Radiohead on Saturday Night Live..classic

Is this basically becoming a diary?

So I haven't posted in a while and this is due to various reasons, none of them being in the least way negative! I am so ridiculously happy to be back here, I am now 100% sure that thriving in this positive workplace whilst pursuing my career was by far the best idea over staying in the UK and only doing job applications.

I need to feel useful and determined to achieve and I have that here in bucket loads. There are a few more volunteers on our little campus here now. Matt from USA has arrived back from working in the field in Lanjigarh, Kalahandi. I'm happy to hear his tales about the conservation areas where some of the villages are situated. He feels the same as me in that it is essential. He went off on little treks to find massive natural gardens and shining streams in the troughs of undulating scenery. It really has to be seen. When I head out there I intend to get this on camera. Matt is working on Forest Rights work and I am excited about our collaborative work. He seems interested in my work and I can tell he has a great attitude. This is the second time he's been at GV too so I'm sure he is full of tales. The past few days have also seen the departure of volunteer Niklas from Germany who was amazing company whilst here. He spent his days teaching English and I expect coming from a psychological studies background helped inform his work and time at Konkia tribal school. His stories were also really entertaining. We had one or two nights of staying up late in my room listening to tunes and having a few too many beers and sips from my cheeky bottle of Jack. He has now continued on to Delhi where he will eventually meet his much missed girlfriend and do some more amazing places in India. There are literally too many things to see in this country. Spoilt for choice.I've been getting to know the new PMED (Planning Monitoring and Evaluation) departmental co-ordinator, Dorothy, and I'm loving her company also :) Also from an amazing background, I think we have a lot to learn from each
other and share. Here's hoping. In addition to these guys there is also Jack who is currently in the field and from South Wales, Marcus from Cheshire! and of course Olive....who I owe wine gums for checking over my last application for a job at Save The Children. Fingers crossed for that one. Anvesh is currently out hiking and then off to some training events as part of his ICIC fellowship and I eagerly await his return and photos. He makes a damn good chai too!

So yeah, an influx of new faces and a burst of new energy into the office. This is exactly what motivates me to keep pushing so I'm very happy. As much as Gram Vikas is a pioneering inspiring place people often lack motivation and drive but I feel a real energy amongst the volunteers and Dorothy too. I expect I can take a lot of inspiration from her here.

My posters are almost finished now and I am waiting to see the full sets before I go about asking for modifications. Sadly, Mr. Swine's wife died last week and that put quite a downer ont the guys in the Art Section with no work being done full stop...to look after him and go about procedure for the funeral etc. I've found it difficult to approach them and push them for work since. I suppose I'll leave it some time and just be respectful. I hate seeing these guys upset, it's not nice. I've been pursuing professional advocacy training and have Paul from Kolkata asking some people for me. It's surprisingly difficult to find training in India whereas in England right now I know there are two or three courses I could attend. Ah well, Jo from Trocaire NGO in Bhubaneswar has sent me, very kindly, over some documentation from previous training events her colleague took part in so I plan to study those. It seems quite extensive and I am contemplating paying for it all to be printed. Printing is a bit of an issue here as obviously it costs quite a bit so I actually hate approaching and
asking for print-outs of anything above 30 pages. I still hate reading from a laptop screen though. Not so nice.

My visa extension documentation has all been submitted now and I have to wait a month - ending 20/October to see if it has been accepted. Again cross everything as if it is rejected or other complications arise, I will have to either return to England which I don't really want to do or go to Sri Lanka to request another 6 month tourist visa to re-enter India. If it comes to this, I will go for this tactic. Plus I'm becoming quite a fan of everything tamil so....yeah. The big Dad had his birthday yesterday and I was eagerly awaiting a call to wish congrats and make silly comments about the family conquering Snowdon in Wales. I hope you guys had a good day, I miss you lots.

I need to find some time to learn more Oriya and also Hindi. I love how Hindi sounds, it just rolls off the tongue with lots of kinda breathed in and out sounds. I would say it sounds far nicer than Oriya! In relation to Tata I have heard that they called through to GV to check my details but I am STILL awaiting some kind of confirmation that I have been accepted as a fully sponsored participant. I would love this opportunity to not only travel India but to gain some great Inspiration from the directors of pioneering developing NGO's in India. Amazing for my career, perspective and experience. Really hoping this comes through. If it does, celebrations!

