Turkish Delight

Coming back to life...

2009-03-18T13:03:00.004+02:00

After a long time something really turned me on today. I was at this meeting to talk about the role of play & sport in education. The audience was 40 leaders from NGOs working with children from very remote areas of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajhasthan, Gujarat, North East and others. These people were Jesuit priests who are living with tribal populations, people who work with child labor and other interesting backgrounds.

After a long time while making a presentation and telling a story I cried. The presentation was about play and how it seems to be going away from our schools. I was narrating my own experience of playing and how it helped unleash and channelize my energy into something I enjoyed. It truly helped me learn in school as opposed to pass exams. I dont know what made me cry. I think it made me connect with some emotions in my heart which I had not expressed very openly. It made me feel very good. It was amazing how I could connect with the people there in just 1 hour.

In 45 minutes I was in a panel discussion on New Skills for a Global Innovations Society organized by the Asia Society. With panelists from World Bank, Ministry of Human Resource Development, India Today, Hindustan Times. The discussion was around secondary education and how the Ministry plans to universalize this to develop skills in our children. This event was attended by the education elite in Delhi and believe me there are many. The discussions were quite a contrast to what I experienced in the morning but equally engaging. I raised the issue of play and all round development and how that is terribly ignored in our schools. I am excited how this issue connects with everyones hearts and minds and people are ready to do something and get involved with this. I also felt very privileged that I was able to be part of such diverse groups in a matter of minutes and enjoyed being there and I felt alive.

I have a lot to say and I hope I am able to continue to say them.

Test

2007-01-18T14:02:00.000+02:00

Its been a while, am back in this space again!

Changing the world using technology?

2006-10-17T11:14:00.000+03:00

If you feel passionately about the need for positive change in the development space in India and are excited about the potential for technology as an enabler for bringing about some of these changes, then we might have an interesting opportunity for you.

The QUEST alliance is a network of partners working to better the state of education and find models for rural employability by using technology as an integral part of these solutions. We seek to bring possibility and hope into our schools and into the lives of the millions of unemployed but talented youth in this country today. The basis on which Quest is formed and seeks to keep itself alive is the strength of partnerships and the notion that we can bring about systemic change only through harnessing separate efforts and find common interests and grounds for different partners to work together. We currently work with 10 partners and are actively looking to engage with more organizations working in these areas of development.

We are looking for a young and energetic person to work at our India office on a one-year assignment. The role would involve understanding projects and experiments deeply, documenting best practices and success stories from across projects and researching interesting experiments using technology in India and across the world. If you are around , have some experience in project management and are willing to learn new skills, and most importantly, feel passionately about the need to bring about a difference and are curious about the possibility of change using technology and partnerships, we would like to talk to you. The position will be based out of Bangalore and might require you to travel to program locations.

You might come from any background, but we definitely would prefer someone with good writing skills and a passion for technology in education and development. To know more about our work visit http://quest.eeaonline.org . Please write to a.sethi(@)iyfnet.org if you are interested.

Changing the world using technology?

2006-10-17T11:03:00.000+03:00

Interested in Technology for Education & Employment?

2006-10-17T10:54:00.000+03:00

To know more about our work visit http://quest.eeaonline.org . Please write to a.sethi(@)iyfnet.org if you are interested.

Yo! Am back.

2006-09-20T14:31:00.000+03:00

Its been a very long time, everything in the last 6 months has so consumed me that I have not wanted to stop look back and reflect. Its going to be difficult to try and write about everything that has happened since I moved back from Istanbul. Its been 6 long months in Bangalore and i am throughly enjoying my journey. I have got a place of my own in Koramangala with a great view, my seesha, turkish coffee and the works are all in action here. I somehow still keep thinking about my time in Turkey, its a feeling difficult to express in words. I am well settled in my job now, you can read more about it here

One thing I can vouch for is that Bangalore is one of the most liveable cities in India. I am figuring out this flickr thing again, once that is done you will have more pics to see.

Bangalored

2006-04-11T21:27:00.000+03:00

So for the ill informed, I have left Turkey and moved to Bangalore to work on a public private partnership for improving quality of education of rural schools in India. The work has been very exciting and hectic. The most exciting part about work is spending a lot of time in the rural areas to get a feel of what educational systems in look like, to meet the administrators and resource persons on the ground, to understand the political dynamics at the grass root level and ofcourse seeing the glow on the face of achild when he/she touches the computer for the first time. I will write more about my experiences in the field later, for now I need to find a home and some basic furniture, meet my folks in Ahmedabad in the coming week. Currently I have been a little cut off from the city, but thanks to my man I have enjoyed it so far and hope to be in the middle of action, once I am a little more mobile.

