Geez, I better be amazing at charades after this... I chucked to myself, as I couldn't help but try to decode every facial expression, every hand motion of each Kharadiyan community leader out of pure nervousness. After weeks of research and interviews, I finally composed a water purification and hygiene training manual that will serve as the platform for an educational presentation. The leaders are key in my project as they will be the ones to conduct the presentation and who else will the community trust more than these individuals? My translator, Kamal, was going over the manual as they followed along and discussed in Hindi. Well...are they impressed? Is the manual too simple? There must be so many grammatical errors on that thing! Google translate, you better not make me look like an idiot... I thought to myself, my inner dialogue rambling faster than my mind could organize itself. Okay, so I had my host sister proof read the text but still! It was midday in the village and, with no clouds in sight, the sun was mercilessly piercing it's rays on every surface, through every lanky tree. The Monsoons have arrived early this year, but with feeble sprinkles farmers are frustrated at how stingy the season has been. In hiding of the heat, we sat inside one of the community leader's household, sharing a large mat made of rice bags. The mother was sitting halfway inside by the door, while children were peeping in, hiding behind the entrance.
One of my biggest objectives for this project was to have a deep and holistic understanding of the community before I even jumped into the training manual. This took a number of overnight visits and being extremely aware of families' daily tasks. My questions ranged from health symptoms to overall hygienic routines, but what really propelled this research forward
was having an experienced translator. I was really lucky to have Kamal since he not only knew the area but has interacted with other interns in the past. He also knew when to ask further questions beyond what I've composed to gain a deeper understanding.
Overall, I'm extremely excited for this project and I'm not sure if I'm ready to head back home soon. It's the closing few days of my time here and I'm still learning so much! Although three months is not long for an intern, I've always concentrated on acclimating myself to the environment and learning more about India. Besides expanding knowledge in the political, economical, or cultural realm, this journey has constantly taught me understanding and patience, carving it into shape as time passes. I gradually develop understanding in the sense of always wanting to see the same object from different angles, whether in problem solving or interacting with another human being. Patience is needed if not required to thrive in a setting like this...and I don't mean acknowledging the spontaneous power outages, that is only skin deep. The work ethic and concept of time is different here in India. An article I read recently described it perfectly: Americans generally operate in "monochronic time"- where time is the given and people are the variable. In schedules, deadlines, etc. we can see that the needs of people are adjusted to suit the demands of time. On the other hand, India generally works in "polychronic time" where time is the servant and tool of people. More time is always available, and you are never too busy. Nevertheless, shifting from monochronic time, a system branded to your daily routines from day one, to polychrinic time is not a smooth transition. It is slow and bound to have miss-communications as well as mistakes along the way, especially as an intern there were moments where I felt out of tune with everyone else in the office. Regardless, I feel that all of this provides only opportunity to recognize the difference in work culture and flourish regardless of what "time" you are thrown into.
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