January 23, 2023

Shifting Perspectives

“Step into the shoes of those you are trying to serve.” Today, we focused on this timeless piece of advice as Bhargavi, an independent researcher and educator from the Environment Support Group, challenged us to think about accessible water in low-income neighborhoods through a creative activity: roleplaying stakeholders. Students represented a wide variety of groups, including local women, the government, an active NGO, and water tanker companies. The simulation accurately depicted the chaos of a public consultation. Each group battled to get their voices heard, the board neglected certain voices altogether, and the meeting ended abruptly with a request for a private meeting with the government and multinational corporation representatives.

This activity helped us better understand the people involved, shifting our perspectives and generating new insights. I was assigned the role of the foreign intern and realized a key weakness in my contribution was that I lacked context on both the local people I intended to serve and the corporate opponents I intended to stop. Similarly, I realized that coordination with the local residents would have made our collective argument during the public consultation much stronger.

Following the roleplay, we discussed Whole Numbers and Half Truths, an innovative book illustrating modern India through data while analyzing the reliability of that data. This book not only deepened our understanding of topics like India’s spending habits, work culture, and belief system, but also reminded us to question the truth behind what we hear. The context and framing of data could easily skew its interpretation, so it is important to be able to consider opposing viewpoints and stay open-minded.

We were then asked to fill out evaluation forms for the first three weeks of GCIL. To me, this was a very meaningful part of the day as the opportunity to provide feedback meant contributing to future improvement of the program. I had a lot to say with regards to managing our free time, balancing listening with doing, and which parts of Bangalore we got to experience. Ultimately, I am extremely grateful for these past three weeks. They have been challenging— every day my brain is crammed with learnings to unpack after all we do. But they have also been incredibly rewarding. I know I have grown more resilient and gained valuable insights that will only continue to grow as we tackle various projects.

I can’t wait to start working with our organizations next week!