And poof there it goes...is it really over?

…today was my last day at Operation Shanti…what an amazing send off…totally unexpected and full of love…the cards…the hugs…the handwritten message…the innocent “Jo ma’am, you no coming tomorrow?”…”no, Jo ma’am going home tomorrow but I come back next year, ok? (there is no way you are keeping me away!)”…lots of tears but they were mainly mine haha… really?!...Is it time to head home now?...part of me says ‘yes’ it’s time to go home…but a bigger part says ‘stay’…but not because I am sad to leave or because I will miss the kids and the colourful experience I have had…but because I am not done here yet…not even close!!…I feel I am just getting started…and that’s a dangerous feeling my oh my…my senses have been on overdrive and though I am emotionally exhausted today it is ironically a heartwarming feeling…to know that these kids are alive… truly and completely alive…that there is a safe place like Operation Shanti along with those who work there or are involved in some way…like a very few places if you know where to look…and a person like Tracy who has unconditional love and care for these kids…Tracy, if you are reading this, I know this is just a simple thank you but…it’s for letting me hang with the kids…for trusting me with the kids…for letting me make chapattis with Aunty and the kids every Saturday …and for opening my eyes a little wider into the real world…it has been a complete blast!...so…1,000 chapatis later…with 403 thalis in the tummy…with 1 million cows every where…with too many cups of coffee that’s for sure…and 1 amazing experience at Operation Shanti…it may be goodbye Gokulam…but only for now…cos this is really just the beginning…Namaste!...and Merry Xmas everyone!

The Power behind a Mural...

…sorry for the long silence but we have been pretty busy at Operation Shanti…our mural painting exercise started a week ago…there is an animal shed at the shelter which houses 2 dogs and 4 cats…it is / was pretty bare until we were asked to paint it…to get this off the ground took a few pains…3 painful trips to the paint shop till we finally got the paint…pains deciding what designs to put up and who would be the best to draw them…not me of course…my task was just making sure the small kids were kept away from the paint…to cut a long story short…we spent the last week putting up the designs daily before the kids get home from school…a mixture of animals and nature…and over the past weekend the kids have been taking turns to paint in the colours…it seems like a pretty easy task but we really need to look behind the scenes a little…the pains we went through are nothing compared to the excitement and joy the kids get from helping us complete the mural…how they miraculously finish their homework on time…to finishing all their chores…to waiting patiently in line for their turn at painting…the pictures below may not reflect that the kids are Picassos but they sure reflect the passion and energy of each one of them in wanting to help us…there was no fighting…no hair pulling…a bit of paint splashing…everyone working together quietly, patiently, diligently…for one singular moment they are transported away from their real surroundings into a world of colour and imagination…sounds a bit like my favourite show…”The Twilight Zone”...the colours of their animals are bright enough to light up anyone’s world!...YOU GOTTA LOVE IT!!

Visiting Day...

…every last Sunday of the month is visiting day for the mothers / parents of the children…a day they wait for anxiously each month in the hope that they will get a visitor…as I walked in yesterday I saw Swetha and her 2 siblings talking to their mother, Majula…Manjula has a good job in Gokulum working for Ganesh and Anu…a lovely couple who run an internet and small café…Manjula divorced her husband some years back…one of the lucky ones…as I got to the office I noticed Mamata sitting quietly with her head bowed trying to hold back the tears …it was 2 pm and she was still waiting eagerly for a visit from her mother…Arabia was sitting not too far away from Mamata anxiously waiting too…as I get to the main house the other kids are getting ready for lunch…some of them have already had their visit and so they show me the little trinkets that their mother’s have brought for them…little plastic jewelry, some chocolate biscuits, sweet drinks…after lunch we are playing and every so often you will hear a shout…”Shanti…Ama coming!”…Shanti runs to the gate to be greeted and chat for a while with her mother…I sat and watched this going on for the remainder of the time I was there…many thoughts went through my mind…imagine having to wait a whole month till you see your mother or any relative for that matter…mind you not all of them get a visitor…and this was the most heartbreaking for me…only because I began to imagine my time with my parents…and realized though you can’t push back time and spend more time with them now that they are gone…but I really really wished I had spent more time with them when they were here…there are a lot of things I can do now with the remainder of my family whilst I am still on this earth…and it’s not that difficult…we are the lucky ones here and we don’t even know it…we all take our families for granted till they are gone…why?...is it because they are conveniently there…they are family after all why shouldn’t they be there…think about it we are so busy with our schedules that we sometimes dun visit our family except for once a month…and we aren’t even living in a shelter…slip me into the dumbass category please…we have to change the way we run our lives and treat our families…as I take my leave only Arabia is still at the office waiting…a usually bright girl but today the smiles are gone…it’s getting dark and I think she knows that she will not get a visitor today…

Lunchtime...Swamiji style

...Swami is primarily a Hindu honorific title, for either males or females...it is derived from Sanskrit and means "He who knows and is the master of himself", "owner of oneself", or "free from the senses"...It is a title added to one's name to emphasize learning and mastery of yoga, devotion to god, and devotion to the swami's spiritual master (a guru or another swami)...today we had lunch up at Chamundi Hill...at the home of Jamanagiri Swamiji...s simple man who supports Operation Shanti and cares very much for the children...we were invited to have lunch with him when we met him at Operation Shanti yesterday...Swamiji lives in a cave...but it is a special cave...during the day devotees come to see him daily to pay their respects...at night he spends his time in his little room...there is a tv...handphone nearby...small cd player and numerous cds lying around..."I am a tech swami"...."otherwise I will be left behind"...we understand that next year he will be hooked up with wireless...swamiji.com...way to go...but he is a simple man...from the fresh hot idlys his helpers served us at lunch...to the sweet chai after...he has been living on Chamundi Hill for the past 16 years...and you can see why...it is so serene...quiet...peaceful...it felt very spiritual to be in his presence...prime real estate if you ask me...it's a pity we had to leave..but not before bowing and touching his feet...this is the first (and probably the only time) I will ever be blessed by a swamiji that lives in a cave...I will email you next year Swami my man and let you know when I will be back in Mysore for the idyls...Om!!!

