2011 reflections

2011 has been an eventful year, both globally and personally. With major global events like the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall St and the death of both Gaddafi and Osama, one thing is clear - 2011 was a year of people crying out for change. We see not only a lot of unhappy people, but also, more importantly, the desire for people to fight for what we believe in, in order that we may see our vision of heaven eventually reach earth. It may be unlikely to happen in our generation, but I'd like to think we are beginning to finally believe again that it is indeed possible, and we are taking steps towards making that dream a reality.

Personally, I have been phenomenally fortunate not only to have had a breadth of experiences this year, but even more importantly to meet and spend time with most of you. I started this year off at a wonderful meditation camp in picturesque South India, and that tranquil state was also evident over the next 5 months in the rainforests of Papua New Guinea, as well as the tropical tiny islands with untouched beaches, looking out into seas of turquoise radiance. But before I knew it, this peaceful lifestyle transitioned with 2 months of hectic travel across Asia, before I had to re-adjust to the ever-changing 'civilized' world at grad school in the US. While I have been fortunate enough to be blessed with an array of experiences that allow for rich opportunities for personal growth, they come hand in hand with steep challenges. In particular, I feel that a main challenge many of us are facing, is one of balance - how to maintain equipoise, especially in a confusing world that is moving so quickly that we are bombarded with multiple pieces of information with decisions to make at every given second. Essentially, how to remained centered in a world of continuous change.

People around us often help. In the past, I've undervalued the opinion of an older, wiser generation. Parents, uncles, aunts and mentors gracefully marry the lessons of their experience with adjustments to the context of today's world. There are the friends who support us no matter what, and those who always share their frank opinion no matter how we feel at the time. And, children. Kids retain the ability to simplify the most complex of questions, and amaze us with their idealism. Many times, I feel like it is us who have lost our way, rather than the happy kids who we fool into 'growing up'. Pearls of wisdom greet us at every turn - it is up to us to pay attention, and open our minds to new angles of thinking.

While it is usually useful to seek advice and perspective, ultimately we must all make our own final decisions, and be comfortable with them. In particular, 3 attributes have served me well to maintain equipoise while making decisions in the changing world we live in.
1) Optimism: Having a vision of what the end state of anything could look like is crucial for my self-motivation. And while determining a vision, what inspires me the most is having a bold idea of what I want. Figuring out the 'how' part is important, but a secondary question. First, we must identify what we want, and the method to get there curiously often seems to unfold almost magically at times.
2) Conviction: Once I have thought through my decision and have made up my mind, being steadfast is crucial. Even if things don't work out as I imagined, that doesn't necessarily mean that I made the wrong decision - factors outside my control obviously play a role, but I should be perfectly comfortable with the outcome so long as I know I did my best, given the knowledge that I had at the time. In particular, playing poker serves as a great example of this idea. As long as I am 'all in' with the best shot of winning, I am satisfied that I have played the game right. Of course, the outcome doesn't always go my way - people get lucky sometimes! But with faith that in the long run, the odds will work themselves out, I should continue to adopt the same strategy. More often then not, a positive net balance ends up being the outcome.
3) Drive: Having a plan is one thing, but execution is another. For me, having a passionate belief that what I'm doing leads to making the world a better place (whether in a small or big way) makes a huge difference. Coupled with an optimistic vision and the conviction that I'm on the right path, I end up at a state where I'm at peace with myself. Focused on finding an effective way to achieve what I want, working on it becomes an enjoyable part of my routine.

Thank you all for inspiring me in some way, shape or form. Whether it be sharing stories at a bar, engaging in deep discussions at one of our houses or even chats by email/skype, you've supported me through yet another eventful year and I appreciate it a lot. It never ceases to amaze me how so many of us from such different backgrounds can achieve such magnificent things - I can only hope to continue learning from all of you around me, and contribute in any way that I can to our journey of impact. Also, thanks a lot to those of you who have kept in touch - I love hearing about what and how you are doing, and hope that we continue to stay in touch for a long time to come. I finally have a break from grad school for the next month, so I would love to catch up with you via email/skype if I don't get to see you in person. I'm actually pretty curious as to what your goals/resolutions are for 2012!