My health is good apart from decreased appetite, I believe this is due to the heat somewhat peaking the last few days and the rains coming less frequently. It needs a good rain here. I have a bit of pain due to one of my wisdom teeth coming through which can be very painful. Saying that, today is actually quite okay and I think drinking warm drinks (there are now 4 types of tea in my room) is working well.In relation to my room entertainment, I've been having evenings where my amazing headphones and amplifier have been passed around like how my Jack is being consumed! It's great to have amazing quality, load, base and I can't get that through my dodgy little speakers. So happy I brought this hi-fi tech with me to India. Oh also, Marcus has brought an amazing little projector with a micro SD card input so you can play films directly from this little box gadget and get a really cinematic feel. We watched Train Spotting last night and hooked up some speakers. Worked great.

I would also like again to thank Joanna for her advocacy documents and her CV editing. She has done the similar routes I am currently taking to get into International Development and along with Dorothy who is also very knowledgeable, I think my chances of networking and finding other contacts to send applications to has increased. I hoped this would happen by being back here and it has so again...happy. Dorothy has contacts at UNICEF and despite their strict application requirements, I think I might have a pop and do some tactical name dropping and emailing with her contact. That is an exciting prospect to me as like I have written in my last covering letter, ''Experience has shown me that when able to thrive, young people represent a great potential for leading development campaigns and triggering social change. Every child should be able to realise their rights to education, health care, nutrition and  employment opportunities'' I like the idea of working for a youth centric NGO. Lots of potential for interesting projects.

Right, now for music.

Opeth have a new record out which I am enjoying. I'd describe it as a death metal band who want to try something different and mellow out..here is one link to a good track off that:

I have also bene listning to the new Laura Marling album and this track a wonderful jazzed up folk track. I like the jumpy timing and her vocal melodies:

Of course PJ gets some air time, banging the last record, Let England Shake, a lot!

Right, that's that!

Love to all

Rich

Horrible India

http://www.newint.org/blog/majority/2011/09/16/mari-marcel-thekaekara-india-genocide/

To think this actually happened too.

Madness

What a week, I'm back

Aung San Suu Kyi upbeat over Burma's future

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15011211

She is amazingly driven despite all she has been through. And she even cracks a joke.

Great stuff

Love to all

Rich

My new hero.Richard Thompson.. I learnt how to play mgbgt last night by ear as well

Pure class, the chord progression at 16 seconds is so wonderful. I try and do stuff like that all time.

perfect

Amazing version of this PJ track

Will blog tomorrow..too tired.

Need to catch up..

I thought I'd upload a few shots of my poster work for Gram Vikas here. The work is nearing its conclusion and I spent some time last week photographing all the sketches so I can show the designs to management and go about modifications.

I'll upload a few below of the ones I particularly think will work at the field level. Just to reiterate, the plan is to represent the impact that RTI as an advocacy tool can have on the many problems faced in villages - there are a series of 7 posters referencing government schemes and contrasting the situation before and after RTI is utilised to address the issues with local government and bring about, hopefully, proactive, positive and localised action.

I'm getting increasingly excited about testing my theory that the visual product is far more effectual than constant meetings and long, maybe inspiring but pretty boring speeches to villagers that have a lot better things to do with their time.

Functioning of government provided roads, bridges and allocation of TSC (Total Sanitation Cover)

Maybe you can't make this out so far so I'll post more later. Chai time.

Earthquakes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14967857

Belinda Carlisle And Earthquakes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14965598

So a 6.8 quake hit the Himalayas yesterday and it was felt in Kolkata. I'm totally fine and had no idea about it all until this morning where I here from the guide that took me around my trek in Nepal that he just about survived it all. My friend in Kolkata was also fine and following the aftershocks went to his favourite restaurant where he somehow, this is how incredibly random India can be, bumped into Belinda Carlisle and joined her for dinner!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belinda_Carlisle

Will write more tonight.

