Wealth, Equality, Outsourcing and the $240,000 a minute!

For people who think the US doesn’t have people living in the lower socio-economic barrier, need to look around again. When Fatin Bundagji (Saudi Arabia) popped the question about the spread of the wealth across the spectrum of people, my ears perked up.

Andrew Cassel, Economics Columnist at the Philadelphia Enquirer responds to this by saying, and this is in summary so I hope I’m not putting too many words in the horse’s mouth –

“though that may be a problem, if you look at the how much the average American Citizen consumes today as compared to what they used to, that number has also grown considerably.”

What I still don’t understand is that though the amount and dollar value of consumption is on the rise, the cost of living has definitely gone up and the value of the dollar doesn’t purchase what it used to. Yet, seeing that there are policies that are specifically targeted towards the upper and wealthier classes, it would just seem that the gap between the upper and lower classes seems to be widening, and there is just no closing up that gap. Sure, I’m not an economist and my understanding of policies and government is limited, but this would be something I’d be interested in learning a lot more about, because there is a similar problem faced by Pakistan. There might not be a solution but a better understanding of the problem will only help us to work towards a solution.

After hearing Joe and Andrew, it seems to be that though there are things wrong with the American economy, there are more positive things happening than the negative which usually translates to more movement forward than stagnancy. Everyone has money – some departments have more than others. But what continues to amaze me is if there is so much money available to everyone, why isn’t all this surplus money put into the education or healthcare systems. If there is really so much money there, can the US Government not find better use for it?

Hopefully not boasting, but I did pick up a hint of it, was this statement: “The war in Iraq costs the taxpayers 240,000$ a minute.” $240,000 a minute!?!?! Good lord! I can’t help but think that if more people knew this figure, they might have another reason to stay out of the war zone. But I am nobody to pass a judgment on the people of the US. I happen to like quite a number of them. I just wish more of the “average American” voice would be heard.

The Lighthouse Team launches itself on EF!

I am writing this up while Bob is still talking about the EF trip not being a simple boondoggle, but in the intrest of competition, here's the Lighthouse Team's presence on the internet! Sheesh! Are we taking this competition spirit too far?! :-)

Regardless, The Lighthouse team is comprised of the following EF MNP's: Farith Ritauddeen, Gunvor Kronman, Ola Girstlova, Heinrik and me (Rabia Garib) - Photographs to follow as soon as Bob looks the other way!

The Cultural Salad Bowl

Morning of March 27th was very interesting. We got a chance to get a general overview of the origin and challenges of defining an American Culture by Dr Gary Weaver, Professor, School of International Service, American University, Washington DC. In my opinion, I found the overview to be an excellent, very generalized account of why American Culture is the way it is today. I think Dr Weaver gave the Fellows a wonderful opening to discuss amongst themselves, what Culture was all about and what it meant to us. And because it is so important to engage in that discourse, here's my view and account of what I feel culture means to me and how I think diverse cultures are seeping through physical boundaries.

I feel culture is a way of life. It's how we celebrate our lives and our environment. We celebrate life and and opportunity with music, culture and the arts, which give way to policies and topics for discussion and education. And then platforms such as Eisenhower Fellowships provide the platform for healthy discourse.

Technology factors into the spread of culture and ideas in such a big way, it is amazing. But perhaps because it is so new and most people think that they don’t understand the technology therefore don’t have a right to pass an assessment on the success or failure of it. We perhaps don’t criticize or even give the media enough credit for breaking all sorts of boundaries. Think back to the television ad where Coca Cola picked up on this cultural osmosis – Hritik Roshan travels into this remote village in India and has a group of children give him a welcome reception. They apparently don’t speak hindi and have never watched television, yet they end up singing a song which Mr Roshan sang in his debut film. The impact of the ad was wonderful but it said something so critical about culture being embedded into different societies even where there is no media intervention.

I often sit in public places in Karachi and look around me and I am amazed to find the diversity in the cultures around me. It leads me to think that the younger generation is more ‘westernized’ and less traditional than the older. The rich class seems to practice a culture that is more customized to their taste than the poor. Because we were ruled by the British for so many years, does this mean that all of our cultural elements originate from the British? Beyond explaining why we have so many high teas, I don’t think that explains too much else.

If music and the arts play such a vital role in our cultural societies, then why are the arts looked down upon in countries like Pakistan? What role does religion play in promoting or restricting culture? What role does the media and new media play? And if the world is indeed flat and shallow (or peaked and diverse according to Dorrie Friend) will all of us eventually be practicing a global more international culture?

Dr Weaver talked about the fact that America is not the melting pot, rather a salad bowl of different, distinct cultures. How large is this salad bowl becoming and how has the study of history, religion and origin of things play into this discussion? And the more important question, Dr Weaver? What kind of salad are we?!

