This is India

Morning commute on a cycle rickshaw

As I sit here and try to think about what I could possibly write, I realize THIS. THIS is India, yes it is. Stripped of its romantic Sadhus and spiritual pilgrimages, of ancient civilizations and epic battles, of salt marches and elephant polo. Amidst the city, hustle-bustle of street life, men and women living in bastis next to nice hotels, the flurry of sari hems and dark eyes and chai stands by the side of the road, this is India, too.


So, where am I? Sitting in a glass spire building that seems to touch the sky at a mere 10 stories, but only because it rockets out of the surrounding village fields where people are tending to their oxen. In this high-rise commercial building I feel like a queen on the eighth floor with air conditioning blasting as Hindi voices chatter around me on the phone lines. This is India. And this is where a lot of things happen. I am in a small desk cubicle, I meet with colleagues in glass conference rooms, I have chai served to me by the passing chaiwallah every few hours, and yet we are all here to provide needed services to the (inner and) outer reaches of rural India. Lit by flourescents and powered by wireless, the people who work here contemplate the distribution lines for essential health products, cut costs to offer another banking branch in Assam, and, for me, create student loans that are an economically viable option for low-income families. It's pretty amazing to contemplate the stretch of this office's arm into the depths of rural India, it seems to be an antithesis of sorts when you first see the building.

How to build an enormous cement building with only manpower? With bamboo scaffolding, of course. Notice the concrete drying, top-down. All applied by hand.

Currently our company, Janta, is running student loans out of 25 kiosks in 4 states in northern India. Our partner Drishtee (sponsored by the Clinton Global Initiative and Acumen Fund) is at the forefront of rural development in northern India. Except instead of developing rural areas to take control of land, resources, or people, Drishtee goes through local communities to provide services in an attempt to stem urban flight. It is through their rural infrastructure that I am able to process our attempt at poverty alleviation through increased access to education, so today I'm feeling pretty lucky to be a part of their program. At the end of the day I'm glad to be in an air-conditioned office and still know that what we do here will eventually reach thousands of people.