Love to all

Rich

I thought I'd post this as it sums up quite well what I want to do..

Advocacy


Assisting with NGO programmes to develop innovative responses to the challenges of delivering advocacy work which will enable women and men from the poorest and most disadvantaged communities to influence the systems, decisions and allocation of resources which affect their lives.

Bloody exhausted..

So the whole morning was about getting a form (pictured below) completed, signed, paid for and submitted at the police station for my visa extension. We also went to enquire about Olive's visa extension and get that all going. This entailed going to a treasury office (twice), paying the 'challan' at the State Bank of India, getting more stamps than you really need to officiate ANY document before finally submitting it to the relevant visa authorities which we also had to visit..twice!

Me and Olive got it done though despite it killing our mornings in 30 degree heat and humidity around the dusty streets of Berhampur. Today felt exceptionally warm to me out there...I've become perhaps a little less desensitised to the exposure to heat due to spending a month in England. Our driver was an absolute legend of a guy called Babula who I have greatly missed whilst in England and he happily obliged to take us to all the destinations and wait when needed etc. He is a good source of banter and like many of the people here finds it amusing, to say the least, that my name sounds like Recharge instead of Richard which yeah, despite being really annoying, stopped me from raging at the craziness of the situation itself. Really cool guy who seems very proud of his recently born boy who he has named Sai Sibram. Indian names rock. It never dawned on me how much I have missed everyone here.

I am giving my Manchester UTD football scarf to my good friend Joyu here who has been away for the past few days. He is the tea boy here but he does other things like clean the toilets and surrounding campus. I think he works very hard and has potential for better, more stimulating things. Maybe he could be a guide for visitors when they come and I don't see why he can't be utilised in the field. But, as like everything in India, employment works like one continuous chain where each person embodies yet another link doing whatever task in the hierarchy which without them leads to all sorts of problems. I suppose this has its pros and cons in itself anyway. Happy to have a job but unhappy to not be able to fulfil one's potential. Ah well, he seems happy enough to me. I found out today he earns 2000Rs a month (26 pounds) and has been here for around 7 years doing the same thing. I expect he gives the majority of his salary to his mum, sister and relatives. He lives in a local village very close to the GV headquarters, Lathi, where Gram Vikas attempted to implement it's 100% water and sanitation program but failed due to many problems including poor community participation, local politics and I'm sure many other things too. This in itself has been a situation to baffle me and many volunteers that have spent time here. Why would you reject the offer of an NGO to commit to years of engaging, long term and potentially life saving work to improve the hygienic and water supply situation in your village? Its really sad to see the kids and parents crapping out on the sides of the road when the NGO is so close and many villages have been revolutionised in comparison to such degrading practices as this. But that's the whole point, if you are habituated to do this since day 1, do what you want not what someone tells you is right or better. If they say no, we say no too.

Had some lunch, back to the office, quick jaunt to the art section before finalising my Tata application and sorting a few things for the Saturday trip to Puri which should be ace. It's Jane's 2th birthday.

Love to all

Rich

'5 a day' #2 - 14.9.2011 & a bit of The Fast Show...''SNAKE''

https://picasaweb.google.com/114936315234966016722/14September2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

So, today was eventful

Today's key word would most likely be bureaucracy: written in multiple fonts and hardly legible to the human eye. I come to expect this from India really but I just thought I'd document an example of how a seemingly easy to resolve situation (by Western standards of course) can be complicated.

So I am in quite a rush to get my documentation submitted to the local police station foreigners office so I can extend my visa here, I think you are supposed to get the documentation off and away to the embassy in Delhi 60 days before visa termination, mine being on th 9th November. In addition, the Tata trip commences end of December so getting this extension is imperative. So to pay for my visa which is 120$ I need to send a treasury challan which is basically where you get a receipt as such which proves you have made a deposit to the Indian Central Bank which is then claimed by the recipient, in this case the Indian embassy responsible for foreigner immigration. So its a way of paying for stuff without actually being there in person, like a voucher. Anyway, so what I have to do is go to the treasury office in my local town, Berhampur, pick up a form which I believe must be photocopied in a certain way and then return to the police office with this form so he can help us fill it out. By the way, the treasury office is only open from 10:30 am to 13:30pm. Helpful. So anyway, following this form being filled out I take this to the main branch of the Indian State Bank and pay the money into their reserve. I then finally get another document which is proof of payment which is then sent along with my other documentation to Delhi. Too many forms, too much wasted time and a completely illogical process. Ever heard of a simple electronic bank account transfer. Nope. No idea mate! ARGH. So wish me and Olive luck for tomorrow's attempts!