My goal for 2012 is the same as it will be for years to come - to leave the world better off than it would be without me in it. In order to achieve that while maintaining my equilibrium, I'm planning to work on 4 resolutions, described as the 4 Agreements in one of my favorite short books on Toltec wisdom by don Miguel Ruiz. I'm happy to elaborate in more detail personally, but its a quick guide on how to approach the quest for Personal Freedom (freedom from fear, illusions, and the fear based beliefs in the mind. In essence it means to win the war over the beliefs in the mind. It is with Personal Freedom that we are free of the human condition of emotional suffering).

So here's wishing us some helpful ingredients that will contribute to a recipe for thriving in 2012: rays of hope, dashes of courage and doses of determination in our pursuit of happiness, baked with amazing people around us with hearts full of love. Happy holidays, and hope to hear from you soon!

NGOs lobbying International Organizations: How to set agendas effectively

This article was first posted on 13 November 2011 at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations (at Harvard University) blog

The reason there are 9 “Major Groups” of stakeholders as part of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development is because these groups are the ones who are pushy and vocal.
Felix Dodds (Executive Director of Stakeholder Forum), shared his tips during a talk at the Harvard Kennedy School on November 10 2011: “By getting involved early, you can have a huge impact on influencing the policy agenda”.

Even when governments are not ready to engage and we want to keep up momentum, there are lots of ways conversations can be kept moving – from coffee chats in capital corridors to more formal discussion with officials on their priorities, constant engagement leads to a strong trust-based bond.
Naturally, the desire to get involved early must be complemented with enough substance in order to get the attention of international organizations. Some ways to do that include a) writing background papers – promoting ideas, workshops, information leading up to a major event b) providing policy recommendations for instance on how to reshape financial markets (indices, governance, incentives, state owned investment vehicles) c) building alliances with key players in industry, for instance on the issue of corporate accountability for sustainability.

While this makes sense as a broad strategy, an audience member raised a question that is likely to be an obstacle to actionable progress: How do we make sure governments collaborate, agree, and execute?

Dodds suggested that the main way had to be by instituting review mechanisms that reward delivery. “NGOs play a role in holding accountability: we have done that very badly over the years – one of the missing links is parliaments. Parliaments could be part of as an annual review mechanism. There is no reason why parliaments can’t hold the executive branch of the government accountable.”
Another useful question was understanding whether this process is replicable outside the sustainable development arena (e.g. health, human rights, etc). Dodds was unambiguous in his response – Yes. In the fields of HIV/Aids and human rights, NGOs had demonstrated that they could set the agenda.
One of the things that Dodds wants to see is more UN summits taking place away from New York. It would be particularly important to have the 2015 MDG Summit hosted by a developing country. “Once we have a pooled expertise, then we get to have a more coherent input to the process”. This winds back to his earlier point – the beginning is the most important bit – if you get things right in agenda setting, governments trust you since you’ve been working with them over a period of time, so they take your ideas.

In my own experience setting up the Office of Climate Change and Development for the Government of Papua New Guinea, I found a lot of these principles to be valid. We appreciated the expertise of NGOs understanding how to get things done on the ground, and by engaging them early, developed a comprehensive, prioritized set of stakeholder interactions in different formats for various provinces. Furthermore, the indigenous people we spoke to felt much more comfortable pursuing ambitious initiatives knowing that NGOs, international organizations and the government together agreed that it was the best course of action.

Rahul Daswani is a pursuing a Masters in Public Policy Degree at the Harvard Kennedy School.

First Harvard Article

Dear friends,

Thanks all for the wonderful response to my first article! This is an article that I submitted to the Harvard Citizen, published on 18th Oct 2011. Text below, if you prefer.

Battle hymn of a happiness optimizer

Rahul Daswani, Contributor, MPP’13

Over the last several weeks, many of us (especially first year students) have been struggling to find a balance between maximizing happiness and maintaining control over where we spend our time. I have found five strategies extremely helpful in maximizing my happiness on a daily basis.

