Farewell...WHAT?

I can’t believe my trip is almost ending. I did go to work today, though it was only half day. Everyone had told me to bring my Nani as well, so she came with me.
We both left before lunch since we were fasting. Nani had made lovely biryani for my colleagues as they loved her cooking :) Work today was sad though it was a day that I’ll always remember. My colleagues threw me a good bye party which was definitely a surprise!!! We have two rooms on our floor that are both rented by SNEHA. I was hanging out in one of the rooms just chilling with everyone until we were called into the other room. They had decorated the room and table!! Totally surprised me :)There was a yummy chocolate cake, my favorite chips (yess they did know :D), party favors, and white silly string/snow (to “remind me of the dear snow that I missed” LOL!!).

My Beautiful Cake :D

And the beautifully decorated table (with the chips!!) :)

Bhavna and everyone went all out and I had to give a farewell speech. Goshh, impromptu speeches are not my thing. Though, I felt so comfortable with everyone that it totally went well :) Sushma Didi and Bhavna both said that though I was only there for 5 weeks, it felt like I had been part of the team forever. It definitely helped that I spoke Hindi; it made me feel (and them as well) less of an outsider. They presented Nani with a beautiful card which was SO thoughtful:

Outside (Click on it to enlarge)

Inside (Click to enlarge)

I also received a beautiful Fab India top and a very touching card. It was soo sweet. It’s funny because both Bhavna and I had that Fab India connection. We both love to shop there which made it SO much easier to pick out thigns for each other. Her goodbye present from me was a Fab India top as well :). Great minds think alike right? :)

Group Photo :) :)

Me holding the top that was bought for me :)

(Click to enlarge)

Bhavna and the top that I bought her :)

I honestly can’t believe that five weeks flew by the way they did. All of these people that I have met in this short amount of time and everything that I have experienced has become very close to me. I can never ever forget any one of them. All of them welcomed me with open arms and never made me feel like I was far from home. Bhavna and I did talk about this today and she said that this is one of the plus points of working for an NGO rather than working in a corporate setting. When one works for this type of an organization it’s usually because of the passion that revolves around the cause. It becomes more of a personal drive rather than just one that is solely work based. Because of this, one’s personal lives and work lives coincide a lot more than they would in a corporate setting. People tend to feel a lot more comfortable in their work environment this way; I couldn’t agree with her more :)The bond that I shared with each and everyone of these people could never be replicated with the bonds that I have at my work place back home. Not to say that I don’t cherish those as well, because I do :)I’ve always been lucky with all of my jobs (LOL not that I’ve had too many :D). I just haven’t had to deal with “that one colleague that makes your life unbearable”.

One of my colleagues, Garima, also approached me about the University of Minnesota School Public Health. She was supposed to come here to teach a summer class next summer, but because of personal reasons shes not able to. She’s totally bummed out about it. Dr. Vasu is coming in her place next summer and hopefully Garima will come the following summer :). It turns out that Garima would like me to talk to some of the students that are coming from the School of Public Health because they have a ton of concerns about interning in Dharavi. She said that she understood that it doesn’t really matter that they are from the same place, because in the end it depends on the person’s personality and will to survive in a place that is unknown to them. She said that she’d still like me to be a resource for them, because it would probably give them a better insight to what they are up against here, in terms of the city, risk of disease, the organization, etc etc. Once again, personally, I think it’s all in the head. I honestly didn’t let myself think about what could happen. I mean there are risks everywhere and true I may have been at more of a risk while working in Dharavi, but there are people that actually have their 9 to 5 jobs there. If they can do it, then why can’t I? Things like this shouldn’t stop one from doing things that they have a passion for, otherwise you’ll never get to do anything!