I did some other stuff this morning concerning my Tata train application (mention before) too as I have to submit financial documentation to prove myself 'deserving' of a fully sponsored position on their selection roaster. Little worried about this as I am far from a poor upbringing in comparison to other people from the developing world and fully sponsored positions are not given out freely, despite this trip being organised by Tata, perhaps India's largest and most profitable company. I'm going to take some advice on my responses and cross my fingers I don't get rejected on these grounds. It would seem a massive shame for this to fall through at this stage. There are people from all over the world who have been selected and not all are as I say before from 'poor' beginnings...I'll just have to see. Either way I can't afford to pay for any of the trip if it comes to that.

The art section guys ,who I am getting ever more close with, have most of my work finished for the RTI IEC (Information Education Communication) materials. This comprises 7 posters, and a tonne of great sketches exemplifying the impact RTI can have on various village level issues. I'm really proud of this work and excited about the final product. I'll post the photos up when I finally go and photograph the whole set.

Apart from this, I think I am still getting over my jet-lag and this morning felt like sleeping a very, very long time. I'm forcing myself to go by Indian time instead of how I did it in England and just slept a few days away.

I wish my Oriya was far better too. I feel apprehensive about going back to the field before I am more confident in understanding others speaking the language to me. Not easy.

Right, that's it. I'll link to my picassa album with yesterdays 5 shots.

 https://picasaweb.google.com/114936315234966016722/13September2011ReturnToGV5?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I hope I can get into a habit of this as it could work really well. There were some great opportunities for shots I missed today in Berhampur, the school kids often get lifts in cycle rickshaws with an extended part on the back where they all sit down and are covered by a little roof, like a cycle rickshaw school bus. See the picture below of a really good example of one.

Love to all

Rich

New Compositions From Aphex Twin and Jonny Greenwood

I intend to post all my music videos here now instead of facebook as I am quite sure I irritate people with constant posts! These should be quite spectacular.

A return to India and '5 a day'

Hey!

So I've arrived back to India and Gram Vikas after a month and a bit of holiday back in the UK where, apart from the London riots and a bit of a culture shock the first few weeks, I had a truly wonderful time. It was especially great to share my stories and passion with friends and family, even if it took quite a lot of explaining! I got to see Arcade Fire and my friends band Scratch Latin play live, surf in Cornwall, go on amazing mountain walks and see-side jaunts with my dad and sit endlessly in real English pubs and bars with the best of friends. You have no idea how much I missed the drinking and pub going culture in England. Loved that.

I've returned to a wonderful welcome with hugs and smiling faces from my colleagues which I see more as my second family now. I heard from Jane Feeney (who very kindly put me up for one night in Bhubaneswar following 2 days of travel and shared a duty free Jack Daniels with me) that the re-entry into India can be quite overwhelming but I seemed to have more trouble going back to the UK! I'm not sure exactly why this is.

The monsoon rain has really set in since I left in August with incredibly heavy rain falling 2 or 3 times a day. I wish I could record the thunder and photograph the lightning strikes. It feels almost dangerous to walk out into the rain and see the thunder crack the skies above me. I will try and capture it though as I have never seen lighning come down and illuminate the sky such a wonderful colour of pinky red. Like everything in India, it's loud and bright, its seemed quite an appropriate thing to return to India and see such a weather phenomenon. The rain breaks the humidity and I am happy to tell that I actually slept last night without a single fan on which is a first for me in all my time in India. I had some pretty vivid dreams though which seemed to be a massive amalgamation of thoughts and experiences from my time in England.

