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.