Pondy Scheme

The interns and fellows set off for a spontaneous weekend in Pondicherry as a last hurrah before Christine and Monica return to the US. I wish there was bonded labour in Pondicherry. Wait, what am I saying?!?!? What I mean to say is: Pondicherry is a beautiful place that I'd love to call home and I'm already scheming on how to go back... 

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Monica,  Emily and I splurged for one night at a historic hotel called Hotel De L'Orient. It still only came to  30 USD for the night and was easily my favorite thing about the town. I think Sara Crewe would have stayed here with her Captain father. L'Orient was only two blocks from the Bay of Bengal and still uses skeleton keys! 

The stairwell...

My slippers and bag on an antique aubusson rug. The room was full of French Colonial antiques. C'est mangnifique! 

The interior courtyard where we had notre petit déjeuner. Unlimited croissants!!

Casey downing a bottomless mug of robust Arabica coffee. (Pun completely intended.) 

[ SO ]

[ BEAUTIFUL ]

[ IT HURTS ] 

Whether the setting is pristine...

or has patina. 

This man was taking refuge from the rain against the back wall of a tea stall. When I asked to take his picture, he was adamant: "Je te l'offre en cadeau."  (Je pense! J'espere!) 

 I stumbled across several literary treasures, like Dagny Taggart's revolutionary motor seemed out of place reveling in the bygone colonial era...

...and a recurring motif from The Calling of Lot 49 caused me to ponder questions of ontology versus epistemology. Is it true that Pondicherry is the most delightful place in India? The French speaking auto drivers certainly held to that belief!

The town had a funny obsession with cubism.This little elephant is caught red handed making a passionate plea in defense of his own beautiful vandalism: "Stick no Bills"

But what Indian vacation would be complete without running through the pouring rain to catch your bus home? Henry and I have never been so grateful that all of India is en retard than when we showed up at our bus stop 15 minutes after the departure time and our ride home was not yet bound for Bangalore! 

So I missed a couple... Like, 15

My colleague, Casey, spent the morning tracking the coverage of our latest operation in the news here in India. He's much more thorough than I am...seeing as he compiled over 20 stories!  There seems to be 10 original articles that have been written, and many more outlets that have picked up these 10 different versions of the story. So, here is the complete archive as of 4PM IST.

(No, I dont except you to read them all, just marvel at the sheer number...)

National Newspapers – In both online and print editions
1.The Times of India - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangalore/Bonded-labourers-freed-from-Bantwal-quarry/articleshow/7025185.cms
2. The Hindu - http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mangalore/article926029.ece
3.  Deccan Herald - http://www.deccanherald.com/content/117323/39-bonded-labourers-rescued-quarry.html

Online
4.  Zee News – Incorrectly refers to us as International Justice for Commission - http://www.zeenews.com/news671719.html

Local Newspapers
5.  Daiji World – Many pictures - http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=90819
6.  Coastal Digest - http://www.coastaldigest.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17352:bonded-labour&catid=59:top-stories&Itemid=67
7.  Mangalore Today – Many pictures. Identifies us prominently - http://www.mangaloretoday.com/mt/index.php?action=mn&type=2086
8.  New Kerala - http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-96391.html
9.  Mangalorean – Picked up the Deccan Herald story - http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=210255

Other references
10, 11. NewsPolitan – picked up the Zee News article - http://newspolitan.com/forum/art/india/bangalore/GE5DCNR2GA6UCVCB  and the Times of India article - http://www.newspolitan.com/forum/art/india/mysore/GE5DCN31GQ4UCVCC
12.  WebInida123.com – picked up the New Kerala story - http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20101202/1642097.html
13, 14.  An Hour Ago India – picked up the Times of India and Hindu stories - http://www.anhourago.in/show.aspx?l=7053172&d=502 , http://www.anhourago.in/show.aspx?l=7051898
15.  New Front World – picked up the Deccan Herald story - http://newfrontworld.com/2010/12/02/bantwal-39-%E2%80%98bonded%E2%80%99-labourers-rescued-in-vittal/
16.  IPL (Indian Premier League) Extra – picked up the Hindu story - http://iplextra.indiatimes.com/article/0dxF6cCcn4bON?q=Bangalore
17.  Schemaroot.org – picked up the Times of India article - http://schema-root.org/region/international/non-governmental_organizations/
18.  NGO Blog - picked up the Times of India article - http://www.ngoblog.com/bonded-labourers-freed-from-bantwal-quarry-times-of-india/

Vernacular Media
19. + Articles were published in both the local Kannada and Tamil newspapers. We are waiting on translations of the articles, and we are getting them translated by people in the office.