Absolut turkish

2006-03-28T23:29:00.000+03:00

After many months here, I can safely say I am :

I live next to the bosphorus, pass by besiktas every day, gozleme and kumpir is my staple diet, I cant live without aayran and ezogelin corba, I cant help but discuss the result of a fotball derby the next morning, have 7 cups of chai everyday, I go for fine dining and order Karu fasuliye and aas pilav, Sampiyon Kokorec, midye, dolma is my favourite 4 am snack on a saturday night after 7 glasses of Efes and I can challenge any turk to a game of tavla.

my fav.quote is kafam tasak gibe ! (you have to ask the turks what it means)

Damn I am going to miss this place ! 5 more days to go and I am not counting

The Big Apple

2006-02-15T19:34:00.000+02:00

Landing on the 21st Feb in NYC
22nd-24th Baltimore & DC
25th-26th NYC for the weekend.

First time on the American continent. Should be fun.

27th - Istanbul
4th March - Delhi
5th March - Ahmedabad
6th March - Bangalore, start my new job.

More on that soon.

Living Diversity

2005-12-20T17:26:00.000+02:00

Trainees on Virginia's Birthday
Originally uploaded by aakashs.

This picture really captures the spirit of where I stay, my room mates and the diversity I enjoy, the other day I was looking at the world map and suddenly I started seeing faces of people and not boundaries of countires, that is a phenomenal feeling. Istanbul trainees....Rock on !

What I did last summer..

2005-12-19T14:09:00.000+02:00

Check out Nikki's post on what we did last summer...Amazing truly amazing, if you ever need ideas for summer holidays and have the money, south-west Turkey is the place to be :)

5 of the best things I did in Egypt

2005-12-18T03:39:00.000+02:00

Went to Alexandria and the IYF conference on Alliances, Education & Employability
Lived by the Nile in Cairo
Went to Tornado's with this guy
Saw the sound and light show at the Pyramids
Shopped at Khan el-Khalili

Champions...

2005-12-18T03:33:00.000+02:00

"Champions are made from something they have deep inside them -- a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill."

First few hours in Egypt!

2005-11-30T16:50:00.000+02:00

I have just arrived at Cairo International airport and writing this from the car that is driving me to Alexandria.

I have always maintained that Istanbul is the queen of all cities. The sheer mystic and feel of the place takes your breath away. Just before the plane landed at Cairo, the view from the window was such that for a moment I thought here is a place that offers close competition to Istanbul, which of course I will know as I spend more days here.

As i get on the aero bridge, for a moment I feel I am in Mumbai, the same feel, blue carpets, security men chilling at the entrance gate staring at the opposite wall and not bothered about what they are there for...'security'& a couple of duty free shops. As I walk further and before the immigration there is someone standing with my name card in his hand. 'AAKASH SETHI' I am quite surprised and hesitantly walk upto him and say "that’s me" He asks me if I have a visa stamped on my passport, I was like sure, he takes it from me almost thinking that its his. We then stand at the immigration counter, and suddenly a few fat & important men pass...wonder why the two always go together. My turn comes to go to the immigration officer, I say nothing, the guy with me shows my passport and the immigration officer is talking to him about something important and its not about my passport at all. They continue chatting for 4-5 minutes as the queue starts building up. My main man tells me I can go and stand ahead and after another 2 minutes of waiting I get out of immigration. Now I am very curious as to who the person with me is, I politely ask him, where are you from, he says I work for the United nations, I come here regularly to pick up guests.

AS I got to the customs, the officer starts talking to my man again and after they exchange a few lines they let me go. As I step out of the airport there is another man standing with my name...by then it was getting too much for me, I have never had this happen to me...two different people coming to pick me up !! The guy snatches the trolley from my hands...I am getting used to the snatching by now and we go to the Misr Bank to exchange money. I take out a 100 dollar bill and give it to the person at the counter, he stares at it for about 30 seconds and passes it on to his senior who is dead in his seat, he sees it for a minute and they give it back to me, and explain to my man that they cannot exchange it for me. God only knows why, the only word I understand in their conversation was mushkil = problem. Now my man parks his trolley by the side, asks me to stand by it and snatches the $ 100 from my hand, now this was getting a bit too much, but i know he meant to help, he walks around talking to people at the airport as to where I can go to exchange money since the only bank open at 1.30 am outside the airport wasn’t giving me any money. The only solution seems to re-enter the airport, which I do with a lot of ease, I walk by the security...who is co-incidentally also staring into nothingness, flash my passport he asks no questions and lets me in, next is the customs, I tell him I need to exchange money and that those strikers outside are for some reason not giving me any Egyptian pounds, his gesture is like almost welcoming me back to the airport, next stop is the immigration, there is a half dead security guy who looks at my immigration stamp and lets me in.

