One of the wonderful things about living in India is to be reminded everyday just how lucky we are... and how much we can do to help others. It's all too easy to whinge about this place - god knows I've done it! - but being here constantly puts into sharp focus how much we have to be thankful for. It sounds trite- but not being hungry, being able to read and write, having opportunity and money to spare, not to mention travel, access to credit -- is rather priceless!
In the past few days, I've been reminded of this endlessly: while sitting in a bicycle rickshaw watching the rickshaw-wallah pedal up inclines none of us could manage, especially on their obviously sparse diets... saying goodbye to a good friend who's spent 4 years here, but never wasted a moment whinging about ANYTHING (instead she's channelled her energy into endlessly helping others and sharing her good fortune!) Or just chatting with my child's nanny or the cleaning lady about their desire to learn to read or speak English, or get their kids into schools with toilets and teachers!
It isn't always easy to maintain a positive outlook here. As I write this, the Indian government is arbitrarily blocking all TypePad blogs, so I can't even see what I'm publishing. Small potatoes compared to the corruption stories in the headlines... the Supreme Court told the Prime Minister he shouldn't have hired a corrupt guy to head India's ANTI-corruption watchdog! A monumental tax-dodger is finally being investigated by the government. India has child-malnutrition levels to rival Sudan, but this past week, two Congress politicians spent millions marrying off their children to one another, complete with a gift helicopter and bundles of cash for the guests.
And closer to home, two of my staff have been the targets of malicious police intervention. This is shockingly common in India (I've had it done to me). Someone doesn't like something you've said or done, so they go to the police and make a complaint against you. The next thing you know, the police are intimidating you with threats of legal action and low-grade violence. At least we were lucky enough to use our connections to meet the right authorities and clear things up. My cleaning lady is facing a legal bill of half her monthly salary to fight a case against her husband. Another staff member had to pay off her neighbors with twice her monthly salary when they lodged a false case against her son.
So here's to the bonanza of good fortune most of us enjoy! Share it as often as you can!
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