READ ALL ABOUT IT! 42 Released from Slavery

MANGALORE, INDIA - Another day has dawned in India and our little portable printer is busy making release certificates declaring the labourers free of their (fictitious) debts! Check out some of the local media coverage below including pictures of the victims looking happy (no one smiles for pictures here, so the straight faces are good :-). The articles use the number 39 because the papers went to print before one missing man was discovered and reunited with his wife and child late last night. That brings us to 42 rescued!  

Thank you for your prayers, especially for safety and government initiative! Our God is definitely an awesome God!

This morning a pastor friend in Bangalore tipped me off to this article in the Times of India, India's largest English daily: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Bonded-labourers-freed-from-DK-quarry/articleshow/7026195.cms.

The article in The Hindu demonstrates the competency of Assistant Commissioner Kavalikatti and the plight of the labourers:http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mangalore/article926029.ece

The Mangalorean's article is full of images and paints a story that's more "in process" here:

http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=210255

I love this little girls mischievous smile.

Total rescued this year: 215 (Target is 220, corrected from 210.) 

Total Release certificates this year: 135 (Exceeding our target of 110!)

We were hoping for 50 percent of those rescued to receive RCs, but got them for 62 percent instead! PTL!

My Indian Woody Allen

Every day on my walk to work I would take note of the Indian man that looked like Woody Allen. He would always be at his post,  elegantly leaning against the tree opposite his tender coconut stand. Watching his tender coconut peddling competitors snatch up customers with their diversified offerings of coconut water, tea and biscuits just a few meters further down 80 Foot Road. (This picture was taken after my Indian Woody Allen had already liquidated his inventory.)

He only had two outfits, one a variation of the other: a lungi, short-sleeved dress shirt,  turban...and specks like Woody Allen's. Now short sleeved dress shirts are a terrible concept, and a lungi is like a short sarong for men (another terrible concept) but this man could pull it off wearing these items--in mismatched patterns no less. Did I mention he was barely 5 feet tall and looked to be pushing 80?  I know that he only had two outfits because one day he took his house down...

Yes, deconstructed his house. It was only a frame of bamboo with a blue tarp. But he took his house down. With the blue tarp cast to the side of his plot I searched for what must be the trappings of a simply elegant life. The bare spot revealed a neatly folded suit of clothes perched on top of his second pair of sandals (no longer here, he took them), and four empty liquor bottles.  

 

I should have taken a picture of him before he moved. I always wanted to but figured I should learn to ask in Kannada or Hindi to be polite. But now that I'm looking at a picture of Woody Allen,  the glasses are the only common feature between the two of them and I feel badly for convincing my roommates that he was the spitting image of Woody Allen. My Indian Woody Allen is actually much better looking, though I can't remember exactly how or why. My roommates, and you, will have trouble getting the image of Woody Allen out of your head, so I'm afraid I've done my Indian Woody Allen a disservice.  

I hope business is better elsewhere...

Sash enjoying a tender coconut. I'm pretending to, but am really waiting to get a cold diet coke at the provision store across the street. If only I liked coconut milk, then perhaps MIWD would still own a tender coconut stand on 80 Foot Rd!

Lost in Translation

I'm working from home today because I need to concentrate on preparing a sermon for a church speaking engagement next Sunday. We are presenting to a Tamil and Kannada speaking congregation, so preparing a relevant message for this audience is probably my most difficult responsibility to date. Please pray that I'm supernaturally equipped to undertake this task, and that the Holy Spirit will act on my words so nothing gets lost in translation...unlike the signage below. 

That's a Lettuce, Gouda, Basil and Tomato sandwich. What were you thinking? 

*Seen at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on Linking Road in Bandra, Bombay

Happy Birthday to US!

20/10/2010 seems like an auspicious day, no? This year I am enjoying 36.5 hours of birthday, as the celebrants span time zones from India to San Francisco!

So we might have crashed a fashion show...

...at the Leela Palace. It has been an aspiration of mine to attend Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai while I'm in India, but how nice that the show saved me some effort and came to Bangalore instead? It was an invitation only event, but on the advice of a friend, we just showed up and acted like we were the primary shareholders of Kingfisher Plc and the only question I was asked was: "Would you like a drink Madame?"

We were the nerds that rushed for second row seats once the doors opened. I have no idea who we sat behind, but apparently they were the who's who of Bangalore. (I should have been making friends in high places to end bonded labour. I know, I know. I came stocked with visiting cards, but it wasn't a meet-and-greet kind of crowd. Maybe next time.)

