So the world's largest democracy has connected blogging in general to the Mumbai blasts (note very heavy sarcasm) and have consequently blocked access to blog sites including blogger . I can't actually view this blog and so am not sure this comment will be posted, but we'll see.

It is downright insane, or as people here like to say "mad."

In other news, it's a small world. After two years, I emailed a friend I had lost touch with who was in my MA South Asia program. Turns out she's in Bangalore which is 40 minutes by plane! She's been working in India for over a year. Even more serendipitously, she had scheduled a day trip to Chennai and we actually met and caught up on two years of life.

Alright, I'm off to scrounge up some dinner. Hope this posts :)

hi all,

this week the country has definitely been preoccupied w/ the events in mumbai. it's on the west coast of the country (i'm on the east) but the news, as you can imagine, hit pretty hard everywhere.

otherwise, things are a mix of frustration and excitement. i'm glad to be here. i'm getting to see everything (good and bad) firsthand. but i'm having to learn to be patient and that things will happen on their own time and not a moment sooner.

we are planning some trips to the southern tip of the country which was hard hit by the tsunami as well as some other areas in between. if all goes as planned we'll start traveling in late july.

this week we spent some time again with the Irulas who i mentioned in my last blog. we went to the partner organization ITWWS who is directly working with them and they have this huge area where they grow tons of herbs and are involved in forest protection, etc. everything's done with an eye towards preserving the environment (which is really important in this rapidly growing country)...the organization also has a bunch of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in which the Irula women band together to make small arts and crafts and also sell their herbal medicines for which they're well known. i also learned that the local ngo/international ngo (ingo) relationship can be quite tense. the ITWWS coordinator was nothing if not charismatic and he was not about to mince words just b/c some staff from one of their donors (actionaid) was present. a very interesting experience.














this (above) is a small wood carving SHG. the women sell their products in touristy areas. i bought a bunch of things, all for about $2. the herb garden is to the right. whatever herb i could think of (and many more i never knew existed) could be found here.

the rest of the week was one in which i read up on some of lit. search materials i need to use to link up to my field visits.

i'm enjoying watching vh1 here which is a mix of contemporary music (whatever is out in the US) combined with 80's bonjovi and really bad early 90s music (read c&c music factory, paula abdul, fresh prince), etc. there's also the more interesting bollywood videos which are great!

i went to Pondy Bazaar, a semi-open air market,
much like ones i've seen in Kolkata (where my family is from). the scene is chaotic at best; combine that with the heat and humidity, it is just surreal. i also heard that this crowd is nothing compared to what its like during the wedding and festival seasons.

alright, will write more soon. that is, if the internet cooperates! :)

hope you're all enjoying your summers...

subarna

i'm ok!!!

thanks for checking up on me :)

we've had some internet issues at the office on top of which i've been out of the office during the days.

i'll write more tonight, but just wanted to let you all know that i am definitely ok.

subarna

Hi all,

First, some pictures from last Thursday's trip of the coastal huts (north of Chennai) built post-tsunami.

Ok, brace yourselves; I've got lots of catching up to do! Friday, two of the staff and I went south of Chennai near a place called Mahabalipuram. Try and say that ten times :) It's less congested than the areas we went to yesterday. Lots of trees and coastline. We visited a village along the beach to check on the progress of a woman who had been disabled pre-tsunami trying to save her child from on-coming traffic. She was hurt pretty badly and her husband left her. Well, her family (mother, father, and sister) really do look after her which is good (and often not the case in these situations) and she's been making steady progress. She good humoredly laughed at me when the other staff mentioned that I don't know Tamil. I told them to tell her I'd try and pick up a few things...We made a visit to another similar village...this time to check on the progress of a little girl. As you can see, AA makes really regular contact with the program coordinators and the program recipients to keep the focus stay on a personal level.


The Irulas

From there we went to two villages of tribal people (Irulas) who are even more marginalized than the general fishing people communities. This was an incredible experience. These people are discriminated against by the general fisher population...the latter prevents them from fishing in all but the backwater areas from where they fish for shrimp and small seafood. They are not allowed to get water from the same pumps -- a little Irula girl was beaten up for doing it last year. They are not really even allowed to live in the same villages (or even in close proximity). This also prevents them from forming solid communities. Until now, they have been scattered b/c too many of them living in one community draws the ire of the general fisher population. They also don't have the means to own land. After the tsunami, they really needed some help and so AA along with a partner org. helped them buy land on which they built houses and their own communities. We saw two villages and they are amazing.

The people are building the houses themselves with direct imput as to how they should look and with what materials they should be built. And you could really see the happiness and pride on everyone's faces as they were showing us around. There are also lessons learned from the Irulas b/c on the whole, the women are much more empowered than in the general fisher population. It was just a great experience.



Back in Chennai

Friday night I went to see the Germany/Argentina match with Michelle, a girl at AA who's been helping me out a lot. That night, I got "Delhi belly". That's the Indian version of Montezuma's revenge. good times! Thankfully it was a 24 hour ordeal and then it was over. My friend, Minari, (left) from Sri Lanka visited between Saturday and Tuesday and we just relaxed, shopped, caught up on each others' lives and hung out. It was wonderful to have her to celebrate with for my birthday -- we went to a lovely hotel restaurant for dinner; I even had presents to open! thanks roomie!

Now I'm back on my own -- this week I'll be at the hotel writing up what I've experienced the week before. The office is closed due to staff being out at a retreat/internal meeting. Hopefully next week I'll be moving to a more permanent residence and then I'll be able to cook, etc.


Whew, I'm sure you're all tired from this read! Hope all your summers are going well - Have a great 4th of July!!