Mana Shah - Facilitator

One of the many things Parth and I have in common is how we deal with something new that has to be done. To us it seems akin to any other project we would be taking up. So it was not a surprise when we heard the big news, how we would start work on....Project Baby Shah!!! Step 1: Internal and external SWOT Logical beings as we are, we first thought a lot about what strengths we have as parents and what weaknesses can make our tasks difficult! This was somewhat doable as we both had some experience in handling nieces and nephews. Step 2: Vision Next came the big VISION questions to which we were quite stumped actually = what kind of parents do we want to be? what values do we want to instill in our child? So came the next step! Step 3: Background research What do we as a species understand about babies, children? What influences their behaviour? How do they learn? How do we balance being permissive and authoritative? How do parents help them become happy, independent, responsible, r...

Usually it takes me atleast a few days if not weeks to complete a book. But this one, took just a day. Disclaimer: I am a firm believer and follower of checklists and todos to the point that my memory is completely handicapped without one! So when I picked up Atul Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto , I was pretty sure that I would understand his logic and reason for dedicating a whole book to a mundane thing as a checklist. His book demonstrates the successes in terms of life-saving, effectiveness and efficiency across professions from those in which split second decisions can decide the fate of someone's life and time is a luxury to others where one can spend as much time as needed to create perfection. Medicine, aviation and disaster relief to architecture and construction, restuaurant business, music industry.... How does one build a 100-storey building without accident or how does one produce 300 mouth watering perfect dishes in four hours or how does one assure safety of...

Despite all the pleasures of seeing new sites, one annoyance that I least look forward to is the rush of tourist guides that surround and hound you. Usually these would be young dudes who claim to show you all the sites at a very enticing price. Recently at Jaipur, we were also approached by "government approved" tourist guides with even a proper name tag. The dilemma facing the average Indian tourist seems quite serious: do you choose the government guide who has a fixed charge or you choose the unlicensed young dude at sometimes even half the price? If you look at the service that these guides provide, its basically history of the particular monument and if you are lucky some additional stories as a value addition! The guides also differentiates their service as per language, we could hear guides rattling off Japanese, Spanish, German...you name it. A new competitor on the scene-the audio guide-is also giving taking away some (not that much as audio guides are largely prefe...

A personal story of a family whose mother is a nurse, dilemmas and desires of three youngsters in the reform era, journeys of young women in search of brighter futures from Chattisgarh, Orissa to Delhi and the anguish suffered by them and their families, visual wonders of Titanic and Gabber Singh in Assamese of the 40 year old mobile theatre of Assam whose 120 member troupe performs for nine months straight moving from over 70 locations, mesmerising sounds of Rukma-the lone female Mangadia singer in Rajasthan, and to round it off a discussion with budding documentary makers on reality and the medium. That was my afternoon at this year's Jeevika. There is so much I do not know about India. In the discussion with filmmakers, Nandan-the moderator's question "what is a documentary?" offered different responses. It offers perspectives on everyday issues and happenings, it helps us discover new ones. It is a reflection of the filmmaker's conscience. It is a subjective p...

It so happened that our 9th anniversary clashed with a joint CCS-FNF programme with journalists in Patna. I was excited about visiting a new city and thanks to our dear friends Rajesh and Amit, we had a lovely anniversary celebration with cakes (yes we got two!), wine (which Rajesh went all over town to find!), litti (Bihari dish), breezy weather, and conversations on Bihari politics! Bihar has a fascinating mix of history-Gautam Buddha attaining enlightment at Bodhgaya, Mahavir spending a lot of time here, Chandragupta Maurya building a vast empire, Ashoka ruled from Patliputra, now Patna. The famous Patna museum was established in 1917 houses stone sculptures and statues. As we travelled across the city, old British clubs are quite visible. We had dinner in the gardens with palm trees along side the river at one such club-Bankipore, established in 1865! There are many sites to explore out of Patna-Nalanda, Bodhgaya, Vaishali. Alas, this trip was too short! We entered Patna town ...

These are the proud art works of my darling 3.5 year old nephew! He is quite spontaneous with his art tools and fervently produces these marvelous creations!

I have earned a bad reputation in my office for asking the annoying question-so what were your highs and lows on x, y/ z? I think today I can subject myself to this question. I am trying to make sense of what I feel about "India", not just today, but anyday. That is itself a difficult question to answer, since India is a land of mutliple realities. My German colleague gets quite annoyed whenever she asks us a question about India, in a typical Indian fashion, we answer indefinitively, this is also true, on the other hand, so is that.... My highs about India: My former boss once asked me what gives us optimism when all he can see around him goes against any ray of hope. My answer instinctively was-its people! I see my heroes and hope everyday: the street seller who was desperate to sell me a wet newspaper in the drenching rain, the cycle rickshaw puller who was pulling well-endowed and well-fed fellow citizens, the fruit and vegetable vendor who lugs his cart in my colony call...