Jaya Didi also told me today that Farah Khan has a new show that aired just yesterday. It is called…Apparently famous celebrities come on the show and auction off their most prized possessions. Salmaan Khan was the guest on yesterday’s show. He auctioned off his autographed towel from Mujhse Shaadi Karogi for Rs. 35,000 (approx $750). ANDDD allll the proceeds from this show are going to SNEHA :) Amazing huh? Andd honestly everyone that I had told about my internship at SNEHA, knew or at least had heard of the organization; it’s that well known. :) Thank God they are getting recognition for their amazing work :)

Link to more information: http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/electronic-commerce/2009082432175.htm

We broke our iftaar today at one of our really old family friends house, the Das’. They’re a sweet couple that used to live in the same apartment building when my mom was young. My Nani has a lot of families that she still keeps in touch with from when Nana used to work at RCF. These families have been apart of their lives for 30 years, if not more. It’s so much fun to hear old stories about their times together, including about my mom and her sisters. Apparently Das aunty didn’t know a word Hindi when she got married and moved to Bombay from Calcutta. My mom and her sisters taught her Hindi! Lol. And Das uncle had travelled all of America through his job in ’61! Anyways so they invited us to their house today to break our fast. I can’t describe the feelings that were running through my head when we were at their house. Muslims breaking their fasts at a Hindu family’s house, is something that I thought would be unheard of (especially after taking my Culture and Society of India class last semester), but the way they welcomed us into their house brought tears to my eyes. I know my mom had always told me that when she was growing up in Bombay, she had never faced religious discrimination, and that everyone lived in harmony. I had always had my doubts though because of things that I had read and things that I had been taught in my classes. After spending tonight at their house and the hospitality that we received, a lot of my doubts have diminished. After reading all this, it may seem that this could have been a unique incident, but honestly after visiting so many people in these 7 weeks and spending time with even more people (at work included…I was the only Muslim at work) I couldn’t agree with my mom more. Though tonight’s iftaar was a heart touching incident in itself, I think I was just oblivious to the lack of religious discrimination in India till now. I’m sure there are cases of it, as there are cases in America as well, but not to the extreme that it is portrayed.

OKAYY gotta finish packing. I’m already WAY over my luggage weight limit…I dunno what’s going to happen :(

Last weekend :(

I can’t believe the weekend is already over! Only a few more hours and I’m off to “home sweet home”! The days following the campaign were a bit of relaxation. Though I did run quite a bit of errands, it was a relief to be on the other side of the campaign (instead of the stressful days leading up to the big day). A sense of accomplishment is just a part of the numerous feelings running through my head. :) :) I can’t believe how smoothly everything went. It was the first campaign for basically all of us. Though a few of us had participated in rallies/campaigns before (I have been a part of a few peace rallies:D), we had never organized one of our own. Though it was far from perfect, it was a pretty dang good first campaign. I can only hope that the idea of campaigns become a solid part of SNEHA, especially the Nutrition sector. And judging by the overwhelming positive response, I don’t doubt that they will :)

I spent the weekend with Nani. We did a whole lot of relaxation especially since Ramadan started today. The first fast wasn’t too horribly bad. I know the length of the days are unlike previous fasts but in all reality they aren’t bad. It’s all in the head really! Gotta have that positive attitude otherwise I definitely won’t be able to make it through the month! I’ve always wanted to spend Ramadan (or at least a little bit of it) in India. The experience is supposed to be one to remember. I know we have spent numerous number of Eids in India when we lived in Saudi Arabia, but I was way too young to remember anything :( Ramadan is going well; it’s just been Nani and I so far. Afsana was sent home for the first day so she could spend some time with her family. Her namaaz training is…going. She hasn’t fully learned it but is getting there. I really wanted her to know it all before I left but it isn’t looking like she will :(Hopefully Nani will continue teaching her after I leave.