1.     Gratitude: After all, we are at Harvard. Every morning, I wake up and marvel at the fact that I’m actually here. Surprisingly, this isn’t a joke. The fact that our ‘problems’ involve trying to figure out which diplomat to go have a discussion with, or which war veteran to sit next to in class, is an existence most people don’t even begin to imagine. I’ve taken to plugging out of my iPod and plugging in to the sounds, sights and smells around me during my 15 min walk to campus. Try smiling at every person you walk by on your way to school for 5 minutes straight: you might be surprised at the reaction you get.

2.     The 80/20 principle: For the non-consultants among us, a common rule we can apply to our daily life (aka problem sets) is that we can get 80% of the solutions with 20% of the effort (or time). One way to practice this is to have self-imposed time limits for assignments. For instance, I have vowed never to spend more than 3 hours a week on stats. If there’s a part of a question I did not get a chance to complete (or will take too long), I’ll just read over the solution set once its out, and spend the rest of my time doing activities I enjoy a little more than number-crunching.

3.     Burst the bubbles: So now that we are all happier and have new-found time on our hands, what kinds of things could we do? Some of the things I enjoy (outside of HKS and even the Harvard community) are: Exploring the social scene at other schools; stopping by the GSD for beer and BBQ once beer runs out at quorum call; going to a HBS party on Wednesday night; organizing a house crawl.  Better yet, I enjoy exploring areas outside of Cambridge, such as taking a day trip to Maine (best lobster I’ve ever had); spending a weekend at a Cape Cod beach; or going on a date Thursday night at Stella in Boston with someone stellar.

4.     Cultivate mentors: In an environment where so many people have spent significant amounts of time living and working in each of our ‘dream jobs’, it would be foolish not to learn from their experience. Take advantage of formal as well as informal opportunities to meet people who you can bounce ideas off. The Mid-Careers often share classes with us kids, or are involved in the same service projects. The ones I have met have been nothing but open and excited to provide guidance at our behest.

5.     Take an annoying classmate to lunch: Wait, what? Yes, I’m sure we all have a small number of people who just get on our nerves every time they talk. Our instincts tell us to walk away to pre-empt any chance of a prelude to a conversation. Or is it just me? In any case, one of the most rewarding things I’ve done is sit down for an extended conversation (over lunch, in the courtyard, at a house party) with one of those people to understand more about where they come from, and why they think the way they do. Often, I’ve found it allows me to refine my own perspective on life, and think about things in a way I hadn’t thought of before. Not to mention, that person becomes much more of a real friend to me than just another ‘Facebook friend’.

These are some of the strategies I have used to avoid death by problem sets, keep my perspective and optimize my happiness. If you have any other ideas or strategies, I’d love to hear ‘em.  See you at the next party.

Mt Wilhelm

Dear friends, It is with a bittersweet symphony that my 15-month adventure in PNG ends. I vividly recall first stepping foot in Port Moresby in March last year, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to take on a challenging career in the government of a country no one I knew had ever been to. Reports of the country were mixed, safety being cited as a constant concern but balanced (for me) that the amazing biodiversity that was promised - double the marine life that is in the Red Sea! It will be surreal to leave this place that has been my home for over a year, filled with amazing people who have welcomed me wholeheartedly into their lives. But I'm sure this is not the last I've seen of PNG, and so I venture on to new pastures of self-development, that I may contribute to even greater heights in the future.

Before I left PNG, I had the opportunity for 1 big mission - climb the country's highest mountain, Mt Wilhelm (4502m). Like most adventures in PNG, this turned out to be much more than just a mission, it provided a prime example to reflect on the wonders of PNG, her people and my time here.

path to Betty's Lodge

Day 1: Flew to Mt Hagen, and 5 hr drive to Betty's Lodge. Betty's lodge is at 2800m, and is the furthest one can drive by road, before scaling the rest of Mt Wilhelm on foot. Betty herself is quite a character. Having won numerous awards for entrepreneurship, Betty not only set up the lodge, but also manages it on a daily basis (has over 30 beds), and cooked us some wonderful food. We proceeded to rest and acclimatize for the next 2 days of fun, socializing around a fire with other tourists from Europe, Australia, including a group of 3 who returned from scaling Mt Wilhelm and returning in a day (Betty called them crazy).

Betty's trout!