So what has changed since I left? I know its only a month but as you can see I am trying to make more of an effort to document my time here as I may not be here for another year so will try again this time round to truly capture the true essence of my Indian experience. My idea with the '5 a day' is that I will document my time at Gram Vikas by simply snapping 5 shots and uploading them somewhere where you can check everything out. I hope it promotes some kind of discussion or debate. Apart from my renewed interest in blogging and the intensified rains, there are now 2, I think, cows now moved into the nearby fields close to my accommodation to chomp at the vegetation which has grown at an incredible rate. I also noticed an intensified rice paddy farming as I crossed through Orissa as obviously when the rain is there, it is time to capitalise on the conditions. I love looking out on the patchwork quilt sea of paddy fields which seems to go on for eternity. It made me wonder how they co-ordinate the farming of the fields and how local villagers organise the land ownership of such a vast area of land, as my work has shown me however, I expect this is only accomplished with difficulty and in relation to the farming itself - with centuries of passed down technical knowledge. 

I loved seeing the guys including of course Anvesh and Jospeh and sharing stories with Olive. Good to have this little network of people from very different backgrounds and expertise. I hope we can help each other out as the years go by. I definitely want to visit Ireland that's for sure.

Whilst in England I was accepted for a position on the Tata Jagriti Yatra which as described on their website http://www.jagritiyatra.com/, is basically an 18 day train journey visiting 13 destinations around India ( a 9000km trip in total) where social entrepreneurs have established NGO's and foundations to assist with International Development issues. From over 10,000 applicants thus far I have been selected and I am very proud and feel privileged to be granted such an opportunity. I am always seeking inspiration for all my endeavours and I’m sure I will meet some great role models and highly driven individuals here. I was a little concerned that I might be one of the few foreigners on the train but upon looking on the website there are people from all over the world so I’m looking forward to that diverse mix of opinion and experience.  My only issue is that the trip sets off end of December and my visa here expires in November so my visa extension, as well as job applications, is on top of the to-do list!!

In relation to my work: I am awaiting the finished designs for my motivational/educational posters to use in villages to promote RTI activities (Right to Information) I’m excited about finalising these and putting them to the test. I am also feeling great being back as I no longer pay for my accommodation here and this has really boosted my confidence as I hope this means my work has been recognised and I am valued. This means an awful lot to me, especially when I have such love for the organisation and its work. I also plan to document government schemes available for villagers in Orissa to attempt to define some kind of standard procedure so people know how things 'should' be working locally. Quite a long and drawn out task but I'll chip away at it. I think it could be a great resource if it is put together well and translated.

I’m getting a bit bored of writing now and want to get on with other things so that’s enough for now. I’m going to take 5 choice photos tonight and will upload them tomorrow.  For now I will upload an image taken by my Dad when we visited the Wirral, UK and went for a deceptively long walk across to Hilbre Island.

Love to all

Rich

 

God hates a coward - Tomahawk

Mike Patton entertains you!

Remider

Track the developments in Syria over time or not...but either way target who the main agressors are (politicians etc), who they are and what they want to achieve..profiles

Will get posting again. Lots to say..

This is happiness...awesome

Pure greatness

Currently documenting a rural employment gurantee act so it can be used for RTI purposes...

This is how the act should NOT function :(

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/orissa-nrega-scam-supreme-court-pulls-up-centre-91560

Saturrrrrrrrdays...I need a drink

Love to all....

It does make a difference...

http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/sep/20rti.htm

Boom and that's how you destroy global communications....crazy

Georgian woman cuts off web access to whole of Armenia

Entire country loses internet for five hours after woman, 75, slices through cable while scavenging for copper.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/06/georgian-woman-cuts-web-access

Happy birthday Mum! :) Love you

Quite an appropriate choice of track for you today! All good here, will call this morning..I'm waiting for you guys to wake up :)

Adivasi style

I could write 10,000 pages about my last 3 days living in their villages. Beautiful warm people, smiling faces and great food...and drink!

INDIA CRICKET CHAMPIONS

More to come I'm going to bed...

Soundtrack to my day...feeling driven and determined :)

The beating of a million drums...