I talked to Chachajaan yesterday (Saturday). I hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to him until yesterday. He called daily but I was either at work or not available :(. I remember when he had gone to Srinagar the first week that I was in Bombay, he had called once (towards the end of his trip). This time around he called everyday! So sweet :) :) When I talked to him yesterday, he said, “I don’t know how to express this, but I miss you very much”! I was in shock when he said that! I’ve never known him to express his feelings like that!!! I think I remind him of his daughter, or so my mom says. :(I miss him lots too. I know he wanted to come back in time for my flight, but his work isn’t permitting him. At least this way he’ll make a trip out to visit me asap!! :) Chachajaan also LOVES to read, though he says that he doesn’t have the time to read for pleasure anymore. Hopefully now that his term at the Bank is over, he’ll have a little more time on his hands, that is when he’s not flying out on business. I bought him A Thousand Splendid Suns this weekend. He had told me he had loved A Kite Runner but hadn’t gotten a chance to read the second book by Khalid Hosseini. Since I liked the second one even more than the first one, I thought it would be the perfect gift for him :) :)

After spending so much one on one time with Nani these past seven weeks, I know I’m going to miss her A LOT. Though I know I’ve said this/written about this before, I mean it from the bottom of my heart now. The relationship that has blossomed in the last weeks is incredible. I would have never ever guessed that I would become SO close to her. Dad and mom had both told me when I was feeling homesick that I should take advantage of this opportunity (one on one time with Nani and my internship) put in front of me, to the fullest. Though I did agree with them at that time, I didn’t understand what they meant till recently. 7 weeks later, I wish I could stay with her for weeks and weeks to come. :)It’s funny because everywhere I went, everyone thought that she was my mother (Yes she does look that young :D). At first we both corrected people, saying that she was actually my Nani. Nani later thought about it and told me that she was my mother too :D soooo from that day forward we didn’t bother to correct anyone :)

CAMPAIGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The last three days of the working week were :D!!!!

Wednesday was a day off here in Mumbai as it was the Parsi New Year. I spent the day with Nani running errands like crazy. We saw Kaminey with Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. It was most deff a different type of movie!! Loll and of course Nani didn’t understand the movie :) She’s so cute!!! Always falls asleep at least once during movies! :) :) After that we headed to Bandra where I ate pani puri and shev puri!!!!! YUMM. More errands followed like Ritu Kumar and we also met Rubina Khala (one of mom’s cousins). I remember when we were here last time she had taken us all to Panchgani for a week. That trip was unforgettable! SO MUCH FUN. Lol anyways…We also passed by our apartments in Bandra. It brought back SO many memories. Even Nani agreed that living in that area has its own charm altogether. You really can’t compare the two areas since they are SO different. The place there is a lot more lively; with shops and people everywhere. Everything is at basically at your hand; all the shops that you need for anything possible including Oreos and Gatorade! Nani’s apartment in Chembur is more peaceful and with greenery everywhere! One can actually open all the windows without there being any traffic commotion. Each place has its plus points and minus points but that’s life :) One major change that came about that area was that the squatter settlement that was right next to our apartment building has now been turned into a bungalow that is used for film shootings! Bandra, Juhu, and that surrounding area is basically where all the film stars live.

Thursday was basically a day devoted to work :) I finished up the posters…and even brought them home to work on them. Most of the staff at our office had gone to the other center in Santa Cruz to attend a values session given by Jaya Didi. There were very few people at my office, though I had a good bonding session with Trupti Didi and Savita Tai as I worked on the posters. I took posters home and spread them all over the living room :) And now that Afsana (the girl that works at our house) know how to work my camera, she went crazy with it! She took about a hundred pictures of me working on the posters, the tv, the balcony, and you name it! LOL. She’s sooo adorable. I ended up finishing the posters around 2 in the morning. There were still some finishing touches that needed to be put which we did at the office today before the campaign.

Today (Friday) was just plain outright AMAZING. All the hard work that we alllll put towards our first campaign paid off. It had started raining in the morning…and continued for quite a while. I was scared that we would have to do our campaign in the rain. My parents had called this morning and were REALLY concerned about the campaign being in the alleys when it was raining so much. They were like uhhh are you sure you can’t take an umbrella! LOL. And of course I was really nervous for this whole campaign. In the back of mind, I was hoping that if it continued to rain, that it would just be canceled. This whole yelling, shouting, attracting attention is not my thing..or so I thought! Now, after being on the other side of the picture, I wish that I could stay for the second campaign which will be next week! I had sooo much fun, yelling all the naaras (slogans) like crazy, going into the muddy garbage filled alleys, and just taking part in the campaign. It felt like an amazing accomplishment after all the effort that we put into the rally. And losing my voice after all this, the body ache and extreme tiredness was TOTALLY worth it. An amazing experience even with the heat and rainy mess. Nani’s duas really did help all along this work experience. I could have not asked for a better place to work, better people to work with, and a better experience. This has been everything that I wanted if not more. And hearing that this campaign was a success and that the posters are already being called dibbs on by other projects, makes me feel even more accomplished :) Bhavna and I make a good team :D. Jaya didi said that we should both sign our posters since we’re both leaving..Me this coming up Monday and Bhavna the following Monday. Lolll. Our masterpieces. Thank you God for making this an amazing experience :D

