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Those who have and those who have less

Brian Chan

April 11, 2009

A Minute Read

My stay in India was much more comfortable this time around than two years ago. Infrastructure is improving. My hotel was quite nice. In fact, it's as nice if not nicer than what I have at home.

I stayed at the Iris Hotel, where the rest of the speakers of JAX India stayed. We were on Brigade St., the happening street in town. It is the equivalent of Michigan Ave. in Chicago. Here's a view of it at night with all of its trendy shops and bars.

Here's a view of it out of my window in the morning.

Here's a view of it out of another window. I was shocked.

So I zoomed in. There I was, brushing my teeth in a nice western style hotel, and the next lot over is another valuable human being, brushing his teeth with his fingers.

While I was sleeping in a comfortable bed, they were sleeping on the floor with a few sheets.

While I had running water, they had to use buckets.

I pray that I can be wise and loving in leveraging what I have to help those who have less.

3 Comments

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Powerful images and story, Brian. Thanks for sharing.

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Can't wait to hear more about this.

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I definitely liked that place we stayed in two years ago. The quiet neighborhood and fresh mangos in walking distance beats generic trendiness, don't you think?

You see something very similar right in downtown LA—trendy restaurants and luxury lofts 1-2 blocks away from skid row. Perhaps the issue is not so much whether income inequality exists in a given place (as it does everywhere) but how far a society has gone to whitewash their view of reality so that poverty and hardship are hidden away from their day to day lives. In one way it's good that one can still see this in India, as it should ground folks to reality and remind them to do their part to address poverty and inequity. In Irvine, the police pick up the homeless and dump them in Santa Ana so the residents can pretend everything in life is beautiful. At least, that's the urban legend. emoticon