Deadlines

Deadlines are stressful, especially for me.

Today at work we had our first deadline - a 20 page report documenting the background research we have conducted on Orissa. For the past week, as the good academics we are, we poured over piles of books with census information and survey results, dutifully noting down indicators, demographics and relevant statistics. After a week of research and an intense night of writing, we handed over the report to our supervisor.

But here's the thing. Even though we're living in Orissa, we have absolutely no connection to any of the things that we wrote down. Here in Bhubaneswar we live a pretty charmed life with running water, piped sanitation, paved roads, a western toilet. But this is not at all representative of the state as a whole. By many estimates, Orissa is the poorest state in India, and its development indicators leave a whole lot to be desired. Let's take a look at the numbers.

• 46.4% of the population is living below the poverty line
• The infant mortality rate is 77 per 1000 children born alive
• 3/4 of the state's children under 3 suffer from malnutrition
• 60.74% of children dropout before completing primary school
• 85% of the population live in rural areas
• 3.8% of all rural households have access to safe drinking water
• 5.2% of all rural households have access to piped sanitation

So to celebrate the dubious milestone of compiling all of this information, we went to a swanky mall restaurant for dinner followed by drinks at one of the few lounges in Bhubaneswar. Of course, for most of the time we were there, I was worried about another deadline - our 9pm curfew. Luckily, this deadline was one of our last, as we will be moving into our own curfew-free place next Tuesday.