Report of 26 Feb '09
Hello from the country of Slumdog Millionaire!
Wooo! There's much euphoria over the Oscars. I'm so glad A. R. Rahman won, and he spoke some Tamil in his acceptance speech - "Ella pugazhum iraivanukke," which means all glory goes to God. He is a devout Muslim, his mother converted the whole family from Hinduism to Islam after his father died and she found solace in the teachings of a Muslim cleric. The family was in abject poverty for a long time, and they certainly are not now - hooray!
There is as much complaining over Slumdog Millionaire's portrayal of poverty in India; however, those of us who work with the abysmally poor know there is plenty of truth in the flick. Enough said.
Life is okay here. I am on leave, but there is still opportunity to use my skills. A much older neighbor needed his blood pressure and lungs checked, and I had not been able to go earlier, when called. So Scott and I went over the weekend and checked him over. He is doing well. He is actually a prominent nationally-renowned economist, and was instrumental in developing some of our policies. As my schedule gets more frenetic, I thought I would beg off such visits, but as I sat there in the home of this older couple, and looked at the wife getting around slowly, the husband fairly immobile in his chair, and no one else in sight, I thought to myself that I couldn't not go. The visit appeared to cheer both of them up and indeed, Scott's gentle presence was tremendously therapeutic. I didn't have to do very much at all.
The young lady I tutor was late last weekend, and she came hesitantly an hour later, and asked if I could still tutor her. I said ok, and we started the session. During its course, I asked why she was late, and she stated that she had been late for her bath, the common bathroom near their living quarters had been occupied. There are about 13 dwellings (a room and a kitchen likely) near a common bathroom and 2 restrooms and all occupants need to plan usage accordingly. As we sat in my bedroom, outside my bathroom intended only for Scott and me, I thought to myself that there were many, many things I was yet to learn about the world of the impoverished, and that even a bath, which I took for granted daily, was sometimes an activity fraught with suspense and anguish in their world. Through all of this, Ms. E remains resolute in her desire to study English and pass her exams, and that steely resolve is so fantastic.
We had the pleasure of seeing my cousin, Nandu, his wife Vandana and their son Ashwin this week. Ashwin has cerebral palsy, cannot speak or walk, but understands everything said, especially jokes. We had a good time seeing them, and the boys enjoyed hanging out with Ashwin. The last time he came, he squealed to communicate and all 3 boys hung out in the back room, squealing. Ashwin tries to grunt in communication now and the boys tried to keep him smiling, which was wonderful. Ashwin is a cool sort. Nandu is a multi-millionaire, being a very successful, self-made entrepreneur; this generates much envy in our narrow world but I am very happy for him. As I looked at my sons at home, dancing, singing and mouthing off to me, or saying extremely funny things, I thought that it was good that Nandu had his riches, just as I had mine.
Unw -
R
Wooo! There's much euphoria over the Oscars. I'm so glad A. R. Rahman won, and he spoke some Tamil in his acceptance speech - "Ella pugazhum iraivanukke," which means all glory goes to God. He is a devout Muslim, his mother converted the whole family from Hinduism to Islam after his father died and she found solace in the teachings of a Muslim cleric. The family was in abject poverty for a long time, and they certainly are not now - hooray!
There is as much complaining over Slumdog Millionaire's portrayal of poverty in India; however, those of us who work with the abysmally poor know there is plenty of truth in the flick. Enough said.
Life is okay here. I am on leave, but there is still opportunity to use my skills. A much older neighbor needed his blood pressure and lungs checked, and I had not been able to go earlier, when called. So Scott and I went over the weekend and checked him over. He is doing well. He is actually a prominent nationally-renowned economist, and was instrumental in developing some of our policies. As my schedule gets more frenetic, I thought I would beg off such visits, but as I sat there in the home of this older couple, and looked at the wife getting around slowly, the husband fairly immobile in his chair, and no one else in sight, I thought to myself that I couldn't not go. The visit appeared to cheer both of them up and indeed, Scott's gentle presence was tremendously therapeutic. I didn't have to do very much at all.
The young lady I tutor was late last weekend, and she came hesitantly an hour later, and asked if I could still tutor her. I said ok, and we started the session. During its course, I asked why she was late, and she stated that she had been late for her bath, the common bathroom near their living quarters had been occupied. There are about 13 dwellings (a room and a kitchen likely) near a common bathroom and 2 restrooms and all occupants need to plan usage accordingly. As we sat in my bedroom, outside my bathroom intended only for Scott and me, I thought to myself that there were many, many things I was yet to learn about the world of the impoverished, and that even a bath, which I took for granted daily, was sometimes an activity fraught with suspense and anguish in their world. Through all of this, Ms. E remains resolute in her desire to study English and pass her exams, and that steely resolve is so fantastic.
We had the pleasure of seeing my cousin, Nandu, his wife Vandana and their son Ashwin this week. Ashwin has cerebral palsy, cannot speak or walk, but understands everything said, especially jokes. We had a good time seeing them, and the boys enjoyed hanging out with Ashwin. The last time he came, he squealed to communicate and all 3 boys hung out in the back room, squealing. Ashwin tries to grunt in communication now and the boys tried to keep him smiling, which was wonderful. Ashwin is a cool sort. Nandu is a multi-millionaire, being a very successful, self-made entrepreneur; this generates much envy in our narrow world but I am very happy for him. As I looked at my sons at home, dancing, singing and mouthing off to me, or saying extremely funny things, I thought that it was good that Nandu had his riches, just as I had mine.
Unw -
R
posted by Renu Weiss at
6:55 AM
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