Surily Goel started off the evening with vibrant interpretations of traditional silhouettes, modelled by the tallest Indian girls I've seen to date.

Goel studied at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in LA. I'm surprised she didn't try reinterpret LA's uniform--jeans and a fancy top--in her designs. Although that's already been done by designer Nida Mahood, pictured below.

I'm wondering what I'll do with all of my saris when I return to the states...could I pull this look off in New York? (Although, I'd do a skinny jean instead of bootcut.)

The second show, Ashish N Soni, was more modern and wearable. That is, if you have a party to go to every night. (Despite the content of this blog, I do still work at a non-profit and live in a developing country. My calendar is NOT a string of charity balls and ribbon cuttings.)

After the show my roommates and I contemplated having dinner at one of the hotel's 5 star restaurants, but decided to go home and order Chinese take-out instead. :-)

Marriage: A Cure for the Mundayz

The wedding was casual and very inclusive. None of us had ever met the bride or groom. I thought the bride was my coworker's sister, but that just meant friend from church. Can you tell who decided to attend at the last minute in the picture below. (No R.S.V.P.? No problem!)

Monday at 4 o'clock sounds like the perfect time for a wedding ceremony, or if it rains that afternoon, 5:30 works too. Silly Americans, arriving on time. We entertained ourselves by taking pictures until other guests began to arrive. In India, single girls are referred to as spinsters--regardless of age--until they are married. So, I give you, three spinsters in sari...

The church had a snake problem, so they decided to keep pheasants on the grounds. Apparently the pitch of their squawking irritates the snakes and keeps them away. The Sunday School children liked the birds so much, they added swans, roosters, guinea pigs and bunnies to their little petting zoo.

Brides are always radiant, no matter the culture. Her sari was a gift from the groom. Nice pick! How much things cost is a favorite topic here, and the bride's friend eagerly disclosed the price of the wedding sari during the reception. They exchanged rings and Bibles (pictured below) as a part of the ceremony, as a token of their commitment, and what their commitment is founded on.

The bride and groom are Xns, but they both come from Hindu families...which didn't seem to put a damper on his parent's enjoyment of the day. (Mum, Dad and the groom pictured below.)

What followed the ceremony? Too much food of course! (And a motorcylce ride home in a downpour. But we won't go into that.)

The Hindu has heart!

Recent coverage of our bonded labour casework in India's national daily, The Hindu.

30 Sept - Bonded labourers return home
http://hindu.com/2010/09/30/stories/2010093051400500.htm
24 Sept - 77 labourers rescued from brick kiln units
http://hindu.com/2010/09/24/stories/2010092456420600.htm
3 Sept - Bonded labourers, children rescued from stone quarry
http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/03/stories/2010090354200500.htm

75!

75 former slaves will go to sleep as free men and women tonight! This large of a rescue is almost beyond our capacity in one shot. PTL! What a great problem to have!

I'm getting a little nostalgic for New York...

So it's time to revisit some images from my last party in New York:

"a little cocktail benefit to help end bonded slavery"

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~ Crystal informs those gathered about tackling violent forms of oppression through Victim relief, perpetrator accountability, victim aftercare and structural transformation.

~ This Britisher abhors bonded labour

There was strong representation from RESTORE NYC, a non-profit that provides aftercare services to victims of sex trafficking in NYC .
~

Dear friends came out to support!

Don't worry D, I'm not winking at Raza, I just have something in my eye...

Davita Maharaj (in the awesome tiger skirt) exhibited her photography at the event. Check her out here: http://www.davitamaharaj.com/default4.asp

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Chandni, our henna artist in residence.

Paige learned Indian pieces for violin in three days. She's good and she knows it.

Before (Kristen's arm) and After (my shoulder)

There's a peacock in there...

Katie and Rachel model their henna in front of my sponsorship "store", where people could donate to cover my rent for a month or malaria pills for a year...

It's 9208 miles between NYC & BLR. Guests could donate to cover a portion of my ticket, adding a paper airplane to the line. Each plane represents 1,000 miles of the trip. Looks like guests really want me to go but...what about the return ticket?

Darren pleads with guests to sponsor my return ticket!

His buddy Raza responds to the call.

Amy had a great time and declared the night a smashing success! We raised over $5K!

All photos, including this one, courtesy of the man behind the actual camera: Kim Yoon Sup. http://kimyoonsup.com/