be released from this enduring repression.

The state of women according to these guys is still very bad. Of course there are the female infanticides, perpetrated to avoid a costly dowry, prompting the government to outlaw pre-birth sex testing. But there is also customary law which holds the woman less than a peice of property, more like a serf. In addition, women are constantly sexually harassed which is attributed to the extreme societal repression of sexuality. On the one hand there are these huge cinemas playing only porn and on the other there is to be no premarital sex, no pda of any kind, and women covered to their ankles.

Caste has a website...at least for the Mangliks!

Oh my it is so hot

Well no one told me but I guess they work on Saturdays too! Crazy! I guess now that the corporations are coming into India the idea of the 5-day work week is catching on, but not yet at Navdanya.

I still have no work but I came to the office anyway since it is slightly cooler and there is internet and good lunch.

Yesterday the guys I am staying with Mukesh and Manu had an entrance exam into a joint Philosphy MA/ Law JD program. It was interesting reading some of the questions on the exam. They had three hours and were to chose four out of fourteen topics to write on from globalization, judicial activism, women's rights and special economic zones. It is extremely competitive with thousands around the country sitting in on the exam and only perhaps 1% being admitted. I like the idea that entrance doesn't have to do with grades and reccomendations like in the states.

I got to the apartment before anyone and spent the next two hours cleaning the kitchen. They had recently fired their maid and men will aparently put up with an infinite amount of dirty dishes. By the time I was done I was drenched because there is no ventilation or fan in the kitchen.

While everyone was gone a man came to the door looking for someone. Since I didn't remember the names of all the roomates I wasn't sure if he was looking for someone who lived there or not. He kept me there for 20 minutes trying to get me to tell him where this person was. He turned out to be a debt collector on behalf of Citibank. Apparently the guy had run out on $150,000 debt. He owed all of the roomates money too. Mukesh said that there is no credit reporting system, however, so this guy can just go to a different state and still get a loan. But although he will get off in this case if they ever do find him he is likely to be severly beaten or killed.

In the morning before the blanket of heat completely decended I went to the Hauz Khas park. There is a deer park with probably one hundred deer similar looking to those in the states but with white spots and a balck stripe up the spine. The park is actually a site for an ancient water retention system which used to supply the neighboring areas of Delhi. Now it is a haven for the corpulent, looking to sweat off the fruits of their excesses. I sat and watched a snake glide across the water below me and ducks and swans herding their newborns.

I left the office after lunch to go to an art exhibit I read about in the paper. It was very nice and also very small so I am back now.

I have only gotten lost once and in that case I just retraced my steps to find my way. That is the only thing I hate about exploring the area is that people are always staring at me so I feel silly looking like I don't know where I am going. Since eye contact or a polite smile is seen as a come-on I have to look destination driven, which of course I am not.

I got a guidebook about Delhi today so maybe I will be a bit more ambitious in exploring the other parts of the city I haven't been to yet.

View from our balcony

Day 2

Well here I am in the office again. The office is about 20 minutes from the apartment where I am staying. I found my way without the help of the guys I am staying with, which I was pretty happy about but dodging the traffic was a little stressful.

This area of Delhi is quite curious because I have not experienced much of the harassment I became so accustomed to in the North last time I was here. There are of course still the deafening stares but either the men are less lewd in this area or my confidence gives them less power. Maybe a little of both.

The children are the same though they have no problem yelling to me from the top of the mosque, waving furiously until I am out of sight. This area is pretty well off and I have met only one beggar. Though I have still seen the conditioned response of the child's open hand in reaction to my white skin.

I am staying in the area called Hauz Khas
http://www.tourtravelworld.com/hot_spots/delhi/hauz_khas/

After work yesterday I went to a chemist to get my anti-malaria medicine. I am sure some of you might think that I am crazy but I did it last time I was here as well. India’s pharmaceutical industry is quite good. I think I am saying quite a lot because of the formal British-style English all of the Indians speak. Anyway I got the medicine for literally pennies on the dollar. It will be a real problem if the large pharmaceutical companies are able to enforce their patents on medicines which have been reverse-engineered in India because as cheap as the medicine is to me it is still prohibitively expensive for the poor in India.