Okay, so now I am back to where I started off from, I go to the bank of Alexandria that has 3 people seated inside, one of them gets up and I hesitantly give him my 100 dollar bill again. He looks at it for at least a minute and passes it on to the other two people in the room to examine, after a 7 minute conference and molesting the note completely they decide to give me 575 Egyptian pounds. I count the money, and whiz pass immigration, no one bothers to look at me, leave alone my passport and then the customs guys are also too busy to look at me and so I out again in the open.

The person who came to pick me up was extra nice, immediately took my trolley and warmly shook my hand and welcome to Egypt he said! It makes such a difference to be greeted by someone in a new country warmly; I could have got such a welcome only in India and now in Egypt. Suddenly this place seems like closer to home.

It is 2.48 am right now, I am currently at the Alexandria desert road, driving at a speed of 120/kmph and I am told it will take another 2 hours to reach Alexandria! Quite a first couple of hours it has been.

Egypt calling !

2005-11-29T15:12:00.000+02:00

First time in Egypt, there from the 30th Nov-8th December. Alexandria for two days and then Cairo for 6, the pyramids, the mummies, the nile, the sheesha...and more, cant wait!
Going to speak at a conference on Youth Education and the role of business
Representing Microsoft at a major conference for the first time, excited & a few butterflies, hopefully all should be smooth!

Finished a year in Turkey yesterday which ofcourse requires a separate post, but as a side note, I was cooked a surprise dinner by a bunch of sweet portuguese girls !

Its been a while...

2005-11-23T17:20:00.000+02:00

A few highlights from previous months

Did a small strategic planning workshop with Bosphorus university to start up a CSR NGO in Turkey
A buddy zealot/nomad and family visited me :)
Lunch in a boat on the Bosphorus

Some interests that have I been pursuing of late

Sufism: Reflecting, reading and understanding the sufi way of life, it has been rewarding to experience the meaning of the whirling dervishes and go closer to the life of Rumi. I will have to dedicate a seperate post for my insights on that!
Technology & Development: Working closely on various projects in the middle east and africa on ICT4D, I have begun to understand the role technology has in development and how it is going to be a key enabler to achieve the millenium development goals. It helps to be working in an area that is of genunie interest, keeps me going everyday

Few things I am going to do over the coming weeks

Go to Konya, the place where Rumi the sufi poet settled down when he was 25, his death aniversary is celebrated by the gathering of sufi musicians from all around the world. Should be fun
Going for the Global Alliance summit in Alexandria, Egypt organized by the International Youth Foundation, for those who are interested in what it is, check it out here
Shop at the Grand Bazaar !

Looking forward to the last lap !

GO KAKA !!

2005-11-23T16:42:00.000+02:00

Very excited, going today to watch AC Milan live ! not a very big match, but the Fenerbache stadium is as good as it gets in Istanbul, with the thousands of crazy turks cheering their team, watching Kaka in action live for the first time is going to be a delight! cant wait

Go Kaka...!!

On the Road Again

2005-08-19T15:12:00.000+03:00

It was a great feeling to be back home for 2 weeks in July. Of the many things I got back to, it was simply awesome to be back on a motorbike again :) This Beast is a 2001 model Machismo, 350 CC, when you drive it on the roads of Ahmedabad, its a majestic cruise. If anyone is curious or excited by what I mean, look me up when you are there next and ill show you!

Life is?

2005-08-19T00:21:00.000+03:00

When, I first heard the concept 'Life is empty and meaningless', I exclaimed: "Is that really so?" This must be the conclusion of somebody who has never romanced life—had no joy, thrill or excitement.
Destiny, however, kept repeatedly thrusting the same concept in my face. Until I wondered, God, how can this be? Then, understanding dawned.
The concept says: "Life is" not "My life is". My life is definitely full of meaning, purpose, ambition, goals, freedom, responsibilities, family, society and what not. But what's the difference between "Life is" and "My life is"?

Any Ideas?

The Guy in the Glass !

2005-06-20T12:57:00.000+03:00

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

- Dale Wimbrow 1895-1954

Going for Bliss !!

