Report of 26 Nov
Hello from the B -
It's nice to have computers that work and Internet that I don't have to unplug my phone for.
I rejoined work last week. It has been nice, but my lack of registration is bugging the *&%$ out of me. And then focusing on the patients helped. There is a young woman at the B, Ms. M, who came to us from another facility due to her mental illness. I see from her history that she was married, apparently deserted by spouse and living with her sister. Issues came up w/ that arrangement, she was shifted to Rehoboth (said other facility caring for the destitute) and when the mental illness manifested itself, she came to us. She danced enthusiastically one day recently, I understand, and fell and broke her leg. Other stories have her scaling the wall and jumping, but that's for others to discuss the implications of. My area of concern is the broken leg, which is healing. Ms. M has most impish eyes that light up when she smiles, and she told me of Rehoboth, where the staff issued everyone their own soap and toothpaste and hair oil. "If anything finished, they told us to open our mouths and ask for fresh supplies," she said. She mentioned the personal-needs items with such relish and glee, smiling as she recalled the pleasure of receiving her own goodies, that "individual meanings of happiness" struck me. I inadvertently ended up staring at her face for a long time, loving the luminous eyes, marvelling of a life that got such joy from getting her own soap and such - especially given her past life. It was frightfully difficult to keep from weeping.
Tutoring petered out last week. Argh! And then one of the high-caste ladies of the complex told me how much she disapproved of this activity (bringing low-caste kids in), and timing it now, over 3 years after such issues were first hashed out, so I think there are serious activities underfoot - like surreptitiously telling Security not to let the kids in. Sheesh. So we have to investigate all of this - bloody nuisance. On the other hand, though, if we did not have such high-caste ladies placing obstacles, we might never appreciate those who support the cause and help us, might we.
The weekend was memorable. We had a reunion of several former high-school classmates and schoolmates in Bangalore. 3 came from overseas. Ours was a small school (15 in my class) and it was great fun to get together w/ others, 30 years after we passed out (graduated). Our neighbor had warned me to expect that the men would be fat and bald, but none of them was. The women were indeed more recognisable, however. Our host (whose home the event was in) had put together a slide show of old and recent photos and it was slow progress through that - w/ folks exclaiming and laughing aplenty; recalling the boys having to leave during a mysterious session just for the girls (Sex Ed); of locking teachers in the staff room; of attempting to jam lifts w/ teachers in it; of crushes and noble behavior and ridiculous uniforms and hair and glasses. It was a riotous day, made more fun by classmates deliberately wrongly introducing the already-present guests to the folks that strolled in later. It was nice to get back in touch w/ old friends. I tell you, I am glad our sons are in high school in India; their experiences w/ friends (both genders) is largely tinged with innocence and good fun and healthy laughter. Scott reminds me that a relationship at this age in the U.S. can get predominantly sexual, or involve alcohol, tobacco or drugs.
I'd better wind up. Hope all our U.S. friends and family had a happy Thanksgiving! The Banyan continues to reel under unexpected expenses. Do you want to help? http://www.thebanyan.org/.
Unw -
R
It's nice to have computers that work and Internet that I don't have to unplug my phone for.
I rejoined work last week. It has been nice, but my lack of registration is bugging the *&%$ out of me. And then focusing on the patients helped. There is a young woman at the B, Ms. M, who came to us from another facility due to her mental illness. I see from her history that she was married, apparently deserted by spouse and living with her sister. Issues came up w/ that arrangement, she was shifted to Rehoboth (said other facility caring for the destitute) and when the mental illness manifested itself, she came to us. She danced enthusiastically one day recently, I understand, and fell and broke her leg. Other stories have her scaling the wall and jumping, but that's for others to discuss the implications of. My area of concern is the broken leg, which is healing. Ms. M has most impish eyes that light up when she smiles, and she told me of Rehoboth, where the staff issued everyone their own soap and toothpaste and hair oil. "If anything finished, they told us to open our mouths and ask for fresh supplies," she said. She mentioned the personal-needs items with such relish and glee, smiling as she recalled the pleasure of receiving her own goodies, that "individual meanings of happiness" struck me. I inadvertently ended up staring at her face for a long time, loving the luminous eyes, marvelling of a life that got such joy from getting her own soap and such - especially given her past life. It was frightfully difficult to keep from weeping.
Tutoring petered out last week. Argh! And then one of the high-caste ladies of the complex told me how much she disapproved of this activity (bringing low-caste kids in), and timing it now, over 3 years after such issues were first hashed out, so I think there are serious activities underfoot - like surreptitiously telling Security not to let the kids in. Sheesh. So we have to investigate all of this - bloody nuisance. On the other hand, though, if we did not have such high-caste ladies placing obstacles, we might never appreciate those who support the cause and help us, might we.
The weekend was memorable. We had a reunion of several former high-school classmates and schoolmates in Bangalore. 3 came from overseas. Ours was a small school (15 in my class) and it was great fun to get together w/ others, 30 years after we passed out (graduated). Our neighbor had warned me to expect that the men would be fat and bald, but none of them was. The women were indeed more recognisable, however. Our host (whose home the event was in) had put together a slide show of old and recent photos and it was slow progress through that - w/ folks exclaiming and laughing aplenty; recalling the boys having to leave during a mysterious session just for the girls (Sex Ed); of locking teachers in the staff room; of attempting to jam lifts w/ teachers in it; of crushes and noble behavior and ridiculous uniforms and hair and glasses. It was a riotous day, made more fun by classmates deliberately wrongly introducing the already-present guests to the folks that strolled in later. It was nice to get back in touch w/ old friends. I tell you, I am glad our sons are in high school in India; their experiences w/ friends (both genders) is largely tinged with innocence and good fun and healthy laughter. Scott reminds me that a relationship at this age in the U.S. can get predominantly sexual, or involve alcohol, tobacco or drugs.
I'd better wind up. Hope all our U.S. friends and family had a happy Thanksgiving! The Banyan continues to reel under unexpected expenses. Do you want to help? http://www.thebanyan.org/.
Unw -
R
posted by Renu Weiss at
8:21 PM
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