Ukraine and Shantaram

My visit to Kiev, Ukraine, to deliver a talk at the IV International CSR Conference was worthwhile, but far too fleeting. From the brief night-tour I had, I can see that it is a beautiful city, with lots of fascinating architecture and history. The Kiev equivalent of the Statue of Liberty, which stands 8 metres higher than it's American counterpart, is a case in point.

My favourite books of all time – Possession, Time Traveller’s Wife and Bridge Across Forever – have been wrested from top spot by the epic, gritty, poetic, Bombay-based biography that is Shantaram. It is at once compelling and disturbing, beautiful and ghastly, insightful and confusing. It blurs the lines between good and evil, between love and tragedy, between life and death.

Incredible (and infernal) India

My first few days in India have been all work and no play, but rewarding nevertheless. The evening that I arrived in Mumbai, I interviewed the founder and researcher at Karmayog, an organisation which runs an information and sharing portal for NGOs and citizens, including the ability to report corruption. It also runs a CSR Rating of the top 500 companies in India.

The following day, I travelled to Raipur to deliver a talk on the Future of CSR, hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The flight back to Mumbai was via Bhopal, which felt somehow significant, given my work and the number of times I have used the 1984 Bhopal disaster as a case in my talks and writing.

Yesterday, in Delhi, I did a workshop on CSR Around the World, hosted by the national power supplier (NTPC). Several power cuts during my stay at their guest house seemed ironic, but just highlights the scale of the challenges India faces. Today, I do a workshop on CSR, Marketing and PR, hosted by NASSCOM.

My impressions of India so far are still in flux. On the one hand, I didn’t get the ‘assault on my senses’ that I had expected, other than the heat – it has been 43 Celsius during the day and 30 at night, the highest April temperatures in 52 years. Poverty is everywhere in evidence, but is not as overwhelming or pervasive as I had expected. Perhaps I am just accustomed to slums and scenes of hand-to-mouth existence, having grown up in South Africa and travelled extensively in developing countries.

What is more notable is the traffic. Not only are the roads swarming with cows, bicycles, bull carts, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, taxis, cars, buses and trucks, but there appear to be no rules of the road, other than ‘take the gap’. Traffic lanes, stop signs and traffic lights have no meaning. Hooting is constant. Many cars and trucks even have ‘Horn .. ok .. please’ painted on their bumpers, seemingly encouraging hooting in the interests of safety. Somehow, this lack of rules makes drivers more alert and aware, so in a chaotic way, it works.

Cutting through the dust and (in Delhi) the smog are iridescent colours – of the women’s saris, the brightly painted trucks and the temples, shrines, gods and goddesses. I find this fascinating, that the hottest, driest and often poorest places in the world are also the most colourful. Perhaps it is compensation for a harsh and bland environment, or perhaps it is simply the richness of indigenous cultures.

There is also a real sense of diversity and dynamism among the people here – constantly busy and bustling, wheeling and dealing, in animated discussion, struggling to make themselves seen and heard amidst the crowd, manoeuvring, manipulating, engaged in the cut and thrust of survival. What is also different is that people and animals mix and move freely together, on the streets and pavements, through waste dumps and in markets. It is a moving morass of life that is unmanageable and incredible.

Weddings bells and temple ruins: Koh Samui & Siem Reap

I haven’t written since arriving at Koh Samui. On the Tuesday before my sister's wedding, both sets of families and friends had a day of adventures together, travelling by boat from Koh Samui to various islands for snorkelling, kayaking, and hiking to an enclosed lagoon (where they filmed The Beach, I think). The snorkelling along a small coral reef was amazing; definitely something I’d like to do more of, or even scuba diving. Mom, Dad and I also spent a day exploring some of the Buddhist and Hindu temples, including a giant gold statues of Buddha and a 12-armed goddess.

The bachelor party the night before the wedding was lots of fun. After dinner, we headed to the part of the island where all the night-life happens. The open-air, circular bars were quite an eye opener, with girls serving drinks, playing games (like Jenga) with customers and pole dancing (fully clothed), all while trying to entice clients into buying more than just a drink. Very bizarre.

The wedding itself in Koh Samui was really lovely – an idyllic setting, beautiful floral arrangements, thoughtful words of love in the ceremony and grand finale with an elephant ride for the bride and groom. The setting meant that everyone was fairly relaxed; I even wore my crocs! The size of the wedding also meant that it was quite intimate. My sister looked absolutely stunning and it all went off wonderfully.

Last Saturday, I headed to Cambodia with my mom and dad. Siem Reap is a bustling town, totally geared for the tourist trade, but without having lost its agricultural and cultural roots. I felt very relaxed among the people, dusty roads, scooters and market stalls. Our visit to the various Angkor Wat temples was fascinating. They are just as one imagines jungle temple ruins should be.

We had a very informative guide, who was very patient with our endless picture taking and videoing. My favourites were the two temples that were returning to nature, with trees growing throughout the crumbling complexes and roots clinging to the remaining walls. We also had a hot hike through the jungle to an area where a rocky river bed had been carved.

The only pity, for both Thailand and Cambodia, was that we were too early for the rainy season. As a result, the temperatures were scorching (over 35 or 40 degrees most days and over 25 most nights), the landscape was not very green, the rice paddies were still dust bowls and the waterfalls were hardly more than trickles. Despite this, it was an incredible 2 weeks or so, with many amazing sights and rich experiences.

Now, after a few days back in Kuala Lumpur to pick up my India visa and an overnight stop in Singapore, I am on my way to India, a place I have dreamed of visiting for many years. Much like the Far East, so many of my philosophical and spiritual influences originate here that it feels like a soul homecoming of sorts (although culturally, these countries are very foreign and unfamiliar). It will essentially be a working trip, as my two weeks are packed with talks and workshops (in Mumbai, Raipur, Delhi, Chennai and Pune), but sometimes that is the most authentic way to get to know a country.

Brewing revolution in Bankok

Arrived in Koi Samui, after a few days in Bangkok, spent with my parents. We took in the usual sights – a visit to the Grand Palace, a canal boat ride, a tour to the floating markets, a trip into the city to buy dad a new camcorder with digital hard drive and a ride on a tuk-tuk.

The most interesting part for me was that our hotel was right in the heart of the red-shirts protest zone. That made it a very noisy 36 hours, with constant sloganeering and speechifying over the load speakers set up about 250 metres from the hotel (including throughout the night). I didn’t really mind. The protests were all peaceful (at that stage) and it was interesting having such a close-up window on a rising social resistance movement.

My 3 hour speech on Friday – hosted at the Thailand Stock Exchange, with sponsorship and support from Thai Health Promotion Fund and NGO Business Partnership – seemed to go down well. Certainly, it was an honour to be the expert guest, with over 150 participants. I also took my parents to the Cabbages and Condoms restaurant, a social enterprise to promote awareness on safe sex and HIV/AIDS with décor made from condoms and pills.

Having just finished Paulo Coehlo’s biography (A Warrior’s Life), one thing I hadn’t quite appreciated was how ambitious he was (and is). Fame and fortune – to be a world renowned writer – was always his goal, and he seems unapologetic about it. I am also encouraged that Coelho’s first breakthrough book was when he was about 40 years old. So there is hope for me yet! :)