Interesting People

This week ended busy and exciting. On Friday night we were invited to a dinner at the house of the Vice-Consul of the US Embassy who just happens to be a member of our church. They also invited Nathan’s boss, Charu Modi, who was more than happy to come to help facilitate student visas. Also there were the government liaison missionaries as well as the country directors for LDS Charities, the Dunns. There were also some friends and acquaintances of the Vice-Consul, one of whom was named Vikram Dutt who has one of the most interesting business cards I have ever seen. He is on the board of four charities as well as teaching ethics in management courses for one of the local university and a frequent visitor to BYU for world religion conferences where he has had the opportunity to meet President Hinckley on multiple occasions. What I didn’t realize about him until later is that he is Hindu but speaks glowingly about the members of our faith. We were given a presentation about LDS Charities’ efforts in India which was very interesting. Last year they distributed hundreds of wheelchairs and also focused on clean water pumps. As it turns out, one of their major partners here in India is Charu Modi’s cousin! Small world, huh? After the dinner, Sister Dunn talked to me about what she is doing here. She is teaching music at a slum school and asked me if I would like to help her. She said that there are several programs that are available so I am going to give her a call and discuss it more in depth. It sounds like something I really shouldn’t pass up, especially if it is for a few hours a week. We shall see.

Charu is a fascinating character. She was telling us how she got involved with Western International University. She is a Thunderbird grad and came home wondering how she could bring quality western education to India at a price that would be affordable to more people. So she spoke to her father who told her that if she could find a partner with assets of $1 billion or more he would back her (I wish I could have that conversation with someone!). So she went online and found out which schools could be transferred to India that had the resources necessary. There were four so she called them up, went and saw them, and presented her idea. Western International took the bait and here they are. She also runs a group that works with Banner Health in Arizona to make up for the lack of nurses. Her group trains Indian nurses, has them take the necessary boards, and then contracts them to Banner for a few years. The nurse, along with his or her whole family, receives a green card so they can stay as long as they want, but the majority plan on returning to India within a few years. The great thing is that, of the fifty who have gone to Arizona, ten have already purchased their own homes there. This is something they would never have been able to do at home. Then when they come home they can bring their skills and capital with them which will help boost the Indian economy. I think it’s a great plan. I love that when she comes up with a business idea, it is always with an eye towards how she can benefit her country in the long run. I think she’ll be a great contact for Nathan throughout his career.

I also had a great discussion with Brian Reynolds, the Vice-Consul. He was telling me about life at the State Department. Sounds amazing! His last assignment was Beijing and the things he was telling us about China were fascinating. He was the secretary to the ambassador there and said that the things he heard in meetings made Tom Clancy novels seem pretty tame. He couldn’t tell me what they were but I have been wondering ever since!

This is getting long, but something really nice happened today. Our driver, Muktar Khan, is a lovely man who sings whenever he drives us around. He is Muslim and is very excited that we have the same God. Last week he dropped us off at church and then followed us in later to see what it is like. He took his shoes off at the door, as you would in a mosque, and sat in the back for a few minutes. Today, he came for the whole meeting. I think he was embarrassed that we sat with him since there is a social order here that is pretty inflexible but in the end we employ him so if we want to sit with him than so be it. We got him a copy of the Liahona in Hindi and will get him a Book of Mormon next week. He told me that he felt good in our meetings, and I must confess that sacrament meeting was especially good today. So on the way home I told him that he has to take us to a mosque so that we can learn about his religion. He seemed very pleased to do that. I don’t know if anything will come of it, but I love his curiosity.

By the way, Nathan found out that Brian Mueller, the CEO of the Apollo Group is coming to India next month to see how things are going. That should be an interesting couple of days!