I just thought I'd post and let you know how you can contact me while I'm in Pune. Don't call my cell phone, because it won't work. My email address [jon.endean (at) rice (dot) edu] will be working, since we are going to have internet (after all, they're making us turn in some assignments online while we're there, so we'll have to have internet!). I have Skype (JonEndean) as well, and if you have a particular time you want me to be on, let me know. I have a screenname with virtually every chat service imaginable, so if there's one in particular that you like to use, let me know.
Finally, here's my address (formatted correctly, according to Kevin). Feel absolutely free to send me something in the mail (a regular letter sent to India only costs 98¢, so you don't have an excuse). Also, if you would like a postcard from India, send me your address. Here's mine, formatted as correct as I can figure:
Jon Endean
Plot 1B, First Floor, #132/1, Suryaman House
Aundh ITI Road
PUNE-411007
INDIA
Note on the time difference. I think at this point the most likely time for me to be avaible will be from about 7pm-12am India time. Unfortunately for those of you back in the US, that isn't a great time. I'm sure I'll have to make some sacrifices, and I'm sure we can work something out, but India is 9.5 (thanks, India, for adding that annoying extra half hour time zone. As a side note, all of India is on the same time zone, India Standard Time, UTC+5:30. There is no Daylight Savings time) hours ahead of the East Coast, and 10.5 hours ahead of Houston/Central time. So to spell out the time for you, the best time to reach me in the United States will probably be in the morning from around 9am-2pm.
Friday, May 29, 2009
A brief introduction to India
So I'm going to be honest. I don't know much about India at all. India has a rich history, a distinct culture, and I know about almost none of it. So hopefully two months from now, I'll know a lot more. So I'm going to spend this blog entry briefly describing India.
The Country
India is the world's second largest country and largest democracy, with a population of about 1.15 billion people (about 17% of the world population). It has 44 metropolitan areas with over 1 million people, including the largest, Mumbai (21 million), the capital territory and second largest, Delhi (18 million), and the eighth largest, Pune (5 million). The thing all of us were cautioned about was culture shock--specifically, the amount of people that are there. I guess when you think of that many large cities, it comes as no small surprise.
I mentioned that India is the world's largest democracy, and in fact just had the largest feat of democracy in world history, with approximately 400 million people voting in the latest election. India obtained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, due in no small part to the efforts of Gandhi. It has struggled to obtain the political strength to control a billion people, but to its credit, the Indian government has managed to stay the course and take a path to the same global stage China is emerging on. Only without cultural revolutions, restriction of freedoms, and authoritarianism. They represent two different ways towards modernization, and it will be interesting to see where India lies with respect to its modernization. My advantage here is that I will be seeing, in effect, the "real" India, not the facade that the Chinese government erected to showcase the Beijing Olympics with.
That is not to say that India is not without its political problems. The India-Pakistan border is frought with disputes, which has led to several armed conflicts, terrorism (such as last year's Mumbai bombings), and of course, two nuclear nations outside of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty (the others are North Korea and probably Israel as well). The struggle dates back to the partition dividing India from Pakistan after relase from British control.
Indian history in a few words
Indian history begins with the Indus Valley civilizations over five thousand years ago. I won't go into too much detail here, in part because we simply don't know much, but the culture there put into place the first facets of Hinduism (making Hinduism perhaps the oldest major religious tradition in existence). This gradually shifted, giving rise to several other cultures and civilizations, including the Aryans and the Mahajanapadas.
Then came the arrival of the Persian Empire, which under Darius the Great controlled a large portion of the Indian subcontinent. After Alexander the Great conquered the Persians and moved east all the way to the Ganges River, the Greek and Persian cultures left an indelible mark on Indian civilization.
The tale of India after Alexander the Great left seems to be a story of the pull of Middle Eastern and Eastern influences converging on the Indian subcontinent. At some points, it looked like the the Eastern influence would win out, such as under the Gupta Empire (which, as a side note, seem to be the first ones to play what we now know as chess). At other points, Islam was on the move, and established the Delhi sultanate, followed by the Mughal Empire (the builders of the Taj Mahal, which, despite what Slumdog Millionaire says, is a mausoleum honoring Shah Jahan's late wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Apparently, Shah Jahan intended for there to be an identical, though black, mausoleum across the reflecting pool for himself. Apparently his successor didn't think that was a great idea, and so decided to let Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal rest in peace together in the single Taj Mahal).
And finally, the Maratha Empire took over from the Mughals, establishing a capital at Pune at one point, but slowly ceding control to the British East India Company, which, by the middle of the 19th century, had demonstrated their prowess in exceptional business, effectively controlling the vast majority of India as a crown dependency. In 1858, the control of India was passed from the British East India Company to Queen Victoria, creating the British Raj, and ultimately, making Queen Victoria Empress of India and becoming a key part of one of the most significant empires in world history. It was no lie when it was said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire." After all, the British owned land all over the globe.