Beginning of the campaign. Meeting point outside the daycare

Beginning of the campaign.

Jaya Didi explaining to people of the community that they shouldn't eat "Pepsi" aka the freezy sugar water things that we all love and eat!

"Saaf rakho gaye basti, tho bacche karenge masti!"

"1,2,3,4 Swacheta ka jai jai kar!!"

"5,6,7,8 Ghandigi se lage vat!"

"9,10,11,12 Swacheta hamara naara!!"

"Saaf haat main...DUM HAI!!!"

"Sabun se..HAAT DHO!!"

The cute kids that joined our campaign....

...and yelled the naaras (slogans) with us :)


"Ma hoshiyaar...tho bacche hoshiyaar!!!"

The kids again. SO CUTE!!!!! I got them on video too :)

Tired after the successful campaign!

Today as we were making the posters , there were things that we needed from the shops near by…like packets of chips that the kids shouldn’t eat (to stick on the posters) and super glue to stick the sticks on the posters. We were all busy with the last minute stuff for the campaign…but I was like oh no worries I’ll go. I went and came back…twice…ALL BY MYSELF. I was SO proud of myself that I was able to be independent in such a busy area of Mumbai. Bhavna later was like, “oh man I could sense your excitement to go alone”. LOL Everyone thinks I’m such a firaang (foreigner) though it’s always brought up in a jokingly manner. LOL Bhavna teases me ALL the time and my accent always has people asking me to repeat things :( Today, at lunch, it was declared that I was a picky eater. LOL, so I bring bhindi (okra) in my tiffin mostly every day. Everyone knows how much I love it. There was one day where Afsana gave some saabzi (vegetable dish) made out of pumpkin. I refused to touch it at lunch and passed it on to Jaya Didi who loved and ate it. Then today Bhavna had egg curry which also I said “I wasn’t a fan of”. Loll so then they asked what types of food I actually am a fan of aside from bhindi. I replied saying said I eat everything. Everyone just looked at each other and started laughing!!!! AHHH I’m not a picky eater! I really do like most everything. There are just some things that umm..I rather not eat!!! :D. Oh my, I’m going to miss every single one of these people.

Just the weekend left here :( Ramadan is starting on Sunday, not Saturday. Which sorta makes sense since it’s been declared to start on Saturday in the States (it always starts a day later here). I’m sooo excited for it. Though it still hasn’t sunk in that such a big month for us is right around the corner. :(

My uncle is still in Srinagar. He said that he would try to come back by Sunday but that’s not looking possible since he’s really busy with a report that he has to write. As I was comparing the last time he went to Srinagar (when I first arrived here) to now, I’ve seen a few WOW changes. The last time, Chachajaan had called once. This time, he calls everyday! And though I haven’t had a chance to talk to him cuz I’ve been busy with work, he’ll ask about me every time. Nani said that even though he is there, he heart is here..”Wahaan hain, lekhen dil yahaan laga hai”. I still can’t believe how much things have changed!!!

And now that Chachajaan’s term has ended at the Bombay Mercantile Bank, Manoj Bhai, our driver, was saying things like that the bank has totally changed once again. Chachajaan had helped the bank a lot; bringing it wayyy up from bankruptcy. He endorsed order in the bank and timeliness. Now, Manoj Bhai said, that things are totally not in order. People come and go whenever they want. The order has totally collapsed within the last week. It’s sad that all the time and effort that was put forth, dissolved in a matter of days!

Last week

I have about a week left of my India trip. I can’t believe that it’s almost time for me to go home.

Ramadan is starting soon..I believe on the 22^nd here, which is Saturday. I can’t wait to experience a bit of Ramadan here in India. From what I’ve heard, the way it is celebrated here..it’s totally different than back in the States. It’ll just be my Nani and I, since my aunt has extended her stay for another ten days and my uncle’s in Srinagar.

Everyone has been saying that I’ve been really down for the last few days. I have no idea why people keeping asking if I’m okay! Honestly I feel fine..though apparently my face is saying something else. Anxiety? Worry? Frustration? Stress? Sadness? AHH I don’t know. I just want to come home :(

The last couple of days were pretty eventful. We went to an event on Sunday, at which my uncle gave a speech at. It was at the Taj Hotel, the same place where the attacks took place last November. The event was called “India against terrorism”. My uncle spoke on the Fatimi Dynasty and how Islam preaches peace. It was very nice to hear all the other speakers as well, talk about things like how Islam is a ver peaceful religion and those who conduct terrorist attacks are far from the “definition of Muslim“. There were diplomats from all over the place including ambassadors from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Morocco, Egypt and Jordan.

Work the last few days were alright. I was mainly working on the campaign stuff which is this Friday. We have our third poster almost done which is :D. Today we had a non violence communication session. Jaya Didi keeps conducting sessions for the different teams. I participated in my first one today and it was AMAZING. Oh gosh it was just what I needed. It was basically on anger, what causes/triggers it, and how to channel it positively. I’ve been trying to work on my anger issues lol. I know I get upset really easily and after today I realized it’s because I expect a lot from people; my standards are pretty high for everything. I expect things to be a certain way and if they aren’t then I get upset. Nani has also helped me see a lot and since she’s a psychologist, it has actually helped. I think it helps that I’m actually willing to change and know that I have things to work on. As Neeru D also said, it’s only after you acknowledge that you aren’t perfect and have flaws that you can change. If anything write all those down, along with your personal, workplace, school, and anything else that is important to you, goals. Only then can you implement change in your life. (Another thing to add to my to do list :D). Another thing she brought up that made a lot of sense was that, people that complain always have something that their unhappy about. The more they complain, the more they start to view their life as being problematic, when in reality it’s far from the truth. And honestly, after spending 5 weeks interning in the slums, I’ve realized I have no right to complain about anything.

Back to the values session…Jaya Didi approached the subject in a very interesting manner. In some ways, some things she said were obvious but were things that no one really thinks about. Such as that anger is a feeling that no one other than the person feeling it is responsible for. Things that people say trigger the anger, but it is a feeling that is felt by the other individual. So the only person that is responsible for it is the person feeling it. Anger is caused by need. If the needs are filled they cause happiness. If the needs aren’t filled, they cause anger.

We did role plays and for each one Jaya Didi had us “dig deep” into why the anger was caused. Bhavna brought up the example of anger that she felt when she talked to one of our kids’ mother. I know I had written about it in an earlier post but for those of you that haven’t read about it: Bhavna had yelled at one of the mothers for not taking care of her child properly. This girl, (probably shouldn’t disclose her name..so we’ll just name her “S” :)) was going to the bathroom near a huge dumpster, on the road, when Bhavna saw her. S has been with the daycare since it started back in November. This girl has not shown any progress nor has she had solid attendance. She also is always sick. So Bhavna went up to S’ mother and gave her a good thrashing. Bhavna at the meeting, said in the moment it was hard to differentiate between what should have been said and what shouldn’t have been. We tore apart Bhavna’s story and figured out why the anger was caused. We concluded that the anger was triggered because the need to see this girl in good health wasn’t being met. And why? Because of all the time and effort that has been dedicated in hope to see these kids in better conditions. And of course because S is one of Bhavna’s favorites. ANDD because no child deserves to be treated this way, especially by his/her mother. All these things are important to her in some way or another and because her needs weren’t being met, it resulted in a full thrashing! :(

The most important way to change oneself is to practice self-reflection. Anger isn’t a bad thing; everyone feels it. What’s important is that the anger is channeled positively and that only comes with reflection. Changing oneself from within and understanding why the anger is triggered is the only way to solve anger related problems.

