My silver lining

Even on my worst days, or maybe especially on them, I find inspiration in the kindness of people here. I’ll discover that as I’m about to break down, just give up for the day, turn around and go get in bed, someone will amaze me. This post is simply to list the random acts of kindness I’ve received. I started jotting these experiences down and realized yall might like to see an example since my more recent post was pretty depressed. So here it is!

A couple of days ago I was in Chandigarh I decided to venture out on my own for lunch. This is still a pretty nerve racking thing for me to do in a city because it requires that I get a taxi, explain where to go when neither of us understand the others’ language, and then I experience the sensation of being a foreigner alone in a bustling metropolis where I can’t have a real conversation with anyone. Maybe I have no reason to be nervous but oh well, I am. The other day I went to KFC (which is a weirdly big deal here by the way) just so I could avoid having to figure out what different things on the menu were and so I could order easily in English and pay in a way so that it was easy to avoid much contact/translating/sign language with others. But this day I was determined to take a step forward and go to an Indian restaurant. Partially due to the fact that I just wanted some good, healthy, and vegetarian Indian food. So I found a restaurant that was recommended to me and walked to the counter which more difficult than it sounds- depending on where you go, lines are just a nice idea. Here people were crowded around the counter, trying to edge their way in to the front. My immediate thought was it’s not worth it, I'll go to a place with no lines. But then I decided, when in India… do as Indians do. So, much to surprise of the people around me who I’m sure disregarded me as an amateur- definitely not a threat to their retrieval of lunch- a tall freckled foreigner barged into the mass of waving hands. I got to the front relatively quickly and was all smug about it until I realized that I didn’t know how to describe what I wanted and then I just felt like an idiot with all of them looking impatiently and expectantly at me. I quickly ordered my old (and delicious) standby- a thali. If you’ve never had one of these, try it next time you go to an Indian restaurant. It’s the best way to get small portions of a few different delicious dishes- for someone who doesn’t really know Indian food like a native- it’s a good way to sample. So after my food was ordered I was given a ticket and verbal directions in Hindi about what to do with it. Great. I turned around looking I’m sure like a deer in the headlights and found a kind looking old man who worked there smiling at me. I smiled back. He tilted his head to the side and asked “where you sit? “ I looked around at the packed restaurant, “ehhhhh.” He just smiled and said “ok ok aek minat (one minute).” Thankfully he returned quickly and led me to a small, recently vacated table where he’d placed a reserved sign for me. A relief. Though I still needed to go get my food- “no worry” he said and grabbed my ticket from my hand and bustled off. A few minutes later he was back with my steaming thali. I thanked him as much as I could while he was still in ear shot, "Shookriya shookriya shookriya-" one of the like 20 words I know in hindi. After my scrumptious meal I walked out of the restaurant and soon heard “hanji hanji (yes yes) miss miss!” Having been catcalled at a few times already that day I ignored it. Then eventually I sneaked a peak over my shoulder to see who was yelling at me and saw that same sweet old man running after me, holding my water bottle that I had apparently forgotten as I meandered out of the restaurant in a food coma. I was so grateful (and embarrassed/ashamed for ignoring him)- he was not required to do any of this. But that’s how people work here. I mean yeah I’ve met some rude people who I think wish I would just go home. But around the corner there’s always someone with a smile on their face and a desire to help me, just because.


That’s just one of the many experiences I’ve had with random acts of kindness here. Mabye you had to be there, but I find what this little old man did for me so amazing- just because in a country where people have every reason to be desperate and mean to each other, they often unconsciously go out of their way not to be.


Anyway, this week has been an improvement. The operations manager who has come to stay with until the new intern arrives has been determined to make the Janauri center a proper home… or at least a livable one. We’ve been cleaning for hours during the day- My job today was scrubbing one of the bedrooms clean and before I did that there was a layer of dirt on the ground, trash everywhere, and cobwebs covering the walls. Doing this has really helped me feel more at home. And now I have internet on my computer here so I can really get moving on my project. The new intern arrives tomorrow so hopefully things will finally settle down and I’ll be able to develop a solid schedule. And this weekend I'm of to Amristar, the holy city of the Sikhs- home to the Golden Temple. I've been looking forward to seeing this since long before I came. Planning on taking lots of pictures!