Best of 2012

Everyone else seems to use the end of the year as a chance to make a random, marginally interesting list of things that they read/did/discovered.  My hunch is that the major purpose of this is to make it seem like the writer is very smart, very accomplished, and very well traveled.  Most people won’t click through on the links they choose or the recommended books, so there’s little chance of being called out on anything.  Risk-free bragging opportunity.  Hard to pass up, so here it goes:

Best books I read

Behind the Beautiful Forevers  by Katherine Boo

If you read one book next year, let it be this.  An incredible window into the world of a Mumbai slum, and one of the most beautifully written works of non-fiction ever.  It will reel you in and hopefully lead you to rethink a lot of assumptions about urban poverty and how to alleviate it.  Should be required reading for anyone working in development in South Asia.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Isn’t it amazing how some books always feel like the author is writing about today’s world?  This one blew my mind with its relevance.  I had always pretended to have read it, without ever opening it up. 

Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif

I’ll be the first to admit that it was the title that led me to buy this book.  And actually, two chapters in I almost quit reading.  But I’m glad that I stuck through it because from there it heated up quickly.   It was an interesting rebellion against the way we usually consider fate.  And writing that’s so dry that the reader is constantly wondering if the joke is on her.

Best articles/interviews

We live in a time of predicaments, not problems.  If this is the case (which I agree that it is), then innovation is the wrong tool.   Interview of Peter Hershock on Matt Bieber’s blog

How do you justify making a living off writing about poor people? Interview of Katherine Boo in Guernica Mag

The Secrets of Generation Flux again on these themes of an increasing complex world and how to manage chaos (HT to @SusanDavisBRAC)

Best blogs

 “Fixes” on the opinionator blog on NYT (Tom Friedan and Nick Kristof free zone!!):

For fun, nothing beats “Stuff Expat Aid Workers Like.”  So true it hurts.  Caveat: maybe you just have to be there.

Favorite Tweeters

@fastcolead and @mahindrarise  ---frequent tweeters but fairly consistent in high quality content on innovation, social entrepreneurship and other things that I geek out about.  Thanks @susmitade for leading me to the first one!

Coolest “ICT4D” thing

www.Ipaidabribe.org  Creating a public outlet for people to report bribes in India.  Focus on changing the system, not villianizing individuals, is refreshing and needed, as are its efforts to engage more people via facebook and other social media.  And now it’s going international!  Hope we can see this come to Bangladesh! 

Best list for trends to watch in 2013

I think I like the world that JW Intelligence is predicting.

Best movie I saw

An oldie but new to me: Three Idiots.  Make sure you get a copy with English subtitles if you don’t know Hindi.  “All iz well.”

Best events in Dhaka

Fins and Feathers Art Exhibition was definitely number one, with jamming sessions at North End a close second.

Best quote I learned

“First they will ignore you, then they will laugh at you, then they will fight you, then you will win.”

--Gandhi (I read it in Delivering Happiness)

Best advice I received

When traveling for work, make sure to build in time to see something besides a hotel conference room.  Life is too short to travel without taking in some of the culture, sights, and food.  And the truth is, it will make you better at your work, in the long run. 

Upon learning that I’d never been to Thailand before, Richard threw me out of the second day of a meeting in Bangkok to go take a boat on a river and have a cup of tea in the library of an old hotel.  It was lovely.  When I went to Sri Lanka, he talked me into taking a day to visit Kandy (ironically where one of Buddha’s teeth is kept, hopefully safe from cavities).  In Delhi, I spent a day wandering through new art galleries, visited the Qutub Minar, and wandered around Loti Garden. In Beijing, I worked in a meal of fantastic noodles at a dingy, hole-in-the-wall restaurant, a stroll through Hutongs cum shopper’s paradise, and a trip to the top of the bell tower.  I think I’ve mastered the lesson and am enjoying applying it.

I’m not sure if I’m better at my work, but I definitely have better stories.  Like have I told you about the time I got caught in a blizzard that night I went out with Mike and Saroj in Beijing?

Best thing I ate

This is too hard.  Maybe the dosa at Ulla’s in Bangalore.  And homemade desserts in North Carolina, always.

Why September was the best and worst month

Travis and Holly got married.

Youtube got shut off in Bangladesh.

Hopefully the first is forever, but the second will end soon!

Place I visited that I’d most like to go back to

New Delhi!  Amazing food, beautiful buildings and spaces, room to walk, and no one stares at me!

Person I saw in the most countries

Richard Cash wins because Robert Marten failed to make it to Bangladesh.  Saw both in the USA, Thailand, China, and India.  All that coordination with no four square/facebook assistance.  Woot!

Favorite finds in Bangladesh

Nirob Hotel in Old Dhaka (awesome bhorta spread!)

Bogra doi (yogurt)

Biggest surprise

Tough one, but let’s go with:  Parents visiting Bangladesh and announcing that they were moving to South Dakota……

Followed by:  With significant help, I managed to design my own clothes and furniture (that someone else made).  And it was fun!

Best new hobby

Teaching boxing to a few feisty young women.