Buses and Hierarchy

21:22

28 June 2010

Another week has passed. It has been three full weeks since I boarded the departure plane out of San Francisco. Everyday continues to be jam-packed with surprises and the unexpected; however, Bangalore's rhythm has also been established and learned.

I’ve been taking the bus to and fro the office for the past week and will continue to do so because they are the cheapest form of motorized transportation in Bangalore. Buses are plain scary. They are over crowded. They usually don’t stop for boarding or exiting so generous leaping is necessary. They insist on doing u-turns across 6 lanes of traffic during rush hour . . . and I love the 'zoo-i-ness' of all of it. . . I wanted to mention that they were reliable, but during transit a few days ago, my bus decided to switch all of its signs and kick everyone off mid-route. We were all dumbfounded. I was a few minutes late to the office but had to laugh warm-heartedly.

More so, I’ve been trying to puzzle out the trafficking right-of-ways. Surly some organization exists within the seemingly endless pandemonium. . . My current conclusion is that the biggest on the road has the right-of-way. . . sometimes. The other seems to be that the junkiest vehicle with the least to lose also has the right-of-way. Regardless, drivers ALWAYS break and swerve for cows.

Work takes up most of my time, and the office is open six days a week. I enjoy going, and my work load is steadily increasing . Using gathered GPS data and Google Earth, I’m beginning to create a database of all 1000 slums in Bangalore. John’s primary goal is to figure out a way to map the boundaries for the slums within the city limits without expensive software. This is relatively a simple task; however, we’ve also been discussing ways to add and access more data within the map boundaries such as photos, video clips, and information from SPARC’s biometric database.

One of the strangest things about working in India is the idea and implementation of hierarchy. We simply do not have such a structure or concept within the boundaries of America. Here status and caste play an integral role in how the workplace functions, and the understanding of its operations is second nature to natives. . . but not to me.

John made it very clear the first day that I was not to help the women from Mahila Milan with their work. This is the main activity taking place in the Bangalore office, but it is not to be part of my job. I should learn the process but should not try to help out in anyway. This was straight forward enough; however, it has taken me a little while to figure out some of the more subtle points of status policy.

John is the Boss. John is the Lion. John is King. When he arrives in the morning (usually last), all the women and all of the men rise to their feet and bid him good morning. Throughout the day, he is served special tea and snacks, etc. He casually barks orders, and they are immediately carried out.

The ladies’ value is well recognized, but they definitely have less privilege with decision making and authority. They are also required to prepare and serve tea and the afternoon meal.

There are few men in the office (about 6 compared to the 30 women). Their tasks seem to be more technical and professional than the ladies’. They often are sent out to meet with partnering companies and government officials. John jokes with them, but his tone can also be commanding

**Always, John and all others sit at the same level, often in a circle so that when conversing the lines of caste are blended.**

The combination of my education, race and nationality seems places me somewhere between the men and John. I may be female, but gender is over-ruled by education. Education is over-ruled by skin color. Skin color is over-ruled by nationality. . . However, my "place" may very well be simple hospitality towards a visitor. I cannot tell, but the kindness shown to me on my first few days has morphed.

Because of my technical role, I’ve been mostly traveling and attending meetings with the men of SPARC. They don’t make me feel unwelcome, but I sense that it is an oddity for them to converse and collaborate with a female, especially one so young. Both parties are reassured by John, and it is proving to be a positive learning experience for everyone involved. Some of the gentlemen, including John, are impressed by some of the possibilities that I’ve been showing them with the GPS data. It is a good place to be.