United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Before we left for India on our fellowship, we were given some resources to review. One of those resources was the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  As per their website, "The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. The Goals interconnect and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve each Goal and target by 2030."  

They have an excellent website with great information, resources, and tips on how to take action including "The LAZY PERSON'S guide to SAVING the WORLD".  One of my favorite parts of the website is how it details the 17 goals identified and allows you to really explore each topic in depth. Each goal also includes quick "facts and figures", specific goal targets, and additional links.  At the end of each page is an additional resource on Why that goal matters and how to learn more about it.

Another take action link on their webpage is the "Be the Change" Initiative that encourages us all to "walk the talk" and personalize our intentions in our own lives.  "Every little step helps--inform your family, your friends and your community about simple actions they can take in their daily lives." You can also find the link to 170 Daily Actions to Transform the World or print out a brochure on it. (Language Arts teachers make sure to note this brochure comes in 8 different languages!)


Those 17 goals are as follows:

Goal 1: No Poverty

Goal 2: Zero Hunger

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being

Goal 4: Quality Education

Goal 5: Gender Equality

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Goal 12: Responsible Production and Consumption

Goal 13: Climate Action

Goal 14: Life Below Water

Goal 15: Life On Land

Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Goal 17: Partnership for the Goals


For more details on these goals

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

You can also follow them on social media:

Twitter: @GlobalGoalsUN

Facebook: Global Goals for Sustainable Development

Did we visit Bangalore or Bengaluru? The answer is yes, they're one in the same.

Bengaluru is the capital of Karnataka, although most Westerners may know it better as Bangalore. Also known as the "Silicon Valley of India", there's a strong connection of technology to Bangalore. But as strong of a push to modernize the city, there was also one to bring it back to its past by reestablishing its former name. But it finally happened, November 1, 2014. That is the official date that twelve cities were renamed, Bangalore now Bengaluru was one them. According to the Times of India posting from the same day the changes were made, one of the advocates for the change described it as thus:

The name-chance is the first step (to cope with retaining identity in the times of globalization and an increasingly Anglicized world). It is to force English language to accept--within its sound system--a word like Bengaluru, which ends in a vowel rather than consonant. But the only way to survive in the modern world is by being bilingual...What we need is an education system where English is taught but the medium of instruction is Kannada. By this, we can establish our own conclave in the globalised world.

This movement was a long time coming, as the twelve-city renaming proposal was made in 2006, but then stalled for an additional eight years. It finally got approval in October of 2014 and the twelve cities officially renamed November 1, 2014. One of the other cities on our itinerary was Mysore which also had been renamed in 2014 and was now referred to as Mysuru.  The other cities that changed in 2014 were as follows:

Bellary to Ballari
Belgaum to Belagavi
Bijapur to Vijayapura
Chikmagalur to Chikkamagaluru
Gulbarga to Kalburgi
Hospet to Hosapete
Hubli to Hubballi
Mangalore to Mangaluru
Shimoga to Shivamogga
Tumkur to Tumakuru

Most of the changes refer to the cities themselves and not necessarily to the established institutions, or private companies located in those cities. Renaming of cities is not new to modern India. The following is a list of modern changes that reflect this awareness-raising restoration in the indigenous version of city nomenclature.

1991 Trivandrum was renamed Thiruvanthapuram
1995 Bombay was renamed Mumbai.
1996 Madras was renamed Chennai
2001 Calcutta was renamed  Kolkata in 2001
2006 Pondicherry was renamed Puducherry
2008 Poona was renamed Pune
2011 Orissa was renamed Odisha

**A little more about Bengaluru -**
Bengaluru first appeared as Bengaval-uru in a veera galls (literally meaning hero's stone) dating back to the 9th century. The rock edict found in Begur belonged to the era of the Ganga dynasty and was inscribed in 890 CE, historians say. Begavaluru means "city of guards". Another legend has it that Bangalore was actually Benda-kaalu-ooru" (town of boiled beans) during 12th century. Kempegowda, a feudal lord, chose Bendakaluru for his capital in early 16th century. Bendakaluru grew into Bengaluru and in colonial times, the name was anglicized as Bangalore. As Bangalore acquired many layers of meaning, in 2005 Jnanpith awardee U R Ananthamurthy first proposed that Bangalore be renamed Bengaluru.  (Times of India)

The city has in recent decades metamorphosed into the country's IT capital, earning it the tag the Silicon Valley of India, as also as Biotech capital, after its early forms as a Pensioner's Paradise and Garden City. With explosive growth and cracking infrastructure, the city has now earned the notorious distinction as "Garbage City".  (The Economic Times)


Resources:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/It-is-official-Bangalore-becomes-Bengaluru/articleshow/45000684.cms

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/bangalore-becomes-bengaluru-11-other-cities-renamed/articleshow/45002333.cms

Reflection on Day 16 in India (originally posted January 19, 2019 on personal social media)

Day 16 in India: This is it, the last day. Sixteen full days with three more getting there and back. What an adventure it has been. I feel very fortunate to have been selected for this amazing opportunity, what an opportunity it has been. Every day full of new knowledge and applying old, seeing the world, others and myself in a new light. It’s hard to believe all that’s transpired the last three weeks. 

I’m glad we could take advantage of as much as we did. However, before heading home, I had one last stop to make, the Gandhi Memorial Museum. It was a perfect way to end my trip. 