Note: I was going so crazy recently about wanting a decent hair cut once and for all, that I thought penning down my mumbling mind may give it some rest! When does one really become conscious of one's hair? How the look and feel of hair affect our lives and how do our lives in term affect our hair? When I was in school, I had to sit out for the ritualistic oil massage, brading into a plat, making two pigtales or a ponytail for school. I did not much of a say in the inputs into my hair nor the output of how my hair would finally look like. Ironically, that was the time I think my hair in terms of quality was at its best. At some point, peer pressure and the mirror started taking over which never really go away. I think, hmmm, how does my hair affect how I look? How I am perceived? Does it make me look older? Does it make me look well-kept? Does it match with the clothes I am wearing? Does it match with my face?....The constant need to whisk out my brush. Oh if there is one emergency...

The roads across Ladakh are laiden with eye-catching and witty signs. A sample of what we saw over and over again... "Drive fast. Test my recovery." "I like you. But not so fast." "Better Mr. Late than Late Mr." "If you are married, divorce speed." "After whiskey, driving risky." "I am curveceous, be slow." ----My favourite! "Don't gossip, let him drive." "Safety on road is safe tea at home." On googling, I found many travelers have captured these. Ajay Jain has a book " Peep, Peep, Don't Sleep " on interesting road signs and ADs across India! And I thought I had the divine idea of a coffee table book:(

One unique thing about Vinod's " Journeys with Meaning " are visits to civil society organisations working in Ladakh on disability, promoting Ladakhi culture, encouraging debate on the effects of globalisation and integration with the world. On our first day in Leh, we made a visit to one such organisation-the Women's Alliance of Ladakh (WAL), http://womenallianceladakh.org/. "The Women’s Alliance of Ladakh was set up in 1991 with the twin goals of raising the status of rural women and to strengthen local culture and agriculture. Since its inception the WAL membership was swelled to over 5000 women belonging to over 100 villages from all areas of Ladakh." WAL was set up by ISEC (International Society for Ecology and Culture). Helena Norberg Hodge set up ISEC to "promote locally based alternatives to the global consumer culture". ISEC organises regular documentary screenings at Women's Alliance office (a mention in the Lonely Planet brings in ...

Parth and I were quite confident of ourselves that we will not only make it through the 1000 odd km road journey to Leh but also enjoy every bit of it! We kicked it off with an overnight ride to Manali in a AC volvo bus, alas in the last row! One has to pay a price of booking at the last minute. Anyhow, the seats did recline with enough of a buffer from the seat in front. As we started out of Delhi, the rain Gods spoke and we were stuck in traffic for couple of hours before we felt that we had actually started. A quick stop was made at the Mirchi resturant in Ambala (which had CCD by the way!). With the intention of keeping the passengers entertained (or was it for the driver, hmmm!), two bollywood movies back to back made sure that we did not get much sound sleep! But I could feel myself moving at the thumping beats of the nice songs, though! One great thing about the Volvo buses are the large windows with no grills giving a clean view of the outside world. The hills came into view al...

Even for an agnostic, there is something deeply spiritual about Ladakh-the Little Tibet. The rotating prayer wheels , the multi-coloured prayer flags, the mound-like Stupas and Chortens containing relics of Buddhist texts or remains of Buddha or a saint are omnipresent. They mark the beginning of habitation, the high points of mountain passes, the entrance and roof tops of houses and monastaries, the length of bridges...The colours of the prayer flags symbolise the five elements: Blue (sky/space); White (air/wind); Red (fire); Green (water); Yellow (earth ). Traditionally families have an inscribed wooden block which is used to make the flags. The old ones are never removed when the new ones are added, it is believed they will naturally merge with the wind in their own time.

One of the many things etched in my memory from my first trip to Pakistan recently will always be colourful, distinct, decorated trucks.....sadly I could not take any pictures, but I found a detailed and a lovely description of this phenomena My colleague Olaf presented me with a nice coffee table book on this "Art on Wheels". I did manage to get a small replica of this intriguing artform which sits in my living room.

In my years before me, I can say I have decent amoung of experience in working with youth. But if one were to ask me what is the secret of their success or what is one thing that should be done in creating maximum outcomes, I would answer with a typical Indian unidentifiable nod! As someone who is supporting, guiding, mentoring youth groups, should one give more autonomy and flexibility (and then take a chill pill and wait for the spontaneous order to create the magic)? Should one provide frameworks and structures within which young people can play with (and then scringe if one of those frameworks are not often referred to again until one plays the job of a constant reminder)? Should one insist on reporting and documentation after a great program when one knows that will take its own time to come? Should one provide more spaces to meet and interact face to face or create multiple online forums? Should one wait and control the impulse to rush in to "rescue" or "correct...