Lord Vishnu...Operation Shanti style...

…The peace-loving deity of the Hindu Trinity, Vishnu is the Preserver or Sustainer of life with his steadfast principles of order, righteousness and truth. When these values are under threat, Vishnu emerges out of his transcendence to restore peace and order on earth…we have our own version here at Operation Shanti…who brings colour and life to this world…do you remember him…he tried to direct his herd of cows (actually the bigger boys one day walking home from school) but got chased instead…he stared down a cow not too long ago…and at some point realized that I may have been named after a deity…but I sure ain’t got the same powers nor height…well TODAY Vishnu met his match…wait for it…..ANTS hahaha….the kids were off school today and I was watching them play…in particular I was watching Vishnu…just cos he is fun to watch…he was quiet one minute…playing with a stick…and the next moment I look around and he is wriggling left right and centre…I thought to myself…man this boy is good at the Hokey Pokey…oooh but poor Vishnu was dancing to a different song…he with his ‘magic’ stick must have prodded and upset an ants nest and they wasted no time in attacking…poor boy was looking around for help…I ran up to him and tried to brush the ants off him…I think I succeeded but for the remainder of the hour I was there I would peek a look at Vishnu and he would every so often give a little jump and cringe his face…he has given me new meaning to the phrase ‘ants in my pants’!!! I am sure he will be fine in the days to come…and whether he finds something else to disrupt is yet to be seen…Lord Vishnu…not quite king of the anthill…yet!

Transience

...The weekend at Operation Shanti is always an enjoyable time…I get to spend more time with the kids than I do during the week…free of homework…free of chores…that’s because they have already been done by the time I get there…it is liberating to communicate with them even though I do not know a word of Kannada…ooh wait I do…Wodi Behda!…which means No Beating!...very important to learn this as they like to go around whacking one another…to see that we can make each other laugh…we do not need to do much…just sit and make funny faces at one another will suffice…or me trying to learn to dance from them…it is a brief time with them but one that I hope will go on forever…we forget how much we can achieve in such a short time…and how to just live in the moment…in the present…not thinking or worrying about the past…or the future for that matter…enjoy everything you have now…in the present…it could all be gone in a sec…poof just like that…Billie (meaning white in Kannada) was the little puppy that brought joy to the kids some time ago…she just walked in one day and Tracy adopted her…poor Billie died on Saturday…we are not sure how…but for that brief moment she was loved by all the kids at Operation Shanti…and well spent her last days in the good company…we may not all get that chance…so live for the now…it’s all we really have at the end of the day…and remember Wodi Behda!

Immersed...

Sunday, November 21 2010

…Been here for almost a month now…my senses have truly been awakened…nothing is asleep…never a quiet moment even if you knew where to find it…it hasn’t take me long to get it…India has everything…from their food to the honkers to the garbage to the poverty…everything…even their own version of Coke…called Thums Up! (not a spelling error on my part!)…and the PEOPLE!...everyone seems to converge here for some reason or another…of course we know the Indians live here…1.15 billion…this is their country…but they are so colourful (oops is that a bad pun?)…from Srikanth my trusty auto driver who takes me to Op Shanti very day…tomorrow 2pm ok, Srikanth?...Ok Madam 2pm no problem…2.30pm and he turns up!...to my friendly friend at the corner shop who tops up hand phone credit…I call him Mr. Server Down…cos every single time I try to top up my credit he says his server is down!… to the men casually peeing in the streets!!...our fav food joints…Tina’s café..a family run business where they serve almost the same dishes over and over again haha…The Sixth Main restaurant…mainly our dinner joint where we eat our Chaat Poori…India’s version of Kueh Paity…da best but also where they keep getting the bill wrong…Café Cofee Day…where they serve the best lattes in town…to Operation Shanti…the kids are the ones who are alive here…truly alive…this is going to be one of the biggest lessons of my life…I may have to live here now…ooops be careful what you ask for jobananas…and then there are the tourists we have met…they all seem to be here to try to find themselves…a little like me I guess but I do not think one trip will do it...but what a colourful lot they are too…whom have I met so far…oh yes there is Hannah…she’s from Montana and here in India for the first time…that’s a mighty long flight, Hannah (not her real name but well since she’s from Montana why not Hannah!)…then there is big Joe from the Café Coffee Day place...Latte! Latte!...Dude how about you get up go to the counter and ask the nice waiter nicely!!...then maybe you will get your latte…to the Professor lady who made sense for about 2 minutes and then proceeded to talk about how she changed laws somewhere and that everything was about her…Really??! You did that…OMG…how about changing some laws here to help the needy...I wonder if they are seeing India the same way I am too…I hope so cos if they are not then they may be missing out…yes this is a colourful trip indeed and for the first time in a long time I feel awakened…take the time to enjoy India guys…it has so much to offer!