But we digress. The first half of the twentieth century saw the British go from being at the top of the world to a war-torn, economically-distraught European nation. Slowly but surely, the British empire was torn apart, with India officially gaining its independence on August 15, 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru became the country's first prime minister, and worked for the first few years in establishing a constitution and a government.
In the half century after its indepence, India wasn't exactly the most stable state in the world, suffering political assassinations, food shortages, and other problems. However, a newer India has emerged--an India that doesn't yet know her own strength. In the past few years, India has had rapid economic expansion, not the least of which has occured in cities like Pune. This has been a result of economic liberalization and has resulted in a decrease in poverty and a boom in industry. That power is likely to tranfer India into a major player on the world state.
It is that India that I'm going to visit. It is an India that I'm sure will be fascinating.
The Country
India is the world's second largest country and largest democracy, with a population of about 1.15 billion people (about 17% of the world population). It has 44 metropolitan areas with over 1 million people, including the largest, Mumbai (21 million), the capital territory and second largest, Delhi (18 million), and the eighth largest, Pune (5 million). The thing all of us were cautioned about was culture shock--specifically, the amount of people that are there. I guess when you think of that many large cities, it comes as no small surprise.
I mentioned that India is the world's largest democracy, and in fact just had the largest feat of democracy in world history, with approximately 400 million people voting in the latest election. India obtained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, due in no small part to the efforts of Gandhi. It has struggled to obtain the political strength to control a billion people, but to its credit, the Indian government has managed to stay the course and take a path to the same global stage China is emerging on. Only without cultural revolutions, restriction of freedoms, and authoritarianism. They represent two different ways towards modernization, and it will be interesting to see where India lies with respect to its modernization. My advantage here is that I will be seeing, in effect, the "real" India, not the facade that the Chinese government erected to showcase the Beijing Olympics with.
That is not to say that India is not without its political problems. The India-Pakistan border is frought with disputes, which has led to several armed conflicts, terrorism (such as last year's Mumbai bombings), and of course, two nuclear nations outside of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty (the others are North Korea and probably Israel as well). The struggle dates back to the partition dividing India from Pakistan after relase from British control.
Indian history in a few words
Indian history begins with the Indus Valley civilizations over five thousand years ago. I won't go into too much detail here, in part because we simply don't know much, but the culture there put into place the first facets of Hinduism (making Hinduism perhaps the oldest major religious tradition in existence). This gradually shifted, giving rise to several other cultures and civilizations, including the Aryans and the Mahajanapadas.
Then came the arrival of the Persian Empire, which under Darius the Great controlled a large portion of the Indian subcontinent. After Alexander the Great conquered the Persians and moved east all the way to the Ganges River, the Greek and Persian cultures left an indelible mark on Indian civilization.
The tale of India after Alexander the Great left seems to be a story of the pull of Middle Eastern and Eastern influences converging on the Indian subcontinent. At some points, it looked like the the Eastern influence would win out, such as under the Gupta Empire (which, as a side note, seem to be the first ones to play what we now know as chess). At other points, Islam was on the move, and established the Delhi sultanate, followed by the Mughal Empire (the builders of the Taj Mahal, which, despite what Slumdog Millionaire says, is a mausoleum honoring Shah Jahan's late wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Apparently, Shah Jahan intended for there to be an identical, though black, mausoleum across the reflecting pool for himself. Apparently his successor didn't think that was a great idea, and so decided to let Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal rest in peace together in the single Taj Mahal).
And finally, the Maratha Empire took over from the Mughals, establishing a capital at Pune at one point, but slowly ceding control to the British East India Company, which, by the middle of the 19th century, had demonstrated their prowess in exceptional business, effectively controlling the vast majority of India as a crown dependency. In 1858, the control of India was passed from the British East India Company to Queen Victoria, creating the British Raj, and ultimately, making Queen Victoria Empress of India and becoming a key part of one of the most significant empires in world history. It was no lie when it was said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire." After all, the British owned land all over the globe.
But we digress. The first half of the twentieth century saw the British go from being at the top of the world to a war-torn, economically-distraught European nation. Slowly but surely, the British empire was torn apart, with India officially gaining its independence on August 15, 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru became the country's first prime minister, and worked for the first few years in establishing a constitution and a government.
In the half century after its indepence, India wasn't exactly the most stable state in the world, suffering political assassinations, food shortages, and other problems. However, a newer India has emerged--an India that doesn't yet know her own strength. In the past few years, India has had rapid economic expansion, not the least of which has occured in cities like Pune. This has been a result of economic liberalization and has resulted in a decrease in poverty and a boom in industry. That power is likely to tranfer India into a major player on the world state.
