At the request of my father...an UPDATE

On Wednesday at my internship, I ended up going to visit Pamela Fernandes, my Social Work teacher at THINC. I was reading various essays and books at her office, which had about a million that I wanted to read. Pamela works at a place called Hotline, which address major human rights issues in India. One essay that I read while visiting Hotline, came from Claiming Our Place: Working the Human Rights System to Women’s Advantage the essay was called “The Principle of Universality and Cultural Identity” By Radhika Coomaraswamy. The essay was asking in essence: how can we celebrate cultural diversity, while enjoying our human rights? There a many cultures that exist with traditions that may or may not be conducive to women’s rights. For example, some religious customs mandate a wife’s subordination to her husband, and even place a higher value on baby boys than girls, offering them more chances for education, freedom and enjoyment of life. How do we, as a global society, accept those religions and traditions, while still encouraging a human rights agenda? Where a husband and wife are equal in a relationship and allow for boys and girls to equally pursue education and freedom. I have no perfect answer yet, but I think a quote from Madhu Kishwar: “Our cultural traditions have tremendous potential within them to combat reactionary and anti-women idea, if we can identify their points of strength and use them creatively…We must realize that if we fail to acknowledge and help reinvigorate the deeply humane portions of our heritage, none of us are likely to succeed.” I think we need to start looking at the history of our religions and traditions and see if they truly serve a purpose and also look at other ways the same religions and cultures are used. I do not think that, at their core, any tradition or religion is about dehumanizing or suppressing a group of people, but that we have gotten caught up in those ideas and stopped looking behind those traditions. I agree with Kishwar that cultural traditions have the potential power within them to fight against anti-women ideas and even support the rights of women across the world.
Thursday, I was supposed to meet Jaya at a Mental Stress Seminar. I find it kind of funny then that I ended up getting lost in Andheri for over an hour. During this time, I could have no real conversation with anyone. My rickshaw driver spoke absolutely no English, and I speak no Hindi. We relied heavily on gestures, but it did not really get us very far. I remember feeling very afraid and helpless during this time. One thing I was thinking about in relation to this experience relates back to a conversation I recently had with my dad. I was talking about the frustration of not always being able to communicate, even when I have a very clear idea of what I want and what I want to say. My dad pointed out that this is the experience in the United States for many non-English speakers. I think this experience highlights what my dad was trying to say very well and has also given me an increased feeling of empathy for non-English speakers in the United States. In that short one hour period, I felt so vulnerable and afraid, so I can imagine if someone who constantly lives like that experiences many similar emotions on a regular basis. As much as I did not enjoy the experience while I was lost, I hope that I am able to maintain my empathy for non-English speakers in the United States after my time in Mumbai.
This weekend I got to engage in one of my favorite past times...SHOPPING! :)! There has been an exhibition with TONS of craft stands near where we live in Bandra. Jess and Sarah had already had a chance to go, so Chelsea and I decided to go on Friday afternoon. I ended up getting a bunch of cute things, I can't say what though because some you have presents now! ;). Then yesterday, the girls and I went to another huge one-day exhibition at Candies, the local quick-service restaurant, and I got some more stuff, including a super cute dress, some soaps, jewelry and MORE PRESENTS!
Earlier in the semester, the other girls and I had bought fabric to have made into: saris (for Jess and Sarah) Salwar Kameeze(s), and Kurtas. We finally went to a designer who is going to send it to a tailor to have it made. Unfortunately in the process of trying to get to the designer, we ended up getting lost (for the second time in a week for me) and going into a police station for directions. This resulted in us getting the police officers to get us a rickshaw, and then lead the rickshaw driver from the station to the designer's house on a moped. Not going to lie, that was kind of awesome. We should be getting some of our clothes in the next 10-15 days, so I'm super excited.
This week has been a bit more hectic than some of my other weeks here, what with getting lost and feeling just some general stress, but I'm never not amazed by this country and the people that live here. Whenever I've hit a rough spot, I've just thought to myself "Well its not India's fault you don't know where you're going" I feel very protective of my host country and can't help but love it even when its driving me crazy.
Peace, Love, and Elephant Kisses-Emmy