Goonj.

Goonj - I think the word itself is so beautiful. Goonj means echo. But here, the literal translation would be resonate. I'm referring to an NGO, an organisation named Goonj, which is creating a huge impact on rural India. A few days ago I had the privilege of visiting this place from work. Accor decided to partner with Goonj to help the earthquake and flood victims of Sikkim and Orissa. We, at the hotel had put up boxes to collect things from employees. From the hotel's side, we added loads of uniforms, and alot of linen and towels. I was quite proud of everything we had put together. Then we visited the NGO to drop off all the boxes. I was quite excited about the visit but didn't expect it to move me so much. I expected it to be like one of the many NGOs I have visited. But I was surprised.
To give some background about Goonj, it was started in the late 90s by a media person, who knew a person who's job was to pick up unclaimed dead bodies and deliver them to the cops(for a very small amount of money in return). This man mentioned how his business would flourish during the winters. And also how his daughter would keep warm in the winters with the help of the extra dead bodies. When I heard this story, I was moved. Clearly so was the founder of Goonj. He then decided to make some effort to increase the mobility of cloth and ensure that the underprivileged have enough(especially during winters since more people died because of the cold). They now run a huge workshop, where thousands of clothes come in every week, are repaired, segregated, packed and transported to areas that require them. They don't just do this with clothes, they also help mobilise shoes, toys, utensils, books, sanitary napkins, stationary, medical help like walkers and wheelchairs apart from medicines and many more things.
I'm sure this is something that alot of NGOs are working on in India. Then what makes Goonj different, that made me fall in love with the work they do? They don't just concentrate of issues like poverty, famine, natural disasters or women's hygiene, but also make a conscious effort to help the rural population improve their living conditions, and focus on malnutrition among children in rural India. That how keeping a couple of toys in a local creche in a village helped some mal-nutritioned children to start eating, and eventually learning. Did we ever realise the power a couple of toys would have over such children? They have encouraged villagers to build bridges for themselves, clean their ponds, and learn personal hygiene, in exchange of some clothes, ration and basic utilities. What amazed me most was their sanitary napkins unit. The workshop was pretty big, where they made sanitary towels for all the extra leftover cloth that was of no use. By running this particular unit successfully, they're not just preventing thousands of women from dying or getting infections, but they're helping future generations of women to be more aware and not be ashamed or neglect this monthly cycle.

I've been to alot of NGOs in Pune because of the Development Sector. NGOs that cater to needs of blind people, mentally challenged people, orphans, sex workers' children, HIV positive people. But what I haven't seen is something so basic, cloth, creating such an impact. It might not be considered a major issue, it might not suddenly come into the spot light, like HIV/AIDS or Children's Rights, but its the most basic way of improving the condition of rural India. And that's what they're doing.

What I like even more about them is their financial independence. They don't ask for funds, they mostly don't require them. They realised that the concept of begging only exists in urban India. In rural areas, they're extremely self respecting and refuse to accept anything for free. So they like to pay for whatever they receive. Of course they pay in whatever way they can. Not necessarily in cash. But it helps the organisation raise enough funds. They have other sources as well like book fairs and hand made products. Even when people come and give anything to the organisation, they don't consider it a donation. Because 99% of the times, we end up giving away things we don't require. So they don't need to feel obligated to you, for parting with stuff you didn't need or want anyways.

That evening, I felt good. I felt alive. After a long time, I realised that there was so much more that I need to do to make this lifetime worth it. The visit made me miss Pune alot. It made me miss my DT days filled with NGO appointments, regular visits to some of them and learning events to impart some of this great knowledge to more people. But I also realised I need to do more learning events here. Just because I'm not in Pune and I don't know the NGOs here, is no excuse for me not to contribute or learn or spread the word.

And yes, I do love my job. It lets me do stuff like this. Stuff that I love.

My sister.

This is a really random post about what I think of my relationship with my sister. I usually end up writing about something I've been thinking off alot lately. Maybe the whole day. And the thought of my sister going back to college in another city has been haunting me for a while now.

I had an off today and my sister had to go for work. Unfortunately, her internship doesn't allow her too many offs. So I had to spend the whole day alone at home. Although my mom was around, we usually sit in different rooms, she's usually on the phone, watching tv, doing things around the house etc and I'm just usually online. The entire day. That's how our routine was even when I didn't have a job. But nowadays, I seem to miss my sister too much when she's not around. She's a sister, best friend and a boy friend to me.

We all take our siblings for granted sometime or the other. We all have that phase in life when we have physical fights. Then we move onto a phase when we have verbal (abusive) fights. And then, when we finally start getting along and understanding each other, it's time to move away. That's what happened with my sister and me. I didn't even realise how much my younger sister grew up while I was away in Pune. The sort of phase she went through, which I wanted to protect her from. And then, when I finally moved back home, it was time for her to leave.

