I'm back!
What a week it's been!! I can't believe my time in Mysore is already 1/3 over, there's still so much to do!!
This week, we finished up classes and had the opportunity to go on a few field visits to see tangible examples of the laws and practices we've been learning about. We also had a little bit of time to venture out into the city, which was great.
On Monday evening, we went to a wedding. It was a great opportunity to see a South Indian wedding and the traditions involved in that. We greeted the bride and groom and then enjoyed an amazing meal, during which we got to speak with a lot of the guests and practice our minimal Kannada skills with a lot of people.
Tuesday, we went to Shakti Dhama, a women's rehabilitation center that provides temporary safety for women escaping abuse and provides vocational training for women so that they can exist independently of their families, if they wish. This visit sparked a lot of conversation in the group about women's rights in both India and the U.S, and how policies and efforts in that realm are similar and different; overall it was a really good exercise in comparing ideologies across cultures.
Wednesday we visited the TVS Motor Company, which is the leading two-wheeler manufacturer in India. We were able to see an example of complete compliance with Indian labor laws at this company, which was a great opportunity to understand the laws as they stand and how they've changed over the past few years. At night, one of our professors invited us for dinner at a golf club in Mysore, which was an awesome opportunity to speak with him and other professors at SVYM in a more informal setting.
We finished classes on Thursday, and on Friday we went to Excelsoft, a software company based here in Mysore. This visit was definitely one of the highlights of the week; we got a sense of the organization's culture and training processes and toured the amazing facilities. Additionally, the HR and training directors answered a lot of my questions about their efforts to hire people with disabilities, especially their efforts to create a more inclusive workforce. They mentioned an organization called EnAble India, that works to provide supplemental training to people with disabilities and assists in job placement; Excelsoft partners with them as a potential employer. I hope to learn more about this organization and others like it during my project.
Today and tomorrow are free days, and we're enjoying our first real free time in the city by exploring!
Pictures from our wandering:
We'll start our projects on Monday...can't wait!
Until next time,
Abigail
What a week it's been!! I can't believe my time in Mysore is already 1/3 over, there's still so much to do!!
This week, we finished up classes and had the opportunity to go on a few field visits to see tangible examples of the laws and practices we've been learning about. We also had a little bit of time to venture out into the city, which was great.
On Monday evening, we went to a wedding. It was a great opportunity to see a South Indian wedding and the traditions involved in that. We greeted the bride and groom and then enjoyed an amazing meal, during which we got to speak with a lot of the guests and practice our minimal Kannada skills with a lot of people.
 |
| Sarees for the wedding! |
Wednesday we visited the TVS Motor Company, which is the leading two-wheeler manufacturer in India. We were able to see an example of complete compliance with Indian labor laws at this company, which was a great opportunity to understand the laws as they stand and how they've changed over the past few years. At night, one of our professors invited us for dinner at a golf club in Mysore, which was an awesome opportunity to speak with him and other professors at SVYM in a more informal setting.
 |
| A picture of delicious food at the Hostel to break up all of the words in this post |
Today and tomorrow are free days, and we're enjoying our first real free time in the city by exploring!
Pictures from our wandering:
 |
| So much fruit! |
 |
 |
| Hot Peppers! |
We'll start our projects on Monday...can't wait!
Until next time,
Abigail
Abigail, thank you for the wonderful post! Truly amazing photos and I really enjoyed hearing about the site visits.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting about EnAble! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete