The Indian Legal System & a Trip to District Court

So far, the lecture by Mr. Shivakumar about the Indian legal system has been the most fascinating to listen to. I cannot believe that nearly 30 million cases are pending within India's boarders! Our packet of readings validated the adverse effects of the choked-up legal system, stating that consequently "tens of thousands of Indians facing trial are crammed into overcrowded prisons, the majority incarcerated for terms far longer than any potential sentence would dictate" (Rahul Bedi, "India's legal system is grinding to a halt"). I also thought it was crazy how Indian women are permitted to marry at age 18, but Indian men have to be at least 21 years of age before doing so. Obviously, America focuses on the equality between men and women, so hearing about a law that treats the two genders separately like this seems pretty outrageous. Mr. Shivakumar also noted that women can only terminate the life of a fetus if the continued pregnancy causes potential harm to the mother or the fetus. With such a law put in place, I am curious how common it is for women who are not granted termination to use other self-inflicted methods of abortion in order to end an unwanted pregnancy.

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The trip to the District Court House was such an eye-opener! I couldn't believe how beat-up and run-down the entire place was. After sitting in a couple of the sessions and taking a short tour, I completely understand why we were getting such crazy looks from all the people who were standing on the grounds. It was very clear that they had no idea why anyone would want to be around that place, and after being inside, I couldn't agree more.

Dan and I sat by each other on the bus from Bangalore to Mysore, and we talked about how we both wanted to see what their jails are like. That site visit completely changed my mind; if the District Court House is that bad, I can't imagine what the overcrowded prisons look like. Yikes.

Ethics & The Police Band

Professor J.M. Subramanya spoke with us about ethics and how it plays into business philosophy. His lecture was interesting in that it touched on Mahatma Gandhi and his teachings of altruism as the highest form of morality because one of our assigned books brings light to the other side of Indian moral behavior.

On page 76 of Being Indian, Pavan K. Varma states that "corruption is, of course, not unique to India. What is unique is its acceptance, and the 'creative' ways in which it is sustained...Their understanding of right and wrong is far more related to efficacy than to absolutist notions of morality. An act is right if it yields the desired end; it is wrong if it does not". The idea of this blows my mind. I cannot imagine living in a place where offering and accepting bribes is legitimate in nature. As a business student myself--and living in a world where globalization has taken individuals into an international market--it scares me to know that I will be among other individual businessmen that are so focused on the final result that they disregard the morality of the means. If this corrupt way of doing business and making connections remains prevalent in the future, I am not going to be able to compete.

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I really enjoyed listening to the Police Band in the campus Amphitheatre. It got a little loud at times, but it was a perfect night to relax and hear traditional Indian music. It was beautiful outside, and it was nice that some of the other SDM students showed up to listen as well. I also couldn't believe that the soloist's phone went off during his performance. Moreover, I couldn't believe that he actually stopped in the middle of his song to answer it! I feel like mishaps with the cell phones around here happen all the time. It seems odd that the professors and businessmen keep their phones on all the time, and always make time to answer it even if they are in the middle of speaking to a group of people. Maybe it's a status thing... or maybe they just don't know that they can easily change the settings to 'silent'... either way, I find it pretty strange and somewhat distracting. I probably have a biased opinion on the situation though because if someone did that back in the US, it would be considered disrespectful and terribly rude.