My sister and I have shared a great relationship throughout our lives. I loved her from even before she was born. Apparently I went around telling the whole world that if my mummy got me a baby brother, I'd leave him right there, in the hospital itself. Or maybe in Delhi (since we were moving to Hyderabad). I was definite about wanting a baby sister. I must've been quite something even at the age of 3 to threaten my mom. I've been a pretty good older sister to her I think. Yes we used to fight alot as well...but isn't that a phase all of us go through?

What I am proud of, is the relationship we share now. I never really thought we'd reach a point where I'd take her to a shisha place, let her try it for the first time, leave her with my good friends who'd give her vodka shots, and then eventually stand on our balcony with her and share a smoke. Ok maybe I didn't think that day would come so soon. Yet I feel so comfortable with where we are today. For the last year and a half, since she moved away to go to college, she has understood me better than anyone in the world. She finally understood what living away from home was like. She finally understood what sort of stuff is to be told to parents and what's not. She finally understood what living on a budget was like. She also understood why I love my friends so so much. Why they were my life in Pune, and those are bonds I will keep for life. She learnt enough from my experiences to make decisions for herself. I'm not saying necessarily the right decisions. But they are her decisions. She stopped judging me and I never judged her cause I did most of those things myself. As a 19 year old, she helped me through my first break up, giving me advice, abusing my ex, everything it took to see me happier. After 6 months of not smoking, she got me my first cigarette and said here, if this makes you feel any better. She talked to me when I was really depressed, she fought with my mom for me, telling her to back off and not say anything to me, she was a great listener, a good friend, and that one person I really needed to talk to at the end of the day during that horrible phase.

Today, if I am alive, it's for her. I'm not completely over my tough phase yet. But then again, life is never easy. But if I want to do well, it's for her. I want to be able to guide her, be that older sister she can look upto. We still have our deep conversations pretty often, and talking to her always makes me feel better. She's the one person in my family I can cry to (however awkward that makes her).

Today, I bought her a present from my first salary. The joy I felt after that was something I'd never felt before, and it's also something I'd like to feel more often. I want the best for her, in life, and I want to do my best in giving her whatever she wants.

She's going back to college in a month, and will be away for a while. Till now I thought life in Gurgaon was depressing, cause I didn't have a social life here. But what I'm dreading more is that after this month, I won't have my best friend here either. I'll have absolutely no one. I won't have anyone to text to all day, I won't have anyone to pick up after work, I won't have someone to shout at for my room being a mess. I won't have someone to talk to about my day and share a smoke with. I'll miss her more than she will know. 

Superstition.

I'm sure there are loads of people who read their zodiac horoscopes in the newspapers on a daily basis. All of them don't necessarily believe in such things but its just something people do. And it stays in the back of their minds sometimes. Like when deciding what to wear for work, they think, oh...today's lucky colour is green. Maybe I should put this green top on. And when they have a fairly decent and uneventful day, they feel like it worked. And those few times when something good happens, their faith in such things increases a little.

I'm one of those people. I believe in the fact that everything written about my zodiac describes me perfectly. Like its written keeping me in mind. So apparently, Aquarians are soft spoken, dreamers, independent and soothing personalities. So mostly, when I'm not a raving lunatic, I'm pretty much all of those things. Something else that I also like believing is palmistry. Now I know that astrology and palmistry are not superstitions, they're a science in their own way. But sometimes, these things make you superstitious. Nothing else..

When I was in school, some girl in my class offered to read my palm. She didn't really seem like an expert but I played along. She said I seem to have a good career graph but sad love life. Its like my career will compensate for the lack of my love life. We all laughed and in my heart, I hoped that was true. I was so stuck on doing well in life, being successful, that love didn't matter. I didn't even think of relationships until I was in college. And that's pretty late for a "Delhi girl". 

Once I reached college, I had another good friend read my palm. This was about 4 years ago so I don't remember her words exactly, but I remember her saying something similar. That my education and career seemed more hopeful than the love life. I brushed it off again, thinking how does it really matter. I used to be extremely awkward talking about relationships back then. I thought relationships were not for me. Not so surprisingly, my thoughts were exactly the same even after nearly 3 years. Towards the end of my college life. I had the most brilliant 3 years in college (not because of college but because of everything else). I was always happy for all my friends who were in relationships, but I never really understood what it was like. So yes, it was always simpler hanging out with the singles. Through those 3 years, I lead an exceedingly happy single life. I used to be curious sometimes, but not curious enough to try getting into a relationship. People thought I was so weird. 21 years old and never been in a relationship. Even my father asked me jokingly if I swung the other way. But in all honesty, those times when my friends told me about my hopeless love life looking at my palm, were still in the back of my head. Somewhere I had never let that go. Through my college life, a fairly decent amount of hitting on and flirting happened. I was very new to that too. But my friends guided me well. Even then, I never really thought of how it would be if I dated this person. I preferred being alien to the concept of relationships, as crazy as this may sound, considering I am a smart girl, not excessively overweight and not too shabby looking either. 

Then one day things changed. And i reached a situation where I had to make a decision. Not a very easy one. It was a risk I wish I hadn't taken, atleast things wouldn't have become so complicated. And today, A year and a half later, I'm back to square one. Superstitious as ever.