Following a shift in my travel dates, I arrived in Delhi shortly before midnight on June 2nd. While it was simple enough to find a taxi from the airport, locating the guest flats was another matter. Though I had a google map and a list of directions from the airport, this was only of slight help as I spoke no Hindi and the driver had a minimal grasp of English. After traveling for research purposes in Indonesia in recent years with a basic grasp of Bahasa, I’d forgotten how frustrating it can be to have one’s ability to communicate limited to gesturing. However, with the assistance of various individuals sitting beside the road to point us in the increasingly correct direction, I finally arrived at the flat at around 2:30am. At this point I promptly proceeded to watch an episode of Community on my laptop to settle into the apartment before falling asleep.
The last few days at the Delhi office have been eventful ones. We became aware that the local government previously passed a law restricting the ability of councilors to spend in slum areas, effectively eliminating the possibility of there being a treatment effect from the planned mobilization campaign. As a result, the main intervention that was to be implemented in the coming year has been put on indefinite hold while we determine how best to recast it. However, we've also been meeting with SNS to conceptualize an alternative intervention which will center on the provision of information and mobilization activities to leaders of Resident Welfare Associations. Though this shifts the focus of the research a bit, I'm still hopeful that we will be able to answer some interesting questions.
