And then we sit on the dais :)

Sept 17th:

It was the Vishwakarma pooja day. Miguel and I were the special invitees to this event at Kalyan Niketan. It is a day of celebration ,honouring the Hindu God “Vishwa Karma” ..the divine carpenter. The festival is mainly held in factories and industrial units where they pray for a better future, safe work environment and, success. I surprised myself on this day. We were asked to say a few words and I could hold it together and churn out a couple of sentences in Hindi. All the bollywood movies that I watched finally came to use :).  We were treated to a delicious “bhog” and sweets at the end.

We were adventurous enough to go for our first movie “Finding Fanny” in the afternoon. We found ourselves an auto and made our way to the bustling city to watch a fun movie. The crowds hooting at the beautiful actress , the dancing in the theatre and the movie on its own …added to the experience. We were tired at the end of the day but were a happy pair 🙂

Being inspired!

Sept 15th: We were to be introduced to our respective NGOs on this day. The air was filled with apprehension and excitement. And then the true leaders, the founders and administrators of the NGOs, stood up to talk about their passion. Dr Mukerjee from the FPA India Hospital, Mr Suresh from School of Hope, Srimantiji from AIWC or Mr Amitava from Kala Mandir …they spoke and they conquered. Personally for me, it struck a deeper chord. I was humbled by their work and equally inspired. Miguel and I are paired to work with All India Women’s Conference(AIWC) Jamshedpur , an organization aiming for the empowerment of women and children. They come with a 65 yr heritage and are engaged with 3 schools, a manufacturing unit (Kalyan Niketan), an orphanage (Shishu Niketan), a blood bank , a counselling centre and few other ventures. More to come on the work we will be doing at AIWC will follow. Till then, here’s a great start to a great cause !!!

Happy Birthday to me!

Day 3: For the first time , in a long time, I was by myself on my birthday and had resigned to the fact that it would be a quiet day. Reality was far different. A thoughtful husband and a loving team made sure it was a special day.  Thomas earned quite a few brownie points by coordinating a surprise party for me , while he was still in Canada. And my extra special CSC team pulled off the perfect surprise party. I couldnt ask for more and I realise that though I am far away from home, I am still in the midst of family. Thank you everyone.

Better late than never

Its been close to a week since my wonderful journey to ‘giving back’ has begun. As much as I realise that a blog is the best journal I could keep, I struggle with the discipline that the task calls for. After days of procastinating,  I have mustered enough determination to see myself through putting together my first blog. This is day 7 of my stint with CSC and day 4 in Jamshedpur. Here starts the commentary on my exciting adventure!!