[Stoves] Off-topic: Pictures and perceptions - GACC at Imperial Hotel, New Delhi

Tue Nov 1 08:03:03 CDT 2016

Ron,

I have a pretty fair notion of what Anil is talking about. When I did a project in India for HP, 2003,  it was abundantly clear that the wealthy elites spend essentially zero time in the villages and homes of the people they wish to help. Not even a single night.  I did not spend any nights, but I did have extended visits to the homes of several of my students.  I wish I had spent some nights in the villages. A missed opportunity to walk a bit in the shoes of another.

In HP's case, their failure to spend quality time on location led them to gather extremely inaccurate market data. I had to take time out to discover the actual ground truth.

As for the location of demos, they of course should be held on location in the villages. Further, the elites should spend at least one night in the village, not simply helicopter in and out. Lastly, if the women are cooking in their bare feet, the visitors should also be in their bare feet. Respect!  I taught in my bare feet. When local factotums visited, they ostentatiously kept their shoes on. Not very subtle.

Regards,

Jock

Jock Gill
P. O. Box 3
Peacham, VT 05862

Cell: (617) 449-8111

Disrupt the present for a Regenerative Future

Instagram: jockgill 

> On Nov 1, 2016, at 1:24 AM, doseifert <doseifert at googlemail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear Nail,  for about 30 years my wife cooks with the parabolic solar cooker whenever possible and we use thermos flasks and a hay basket for cooking with retained heat. She does not use the Ben-firewood-stove I deveoped last year ,  but  I designed a comfortable workplace. All the information is in the Internet as open source. But I have some questions: Why do cooks use stoves in rooms not ventilated appropriately and damage their brains? Why do they not replace simmering through cooking with retained heat? Why do they burn charcoal, spending 200 USD per year, causing de forestation in one generation? Why cookstoves are named clean while they should not be used in closed rooms? Kind regards. Dieter 
> 
> 
> 
> Von meinem Samsung Galaxy Smartphone gesendet.
> 
> -------- Ursprüngliche Nachricht --------
> Von: Nariphaltan <nariphaltan at gmail.com>
> Datum: 01.11.16 14:40 (GMT+09:30)
> An: miata98 at gmail.com, Discussion of biomass cooking stoves <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> Betreff: Re: [Stoves] Off-topic: Pictures and perceptions - GACC at Imperial Hotel, New Delhi
> 
> This photo reminds me of another incident in one of the African countries in late 1970s when some aid agencies were introducing solar cookers. So in some fancy place on the lush green grounds important people from Europe, America and Africa were gathered. Some of the African women in fancy dress were cooking the food on the solar oven.
> 
> All the European and American dignitaries were wearing dark sun glasses. So one of the cooks remarked that more than the solar oven she would rather have the sun glass!
> 
> I think the whole program of clean cook stoves will rapidly progress if we all use the same cook stove in our homes that we are promoting. If day after day and year after year we use these stoves in our own homes then the rural poor will also accept them.
> 
> If we continue using LPG and electric cooking in our own homes and keep on promoting chulhas for poor then it will remain an interesting concept to be shown on the lawns of Imperial Hotel!
> 
> This is Gandhian concept.
> 
> Anil K Rajvanshi
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
> 
> 
>> On 01-Nov-2016, at 2:10 AM, Traveller <miata98 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> It is really an neo-imperial enterprise, it seems.  
>> 
>> Because images influence perceptions. GACC is in the business of raising money and earning bonuses. The image of three Indian women crouching in front of mostly European Whites says more than the earlier item at the White House. 
>> 
>> This is poverty pornography. Just like those images of women cooking in dark, smokey places. While the queens of Chappaqua and Washington, DC seek to rule the cooking world of the poor. 
>> 
>> GACC said, "At a private demonstration held at Delhi’s Imperial Hotel, the chefs learned how sustained use of clean cookstoves and fuels can save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and protect the environment."
>> 
>> Yeah. The Imperial Hotel is a great example itself - employs a lot of women, and has grown trees around. 
>> 
>> If anybody happens to be in New Delhi, I suggest a lunch at the Imperial, probably around $15 plus tip per person, no alcohol. Roam around in the hotel and you will discover interesting historical titbits. 
>> 
>> Nikhil
>>  
>> 
>> <image001.png>
>> 
>>  
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> 
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