Love to all

Laura..wow

I'm going to the beach, the beach, the beach...

Wrote for me :) Cheers Carl, I'm still singing.

Massive love to all

My musical hero. Ladies and gents I give you Mr. Tom Waits..

Hmmmmmmmm....but at what cost?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12853634

Developments in Syria situation:

Syria unrest: Government pledges political reforms

Getting a huge kick out of learning Oriya...

I'm actually managing to string together correct sentences now. I'm trying to mix up tenses and quantities of things to force myself into learning more complex conversation. I'm still asked question where I have absolutely nooooo idea what they are talking about though. All in time I suppose :)

Aji sakale mu bahar rasta re chalu thili , au mu bahut mankada dekhilli (Today I walked on the road outside and saw many monkeys!)

Excitement

 

What human rights?

I'm speechless. My thoughts go out to the murdered, innocent protesters in Syria today.

Once again, a complete lack of respect for human rights and civil liberties.
 
Freedom of speech is becoming nothing more than a self proclaimed death wish. Oppress all freedoms through state legitimised violence...yeah that's an easy resolution sure. Shut them up.

These people might never get justice for this. I hope more evidence comes through to criminally convict all concerned aggressors.

Silkie dubbing it...

booom, booom, boom...stop         

boom, boom, boom, boom...stop.....love it
 

I reckon I could make music like this. Recorded an acoustic guitar track last night and attempted some lyrics for the first time...feeling mighty creative. It's weird. I would never have had the head space and inspiration to do anything like this back at home. Matt H, if you are reading this, can I email you the dodgy demo tracks to see what you would recommend? I might upload the track when it's finished. Kinda Zeppelin folky esque. I reckon I could simply get the first part tracked and then add and add and add until it's great.

I might write a riff to play in the villages for Gram Vikas too. Guitars seem to really hold people's attention here so maybe worth it?

I also wrote a short story kinda in the style of Quentin Tarantino where the plot-line spontaneously shifts to the other character's tale so multiple stories run in parallel before meeting for the climatic finale. There are two criminals just released from jail enjoying their freedom again, an innocent Pawnbroker guy living in the Bronx amongst warring drug dealing gangs and a spoilt teenager getting used to homeless life after deciding to quit his job and run away from his family. So all set in America. I think I was thinking about The Wire whilst scribbling words so that's kinda a bit where this is coming from. I'm thinking about the film Sin City too..dirty grimey urban landscape with seedy goings on. I might just pass it over to Nick so he can destroy any creativity with comic flare....

Love to all

R

Mental battles...

Thats from the last record - Mirrors. The vocalist (if you can call him that) has now left and the track below is their new output. I'm still a bit indifferent to the new stuff, doesn't have the same punch. Cool album artwork though. It makes me want to touch my monitor screen!

Apparently they are putting up advertising billboards with the image minus the band's name and album title. This seems like a massvie missed opportunity to me. But then again what do I know about marketing...oh hang on I do know about that...thanks WK. Anyway, enjoy the new track below. Tis' a grower.

 

Back to getting into the complexities of the RTI act. It feels good to have an action plan together and to have the help of Mr. Patnaik who is a really passionate former GV employee and RTI advocate. Stuff is coming along well I feel :) Despite a few setbacks, I am still in love with Ganjam, GV, the rolling hills and people's genuine kindness and concern. I mean, it could be a lot different.

Drum roll...

I think I annoy people with my optimism and enthusiasm which can be easily perceived as naïvitiy, especially in India. I'm becoming ever the realist nowadays and my problem is that today's global 'reality' is just so absurd . 9,000 dead in Japan, a psychopath in Libya starting the next war, innocent protesters and poverty stricken indigenous populations struck down by violent and corrupt governments and monetary domination. If that is realism, it needs to change now and everyone needs to rethink their stance. What does apathy and the 'oh its fine it's not happening to me' attitude achieve? Well, nothing really. If the dinosaurs managed to survive, via evolution, for over 160 million years on this little rock, we have managed for 3 million. Just 3 million years! And that includes numerous wars we barley managed to survive through.