Other than the lovely session, the days have honestly just been dragging. Nothing I can complain about though :) and i’A , I’ll be home soon enough :)

Four Day Weekend-Swine Flu Scare

I’ve been extremely lazy about updating this thing. So much has happened that I don’t even know where to start!

Wednesday was an amazing day at work. Our campaign got cancelled because of the Swine Flu scare so we continued to work on the posters amongst other things. I met Vasu, the Executive Director of SNEHA. Everyone was surprised that I hadn’t met her in the last four weeks that I had been at SNEHA. She’s a very nice ady and the meeting was quite pleasant. She came up with a few projects for me to do in the 5 minutes that I met her! She asked me to write a report on the campaigns that I’ve been working on so that that could be put up on the website. She also asked me to write a procedure for future volunteers working with the Nutrition team. That, too , will be posted on the website. She continued on to tell me that she had seen the posters early that morning, and that she absolutely loved what we had done with them :) Also on Wednesday we went to visit the Kunchikorve daycare. There is some problem going on with the place we’re renting for the day care so we had to figure out where we would shift for the following month. The potential room is the current daycare teacher’s helper’s house. It’s far in the heart of the community…and getting to it was quite a pain. Open gutters, narrow alleys, smelly garbage; you name it! But we were left with no choice but to take the room for the following problem month. It was better to have the center up and running, and providing these kids with nutritious food than to shut it down for that 4 week time period. After going back to the daycare, I sat with the kids and played with them, while Bhavna went and yelled at some daycare kids’ mothers for not taking proper care of their kids. The way some of these mothers treat their children is just astonishing. One mother was threatening her child with fire because she was eating dirt. It resulted in the little girl backing against the stove and sticking her hand into a boiling pot of milk. When she was brought to the daycare center after this episode happened, the mother literally disregarded it as nothing. The wound was open and didn’t have any sort of medication on it. And this girl is about two, if that. The other parent that Bhavna yelled at was one that was letting her kid go to the bathroom right near the huge garbage dumpster and then picked her up when she was done and walked off. Bhavna saw the whole thing and flipped out. I finally understood why the campaign on hygiene is SO important in this area. Most of the people of this area have nooo concern about the simple things that we have been fortunate to have been taught since we were basically born.

The building that I work in :) "chota sion hospital"

Also known as the Urban League Center

Entrance to one of the communities that I work in (Kunchikorve)

I didn’t go to work on Thursday because of the Swine Flu scare. Plus I hadn't been feeling well. I know that it hasn’t been in the news in the US at all…but here everyone has been at their wits end, worrying like crazy about catching it. All the malls, theaters, and schools are closed. Once something starts here, it spreads like crazy because of the population problem. Everyone was found to be wearing masks on the streets and basically everywhere you looked. Though my work wasn’t closed either Thursday or Friday, I had orders from my parents and aunts not to go. More so because I already wasn't feeling well at all. In addition to that working at a public hospital, there were talks of the ward across the hall being turned into an isolation ward for Swine Flu patients. Walking into my building during the earlier part of the week , was quite scary as well because there were long lines of sick patients waiting to be tested for the Flu. Of course we all know now that it isn’t as bad as it was/is hyped up to be…but that initial scare was scary. The media did a good job of sensationalizing it. *rolls eyes* What’s new?

