Koppal: The Violence of Development

The second field trip has been completed and we were looking at the violence of development. I have to say, we were very privileged to have the opportunity to stay at the Bandhavi campus, this is one of Visthar’s campuses. It looks after girls from the DevaDasi system; their mothers are forced prostitutes in the temples and they don’t know who their fathers are. This is something that causes daily taunting for them as it is not the norm in India. We had the opportunity to walk to school with them one morning and spend some time with some of the classes there. The children are so wise. When we asked them about how they see development in their communities they did not talk about tall buildings or lots of money to buy “stuff” they simply said that it should be good, free education for all, access to healthcare, with the means to do agricultural work with lots of trees as these provide us with shade and oxygen. It was refreshing to hear children talk of their own kind of development and not that of the west or consumerist state. If this is India’s future, it has a bright one. I only hope that the generation that is in charge now does not spoil it for them. These girls were incredible and so beautiful. We certainly had some fun with them as well as all the serious stuff.

We met many people and looked at many different types of industry that looks like development. I can say I feel privileged to have met these incredible people, it was a true honour. We met women that work in the wig industry and went to a wig factory. The women could see how they had developed their lives through this work but they did not know where the hair came from or went but they had managed to put their children through some education. These women worked from home. Compare this to what we saw at the wig industry and we can see that in the process of developing India, there are huge gender imbalances. The women were given dirty, unskilled jobs compared to the men and this meant lower salary, the men got a tea break while the women didn’t, the men were working inside where there were fans while the women generally worked outside. Some felt that this was empowerment as the women were allowed to work in a factory alongside men, but is it empowerment to keep them in work that pays them less than the men? I don’t think so. The hair came from women and is generally being sold to women but they do not see the benefits of this money spent. I would ask all those who buy wigs or real hair extensions to take a minute to think about where that hair came from. The industry of the wigs is created because of vanity; this vanity is caused from the media telling us what is desirable. I will not lie, I have products that have no other purpose than my own vanity but who tells us what is beautiful? It is the media. Can we not set our own standards of beauty? These people would be out of work and therefore unable to support their families if the wig industry collapsed but before the factory came along, they worked on the land where the factory now stands. Who is development really for? Who pays the biggest price for development? The employer at the wig factory could improve the conditions in which HIS employees worked and pay them a better salary but would this really change anything? The only thing that would happen is the price of wigs and hair extensions would go up, the system is wrong and needs to transform in order for these workers to see the benefits.

We also met farmers who had large companies like PESCO trying to buy their land. We met some Swamiji’s (Hindu religious leaders) that were working with the people to help them with these issues. The farmer we met would not sell his land even though he would be offered a LOT of money for it and even though it doesn’t provide enough food to feed his family. The small plot of land gave him some status and security and he knew that the money would not buy him more land where the fields were easier to grow crops. The other farmer, who did not own land, said he was content. He had enough money in his pocket to feed his family and send his children to school, his family were content with their lives, and this was all he needed. What would happen to him if all the farm land was sold to big companies for factories? They knew very well the dangers of industry; they said they were places of illness and death and it was not a life they wanted for themselves. The factories caused pollution which affected the crops; they do not want them in their area. The Swamiji was helping the farmers keep their land and where they had been tricked into selling, trying to get it back. The companies are very clever and were using a tactic of divide and conquer; divide the farmers and then take the land. They had permission from the government to do this! The Swamiji was a very wise man and it was refreshing to see a man of education and high standing getting so involved with the people’s issues.

We visited a wind farm on the top of a mountain. I was thinking a lot about the proposals for wind farms in England and the protests that have started because they will “destroy the landscape”. Would we rather destroy the landscape now and have renewable energy or would we rather destroy the earth using nuclear power so that our future generations have no areas of natural beauty to protect? Are wind farms really that big of an eye sore? When we are looking at energy, we need to consider future generations and the legacy we are leaving them.

These are just two of the issues we looked at, there are many more, maybe I will write about them later (otherwise this post will be a mini essay!). The main thing I left with was questions; when we look at development, who defines what it is? What it looks like? And who benefits the most from it? Comparing this to who pays or sacrifices the most for it? What was sacrificed? How much does mother earth pay for development? When we buy stuff in England, do we think about where it came from? I have spent some time looking at the tags on my clothes and thinking about who made it and in what conditions? We get cheap clothes because someone, somewhere in the world is working long hours in unbearable conditions that would not be allowed in England. Is this morally right? Is consumerism at fault caused by the media or are we a little to blame I don’t know the answers and I guess they will change for each individual but these are definitely questions we need to start asking when we go on those shopping sprees in the Metro Centre, on Oxford Street or in the Trafford Centre...Is this development?

One of the beautiful sunsets in Koppal, will development destroy even this?

Module 1 complete, module 2 started

Well, officially finished the first third of SOP! Personal reflection completed and started module 2 (Conflict, Violence and development). How the first part has flown. When looking back I can see the changes in me, to jump out of my comfort zone and be prepared to accept new ways of thinking. I won't lie, the journey has not always been easy but it was never going to be easy! Hearing the history of England from the perspective of people that we, as English people, have hurt is not easy. To realise that my education has let me down in that they never taught me about the British Empire is not a comfortable feeling. People have been hurt by it and communities are still working towards healing this damage caused is not good. Why did our education let us and the people we hurt down by not telling us about it? They feel betrayed by this fact, should we feel like that too? It is hard to vocalise how I feel about it all, I think this is because I have not yet identified how I feel about it all.

Tomorrow we will celebrate International Womans Day, what will you be doing to celebrate what the strong women in your communities have done? It will be a new experience for me and I am looking forward to it.

When I look at all the issues we have been covering I am starting to realise how many priviledges I have as a white person. The fact that I do not see race as a barrier to having relationships with people is a priviledge. When you are coloured and at the hands of white people experience discrimination this is a priviledge you no longer have, the white person has taken it away from you. Even my social class gives me a status that I have never identified with. This has been a difficult lesson and one I am still learning about and will be an ongoing journey even away from India.

When we look at development, I ask the question, who defines what is development? Is it the west with all the money or is it the money that defines it? Can we not look at development in a different way, away from the economics of the capitalist society? I don't know the answer and I don't know if I will find out.

So many people here give me points to think about and I am grateful to them for it. I am learning a lot in class but even more from the people. They make the programme. Next week we go on our second of 3 field visits, this time I will be visiting Koppal. Stay tuned to find out more.

Rachel