Hey guys!
Below is my response to St. Olaf's prompt: During Interim, St. Olaf students pursue a single course, often of an interdisciplinary nature. If you could design your own Interim course today, what would it be? (500 word limit, I use 488)
I think I have some good ideas, but my two points of concern are:
1) It looks like I am preaching a sermon.
2) I have a very weak ending
Could you please read it and let me know what you think? I promise to read your essays in return :)
"We buy your shit and sell it back to your for a profit", said the scrawny short man to the elderly tourist from England. Blunt as he was, Babu Bhai - the outspoken middle-aged aluminum trader from Dharavi - wasn't very far from the truth. Located in the heart of Mumbai, this sprawling slum is home to about 15,000 factories, many of which buy scrap metals and plastic from the UK by the container load, reprocess them into new products, and export them back to the US, the UK and Australia for huge profits.
Last summer, I had the opportunity to join a group of English tourists for a guided tour of Dharavi. Walking through unpaved passageways and crossing sewage-lined alleys, I met the most incredible and feisty people I have ever known. Meera-bai, the bangle seller from Uttar Pradesh who after years of abuse, threw out her drunkard husband and decided to take care of her two young daughters by herself. Over time she expanded her business, which secured her a profit of about Rs.15,000 every month. Veeru Appa, the owner of a plastic recycling plant, who learnt the ropes of the business from his father. He employed about 20 men at his factory, where they recycled plastic to pellets and wires which were then sold to bigger industrial users.
Whether Dharavi in Mumbai, Bhalswa in New Delhi, or Basanti in Kolkata, slums are the dirty secret of this country. My interim course at St. Olaf would be titled 'From ---- to ----: the Power of Entrepreneurship in Hidden India', and cover subjects as diverse as waste management and urban development, economics and entrepreneurship, women empowerment and diversity. What better way of learning about waste disposal, than from those for whom recycling isn't a choice, but a necessity of life? What faster route to acquaint yourself with real life economics than watching the many NGO's working in tandem with the local mafia, banks and the government to provide affordable loans to those in need? What shorter path to mastering various aspects of urban planning, than by finding the innovative designs in ramshackle constructions? It would also be a telling lesson in diversity. In my short trip, I learnt that diversity is not only the color of your skin or your sexual orientation, but a mindset that informs how you communication and actualize community.
Where many of us get upset over broken air conditioners, these determined souls work day and night in violent and overcrowded surroundings to provide better lives to their families. There is much to be said about the entrepreneurial spirit of Hamid - a 17 year-old orphan boy from Dharavi, who fishes out gold particles from the run off sewage from local gold recycling plants. I am confident that a few weeks spent with people like him would teach my classmates and me a thing or two about bottom of the pyramid innovation and local governance.
Below is my response to St. Olaf's prompt: During Interim, St. Olaf students pursue a single course, often of an interdisciplinary nature. If you could design your own Interim course today, what would it be? (500 word limit, I use 488)
I think I have some good ideas, but my two points of concern are:
1) It looks like I am preaching a sermon.
2) I have a very weak ending
Could you please read it and let me know what you think? I promise to read your essays in return :)
"We buy your shit and sell it back to your for a profit", said the scrawny short man to the elderly tourist from England. Blunt as he was, Babu Bhai - the outspoken middle-aged aluminum trader from Dharavi - wasn't very far from the truth. Located in the heart of Mumbai, this sprawling slum is home to about 15,000 factories, many of which buy scrap metals and plastic from the UK by the container load, reprocess them into new products, and export them back to the US, the UK and Australia for huge profits.
Last summer, I had the opportunity to join a group of English tourists for a guided tour of Dharavi. Walking through unpaved passageways and crossing sewage-lined alleys, I met the most incredible and feisty people I have ever known. Meera-bai, the bangle seller from Uttar Pradesh who after years of abuse, threw out her drunkard husband and decided to take care of her two young daughters by herself. Over time she expanded her business, which secured her a profit of about Rs.15,000 every month. Veeru Appa, the owner of a plastic recycling plant, who learnt the ropes of the business from his father. He employed about 20 men at his factory, where they recycled plastic to pellets and wires which were then sold to bigger industrial users.
Whether Dharavi in Mumbai, Bhalswa in New Delhi, or Basanti in Kolkata, slums are the dirty secret of this country. My interim course at St. Olaf would be titled 'From ---- to ----: the Power of Entrepreneurship in Hidden India', and cover subjects as diverse as waste management and urban development, economics and entrepreneurship, women empowerment and diversity. What better way of learning about waste disposal, than from those for whom recycling isn't a choice, but a necessity of life? What faster route to acquaint yourself with real life economics than watching the many NGO's working in tandem with the local mafia, banks and the government to provide affordable loans to those in need? What shorter path to mastering various aspects of urban planning, than by finding the innovative designs in ramshackle constructions? It would also be a telling lesson in diversity. In my short trip, I learnt that diversity is not only the color of your skin or your sexual orientation, but a mindset that informs how you communication and actualize community.
Where many of us get upset over broken air conditioners, these determined souls work day and night in violent and overcrowded surroundings to provide better lives to their families. There is much to be said about the entrepreneurial spirit of Hamid - a 17 year-old orphan boy from Dharavi, who fishes out gold particles from the run off sewage from local gold recycling plants. I am confident that a few weeks spent with people like him would teach my classmates and me a thing or two about bottom of the pyramid innovation and local governance.
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