After lunch on Wednesday, seven of us went to the Mahatma Gandhi Museum. What an inspirational person he was and what a difference he made in India’s history with his philosophy of non-violence. We returned two hours before our 7 PM dinner was served, so we went out to the local market where there is a very nice coffee/dessert place and had a chocolate brownie sundae. Then we had dinner! After lunch on Thursday, we walked about 30 minutes to Hauz Khas Village where there are lots of shops, cafes, etc. (On the way we found another ice cream store and bought a double dip.) We returned for the 5:30 lecture on India’s economics. We’ve had three lectures: history, religion and economics. All three speakers were excellent and did not sugarcoat India’s problems. The main themes in each lecture were: overpopulation, adherence to the caste system, government corruption, poor education and poverty. They cited that 78% of the people here live on less than $2/day and 45% of children under five are malnourished. Less than 50% of children go beyond eighth grade. As more and more jobs require education, there will be fewer jobs for the under-educated. Although India’s economy is booming at 9% growth rate, these problems will continue to plague India’s progress for many decades.
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| From the Gandhi Museum |
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| On our way to Hauz Khas, we witnessed someone getting a shave and haircut on the street. |
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