Intense Frustration

…that’s putting it lightly.

Everyone in Mhaswad has been amazingly welcoming to me. For that, I’m incredibly grateful to my coworkers, friends, and Indian family. However, as I’m sure many of you can imagine, working and living in a foreign country comes with its fair share of frustrations. Since I am particularly frustrated by work today, I thought I would dedicate a series of blog posts to the workplace practices that I am having a difficult time adjusting to.

Topic #1: Bureaucracy

India is infamous for its miles and miles of red tape, and while dealing with government officials on several different occasions I’ve certainly been exposed to it (and to small-scale corruption). Throughout my time working in Mhaswad, however, I’ve found some of that infamous Indian bureaucracy in the place I least expected it: Mann Vikas Samajik Sanstha. Every single tiny thing that I do, no matter how insignificant, has to pass through the scrutiny of what I have (both with affection and irritation) come to call “the review board.” Because everyone else also must pass their work through the review board and because the review board is frequently traveling, I must wait days or even weeks for my turn. Not only does this severely limit my productivity, but sometimes I find it very infantilizing and on occasion even insulting. It’s the way it works, though, and for now I have to just suck it up and deal with it.