time to catch up

hello dear friends,

I know it has been some time since last I wrote and for that, I apologize. Internet usage is few and far between in a land that is still trying to figure out how to develop. At any rate, in the next two weeks I hope to catch you up on what has been going on with me and some of the experiences I have had that have stuck with me. A few of them shall be contemplative, but most will be descriptive of my journey.

After we left Varanasi, the holy city, we set out on a series of adventures. We did not stay in one set place like we did for the months of September and October, but instead moved through Bangalore, Ponukonda, Nagraholi, Mysore, and the BR Hills. In Bangalore we had the opportunity to learn about the part of India that is developing at a higher speed than the US, which was interesting to say the least. After meeting with a software company, it was insanely interesting as we stepped foot onto a completely different part of India. It was almost as if we were stepping onto the a mini Microsoft campus, which if you're familiar with is really nice and really modern. The interesting part about this was not only the switch in scenery, but also the switch in mindset. As we met with the head Human resources manager, a few new employees, and one of the founders of the company, I found myself diving deeper adn deeper into the questioning of my own life style. While there were many things that stuck with me, one of the main things was the seemingly lack of realization the employees had about the two different India's. This term "two different India" is used to show the difference between the one third of the peple that are in poverty here and the two thirds that don't. It was clear that these workers were indeed part of the latter group. When asked how they went about dealing with the two worlds, they simply said that " it is how they have lived since the beginning of their time, so it was not complicated". While I cannot blame them for this as I too have thought to myself that it's just how things are, I still couldn't help but contemplate the amount of things that I had ignored in my life. The injustices that I let fall to the waste side for convenience, or because it's just been the way it's been. However, I walked out of the day long discussion and presentations with a keen eye towards justice and a new necessity to keep asking questions.

Oh the places you'll go!