Sumaira Khala and Asif Khalu got their citizenship yesterday. They had gone to take the test, which Sumaira Khala had studied for, but Asif Khalu hadn’t (surprise surprise..geniusss over there!) Anyways soo apparently initially they didn’t ask Sumaira Khala questions from the practice list…and she didn’t know any of them. After being asked about three questions she didn’t know, she looked at the man and was like umm these aren’t from the study list of questions!! Give me questions from that list, I know all of them! LOLLL. Only she would have the nerve to say something like that. And the man laughed and agreed! LOL so mashAllah both of them are now citizens J

The past few days have been quite productive in getting things done. People aren’t leaving their houses so traffic and crowds have been minimal. All my errands are basically done(I bought a cuteee dress from Ritu! :D), leaving just a few which will be finished in this following week. I can’t believe I only have ten days till I come back. I know that these last few days will fly by. Totally have mixed feelings about it :/ I’ve actually been having fun sitting with my Nani and just chilling. It’s such a change from the hectic life I have back home. Nani tells me all the time that she was soooo worried that I would get bored here because it would be just her and me. But now, she can see how well I’ve adjusted and made myself at home. She continues to say that I’ve changed and that a few years ago would never have been this adjusting. :) It’s a different sort of experience for both of us, but definitely one that we both greatly appreciate.

I went to Nani’s trusted jewelry shop yesterday, hoping that he could take out my nose stud and replace it with a new one that I bought last week. Oh my gosh. I was bawling after they took out my stud!!! I didn’t cry either of the times that I had gotten my nose pierced but this time was just way too much for me to handle. The jewelers were honestly in awe at what was stuck in my nose. The stud that I had gotten it pierced with (in Minnesota at a tattoo parlour) was the thickest and biggest thing that anyone had ever seen. No wonder I hadn’t been able to take it out myself! They nicely replaced it with the new one, but continued to curse the place that I had gotten it done. Lol. And not only did it hurt to take it out, I paid 70 bucks for that thing! On top of that it apparently isn’t even gold because it was all corroded inside! Oh life!

New nose stud :)

Other than all that…Today is India’s Independence Day. There was a flag hoisting event early this morning in which my uncle was the chief guest. He also gave a very nice impromptu speech J He honestly is the most humble man that I have ever met in my life. It’s amazing how much he has accomplished, though you would never hear him talk about it. Dealing with terrorists in Kashmir, Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Secretary of India, and Chairman of the Bombay Mercantile Co-op Bank. The way he has solved problems at AMU and at BMC is amazing. Everywhere I go, the respect that is shown for him is ohh my gosh. He’s on his way to Srinagar on Monday and probably won’t be back until after I leave. I’ll miss him and our long intelligent conversations (well mostly me asking and him talking) so so much! He asked me if I wanted to go with him to Srinagar and I would have loved to if I didn’t have another week of my internship left :) I’ve always wanted to go and hopefully Chachajaan will still be Chairman of the J&K State Finance Commission next time I’m in town J

Flag Hoisting. Impromptu Speech :)

Some very nice people that I met at the ceremony.

Chachajaan mingling :)

Today “Slumdog Crorepati” is premiering on Sony Max. Actually right now. I’ve seen advertisements everywhere for it including on the BMC buses!!

I know a lot of people didn’t really like the movie here. We had a long discussion about it at work. It was interesting to see all the views on the controversial movie. The women at work weren’t happy neither with the way Dharavi was portrayed nor with how it won the Oscar for the best movie. Everyone from the field workers to my boss were in agreement that the only reason that it got so much fame was that “the Americans were amazed to a world so unlike theirs”. Another comment that I heard was “now they know two things about India: the Taj Mahal and the Slums/Dharavi”. After working in this area myself, I can see where the wrong portrayal complaint was coming from. As I’m sitting here watching the movie again, it’s quite fascinating to see how much the real slums don’t look like the ones shown in the movie. They’ve beautified them SO much it’s crazy. The garbage, the open sewers, the cramped, light-less alleys are no where to be found in the movie!! It’s either that they have chosen to keep those small details out of the movie, to make easier on the eyes of the viewers, or that the camera wasn’t able to capture the area well. With the highly advanced technology available in the market now, I highly doubt that it was the latter. And it’s crazy to think that the real slums are ten times worse than what they’ve shown.

