For The Little Ones Of This World

Anou from Project Why wrote back to me today. We have been in touch quite regularly over the past few months. And the more I read about the kids and the work she is doing, the more beloved the project is to me. Today I read about Nanhe. Nanhe means "little one" in Hindi. A nickname commonly used for the youngest in the family. As Anou said the dear child doesn't even have a real name. He is stuck with a nickname and a life that promises nothing except suffering.

Nanhe is a little boy with multiple disabilities, father died early, mom manages him and 2 other diasbled siblings. He probably will not have a happy life since he is afflicted with so many problems. But to look at him smile in that photo...It is difficult to write about it without tearing up. I read about him and think about the millions of other kids who are in such terrible circumstances, poverty, hunger, abuse, things that no child should ever have to face.

And then I think about the vacation that my family is planning.. 50,000 rupees for a 5 day vacation. It seems so frivolous. When there is so much need in this world, it just seems like an incredible amount of money to spend on a holiday. I know I cannot help every kid in this world, or stop living or stop spending money on clothes etc. I am practical in that sense. At the same time, reading my brother's email about beaches and sunshine and fancy hotels and then reading about Nanhe... there is really no comparison.

I don't know why this is bothering me so much, but today is one of the days when I question what I have accomplished until now. Apart from academics, what do I have to show? It is one of those days when I feel like dropping everything and moving to India. To do something that makes sense in my life. Something that would make this a better place for the Nanhes of this world.

About Christmas and warm fuzzy feelings...

Yesterday I went over to D's place to help her decorate her Christmas tree. She is one of sweetest, most generous people I have met. I have noticed that you can tell a lot about people a) by their handshake and b) by their hugs :). If its a limp handshake then there is a distinct feeling of nausea and an urge to go wash your hands (sometimes their palms are damp.. yech!).

Hugs are similar, lots of people hug for the sake of the gesture, its like saying "take care" . The gesture is so common now that for most people its automatic, they say it or do it without really thinking about it. Well you don't HAVE to hug or say take care to show you care.... but anyway that's a tirade reserved for later. So getting back to the topic, most people give you a hug which is really not even a hug. For people who are really uncomfortable like P a friend of mine, he will kind of come close to you, there is this awkward moment when I don't know whether he is going to put his arm around my shoulder, or whack me over the head, he leans close for a one millisecond and that's it. The second and the worst kind is what looks like an actual embrace with a ten feet distance between the rest of the body parts. Its equivalent to the limp handshake. You end up feeling a wave of sympathy for people with leprosy, you also end up feeling like either you need to rush to the pharmacy and buy another (better) anti perspirant, surreptitiously check for bad breath, or whack the person over the head.

So coming back to D, I adore her hugs. They are perfect. Her hugs are all embracing, bone crushing, diaphragm squeezing, lifting you off the ground, leaving you gasping for breath hugs. It was great to see her again and hug her again :). Since this was my first time decorating a Christmas tree, I was very excited.More than me, D's beagle, a little adorable dog called Shelby was excited. For the first 30 mins she RACED across her house going at least at 30 miles/per hour. After that she took to following me around and standing right behind me so I narrowly missed tripping over her several times.

Minutes later D's best friend M comes, slams the door, she is in a foul mood, had a big fight with her step daughter. she leaves her dog Burt and goes off for a "walk". Now Burt is a boxer with black (my fav color) fur but the monotony is broken by 4 adorable paws that are white :) and right below his chin he had a tiny white beard. Burt has the saddest most adorable soulful eyes I have seen in a dog. You feel like giving away everything you have as soon as you look in to them. Very soon they both decided that the best way to pass time would be to attack me in a joint manoeuvre, with Shelby in the back and this huge giant boxer jumping towards me from the front. I was tackled to the ground within seconds. D was obviously enjoying the view from the sidelines.

We order in Chinese food, Denise tastes tofu for the first time, and gags :) which I thought was hilarious. An hour later M is not back, and we were both worried about her. Finally she calls and we convince her to come over. SHE then tastes the tofu and gags…..heheh.. we were in splits. Then she started talking about the fight, I was a tad uncomfortable since I don't know her very well, but oh well... she looks at me and goes " do u have children?"
Avni: " Well errrr. I am still single",
M: DO NOT have children!! They are a pain in the ASS!
Avni: Ok M whatever you say.
M: Oh My GOD! what if I get pregnant! Silence Silence.....
M" Wait a minute you need to have sex to get pregnant. Never mind then"
(Tmi... M.. Tmi!)
We all look at each other and then burst out laughing. By then M and I had bonded enough and had a great time making fun of D's OCDness .
So every decoration of D has a story behind it. The one that I loved was given by D's grandfather to her grandmother, this little black plate with the words written on it:
Grow Old Along With Me The Best Is Yet To Be

Two simple lines but beautifully written. So coming back to the Christmas tree, we first made some egg nog, added a splash of whiskey, put on some old old Christmas songs and started putting up decorations. It was warm and cozy.. the two dogs sleeping next to us, snow outside, it was perfect. It was one of the best evenings I have spent in a long time.