As for me, I am going to focus my part of the entry again this week on
work. I mentioned last week we are in the throes of preparing for our
accreditation visit. This involves making sure all of our processes are
compliant with accreditation standards and that everything we do is adequately
documented. This is the substantive part of both the visit itself and of
preparation. There is also a portion of the visit that is based on perception.
Do we look professional and competent? Part of that perception is the look and
feel of our physical facility.
At the last campus I led through accreditation (Charter College in
Vancouver) our facility and equipment were brand new and beautiful. The place
spoke for itself and immediately gave the accreditors a positive impression of
us from the first walk through. Our campus here in India is not quite the
opposite (there is nothing unsafe about it) but it is definitely long in the
tooth. My predecessor(s) have neglected the building and the furnishings. There
has been deferred maintenance and even inadequate cleaning. So now, in order to
get the building ready for the visit we are doing a top-down, inside-outside “freshening”
if not refurbishing. This has firmly exposed me to the current standard for
cleaning and maintenance here in Delhi.
We have been trying to get our cleaning contractor to actually get
things clean. Their standard is to wipe everything down with damp rag. A Damp. Dirty.
Rag. Which is dipped into dirty water. Further, it doesn’t matter if things
actually get clean. If things have been wiped, that should certainly be enough.
Rae has been helping us with prepping the building including cleaning,
identifying repairs that need to be done, painting, and wall hangings. I am
sorry to say that after nine months, many of the deficiencies I saw when I
first started have faded before my eyes after repeated exposure. Rae, who has a
great eye for detail anyway, does not have that issue. Rae has been known to
take the aforementioned rag, and show the cleaning people that by applying
effort light switches, electrical plates, and dirt on the wall can also be made
clean. A sophisticated, well-traveled, cosmopolitan Indian friend of mine says
the problem is they can’t see the problem. They don’t have enough experience to
know the standard we are seeking and therefore they can’t discern the
difference between that standard and where we are now. It’s a work in progress
but we are moving closer to the standard of cleanliness and order.
Now for painting. That has also been quite an eye opening experience.
First, it has been hard to get people to understand the concept of a unified
pallet of colors. If basic off white paint is thrown up (and I use that term
deliberately) everywhere, that should be good enough. So, we have had several
discussions with the painter about what colors of paint we should use where and
how one light wall color can have a dramatically different effect than another
light wall color. And don’t even get me started on accent paint. Why one would
want an accent wall or feature seems a concept beyond understanding. Well, we
finally got all of that sorted and agreed upon. I think we will now have a
sophisticated, homogeneous pallet of colors that will lead from the entry
through to the top floor.
Now if we can get them to paint with a bit more care. Apparently the concept of taping off edges is
beyond the understanding of painting crews. Sure they put down drop clothes to
take care the big issues like spills but they seem to think it is cheaper and
easier to clean dried pain off of light switches and coveing than it is to tape
them. Likewise, it also better to paint and then clean and repaint where paint
meets hard surfaces than to tape the boundary in the first place. This would be
okay, I guess, if they actually do the detailed cleaning they promise will
happen. Let’s just say I have my doubts it will be done right the first time. I
think it is likely I will have a discussion with the painter about what is an
acceptable standard. The painting is all supposed to be done this weekend. I
guess the good news is that still gives us a week to actually make it right
before the accreditors arrive.
This lack of quality and attention to detail that seems common to
Indian labor is quite distressing to me. It is clear from the magnificent,
iconic buildings throughout India that at one point there was an amazingly high
level of craftsmanship in India. The decedents of those men and women apparently
have little pride in their work. It is a tragedy actually. Another Indian
friend of mine says the problem is that India is a country of laborers who have
forgotten how to labor.
Well, I am sure this discussion of my cleaning and maintenance challenges
has been insightful (read boring). I will now turn the writing over to Rae for
what I am sure will be something more interesting. I know I am looking forward
to it.
HI all,
Since Phil has talked about labor, I’d like to add a bit to that theme
before I move on to the Republic Day Parade.
India is a country on contrasts, at least in my mind, on so many levels,
one of those being labor. In the US we
are all about tools and having the right tool for the job. Here I am continually amazed at the lack of
tools or equipment. I know I’ve talked
about the number of times we’ve had repairmen out to fix our toilet, and the
number of times they came with no tools or maybe a screwdriver or two. I know we’ve mentioned that labor is cheap
here and so the mind-set is just tell the person what you want done and let
them figure out how to do it without the help of proper tools or supplies
(because those cost money).
