Our first host city, Ranchi, had fame thrust upon it when it became the capital of Jharkhand, a state carved out of the state of Bihar in 2000.  Suddenly, a quiet little town was a state capital.  It grew at a furious pace, and the infrastructure couldn’t keep up.  Roads are narrow and traffic is heavy.  Piles of trash – the parts that even the scavengers have no use for – line the streets.  Dogs and cows roam the streets in droves.  The people, however, are friendly and all the food I had was very good.  The Rotary Clubs did a wonderful job organizing the conference.  District Conference is a hectic time and I think that most of our impressions of the city were formed while driving (I mean being driven!) back and forth to the conference hall.  There are waterfalls nearby that will have to wait for another visit, and I’m sure there are other pleasant places as well.  We just didn’t see them.

And now we’re in Jamshedpur, at the opposite end of the development spectrum.  Home to a large Tata steel plant, the town just celebrated its 100th anniversary.  From the start, Jamshedpur was designed to have tree-lined streets, parks, and recreation areas.  The Tata company maintains many of those areas, as well as residential complexes, for the use of their employees.  The city feels much less gritty and desperate than parts of Ranchi did, and the residents look more relaxed.

That’s probably because TISCO (Tata Iron and Steel Company) is the godfather of the town — in the spiritual sense, not the Mafia sense.  Employees have access to corporate owned hospitals and medical services for free.  The company operates schools for employees’ children and tuition is ridiculously small.  New mothers get three months paid maternity leave.  There is a generous pension plan.  If an employee is hurt on the job, his or her salary continues even while work is missed.  In the unlikely event that an employee is killed on the job, a job is created for one of the deceased’s dependents or family members.  100 years after its founding, the streets are still lined with trees, the parks are still clean, and the people are happy.  Why shouldn’t they be?

Peace,
Arleen