International Political Will

On May 25, I will return to the United States after four years abroad. I am doing a countdown from 10 – starting at 10 and ending with 1 the last week of May when I depart India. And then that’s it – the end. I’ll ride off into the sunset where all the other [...]

Once again, Mumbai proved that letting a few voices in the media frame our values and fears is not the way to live peaceably with 20 million neighbors. It’s a lesson that, in a globalized world, the rest of us would do well to learn.
Shahrukh Khan, or SRK as he is often referred to for [...]

If you need a taxi to the Mumbai airport from the neighborhood of Vashi, Sonu is the driver you want.
A ride to the airport from my area can take hours (though it’s probably only about 20 miles) – there’s a toll bridge to cross, no highway (so single-lane city streets are the only route), and [...]

Last night was the end of Ganapati – a ten day long festival in honor of Ganesh, the four-armed, elephant-headed deity (often referred to locally as Ganapati).

In Mumbai this is, by far, the most exciting festival (and in India, there is plenty of competition).
Essentially, every family buys a plaster statue of Ganesh and keeps it [...]

Everyday in Mumbai, 10 people are killed on the local trains.
But no one is demanding seat belts or railroad crossing guards.
In India, diarrhea and water-born illness accounts for 20% of all child deaths under the age of 5 (double the rate in Zimbabwe), and only 50% of urban areas have proper sanitation.
Yet no businesses and [...]