I'm on India Time

Author: Joyce Sakata
Project: Alternative Law Forum | Human Rights Advocates Connect
Year: 2014
Bangalore, India

The biggest difference I have encountered has been in scheduling. Meetings at 10:00am are not necessarily at that time. Being late does not seem to have the same negative association than in the US. There seems to be an “India” time which runs half an hour to an hour later than scheduled. ALF is a very non-hierarchical organization. They are fire fighters. They go from being very relaxed to very intense moments of chaos and trying to helping sex workers, victims of rape, students who are about to be deported, or slum residents who are in the process of being evicted from their homes. I used to work for a firm that was non-hierarchical, so I see many similarities between ALF and my previous firm. The employees there are very close and are much more like family than coworkers. They share everything. They know about each other’s personal lives, some live together, and they genuinely care about each other. After working at GE for a semester, I didn’t realize how much I missed a working in an environment like ALF. I do prefer something non-hierarchical that is more familial in nature and focuses on doing meaningful work for the betterment of others. Decision making in India seems to be much more collaborative than in the US. However, this often means that decisions aren’t always made because there isn’t any consensus. This can be difficult when a deadline approaches, but I do see the value in it. For instance, when deciding on the name of the site, there is this underlying desire to take the time to figure out the right name. We have a name for the site, but it doesn’t quite feel right. Not everyone is on board, but there isn’t a rush to figure it out either. The best design decisions don’t always make it before a deadline. Especially for creative decisions, sometimes you have to let the information sit and work its own way out. I think ALF behaves like a start-up or a small design firm in many ways. I can see why the interns and employees all seem to be pretty happy and keep coming back. It’s a great environment to work in, but I have a feeling that ALF is more like the exception than the norm. *Side note: Cat people are the same no matter what country they’re from. They have the same mannerisms and do the same silly things.