I’ve been so amazed when I see men balancing on top of a very narrow
wall or painting the front of a tall building or anything that I would assume
you’d need a ladder for and yet there they are and no ladder in sight. When you do see a ladder it is almost always
made of bamboo and always looks like it needs repair. When Phil and I were at a mall one day I
noticed three repairmen outside trying to work on something over a
doorway. I watched them take a table,
put a chair on that and then something on top of the chair and then climb the
precarious pile to almost be able to reach what they needed to reach. One man builds the makeshift ladder, climbs
it and does the work while the other two do ?????.
There is a new metro system being constructed between our house and the
campus and so I get to observe that process regularly. I’m amazed at the lack of equipment that I
see, and occasionally find myself gasping when I see someone perched way up
high working away and wonder how it is they got there, how they stay there, and
how they will live through this process. Oh
well, labor is cheap and there is always someone else who will be happy for the
work should this poor guy not make it. I
know that sounds cynical and I guess it is, but laborers don’t get many
protections or considerations around here. Labor is CHEAP. Words fail me when I try to paint
an adequate picture.
Not many people here take initiative of their own. Most people have a specific job and that is
what they will do and not one thing more.
That was reinforced in my mind when I went to the rehearsal parade. There are many fenced off sections set up with
bleacher type seating and also different height folding chairs in front of
those. There was rain the day before the
parade and so when we arrived at our section we found that most of the chairs
had water on the seats. There were many
guards and guides there to help with crowd control. Most of these men I observed just stood
around and never did anything. I kept thinking,
“why didn’t someone, (or why didn’t they think of it themselves) have them tip
the chairs and dump the water off so they were drier for people to set on”. Just a thought. It appears if it’s not in your job
description, or someone over you doesn’t tell you to do it, then you don’t do
it.
On to the actual parade. First,
it didn’t start on time, that’s a given.
Once it did start, it was really enjoyable and I was glad I was able to
go. Next year it will be on a Monday,
Phil won’t be in the middle of accreditation, and hopefully we can get tickets
and both go. It turns out that because of
tight security they didn’t allow cameras; I had to send mine back to the
car. No cameras, but nobody stopped us from using
our cell phones so I was able to get some pictures. They’re not great, but hopefully you’ll get
some idea.
I wish I’d done a better job of getting some closer shots of the many different
military uniforms because they are spectacular.
I know that there is an army, navy and air force and I’m assuming that
the different uniforms represent different units or areas where they may serve. Hopefully you can get some idea of the different
colors and hats that each units wore. There were probably 20 different military
units and almost that many bands to accompany them. They were very precise in their look and
movement. I was very intrigued by their
elaborate and colorful hats or headdresses.
They were spectacular. It was
easy to spot the Sikhs in each unit as they wore turbans instead of the
standard hats. Their marching was very
striking and it was clear that these guys were in great shape.
There were several horse units also and they too were beautiful and
impressive. The horses had to be a
certain height and color. They could
have been more closely matched if they’d been cloned, but short of that they
were very similar. I thought I took
several pictures of these, but I must have been too busy being impressed to get
more than one. At least I got one.
There were huge tanks, and several other types of military
equipment. These were painted in some interesting
ways. There were floats with
communications systems, missiles, aircraft and other items that highlighted the
military power.
Many states had floats that represented something unique about that
area. We saw more primitive villages,
the Himalayas, the coasts. Industrial, and craft and textile areas to name a
few. These floats were beautifully made
and impressive.
Now to my favorite part of the parade, the camel military unit and
military band. Where else could I see
something like that? The camels moved
with smooth elegance and appeared to have an air of “aren’t I spectacular”. I loved watching the band members sitting on
top of the camels and preforming with the same precision as all the other
bands. If you look, you will see the
large drums mounted on the camels. Loved
it!
There were some gaps in the parade and I’m assuming those were left for
the groups that didn’t participate in the practice. One on those gaps I believe were for the
elephants. I’ve been told there are
elephants. Don’t know if they’re part of
a military units or just elephants.
Hopefully we can go next year and fill in some of the blanks.
Well, those were the highlights of the parade and the highlight of the
week was the parade. The military and
police presence were everywhere and security was tight. There is always a security section for women
and you are searched by a women. The day
we went there was one booth for women screening. They gave us a pretty thorough pat down and
then checked our purses. I had a very
small purse that held my wallet, glasses, chapstick and a couple of odd
papers. They unzipped and inspected each
section of my purse and my wallet. I
have always found these women to be kind and friendly. I do wonder how will they take that much time
and care when they process the million people who attended today? Kind of glad I went on rehearsal day, the
crowds this morning had to be insane.
Well enjoy your week and the fact that you have tools.
Namaste.
No comments:
Post a Comment