The museum was about 45 minutes away and although my Uber driver dropped me off at the wrong spot, I was able to manage on my own to get there (luckily just a few more blocks). There were not too many people there so I was able to take in a lot of it on my own. Gandhi has been on my mind alot because it is the 150 anniversary of his birth and there have been markers of this all around India through the commutative use of an image of his iconic round glasses. 

Fittingly, the museum is free and does a really nice job of documenting his life. There were a lot of cool memories I’ll take with me: picking up a phone and hearing Gandhi’s voice, putting on headphones and hearing a replica of his heartbeat, seeing the walking stick he used in 240 mile salt March, gazing at his well-worn sandals, seeing the bloodstained garments he was wearing when he was assassinated, seeing one of the 3 bullets that killed him, learning about the spinning wheel, looking at all of the photos and so many artifacts from his life. Amazing. This was definitely on the highlight list of an already amazing trip. 

I had meant to do some other whirl-wind adventures today, but decided Gandhi was a good way to end. I am currently sitting in the airport lounge waiting for my 11:45 pm flight back to the United States. It’s a 15 hour flight and then I’ll have a layover in Newark before boarding my flight to MSP. 

I’m sure there’s more stories I could have shared, but for those of you who have been following along, I thank you. Doing these posts has really been enjoyable. It’s made me reflect and truly appreciate each day. 

We have so much that is easily taken for granted and I hope I can take even a fraction of all I’ve learned here and apply it not only in my classes and campus community but also in my personal everyday life. Again thank you friends (old and new), thank you AIIS and CAORC, and thank you India. ❤️

Namaste 

 

Reflection on Day 15 in India (originally posted January 18, 2019 on personal social media)

Day 15 in India: Today was another full day of Indian experiences. First up was a fun cooking demonstration arranged by one of our AIIS leaders. It was held at their guest house and was led by a sweet woman named Amrit. The five of us learned about Indian spices (some spices are used more in the winter to warm you up and some are used more in the summer to cool you down). Then we learned how to make Matar Paneer, Toor Dal and vegetable pulao and how to make paneer. Paneer is a yummy cheese that our group really enjoyed. 

It was a lovely demonstration and the best part was we got to savor all of them when the class was over. It was fun to be able to spend some personal time with Amrit as well as Purnima our host. They are both lovely and generous women. 

We had a private driver for the day, so from the guest house we went to a historic fort that housed the emperors for almost 200 years during the Mughal dynasty. It contained several beautiful structures that incorporated inlay work similar to that like we saw yesterday at the Taj Mahal. We were able to take photos here, so I tried to capture a few pic for you, but they don’t do the art work justice. Each flower is several hand-carved pieces that are crafted individually then applied to areas chiseled out specific to each individual shape and sanded down after being organically glued in. It’s crazy the amount of work went into these structures and from a quick glance, it’s so easy to miss all the extra details. It’s really quite stunning how it all comes together. Definitely Interesting to walk around this historic area. 

From there we walked a few blocks to old Delhi, founded in 1639. Holy cow was that an experience. These old buildings and thousands of vendors that shrink up already small alley make up a labyrinth of sights and smells and sounds, all canopied by trellises of old electrical wires rippling overhead tying everything together in a wild maze. We got appropriately lost in the Chandni Chowks chaotic bustle of people and shops. I totally get why the amazing race has challenges in old market areas like this. The alleys weave in and out and around and narrow and split off and the buildings are so close you can’t see any identifying landmarks. It was crazy, but also pretty cool to experience first hand. 

It was so busy though that it was easy to get separated as people forged in between us quite frequently, so we only stopped to try and let others pass so we could walk single file all together again. We didn’t even stop to shop because it was so crazy and we knew we’d lose each other so we just kept walking and watching, taking it all in. 

Somehow we managed to find a path back out to a larger alley, that led to a larger road, that led to the main road we recognized as the one we come in on. We started heading back and sure enough soon saw the red fort in the distance. We had to get back to the fort as that is where our driver was waiting. When we got in the vehicle, it was noted that the gps had tracked us as walking over 7 miles already that day. Crazy!

As 3 of the 5 of us were flying out that evening, and people had rupees they needed to spend, a request was made to go to a store recommended at lunch for a little shopping and I think we all picked up at least a little something to bring home. 

The traffic was crazy as it typically is in the evenings. The 3 lanes drawn on the road quickly become 6 or 7 lanes of traffic all weaving in and out and within inches of each other. It amazes me that we don’t see more accidents as space is fluid and if there’a an inch, someone is going to take it (from any direction). Lines don’t mean anything and people often go into on coming traffic assuming they other guy coming at you will slow down enough for you to make it around the car you’re passing. Meanwhile, you’re honking to let the car in front of you know you’re passing and the car behind you is honking because they want your old spot or to go in front of you, and people are cutting in front if you from the side while an incoming motorcycle wants to merge into the three inches in front of your right tire and the rear bumper of the bus coming in from the left and the tuk tuk that’s trying to do a u- turn to head the other direction cutting 4 lanes off in doing so.

Somehow we managed to make it back to the hotel in time for the others to do one last run to the store, reclaim their checked bags and catch their ride to the airport. I stayed with them to give them a proper Minnesota goodbye (hugs by the car and waves as they take off) then went up to my room where I ended my day with room service pizza and checking in on my online classes. Phew! 

It’s down to just two of us (one guy had to leave early because his mom was in the hospital) and only about 24 hours left. Tonight’s my last night in a hotel bed, (well and one nights sleep coming up tomorrow night on the plane). Take off is scheduled for 11:45 pm tomorrow, so should be able to get one more journal post in. Thanks for sticking with me!