October 12th
Long time no blog!! Things have been pretty hectic!
Things are going well in Pune. Festival season is in full swing, and boy to people here like any excuse to bang drums, throw firecrackers, throw colours and dance! It was the Bengali and Gujarati festival – Durga Puja. Again this went on for 10 days and nights. Idols where paraded in the street, there was dancing and stick clanging!! Amit and I gate crashed a small durga party one night and ended up swirling on the dance floor banging sticks with ten very welcoming strangers. That's the one thing about India, show some interest in some local festivity and you get welcomed into peoples homes with open arms.. pretty amazing.
Other than that its is getting seriously hot. We are sweltering at DeepGriha. There is no AC, just fans and open windows. Its fascinating coming from a corporate environment into an NGO… the bureaucracy and all talk, slow action is mind boggling. I attended an important meeting on the Wake Up Pune campaign where the only resolution was what to call the damn thing. The event is in 8 weeks and all other NGOs do is plan. So we are going it alone slightly to Wake up Pune to HIV. Having some success and getting local cinemas and businesses onboard. I really think we will have some success. But it is all about how we measure that success. How do you know if you have changed peoples minds? So Sam and Suparna are devising a social research questionnaire to canvas opinion after the event. Alls I know is I am daily shocked about educated peoples views on HIV… it is astounding!
I am still finding time to spend 30 mins everyday in the crèche. These poor kids are so beautiful but dressed like total ragmuffins. It is heartbreaking.
Friday 13th October.
On Friday night we had the first DeepGriha HIV party. This is something we plan to do every month. When you have HIV you need to keep a positive attitude and live a positive life. This monthly party is to give some joy and fun to people whose lives are shrouded in darkness.
Basically all our HIV clients and their families (about 150 people) plus the staff had a party on the roof of the family welfare centre. We had a band but all our clients got up to sing and dance. We could have DISHA idol!! Avinash the DISHA team leader couldn't be pried away from the microphone…. Nor the dance floor!
Dinner was then served. We all sat on the floor in rows and ate byrani off banana leaves... it was amazing... everyone brought to the same level, slum dwellers, HIV positive people, everyone united. Really quite an amazing feeling.
There is a gorgeous boy who is 9, but has the height of a 5 year old. He has HIV and is really sick, but what a cheeky monkey he is!!! He sat on my lap and kept asking me to dance (he loves dancing), then was pretending to interview people with a pretend mircophone, then dancing some more!! He won the kids dancing competition as boy has he got the shoulder wiggle, and hand turning down to a fine art!
So Friday the 13th may be unlucky for some, but it was very lucky for DISHA… everyone left positive… whether you have HIV or not.
Tuesday 17th October
I think it is official that India is one of the friendliest places on earth. I have been getting clothes made at a shop across the road. I just bumped into the woman who owns the shop on the street and she invited me to her house!! Went over for coffee and played with her one year old daughter. Could you imagine that ever happening in England? Buying a top from a boutique in Crouch End then being invited in for a brew or two? I don't think so. Its really bad though, I have real troulbe remembering certain Indian names. If it's a new one I have never heard of before it just won't isnk in. Anyway, lovely lady who owns the shop whose name I cannot remember! Has invited me for mehndi for Diwali. Basically all women in the family get together and get painted with henna on hands and feet. Not sure if Amit is too keen on this, but hey you have to try things.