Dorrie Friend on Sunday March 25, 2007

When the Eisenhower Fellowships handed me a sheet of paper with a brief about Dr Theodore Friend, here's what they used to descibe him: Teacher, Historian and Novelist. In my opinion, they missed out a couple of descriptive terms: How about, 'the most interesting and insightful person you will ever meet'? I think that pretty much does the job.

One of the reasons I really looked forward to coming onto the fellowship was to be able to meet people. People who had opinions and beliefs and an objective view of pretty much any topic relating to any part of the world. That's exactly what I got. Dorrie is a former President of the Eisenhower Fellowships and former President of Swarthmore College. His books, Between Two Empires: The Ordeal of the Philippines and The Blue-Eyed Enemy: Japan Against the West in Java and Luzon have been master works - He has been a Fullbright Scholar, Rockerfeller Foundation Fellow at International Relations, amongst other honorariums. His interest in the South Asian region was the reason the four of us were meeting over lunch on Sunday afternoon.

Fatin (Saudi Arabia), Rafael (Philippines) and myself ventured over to the suburban train station. Of course this entry would be incomplete if I didn't tell you that this trip was great fun because of the accutely organized navigational skills of Rafael. In fact, I don't think I have ever come across anyone so organized! With his mental compass and pre-purchased tickets, Rafael led us towards Radnor Chester Road in Villanova.

The train experience itself was fun and gave room for some reflection on the issue of public transport in places like Karachi. I don't think I have actually ever travelled on a train so this was a fun first. But my limited experience about the efficiency of the train system or even the public transport system, has been impressive. How does a train ensure its arrival to a station at a time like 142pm and still be exactly on time? Huh!

Regardless, Dr Friend took us around to show us his home (photographs up on the picasaweb.google.com/rgarib in the DORRIE FRIEND Album) and we talked about our perceptions and views the entire time. Everything from current events to past experiences, leaders and history of our countries. Each time the conversation touched upon the subject of Foreign Policy, Dr Friend had an interesting observation to make. The fact that Dorrie sits on a Foreign Policy ThinkTank and has so much experience in various regions, only helps him to draw conclusions based on insights and a wealth of experiences he depends on.

Of course, our discussions varied from country to country in the South Asian region and was, quite aptly, situated at a Chinese restaurant.

Please write to me if you have specific questions about the conversation since we spoke for almost 3 hours (over some of the best Eidelweiss I have ever tasted!), but the conversation made me think of a lot of issues at hand. I'd like to share one important lesson that was highlighted through the conversation - The whole world is a huge puzzle. It has links. In fact, most countries share a similar progression at different times, depending on what period in history they are at present. This should make the lay person think that countries have the benefit of learning from mistakes that other countries may have made earlier by studying their pasts and drawing similarities, strengths and linking them with weaknesses from their own. However few countries seem to look at the big picture when making a political or economic decision and often, repeating mistakes which could have been avoided. It's amazing how much information is available and accessible, and even more astounding, how much of it is overlooked and ignored for one reason or the other.

Dorrie is working on an interesting book I know I will want to get a copy of when it comes out, focusing on Women in 5 different Islamic countries. It would also be interesting what his thoughts about meeting Fatin and me, once our meet had come to a close. We too, have the benefit of hindsight.

Philly, the mornings and the people

The fact that each of the Eisenhower Fellows have the unique opportunity of interacting with such diverse cultures and backgrounds, makes the experience a pretty amazing. From 24 different countries, I can't get over how similar each of us are and how much space we have to discuss the differences in our lives.

It's Sunday mornign as I write this update, but I think by this time, I have had a chance to meet almost all of the fellows. My first interactions were with Dr Marcelo Knobel and his wife, Keila. Marcelo, Keila and I spent time together at the St Peters School closeby to the EF House here. I admit I know nothing about Nanotechnology and even more minute details about Brazil, but I was impressed at how informative Marcelo was in giving his talk to the students of the school. The popularization of Science is something that I am also very interested so it was great that we had some time to talk about progress and challenges that we faced in each of our countries.

Olga Girstlova is the CEO of a family-owned IT company in the Czech Republic and we spent time chatting during our trip to the my coordinator Jan Campbell's home - Olga is interested in setting up an Entrepreurship University back in her home and is always on the look out for contacts. Her background in IT and interest in Entreprenuership gives me quite a bit to talk about with her, though Olga is very well travelled and has a wealth of information to share.

