sending some love from a'bad

so it's valentine's day & the amount of love here is endless... but i do miss all of you. so i send y'all virtual hugs & a wink or two.
i wander about a'bad in a constant state of wonder & i'm hoping that i don't appear to be too much of a space cadet but i'm actually quite busy & surprisingly filling up my cute lil day planner (one of which i've lost already-so please forgive me if i forget your birthday this year!!!!) with various appointments & social obligations.
i spend my days basically playing with a lot of kids & hearing the chant "photo paro photo paro" as i attempt to digitally document the various projects for manav sadhna. i'm starting to be known as "camerawali" so i may haveta give the camera a rest for a wee bit.
ellie & i have been visiting the balwadis for some time now & are now going to be responsible for getting to them & communicating with the teachers on our own! i'm a bit scared that my gujarati isn't quite up to the task but we'll give it a go & if we get lost in the tekra there is always someone that can show us the way back to manav sadhna. we've managed to organize our reporting system & also held a meeting/brainstorming session with the teachers asking them for their input on how the balwadis could be improved. the idea is for the balwadi to improve the entire family's standard of living (a lot like even start!) & there is much work to be done combating the problems they face. we've seen how alcoholism affects the tekra firsthand last week when a drunk man stumbled into one of the balwadis yelling & screaming at us & scaring the 3-5 yr old kids off right before we fed them lunch. i'm certain that a few of those kids missed their one meal of the day due to that incident.
the communal harmony project continues to be entertaining...we've had several meeting now & the kids sound wonderful singing & making music together & although the girls are a bit shy when it comes to the drama games i reckon they will gain confidence in time. we finally picked the 8 kids from the moslem school the other day & will begin working with them this week...they are very very excited to be a part of the project & incredibly talented as well. this friday we will take the hindu children into a moslem part of a'bad to witness a bit of the mohurrum rituals. next month, the two groups will meet & we are planning all sorts of activities to encourage open & provoking conversations between them as well as just allowing the kids to get to know each other & have fun.
there has been no shortage of projects to help with at the ashram. some days i help ellie with her english class, or go off with manish & mahesh to help with the non-formal street schools (but i basically serve as a distraction there!), or hang out practicing gujarati/english translation on the sunny porch with the earn&learn project kids making wedding invitations. & every day brings a new surprise. today gandhi's grandson came with a man named nipun mehta who runs an organization called charity focus. here is his blog: http://nipun.charityfocus.org/blog/we will hear more about what he's doing with manav sadhna tomorrow.
on a more social note, the other night we danced ras garba at a friend's cousin's wedding & then another night were taken to a sanskruti mela celebrating spring where we heard a desert symphony & watched all sorts of traditional dance & ate fresh dhokla (yum) & another night we had hannah & mansoor over for a homecooked meal...
speaking of food, i've developed an obsession with kulfi & indian chinese food. i will not be getting skinny here. at all.
oh! & i've reconnected with my family here which has been rather intense & much needed. my cousin yunus has introduced me to my mother's half-sister & half-brother's extended families. i was very moved by the way they welcomed me. i need to go back after mohurrum to visit them.going to see them also exposed me to a deeply moslem part of a'bad that i hadn't experienced yet. the old town is full of gorgeous islamic architecture & my eyes are i am also sending healing thoughts to my fakru kaka in mumbai who is recovering from an eye operation. send him some love too!
okay, enough for now. will send a poem soon.loveish