Indian Writing

I have long been a believer in recycling as a partial solution to the problems of plenty* and deprivation, and I have written about Goonj before. Anshu Gupta of Goonj mails me with the following update:

- With the onset of monsoons another session of devastating floods has arrived. We urgently seek your involvement in our annual campaign, Rahat Floods, to reach flood victims across the country. Details of materials required and implementation strategy here. Collection centres here.

- A long cherished dream to get the rural and urban children of S2S (School to School) partner schools, to meet each other, was realized in April this year. Pratibimb, a three day interface event of urban-rural kids, finally materialized when children from 8 villages in U.P, Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu and from 15 schools in Delhi and NCR congregated in Delhi. GOONJ’s rural partners worked very hard to convince parents to send their children on what was, for most of them, their first journey outside their villages. Details here.

- With the fast spread of S2S (School to School), there is a corresponding increase in demand for school material. This calls for a more intensified campaign in schools and other educational institutions for which we seek volunteers. You can also sponsor our cost effective recycled (cloth & paper) mats and notebooks for rural/slum schools. More details here.

- GOONJ is all set to participate in the second Delhi Half Marathon. This is a big opportunity for us not only for raising funds but also as a major platform for spreading the message. You can support GOONJ by becoming a part of the Dream Team, Corporate Challenge, Group (Pledgers united) or as an individual. People from all over the world can support this initiative. Please write back with your queries.

- Sanitary napkins: An informal group of NRIs in Singapore-Focus India Forum provides partial support for this initiative. Every individual who can afford to is urged to commit at least one metre of cotton cloth to GOONJ every month. Please do think of rural girls and women who are otherwise forced to use the worst available rags or even sand/ash for this purpose. More details here.

- Tsunami wastage as resource: With the support of Deutsche Bank, we have now set up a workshop where we are converting this waste cloth into hundreds of clean cloth sanitary napkins and school bags. Details here.

- Goonj is looking for 600 people to join the team. If you have the time and energy to spare, you might be able to support this worthwhile project. Please read this and this.

Anshu’s email lists what is URGENTLY required:

# Operational support in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata & Bangalore – About 200 to 300 Sq. Ft. space, some office infrastructure and small financial support as seed money to initiate action in these cities.

# Vehicle requirement in Delhi & Mumbai - To intensify our campaign in these two metros, a vehicle for material pick up is still a major hindrance. If you have any ideas/contacts on this please write/call us at the earliest.

# Office automation equipment (New/old) - old/new printers and photo-copying machine.

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* Especially when you read something like this Mumbai Mirror chat with Sushma Reddy, where she says that she has too many clothes just lying around in her cupboard:

“I don’t spend much on clothes. At the most, Rs 20,000 is the most I am willing to spend every month on clothes,” she says. And what about the outfits she has worn more than once? “I don’t wear the same dress again so I give it away to my friends. Some clothes have been lying in the cupboard for years.”

“Giving due process its due remains the most effective and just way to tackle crime of all kinds.” - Girish Shahane.

“Kashmir is so visually rich that I never missed watching movies.” - Tassaduq Hussain, cinematographer for Vishal Bhardwaj’s Omkara.

“The West with nearly a century of stable institutions could afford salon humour.. I cannot even if my fellow cartoonists think they can. The cartoon is an attribute of democracy but mine is a precarious island democracy whose shores are being licked by erratic waters all the while. On this insecure perch do you expect me to laugh or cry?” O.V.Vijayan, quoted in Hemant Morparia’s review of his Tragic Idiom, Cartoons and Notes on India.

More here.

Khushi

From Nandini, this email written by a visiting professor who is currently at an institute in Bombay but returning to the US in a few days:

“My time in India ends at the end of July when I return to the US. During my stay here, I adopted two puppies… both of whom were on the edge of death. Now, they are wonderful young healthy dogs, but I desperately need to find them a good home before I leave in 10 days. I had a wonderful situation all arranged, but it fell through at the last minute.

Khushi is about 15 kg, female, tan,about 10 months old, and typical of dogs in the region. Pepper is about 10kg, female, about six months old, black with some white markings. Pepper’s front right leg was badly injured when I rescued her, and it will never be 100% but she has absolutely no problems running around. Both dogs are spayed, have their shots, respond to voice commands, and are smart, loving, and affectionate. They are house-trained, do well indoors or out of doors, and are healthy and happy dogs. They are a bit timid around new people, but quickly make friends. They should be fine with children.

Any help you can provide me towards finding these two dogs a loving home — soon — would make me most grateful. I need to know they are in good and loving care before I can leave in less than seven days.”

Pepper

If you know of anyone who could give the dogs a home, please email me or leave a comment here and I’ll make contact with the person who wrote this email. (I have kept his name and contact details out of this post) Many thanks to Abodh for emailing me the pictures of the dogs.

The Poles rode out from Warsaw against the German
Tanks on horses. Rode knowing, in sunlight, with sabers,
A magnitude of beauty that allows me no peace.
And yet this poem would lessen that day. Question
The bravery. Say it’s not courage. Call it a passion.
Would say courage isn’t that. Not at its best.
It was impossib1e, and with form. They rode in sunlight,
Were mangled. But I say courage is not the abnormal.
Not the marvelous act. Not Macbeth with fine speeches.
The worthless can manage in public, or for the moment.
It is too near the whore’s heart: the bounty of impulse,
And the failure to sustain even small kindness.
Not the marvelous act, but the evident conclusion of being.
Not strangeness, but a leap forward of the same quality.
Accomplishment. The even loyalty. But fresh.
Not the Prodigal Son, nor Faustus. But Penelope.
The thing steady and clear. Then the crescendo.
The real form. The culmination. And the exceeding.
Not the surprise. The amazed understanding. The marriage,
Not the month’s rapture. Not the exception. The beauty
That is of many days. Steady and clear.
It is the normal excellence, of long accomplishment.