Gunvor from Finland, made for very interesting conversation last evening during dinner that probably had nothing to do with either of our fellowsips, but it was fascinating to find out about languages and cultures from her. Her husband, Henrik, is also a part of the group through the Spouse program, and shared details about his interest and involvement in the pharma industry. It was almost funny how we talked about our different backgrounds with respect to society and lifestyles - so different and yet there we were, having some of the most fabulous lasagna (courtesy the hospitality of the Campbells) I have ever sunk my pallette into. Oh - And I can't talk about language and culture, without introducing all of you to Emine. I first ran into Emine at the breakfast area when I saw someone waving in my direction and instantly felt comfortable. I think Emine speaks some 5 different languages and is the Policy Coordinator for Fundamental Human Rights and Citizenship at the Hague in the Netherlands. You'll all be thrilled to know that Emine has also recently joined as a Mac user, increasing my list of "cool people" by yet one more.

Ah yes, the photograph on this blog is of us having dinner at the Campbell's home last evening..

Having minimal involvement in IT and disabilities in Pakistan, I was keen on sharing my limited experience and some of the progress that we have been making at home, with Caroline Casey, who is the founding CO of the Aisling Foundation in Dublin, Ireland - Being a HUGE fan of irish music, I was thrilled to be able to talk to Caroline, and then when she expressed how surprised she was at the awareness levels in India and Pakistan about disabled in the workplace, I beamed all the way back to the hotel!

Yoichi Iwamoto and his wife, have to be two of the most gentle people I have come across - Yoichi is also a fellow journalist; the deputy editor of the International News Department at NIKKEI in Tokyo, and I really hope I get more of a chance to talk shop with him.

Gregory from Moscow, was someone I had the chance to interact with at Dan Geisler's office and I definately want to be able to sit and talk to him later on. Gregory runs a website that spreads the awareness about different religions, targeted to the people of Russia - the medium of the internet is definately going to play a more crucial role in spreading the holy word and making people better understand aspects of different religions.. Speaking of religions and tolerance, I briefly introduced myself to Fatin Bundagji from Saudi Arabia, and in the 2 minutes we spoke, we realized that she had lived in Karachi and spoke a bit of Urdu and I had lived in Jeddah so many years ago, where she continues to reside now.

Finding myself awake at 7am this morning (again!), it was a pleasant early morning to see Caroline and Fatin at the gym in the morning... I took a break to go back to my room where I watched Rocky Balboa run up the steps of the Philadelphia Library and then went downstairs again where Susie and I had breakfast this morning and ended up having a long discussion on technology's role in medicine. Her interest is in the area of HIV Aids and well... frankly speaking, I find everything pretty interesting! So yes, breakfast was great.

This leaves me with about 3 fellows who I am sure I will meet either during the day today or tomorrow. But Sunday, though a day of rest for a few of the fellows, is an excited day planned for myself, Fatin and Rafael where we take the train to meet with the ex-president of the EF and Swarthmore College, Theodore Friend. I really look forward to it.

My family keeps asking me if I am doing okay here. I keep reminding them that I am amongst seasoned travellers and friends.... and then they fear that I might not return back home.. :-)

More later!

Day 1

I made it to Philadelphia on the evening of March 22 to get some RnR before the first official day of my fellowship with the Eisenhower Fellowships. Not having the benefit of experience in travelling around the US, a lot of my worries were laid to rest after my initial meetings with my coordinator, Jan Campbell and the rest of the team at EF.

The first day already has me off to a raving start with an informal speaking engagement at the St Peters School, closeby to the EF House, with a Fellow colleague, Marcelo Knoebel and his wife, Keila. The Headmaster of the school, Mr Costello was a gracious host who spent a great deal of time taking us around the school premises and demonstrating the hard work that his students have put into their projects.

The tour of the school was a real experience. Atleast the schools that I've interacted with in Karachi, are just so differen than what I saw today - Between 11-12 students per class with an emphasis on the arts, great discipline, students of all ages interacted with Keila, Marcelo and me. The size of the classrooms and the layout of the rooms revolving around the central parlour on every level was an interesting way to pull out the kids from a class and still have space for activities in a central location. During our Cheese Pizza lunch, we got a chance to ask some of the students all sorts of questions and were asked a lot of questions right back.

Not that I have visited a lot of schools in the US (none, to be precise) but I was impressed that the students of St Peters studied French starting in the younger classes. Seeing "Pomme de Terre" scribbled on the blackboard brought back lots of memories from my own French language classes back in school.

After an extensive tour, we were ushered into the theater room where Marcelo and I made brief addresses to the students. While my presentation focused a bit on what I did and what my work was all about and more on life in Karachi itself, Marcelo's presentation talked more about NanoTechnology and his field of work.

The trip to the school allowed me to have an interesting insight into what a school can strive to be - Schools are supposed to make the process of education fun and I think for schools in Karachi who are looking for guidance and 'examples' of how this can be achieved, the St Peters school is definately one that they should be looking at. (www.stpetersonline.org)