But are these differences, India’s heterogeneity, really that surprising. Just have a look at the sheer size of the country (using Jelmer’s blog as a good example), placing India on top of the map of Europe. If one tries to compare Sweden and Spain on the above mentioned parameters plenty of differences can be found as well. However, not only size has led to the current differences.
Guus van der Zijden
First name:
Guus
Last name:
van der Zijden
Biography:
India.........am I really going to India? You are the queen of the day, Jo-Ann! These come close to my exact words when I got the news.
As one of the lucky few students to be selected for the TNT Global Experience Programme 2010, I am more than happy to briefly introduce myself. I am Guus van der Zijden, 25 years of age and I have been selected to help Fleet Forum in India!
Raised in Eindhoven in a nest of 4 boys, I am used to having people around me from a young age onwards. During my years in both primary and high school I was mainly enjoying a life of little work and a lot of play. During those years my interests were somewhat limited and I could have never imagined that, a decade later, I would be on the verge of leaving The Netherlands for a period of six months.
After studying Business Administration in Tilburg for around 18 months, but still living at my parents in Eindhoven, I decided that I needed a crash course in growing up and taking responsibility. Once I was living on my own, I deciced to become a more active student both in extracurricular activities and studying. I was actively involved in organizing activities in both my fraternity and my student association and in my fifth year I was asked to join the fulltime board of my student association as the treasurer. Recently I also organized a career week with Make a Move/AIESEC and that's when I first heard about the possibility of GEP.
In the last months of 2008 I had been abroad with AIESEC, working on an HIV/AIDS project in Ghana. I had always wanted to go abroad, but as so many, I had been pushing those wishes forward for quite some years. My three months in Cape Coast (Ghana) were a huge eye opener to the international opportunities I had been overlooking. Being on my own in a totally new environment and adjusting just fine was great; but mostly I thoroughly enjoyed the Ghanaians. They were so warmhearted! I took on the challenge of conveying information on AIDS at five different secondary schools and hopefully I have made a(n) (marginal) impact.
I expect the GEP-programme to be a perfect combination between hands-on work in a humanitarian agency, gaining insight into public-private partnerships, and hopefully making a true impact on the Fleet Forum organisation and Indian fleet management and safety. I will try to keep you fully posted on my adventures and work in Delhi and other regions in India. Please feel free to contact me at any time for questions or valuable comments!
All the best!
My statement:
Everyone can make a change!
History
- Member for
- 1 year 6 months
Latest blog items
Incredible India; how history influences heterogeneity and decentralized policy making.
28 February 2011
Guus van der Zijden
4 Comments
New Year’s Resolutions, carrots and sticks part 2!
21 January 2011
Guus van der Zijden
The carrot and stick principle represents a theory towards behaviour and its drivers. Just recently I have read Freakonomics (freakonomicsbook.com); a book that tries to explain human behaviour and riddles of everyday life with economical theories, strongly supported by statistical analyses. It clearly denominates the importance of incentives (i.e., the carrot) and disincentives (i.e., the stick). Next to being a great read it also sheds insight on incentives in daily life, dividing (dis)incentives into the economic, social and moral subgroup.
New Year's resolutions, carrots and sticks - Part 1!
03 January 2011
Guus van der Zijden
Not being able to keep a resolution is something cross-border and of all ages. A glance at a pair of random top ten resolutions (here and here) shows why it might be difficult. A common factor in literally every resolution is the necessity for some sort of behaviour change. Be it to spend more time with your family (i.e., better planning) or to stop smoking (i.e., do not light a cigarette), you have to renounce a pattern.
The rich and the poor in India; what goes around comes around?
10 December 2010
Guus van der Zijden
Having visited Mumbai recently for The Fleet Forum and being faced with such an enormous disparity between the rich and the poor, I felt blessed to be a national of a country where division of wealth is embedded in society. But it does make you wonder why in Indian society it is commonly accepted for the rich to be rich and for the poor to be poor. India is the nation with a few of the most affluent people in the world (www.forbes.com), and the wealthiest 1% of India controls 16% of its national wealth.
Diwali, festival of lights!
11 November 2010
Guus van der Zijden
Diwali is the time of the year marked by lights and visibility. Going away for the weekend on a rafting trip, I travelled on the roads of India for a surplus of 15 hours. The lack of proper street lighting is such a predominant problem, and even highways, where speeds of over a 100 kilometres an hour are more rule than exception, are not properly lit. The need for street lighting becomes even more apparent, taking into account that plenty of vehicles lack proper lights.