After reading James Tooley's The Beautiful Tree! I felt angry, inspired, surprised, and most of all completely bewildered as to how the education experts of the world from 19th century onwards were just ignoring how majority of the poor were choosing the education for their children. His experiences of working with schools in India, China, Nigeria, Ghana, and Zimbabwe all showed him the same thing! That the poor had made a choice for the betterment of their children. The educational entreprenuers were not looting the poor "ignoramous" parents. The children in private schools, even the village schools, were performing way better than their counterparts in government schools. It was the first time I had read a counter to Britain's feather in the cap-of bringing education to the uncivilised world! He documents again and again how in Kenya, China, India, and even in England had a history of well-functioning private schools which used a unique peer-learning methodoly! Giv...

One thing I will always be grateful to my Nigeria experience, would be that it made me write:) Its the first time in my life that I wrote about the big and small happenings in my volunteer life and I found this an excellent medium to share my thoughts of my loved ones (fortunately, the positive thoughts!) But since I have been back, I have not had the motivation or the idea on the form the blog should take. One of my dear friends from Nigeria, Ayo, challenged this extended leave of absense from this blog, by saying carpe diem shouldnt end just because I have left Nigeria!! So here I am, back atleast with this new post and some alterations to the blog layout! This transition is still work in progress so it will be a while till it looks smooth! I want to keep some of the old elements as many aspiring volunteers look to my blog as a source of information on the ups and downs of volunteer life. Keep reading, hopefully my mental mutterings will entertain you.....

Its difficult to believe that almost a year has passed since I became a part of GIVE's family. I came to GIVE and to Nigeria with a lot hope, excitement, curiosity and eagerness to make a difference. Lagos to me was very much like India in all its hustle & bustle and vibrancy. Though the traffic and NEPA were tough to get used to, the music, the art & culture scene, the BRT, the beaches and most importantly the PEOPLE have made this an unforgettable experience. Over the past year, working with the Network gave me the opportunity to work with a number of organizations and different people. I have been lucky to witness some impactful initiatives and meet committed visionaries. Thank you especially to Falana Martin-Mary, Princess, Ijeoma, Felix, Charles, Dr Chika for accepting my small contributions. As a volunteer, there was tremendous value and respect for my experience, skills and perspective. It was humbling to receive invitations to workshops and seminars out...

Day 1 of the carnival had boosted our curiosity, eagerness and energy to catch the main parade. After walking around for a while, we finally settled in the media stand which was perched up on wooden beams to offer a good view of the parade and it was right opposite the judges point so we got to witness the best dance performances. Donald Duke-the creator of the Carnival led one of the bands and the crowd went absolutely crazy when he and his wife made their appearance! After catching the morning three-hour parade, I somehow still had some reserve energy and after some refreshments, I accompanied Roy to the Stadium where all the bands were returning after their tour of the city. They performed one last time in the stadium and this time I was right in the front on the tracks and I got excellent frontal views of the entire parade.

Donald Duke -the former governor of Cross River State started the annual Calabar Christmas Carnival in 2000 which has surely put Calabar on the international map of carnivals! The entire month of December is lined up with exciting activities including live concerts, shows, youth development programs etc . The street parades are on 26 December (Kids) and 27 December (adults). The parade starts from one point and walks around the major roads across the city and heads back to the National Stadium. Eager and often undisciplined crowds line up on both sides of the road and other clearer viewing spots (we saw some on back of a billboard). Five bands compete for the best choreography, costume, music etc and of course the overall best band trophy! Each band has about 10-12 sections of different costumes. The overall theme of 2008 carnival was sustaining the earth's treasures. There are 3-4 adjudication points where the bands are at their best to impress the judges. Luckily for u...

Drill monkeys are short tailed rainforest monkeys that survive only in a handful of places one among which is the Cross River State and are one of Africa's most endangered primates being hunted for bushmeat! We visited two conservation initiatives Cercopan (www.cercopan.org) and Pandrillus (www.pandrillus.org). Both organizations have a captive facilitates in Calabar and much larger forested areas few hours north of Calabar. Having made up our minds to wake up in a forest on Christmas Day, we headed up to Afi Drill Ranch on 24th morning. After five hours in a taxi and wahalla with our taxi driver over how much we owed him, we completed the final leg of our journey on a "machine" (what they call bikes here) meandering through a uphill and downhill muddy road. The Ranch is home to about thirty gorillas, chimps and drill monkeys and other forest animals including mongooses, parrots, pigs, eagles and others I didnt know about. The ranch has a shared full equipped cook...