It is that India that I'm going to visit. It is an India that I'm sure will be fascinating.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
My Goals and Expectations
In conjunction with the trip, Brad Smith (director of Leadership Rice) asked me to make a list of goals for the trip. Unfortunately, I'm still not exactly sure what to expect while we're over there, though I do have an inkling of the sort of things that might be in store for us. I'm sure my goals will evolve tremendously over the first few days and weeks that I'm there, but for now, I'll lay out a few of my expectations for the trip.
One thing I hope to do while I'm there is to see what sort of things (good and bad) differentiate the Indian and American health care systems. I'm still not quite sure how that will manifest itself, so we'll see. Last year's students were able to do some community health as well as some clinical research, so hopefully I'll be able to do something similar while I'm there. In any case, I want to come away from the trip with a better understanding of the sort of things I want to do (and don't want to do) in medicine.
We'll probably be working six days a week (Sundays are off), but hopefully we'll have time for a bit of fun. India is a magnificent country, and while we'll have to wait until we get there to figure out exactly what we're doing, we'll definitely look at heading to Mumbai for a bit, or perhaps the beaches of Goa, and certainly the Taj Mahal at Agra. It should be a great trip, even if I don't yet have a clear idea of what I'll be doing.
One thing I hope to do while I'm there is to see what sort of things (good and bad) differentiate the Indian and American health care systems. I'm still not quite sure how that will manifest itself, so we'll see. Last year's students were able to do some community health as well as some clinical research, so hopefully I'll be able to do something similar while I'm there. In any case, I want to come away from the trip with a better understanding of the sort of things I want to do (and don't want to do) in medicine.
We'll probably be working six days a week (Sundays are off), but hopefully we'll have time for a bit of fun. India is a magnificent country, and while we'll have to wait until we get there to figure out exactly what we're doing, we'll definitely look at heading to Mumbai for a bit, or perhaps the beaches of Goa, and certainly the Taj Mahal at Agra. It should be a great trip, even if I don't yet have a clear idea of what I'll be doing.
A bit more about the internship
So now that school is finished and I'm home in Lexington for the summer, I not only have time to breathe, but a little time to update this blog. I'm planning on updating regularly before I head out, and then hopefully once or twice a week while I'm there (with pictures, of course).
My previous post focused on a brief summary of the program and what I'll be doing. Now I know more about what I'm doing, so I'll try to be a bit more thorough about it. From what I can tell, the India trip is partly sponsored by the CEO of Virgo Engineers, Mahesh Desai. Two of us (Rachel and Kevin) are working for Virgo Engineers there. I will be working with Donna at the hospital there. Our accommodations (an apartment with two bedrooms with convenient access to shops and restaurants with breakfast provided) and plane reservations are covered, and we're given a small stipend to cover expenses while we're there (though the cost of living in India is a bit lower than other places!).
Part of the requirements for the SME program are to attend a two-day class after finals period ends. The class was really good, and helped give perspective on what this summer is going to look like in terms of leadership (since that is part of the point, since Leadership Rice is the organization sponsoring the internships). There are a total of 31 of us (selected from an applicant pool of about 100) in Houston, New York City, Washington, D.C., Pune, Paris, and Belgium. In addition to simply working at the hospital, I'll be sending regular reports regarding different aspects of leadership that I observe there. This, coupled with the two class days, will determine my grade in Lead 150, Leadership in Professional Context. The class will probably prove to be one of the most intense (in terms of the work I put into it) and one of the most informative (in terms of experience and knowledge) I ever take at Rice, though I'll get only 1 hour of credit.
My previous post focused on a brief summary of the program and what I'll be doing. Now I know more about what I'm doing, so I'll try to be a bit more thorough about it. From what I can tell, the India trip is partly sponsored by the CEO of Virgo Engineers, Mahesh Desai. Two of us (Rachel and Kevin) are working for Virgo Engineers there. I will be working with Donna at the hospital there. Our accommodations (an apartment with two bedrooms with convenient access to shops and restaurants with breakfast provided) and plane reservations are covered, and we're given a small stipend to cover expenses while we're there (though the cost of living in India is a bit lower than other places!).
Part of the requirements for the SME program are to attend a two-day class after finals period ends. The class was really good, and helped give perspective on what this summer is going to look like in terms of leadership (since that is part of the point, since Leadership Rice is the organization sponsoring the internships). There are a total of 31 of us (selected from an applicant pool of about 100) in Houston, New York City, Washington, D.C., Pune, Paris, and Belgium. In addition to simply working at the hospital, I'll be sending regular reports regarding different aspects of leadership that I observe there. This, coupled with the two class days, will determine my grade in Lead 150, Leadership in Professional Context. The class will probably prove to be one of the most intense (in terms of the work I put into it) and one of the most informative (in terms of experience and knowledge) I ever take at Rice, though I'll get only 1 hour of credit.
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