Day 2: During the early part of the day, we got to wander around the compound, and discovered Betty's business was more diverse and extensive than we had expected: she also managed a fish farm, with thousands of trout separated by size among 7 large containers. On the path leading to the farm, the path was adorned with a magnificent array of flowers - much like PNG is dressed with people from its 800+ tribes, coexisting across the country, blooming at different times and each unique in their own beautiful way. After a light lunch, our trek began under the canopy of the rainforest. A well traversed path and an efficient guide took us from Betty's lodge to base camp (3500m) in just under 3 hours. 

Base camp

'Base camp' was quite an apt description - this was the base of the mountain, with no more well worn easy tracks to follow. And it was effectively a 'camp', a roof over our heads, gas stove (instant noodles and milo for dinner) for the night, and a place with function but little form. That was irrelevant however, because the beauty surrounding us was amazing. Peering out of base camp, one immediately sees a beautiful lake, as well as the waterfall feeding gently into it, caressing the mighty mountain as the water makes a languid journey downwards. Our roommates at base camp turned out to be an extremely interesting Belgian dude, and an Indonesian family who arrived much later. The Belgian regaled us with tales of how he decided to take a gap in University (between his 3rd and 4th years), and travel for 2 years. He had slowly made his way up from Australia, and was spending a month traveling upwards along the coast of Papua New Guinea. He had been through the madness of public buses, stayed with locals he met on his journeys, named a newborn child of a village, and intended to sail across the border to Indonesia in a few weeks time. Yet another reminder that people we meet in this country often have a curious mix of a desire for exploration, high flexibility of plans, and are a self-motivated bunch (with any of these 3 missing, one won't survive too long in the bush). After a short nap, we awoke at 2am to start the 6-hour climb to the summit with borrowed flashlights and our trusty guide.

We made it!

Day 3: After the first hour armed with a small flashlight each, darting over muddy puddles on our steep ascent parallel to a waterfall we could hear cascading beside us, we asked our guide whether it would be this steep and muddy the whole way up. After deliberating for awhile, he finally answered "Well its steep and muddy about half of the time.....and steep and rocky the other half of the way." On the bright side, we were glad he was honest with us. This allowed us to be mentally prepared for the journey ahead, and pace ourselves through sunrise to head closer to the summit with every step. 

In many ways, the journey up Mt Wilhelm was reflective of my time in PNG. Absolutely, constantly punctuated by all kinds of beauty. A challenging working environment, setting up a government agency in a quarter of the time it usually takes required navigation of stakeholders and terrain which was the equivalent of steep, rocky and muddy ground. Of course, I was also extremely to be accompanied by amazing guides. People who were keen to lend a hand, direct me on the best path to take, and excite me to carry on. Most of all, the warm, accepting, friendly people I've met over the past 15 months will remain with me always.

Lukim yu PNG, and thank you all for being a part of this journey with me. 

Madang

Dear friends,

As I complete 14 months in this wonderful country, my thoughts begin to wonder to bigger pictures. Have I made a difference? What now? What should I do in 2 years after going back to school? But inevitably they settle and return to the 2 more immediate concerns: 

1) Let me make sure I pass on the baton for continued dedication to climate change and PNG for those who have chosen to serve this cause in PNG, and ensure a smooth transition.

2) Let me reflect on the adventures and experiences that this amazing country has given me since March 2010, for there is truly no place like PNG. 6 million people, over 800 tribes and languages, some of the richest biodiversity on land, air and sea only begins to hint at the uniqueness of this nation.

In that spirit, I write my penultimate update from PNG. Recently I had the chance to go to Madang, a northern coastal province on the mainland of PNG not too far from Port Moresby (1 hr flight). Instead of staying at the standard boutique hotel that exists in each tourist-frequented town in PNG, we decided to go a less traveled route: to the Jais Aben Resort, a simple yet expansive property on the waterfront outside town, with an array of activities to pick from. "The aptly named Jais Aben means ‘resting place’ in local language. Many people tell us that this is precisely the feeling they have immediately upon arrival." - I have to agree, the bungalows by the sea catching the breeze lulled us into a relaxing mood from the moment we entered the compound.

