We traveled to Orissa (changed in name to Odisha in 2011) by train from Pondicherry. For a full day our train passed north through the lush landscapes of the eastern edge of the subcontinent. From Cuttack, the economic and cultural center of Orissa, we toured the temple areas of Konark and Bhubaneshwar, the seaside town of Puri, boating across Chilika Lake, and finally visiting the Gram Vikas rural development NGO with a stop in one of the tribal villages they support. The growth of NGO's is a globalized response to the difficulties in addressing basic human needs in much of the world. Nowhere is the ground more fertile than here.