Can evolution of the mind lead to social revolution of the common man? Sounds good to me if possible. So when is the next Gandhi coming along?

Venting my somewhat random flow of thought its actually quite liberating :)

Bring on the backlash..

Love to all

An excellent article written by fellow volunteer Siri Avalur on Gram Vikas' work in tribal Orissa

Water after ten years.

Overcoming all odds to finally meet peoples needs with water and sanitation provision.

As always, reading articles like this makes me hugely proud to be a part of Gram Vikas and its vision.

Long may this feeling continue! :)

Check it out below:

http://blog.peerwater.org/2011/03/18/water-after-ten-years/

Love to all 

How do you inspire and motivate India's poorest and most discouraged rural villagers?

Is this the way? RTI (Right to Information) what I am currently working on here.

An excellent case study is linked below and something I have really learnt from. I just hope when I go into the villages I can work in a team like these guys have...a powerful presence and as ever, knowledge is power.

I love how music can be used to really rally people behind a vision and movement. It seems to be a common theme in each video part. Kids screaming their lungs out.

Enjoy the case studies: Part 1 - 3 below.

I wonder if anyone actually reads this blog....ah well. It's good to share my thoughts even if it is purely reflective.

Love to all

Rice, rice, rice, rice...nice

So as the heat sets in, I'm trying to pay as much attention as possible to what I eat and drink. It was 30 today but I can see it slowly creeping upto 35 from this website:
http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/india/berhampur

Coming to think of it, I'm sure its warmer than that here...anyway!

Yesterday I drank the water from a coconut (there are different varieties of mango tree, coconuts and papaya growing on the campus) and that made me feel grand. Imagine the taste of one of those oral rehydration solutions in water and make it sweeter and most likely more effective! Obviously litre after litre of water is a good option too. Today, however, I tried a new type of rice popular in Orissa and other parts of India: 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food/food-reviews/Pakhala-a-hot-favourite-in-Orissas-summer-menu/articleshow/5787472.cms

It's also referred to as water rice and it's really a different deal. You have to squeeze out the water back into the bowl you get it served in and then eat the rice down. It tasted quite alcoholic but in a sweet, sticky way.

It's meant to help you relax in the summer heat and also promotes great sleep. Simple solutions to everyday problems. This, I like about India...shame this doesn't apply to other areas of society :( Anyway, back to correcting Mr. Pattnaik's financial manual.


Love to all

My favourite producer: Shackleton. The Quietus interview.

  http://thequietus.com/articles/05836-shackleton-interview-bloc-weekend

Don't worry. I'll be adding a lot more colourful, India based stories soon. This just struck me today at work. 

Great if you are into interesting, dark and brooding electronic music.

Love to all

The Glorious Land

How is our glorious country ploughed?
Not by iron ploughs
Our lands is ploughed by tanks and feet,
Feet
Marching

Oh, America
Oh, England
How is our glorious country sown?
Not with wheat and corn
How is our glorious land bestowed?

What is the glorious fruit of our land?
Its fruit is deformed children
What is the glorious fruit of our land?
Its fruit is orphaned children

Stargazing.....

Tonight I plan to go with good friend Donald to do a bit of stargazing...if it's a clear night it's more than a sight. If anyone knows much about star constellations and the best way of capturing it on camera, please leave me a comment! :)

Anyway, I'm back to my room...

Love to all

200 Facebook photos uploaded today! Finally people have an idea of why I love it here.

Check it!

Getting damn hot here! Apparently it was 37 yesterday! It gets upto 45. White boy Rich is going to fry!

This track has made my morning: http://disconaivete.tumblr.com/post/3721293181/the-wolf

 

Fever Ray soundtracking the new Red Riding Hood film - which I expect, by the music, will be a rather twisted affair...... all good in my book! Enjoy the music.

Love to all

New rooftop club in Bhubaneswar. Good times had by all. Free bar and random bollywood stars included

My first few months in Orissa, India

I'll gradually get round to summarising, somehow, my first 3-4 months in India! One key describing word for now though would be: incredible. I think I might simply go for the photos with commentary approach first :) Love to all.