2005-06-16T17:42:00.000+03:00

I have always been a dreamer, perhaps its a piecean trait or whatever, but in doing so i have been in a continious state of prepration, not stopping by to enjoy what I am doing, 3 years back my dream was to do what I am doing now, I am quite convinced that dreams necessarily take you into the future and that is not the way to be happy. Brenda's post on sustaining dreams reinforces that belief as well. Yes, live the moment right now because this moment is not going to last. Concentrate on what you are doing now and in achieving sublime concentration in whatever u do, you will find bliss !

Getting Local?

2005-06-16T13:30:00.000+03:00

I just realized the other day that its been close to 7 months since I have been in Istanbul, people around me are also realizing this and some incidents are proof enough. I was walkin on the street at Dikilitas approaching the bus stop and a car suddenly stops next to me to ask me for directions, I try and guide them in my broken turkish, this is not just a one off incident but happens quite regularly. The otherday a few of us trainees went by the water to have fresh fish, the waiter starts talking to 2 of them in English and starts explaining to me in turkish and gives details. I understand 80% of what he says and translate it for the others. I was wondering why was this the case, when I came in for the first few months people could make out I am a 'yabanci' = foreigner, but now it seems that I am one of them. I guess its the body languge, the way you walk around, your sense of direction comes through in the way you carry yourself. Of course I am told I look a little Turkish/Kurdish and go to a local hair dresser which could also be a good reason. It has been quite facinating to observe this change and its a sign that I have blended into the people and life here. I have decided for whatever more time I am here, I am going to make more of an effort to learn turkish. The other day I was convincing the stall owner next to our dorm that I frequent to cook me some Tandoori chicken. We managed to communicate and the deal is that I am going to marinate the 'tavuk' = chicken with some Tandoori masala from home and he is going to roast it for me. Cant wait to have Tandoori chicken by the Bosphorus with some beer! Inshallah!

Looking for Inspiration?

2005-05-31T13:59:00.000+03:00

Its probably just one of those times when you have to look forward to life with determination and perserverance and follow what you have always believed, I cant stop reading these lines at the moment
Sorry for those who cant understand, cant really translate this without losing essence.

Lehron se darkar nauka par nahin hoti,koshish karne walon ki haar nahin hoti,
Nanhi cheenti jab daana lekar chalti hai,chadhti deewaron par, sau bar phisalti hai.
Man ka vishwas ragon mein saahas bharta hai,chadhkar girna, girkar chadhna na akharta hai.
Akhir uski mehnat bekar nahin hoti,koshish karne walon ki haar nahin hoti.

Dubkiyan sindhu mein gotakhor lagata hai,ja ja kar khali haath lautkar aata hai.Milte nahi sahaj hi moti gehre paani mein,badhta dugna utsah isi hairani mein.
Muthi uski khali har bar nahin hoti,Koshish karne walon ki haar nahi hoti.
Asaflta ek chunauti hai, ise sweekar karo,kya kami reh gayi, dekho aur sudhar karo.

Jab tak na safal ho, neend chain ki tyago tum,Sangharsh ka maidan chhodkar mat bhago tum.Kuch kiye bina hi jai jaikar nahin hoti,koshish karne walon ki haar nahin hoti.

-Harivansh Rai Bachan

Dad in Town

2005-05-25T18:50:00.000+03:00

Dad and me@Hamdi
Originally uploaded by aakashsethi.

A few weeks back Dad and My uncle stopped over in Istanbul on their way back from Germany. The weekend turned out to be a great learning experience. Normally when someone visits me, I take them around the usual 'To-Dos' in Istanbul and thought ill do pretty much the same with them. But apart from doing the 'To-Dos' they decided to experiment. We went to a mystic sufi music concert. The whirling dervishes beautifully explained the evolution and philosophy of Islam. I am truly amazed at the evolution and spread of islam and am taking some time off to study it further. I couldnt have asked to be in a better place right now, Constantinople - You beauty !

Still can shoot!

2005-05-25T18:40:00.000+03:00

Still can shoot
Originally uploaded by aakashsethi.

Coming back to the time at Employee Involvement session at the conference. Some of us were dancing, painting, I ofcourse chose to play basket ball with the kids. Was very cool to get back to the court after such a long time (5 months i think) What was even better when one of my collegues from the Israel office came up to me and said 'So you are a basket ball player eh ? ' That felt so good to hear, havent really been on court for a long time, but when someone who doesnt really know you comes up to you and says that, IT MAKES YOUR DAY !!

Here's to a lot more times on court in Istanbul!