Last night we were invited to dinner at a neighbor’s house. We had chickpeas and the most amazing paneer dish I have ever had. There was also meat and I was talking with one of the other interns who said that eating meat was a large class issue in India. He said that the higher castes don’t eat meat and consider themselves purer because of it. He also said that, contrary to popular conception many of the poor eat beef. And while I am surprised on some level I am glad to hear it. Although eating meat is against my beliefs for the particular time and space in which I live, when people are starving and there are cows walking around I cannot blame them. Although the cow is holy here I can understand that so is life.

We stayed with the neighbor until 2am. She is 36 and used to work for UNICEF and now works for WHO. She and her colleague from college were there talking about how corrupt development programs are. She works in the health industry and described how since the money doesn’t reach the workers on the ground they have to end up charging people for medicine which was meant to be free. They spoke about the fact that in the whole of UNICEF’s operations, 300 people there was only one Muslim and two Dahlits (untouchables as the used to be called) all the rest were of the highest caste of Brahmin. She expressed her dismay at American kids fresh out of college and no international experience coming and becoming her supervisor after a year although they are not qualified.

For hours they spoke about things like human trafficking, Indian politics and corporate exploitation, pausing only to ask me why does the US want other people’s natural gas when we have our own? And don’t the people in the US know that their clothes are made in sweatshops? Don’t they care?

It was humbling to see the depth of knowledge these people had not only about their area but of the whole country. Even the whole region. I wonder if I will ever know a place so well. These people are the most privileged I have ever met in India, all finished with college, masters, and some going for PhDs. Although they spent so long enumerating the vices of India I was heartened to know that there were people like them working for justice.

Mmm the office boy just brought the most amazing pakora. He comes around every few hours with Chai for everyone. Indian Chai is exponentially better than the stuff in the states.

Priya, Dr. Shiva’s assistant, just came in and said that she had talked to the lawyer that is working on the cases for Navdanya and that the lawyer was not sure if he needed me and he would let me know in the next couple of days. Hmmm. She also said Dr. Shiva wants me to work on intellectual property rights, which is great. So I said, yes, what exactly though? She said she will try to get more specific instructions. It will be better when Dr. Shiva is here on Monday. Speaking with the other interns, they do a lot of field research, which will be difficult for me since I don’t speak Hindi. I can do research on the internet but looking at their publications there is no dearth of knowledge on IP. I hope the lawyer figures out something for me. We’ll see I am in no hurry.

Made it to India!

Well, I just made it to India a few hours ago. The flight was delayed four five hours as we had to stop in Pakistan to refuel after being unable to land in India due to severe weather. I was glad the driver Navdanya had sent over waited for all that time it would have been very stressful to have to find a place at four in the morning when i got in.

I am staying with a couple men who are interns at Navdanya. Both of them have been working on corporate land grab issues for the last year and now one is working on issues of alternative sources of fuel. I am at the office right now. It is a bit nicer than I expected but I am itching to organize the heaps of papers and publications. I had no idea the volume of publications that came out of this office. Right now there are 5 people working here.

Right now I don't have an assignment as we haven't been able to contact the lawyer working on the cases against Monsanto. Dr. Shiva is out of town until Monday and I am confident if we don't get anything going before then, her being back will get the ball rolling. My room

I was worried trying to organize all of this from a half a world away but now that I am here I see that there is so much to do and the high level of scholarship and research will keep me motivated and engaged.

I am staying in South Delhi, which I have not spent any time in but the apartment is right next to these beautiful old ruins and a modern white temple and I look forward to spending time there after work...

Welcome

Thanks to a partnership through the Oregon International Law Insitute at University of Oregon School of Law, I will be spending the summer in India. I will be working with Dr. Vandana Shiva on cases in the Indian Supreme Court on issues of intellectual property, land, seed and water rights. Go to http://navdanya.org/ to check out what her organization works on. I will also be helping to set up the Tech to Farmer campaign, helping connect Indian tech workers here in the US to Indian farmers who, due to trade agreements such as the WTO have been committing suicide in response to the policies of corporate profiteers. For more information on the phenomena see http://www.countercurrents.org/glo-shiva050404.htm. I will be keeping this blog as up to date as possible on all the activity that goes on. Enjoy!