INDIA = A WORLD OF CONTRADICTIONS

On the first day of class at the SDM Institute, I was immediately surprised at the administration's hospitality and their overall excitement about us being here in Mysore. We got a beautiful tour of the campus that was followed by a presentation given by Professor Rajesh Haldipur. I was so shocked by the majority of the statistics and video clips that he was showing us; most of my surprise came from the fact that I didn't realize how many contradictions exist within the boarders of India today. In Thomas L. Friedman's book Longitudes and Latitudes, he states that everyone in the world "is directly or indirectly affected by this new [globalization] system, but not everyone benefits from it...which is why the more it becomes diffused, the more it also produces a backlash by people who feel overwhelmed by it, homogenized by it, or unable to keep pace with its demands" (Prologue: The Super-Story). I believe that the backlash and contradictions in India is highlighted by these points from Prof. Haldipur's presentation:

-In Bihar, there is a 94% male literacy rate, but only a 10% female literacy rate (the national average is 65%).
-They have an independent judiciary system, but a very slow and backed-up legal system.
-They have a low per capita income, but at the same time they are creating multiple millionaires everyday.

After only being in Mysore for a couple of days, these contradictions are very apparent in all aspects of Indian living. Even in simply walking down the street, there are blocks of poverty filled with people who don't have the education, or maybe even the motivation or desire, to keep up with the changing times; and, directly adjacent to this, there are blocks of individuals who are capitalizing on new, modern opportunities, and keeping up with the ever-changing world of globalization.

After the presentation, our first sight visit was to the Vikram Hospital, and I can honestly say that I have never felt so uncomfortable and invasive before in my life. Although it is a "visiting hospital" and it is open for tours, I thought our group had no business being there. The patients at this hospital don't come in with the common cold; these people are either terminally ill or have very serious conditions, and we didn't respect the privacy of their treatment, or the privacy of their families who were waiting patiently for updates on their loved ones. Again, I realize that the hospital is open for tours; but, as Americans we DEMAND our privacy and take private matters very seriously (especially when it comes to our own healthcare). There is no justification for us not treating those patients and their families with the same civility and respect that we demand for ourselves. It's ridiculous. What happened to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you"?

I'm interested to see where the discussion goes after our lecture on ethics.

Culture Shock

I could not believe my eyes once we finally made it to India. I spent a lot of time on the planes reading The World is Flat, and I think it obscured some of my expectations on what life in India is actually like; Thomas L. Friedman glorifies India for its culture, innovation, and IT capabilities in a world that is “indeed, flat”. Driving from the airport and into Mysore, though, gave me a completely different view of the real India and the biggest culture shock I’ll probably ever experience throughout my lifetime. I was so overwhelmed by the dirt and muck and lack of civilization that it was almost surreal. No, it was surreal. I woke up the next morning and didn’t know where I was; I could have sworn it was a dream. I wanted it to be a dream. I had no clue how I was going to make it in a place like this.

After four days of everything Mysore, India, things are beginning to look up. I even made friends with some of the locals down the street! I can’t wait to see what is in store next.

Karl & I = Ex-Friends.

It's pretty simple: I had my Purell hand sanitizer snatched from my backpack by the meanest woman alive when I went through security in MSP, and Karl didn't. Dammit. Karl and I had been friends for about 6 minutes when I found out about the injustice that took place. It was ridiculous, and I'm still fuming about it. Due to the complexity of the situation and my inability to reconcile, I've decided that it would just be easier to move on with my life if Karl and I simply cut off all communication with one other. Friends no more.. the end.

I cannot believe I'm leaving for INDIA tomorrow...

It's the night before I leave for India, and to be honest, it really hasn't hit me yet. I'm sure it's going to hit me like a bus once I get to the airport tomorrow, but until then, I'm taking everything in stride and trying to picture myself in the center of all the vibrant culture that I've been reading about. I've always been fascinated by India and everything it has to offer, but when I applied for this program, it was quite the impulse decision--maybe why it hasn't quite hit me yet that I'm going. I was originally planning on studying abroad for a semester in Milan, Italy, but when my plans fell through last Spring, I was determined to find another study abroad experience that would fit my personality and expose me to a completely different way of living; I'm very confident that I found the right one and I cannot wait for the next three weeks. Regardless, I'm extremely excited to meet everyone else going on the trip, and I just received a new digital camera from my parents that I can't wait to use an abuse. India is going to be crazy--see you all tomorrow!