I have also gotten to eat a lot of the fruits that we don't get back home..like chikoo, sharifa(sugar-apple) and lychee. Mangos and papayas are also bought on a regular basis but I don't eat them as much as I'd like because I break out basically as soon as I eat them!! AHH. As if my skin isn't bad enough here because of the pollution and heat. I'm also eating all the different types of yummy fish available here...like Bombay duck and pomfret. OHH YUMM :)

Fruit Cart with the sharifa (custard-apple)

right in the middle!!! :)

Swine Flu Problems

It's Tuesday night and our campaign for tomorrow has been cancelled. Welll not cancelled hopefully, more like postponed. The women that we were involving in the campaign came to visit us today. They (along with the rest of Mumbai) are extremely scared of the Swine flu that's spreading like wild fire here in Mumbai. They thought it would be better to d

o it a bit later, perhaps when it's died down a bit. Both Bhavna and I are hoping that it'll be done before we leave.

The Swine flu has really done it here in Bombay. All the precautions that are said to be taken, really can't be taken because of the population problem. It's hard to avoid public places and all that because honestly everywhere you go...there are tons and tons of people. Thank God I don't have to take the train or the bus. People that do take these methods of transportation were telling me that basically everyone is seen to be wearing masks. Apparently in Pune (about 2 hours away from Mumbai), where about 11 people have died, the masks went up from 5 rupees to about 100 rupees to "not found anywhere." A doctor that I work with also told me that though everyone thinks that these masks will save them from the flu, it may in some cases add to the problem. The germs come and stick to the outside of the mask and unless you're really careful while taking the mask off, you're bound to transfer the germs from the mask to yourself. It's crazy to see everyone wearing masks like just about everywhere. Schools here have been cancelled and the malls and theaters are slowly shutting down as well. Avoiding these places is obviously a good idea, though with all the shopping I have left to do, I don't think it will be possible for me. Assuming that some of the shops will remain open, it'll be rather good if a lot of people aren't at the malls. At least I'll be able to shop in peace. It's SO hard to shop here without getting stared down. I get so so many looks it's not even funny. I asked my cousin why this was so, after all I don't think I look that different, and he said it was because I look exotic! Ummm...exotic? Lol that definitely made me laugh. I dress the same as everyone, my make up and hair is similar to everyone elses, yet I look exotic. Perhaps its the way I act? I don't know..any thoughts?

As I went off on a very long tangent...back to Swine flu! We are hoping at work that the campaign happens soon. It definitely goes hand in hand with the mission of the campaign: hygiene. It would honestly be very good to educate the people of the community with these simple hand washing techniques and such, which go a long way! On the other hand, I do understand the concerns of the women. Travelling with a bunch of people (provided enough women actually come out to support us after the outbreak) is definitely a high risk. Though there have been no reported cases of Swine flu yet in the Dharavi communities...it's definitely a possibility that they will be hit very soon.

Example of an alley where the campaign will be happening.

Kunchikorve, Dharavi.

The hospital that I work at ("small Sion hospital) has a state run health post on the ground floor. I walked in today through the side entrance and could not believe the crowd that had accumulated. I assumed that these were all people sick with something or another and had come to get themselves tested for the flu. And to think that Sion hospital (easily 10+ times bigger) was crowd/mask ridden as well.

Regardless of everything, Bhavna and I still spent the whole day (plus overtime :D) working on the posters. I drew them (!!!!) and then we both painted them and Bhavna put the finishing, much necessary touches! We fully finished two and have two more to go which will be tackled tomorrow. We got sooo many compliments on them from everyone at work! :) And hopefully, after putting so much effort into them, they will be used numerous times in the years to come!

Bhavna working on poster number one!

Poster number two :) With real trash pasted on!!!

I even wrote the Hindi part!!!!

These sashes were made yesterday..Each person participating in the rally/campaign will wear a sash. We came up with lots of different slogans to put on the front of them like "You should drink boiled water" <---in Hindi of course!!!

"SNEHA" written on the back of the sashes

With the women of the Nutrition Committee

Kunchikorve, Dharavi

Also just a disclaimer...I don't always wear Indian clothes to work. I honestly have been feeling more comfortable in them because of the extreme heat, so have started to wear them(to work). I've been getting compliments on them too surprisingly. I also heard from some people like Manoj Aunty that Indian clothes suit me better than "jeans and tshirts". Hmmm!