A week in Pune

Ok, so I'm back now. I disappeared for a while because I was out of town and didn't have internet access more than once. Here is my news, then!

I spent the last week in Pune, a small city in West India (close to Bombay). I went down there for a fellowship interview, tickets and hotel paid by the host organization. Then, since I was going down there anyway, I decided to spend an extra few days catching up with some old school friends who are now studying there and my high-school sociology teacher, who now works and lives in Pune. It was an amazing week, surpassing the expectations I went there with.

First, the fellowship stuff. Had my interaction with the host organization, on Monday and Tuesday; will know the results by the end of this month. However, in the course of our discussions, several other opportunities opened up as well, some of them more exciting than the fellowship I originally applied for.

For one, they asked if I am willing to write for infochangeindia, possible South Asia's most comprehensive database on social justice issues. The director of this website was interested in my stories from the leprosy colony where I worked a few years ago and was also specifically interested in me reporting on HIV related issues from Delhi... for reasons many of you are aware of, HIV is one of the "social issues" that is also a deeply personal issue for me, so while the task of reporting on it is a bit daunting, it is still something I would definitely like to look into. They have also offered to fund my travels to any far-flung places if I want to report on HIV in the countryside rather than just in Delhi... again, that will require a lot of research and a lot of networking, but it could turn out to be very meaningful freelance work.

A different set of people also requested me to develop a "creative writing for social change" workshop module, offering to support me financially and otherwise. Depending on how the modules turn out, they might be able to fund me to take it to schoolchildren in different states of India and perhaps to an orphanage in Kashmir, which would all mean living in Delhi but traveling once a month or so for workshops. Again, will have to figure out the details and possibilities but sounds exciting.

Next, I moved to the home of my one time sociology teacher from high school, who now lives in Pune. I was able to spend a lot of time with Ma'am (dont read any hierarchy into that-- that was just what I called her in school and so continue to call her but my relationship with her is as informal as can be) and her husband since we had a four day weekend (here's the best part about "Indian secularism": Thursday was Eid, Friday was Good Friday and today (Saturday) was Holi... Since we claim to honor Islam, Christianity and Hinduism equally, all of these had to be holidays!). Just for those 3 days with them, the trip was worth it! These are the people who introduced me to Gandhi's notion of "live simply, so that others may simply live," and in living with them for a couple of days, I truly understood the power and beauty of this idea in ways that no book or lecture could ever teach me. Seriously, the warmest, most humble, most interesting people I know... the kind who really live non violence as a spiritual commitment and way of life rather than a mere political stance. The longer I spent with them, the more I realized why I chose to be out of college for a while... this is the kind of learning I want to do right now: meet and learn from people I admire rather than from textbooks. In that context, I am planning to apply for a few rural development programs if this fellowship doesn't work out... heading back into the villages for the first time after my Mexican summer feels like the most enriching learning context possible right now. I crave more hands-on learning!

This, then, is where I am right now: exploring all the different possibilities that have opened up before me, looking for my own right path. I have enough random freelance things lined up to earn a basic salary, but beyond that, I need to keep looking for the most meaningful work... some combination of the above possibilities is probably it for now. A close friend recently told me that he thought I knew exactly what I want from life, and I wasn't sure how to answer that; on one level, I do, and on another, I am clueless. I know my ends but am figuring out my means. And I know what I DON'T want to do-- I suppose that's a pretty good start?

At the same time, though, I realized that I don't want to reach a point where I can say "This is exactly what I want to do for the rest of my life"... that seems too boring, too bereft of the adventure I am seeking right now! So we'll take this one step at a time, and let's see where I land up!