nabil laoudji

poetry, prose, design thinking & entrepreneurship

  • HOME
  • PORTFOLIO
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Poetry
    • Prose
  • CONTACT

India is a Pickle

March 7, 2007 by Nabil Leave a Comment

India is a pickle. It is to a vegetable deeply rooted in the earth, extracted, diced up, and added to meals for its nutritious value. It is organic. It is dirty. It is a garnish slipped atop a beef patty to stimulate the palate. It is a process by which things are made to be sour. It is a problem, a quandary for which there is no clear solution. India is all of the above – minus the beefy patty. They don’t eat beef here.

I came to Bombay (also called Mumbai) with an uneasy smile. As I walked out of the airport I took stock of my new roommate, employer, wife. It was an arranged marriage: I had committed to spending a good portion of my life with someone I barely even knew, had never met before. Sizing her up on the way home she seemed well, okay: I liked the palm trees, good weather, stray wafts of spicy cuisine… I could do without the chaos, mosquitoes, dirt-choked streets…

Several months in I’m proud to say we’re still in it for the long-haul. It wasn’t love at first sight but like a good arranged marriage we’ve found a way to make it work. It’s a mixed bag: my shower only works for 8 seemingly random hours of the day. My apartment is fully cleaned and dinner cooked daily for a few dollars a month. I can get anything, including groceries, prescription medication, housing supplies, and laundry delivered to my doorstep for free. Nothing is done right the first time. The street food is first-rate. The lack of civic responsibility is so ingrained in my housing society that a small tree is literally sprouting from a concrete hole outside the fourth floor of my building.

Bombay, much like New York, is a city of immigrants. It’s a city of 13 million stacked on a string of seven islands that were recently connected by rock, garbage and dirt trucked in from the east. Those who come to Bombay do so driven by a desire to move up in life, more so than any other city in India. As you walk the streets you’re passing those who’ve consciously chosen to gamble their fate, and the results are mixed. In some cases you run across tremendous wealth, proudly displayed in the spit and polish of luxury sedans and modern high-rises. More often you run across several generations of previously rural families, roughing it out within a shack smaller than a McDonald’s bathroom. There are few motions to go through for those living here, few paths set out for them – instead there is opportunism, desire, creation – a constant series of choices that adds to the city’s intensity.

So am I happy to be here? Mosquitoes aside absolutely yes. Between work and personal trips I’ve had a chance to see some incredible parts of the country (snapshots at www.laoudji.com/photo; click “India”), including a French colony (Pondicherry), Mother Teresa’s mission (Calcutta), the spiritual home of the Sikh faith (Amritsar), and the country’s political center (Delhi). At work I’m helping TechnoServe India to manage an entrepreneurship development program — we’re working to train and scale up small enterprises in the agro-industry and renewable energy sectors. I’m supporting those who are weaving the story of an unprecedented economic revolution. I’m learning in new ways and stretching myself. Life is beautiful.

Filed Under: Stream Tagged With: india

Moving to India

December 1, 2006 by Nabil Leave a Comment

So I recently decided to take a post in Mumbai India. I’ll be heading over in a couple of weeks to support an organization called TechnoServe where I’ll support the development of industries that provide an economic lifeline to underprivileged communities. Please continue to stay in touch, esp. if you have plans on making it my way-

Filed Under: Stream Tagged With: india

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12

Welcome

Nabil Laoudji Twitter LinkedIn Instagram More Info

Recent Tweets

  • What’s cool about history is that it keeps repeating itself with better technology πŸ₯² about 4 months ago
  • .@LUMAInstitute Think-Aloud Testing hits TikTok #designthinking https://t.co/OI9PTlvwaY about 4 months ago
  • RT @usopen: That final feeling πŸ™Œ Ons Jabeur and Iga Swiatek will battle for the women's singles title! @Cadillac Iconic Moments | #USOpen… about 4 months ago
  • RT @WTA: 😘 Two worthy #USOpen finalists πŸ™Œ @iga_swiatek | @Ons_Jabeur https://t.co/WrO5W4now7 about 4 months ago
@laoudji

Recent Snaps

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No posts found.

Make sure this account has posts available on instagram.com.

Click here to troubleshoot

Recent Comments

  • Don on How meditation helped me get a handle on compulsive thoughts
  • Shehab on Amazon & Wikileaks: Sorting Out the Controversy
  • Mike on On Purpose
  • Katherine Molina on On Purpose
  • Anne on On Purpose

Archives

Tags

AI arab spring boston buffalo business career comedy community democracy design thinking Entrepreneurship ethnography family film improv india interview landscape launch learnings lessons los angeles massmouth MBA meditation mental health MIT music NYC occupy oprah passion performance ethnography public speaking revolution risk rust belt sales standup storytelling story tips tunis tunisia ucb values

Thanks

Thanks for visiting!

Copyright © 2023 Β· Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework Β· WordPress Β· Log in