While we did end up spending most of the weekend between the bungalow, dining area (30 ft from the Pacific Ocean) and checking out fish in the ocean, we did also manage to take a trip up to the hilltop for a scenic view out. Interestingly, the hilltop also contained a radio tower, that had been built during the war period, and then later used by missionaries to spread the gospel, promoting peace and bringing stability to the people through religion, much like in many other parts of PNG.

On the next afternoon, we also managed to take a canoe out and paddle to some nearby islands. We ended up making sandcastles with some kids on the first island (the one in the sunrise picture), and then we headed onward onto what we thought was an uninhabited island. To our surprise, as we turned the corner and clambered ashore, we found some smiling locals awaiting us, including a friendly elder who generously offered to give us a tour around the island. Once he found out that we were working on climate change, he took us to the opposite side of the island, where coastal erosion of the island over the years was painfully obvious. A particular section of the coast was unprotected by the extensive roots of mangroves growing elsewhere, and the continuous erosion was a source of concern to the entire village. We were then introduced to the village chief, a frail looking man with a booming voice who, upon finding out our ages, remarked "I have been chief for 42 years - since way before you were born!" before thanking us for our visit and retiring to his hut.

Of course, the trip included some usual unexpected PNG-style surprises - a 3d chess game with life-size bird of paradise pieces, a return canoe trip involving a narrow shortcut under an eye-level bridge back to Jais, being invited to a post-meal drinks conversation with a landowner who was looking or an investment strategy for the "3 million Kina (~1 million USD) I am getting next week", because we apparently looked like his sons. Resulting in an offer to hire us as his investors starting with K10,000 a piece (an offer we politely declined), and tossing us his landcruiser keys in case we wanted to drive around Madang...but what fun would PNG be without typical PNG randomness!

Thus I leave you with this thought: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Nusa Island

Dear friends,

Time has flown - it has been over a year since I first set foot in the land of a thousand journeys. For this edition, I revisit one of my favourite provinces in PNG, New Ireland. 

 

One of the great things about PNG is how many different things one can do, even in a seemingly similar situation. Spending an entire weekend at Nusa Island Retreat was simultaneously relaxing, and quite fulfilling. Upon arriving at our breezy hut overlooking the sea, we spent the first few hours touring the island and interacting with the multitude of friendly animals that co-habited the island. From gangly dogs to parrots with injured wings, each being had a story to share. Horn-billed pelicans were somehow convinced that my toes were edible, and we watched a slightly wounded hawk tear apart a quick meal.

Pulling up a canoe allowed us to paddle to the various other islands (the 2 behind the surfer kid), and take in a gorgeous sunset. On the way to the 2 islands, we stopped for a quick snorkel to see a shipwreck 4m deep, and had a peek at the sunk airplane (7m down). We also had the chance to explore a nearby island. Aside from lush terrain, ancient war relics (the large cannon in the picture) allowed us to dwell on what the island had been like 70 years ago. We moved onward with our tour of the adjacent island, climbing up a short stretch of rocks to look over a blowhole in action with cycles of around 2 minutes. 

We spent the rest of the time relaxing - playing with starfish that surfaced beneath our hut, watching a variety of people row canoes between Nusa and Kavieng, silhouetted by a beautiful sunset, and rallying on a beach ping pong table. While laying in my hammock, I wondered: How is it that in this outwardly rustic appearing eco-lodge, one is drawn into such unimaginable serenity?

Perhaps it's the cool breeze that sways the hammock one lays upon, gently rocking me from side to side. Or the constant presence of the hues of turquoise waters merging seamlessly into the varied shades and shapes of green trees, available anytime I flick my eyes over the horizon of the book I'm currently perusing. It could be the murmur of the waves as they roll over the sand beneath me, punctuated by the occassional hum of a speedboat bringing passengers to and from this tropical paradise. The very presence of a variety of land and marinelife, too, certainly raised my spirits: horn-billed pelicans hopping delicately down the stairs to feed on pieces of banana out of our hands, parrots of several varieties adorned with skin warm to the touch, falcons gliding elegantly through the air, with a feather making a graceful descent towards us as they glide overhead. And then I ask, how could one possibly not be serene in such an environment?