My Favorite Day in Kolkata and other news

(Photos- top: students and teachers at the non-profit Uddami, bottom: two men singing in the streets for alms, the coins are weighing down that white sheet)

I think my favorite day in Kolkata so far started out when I went to visit Uddami (uddami.org), a computer training center for disadvantaged youth. Uddami is an American non profit. They teach their students basic computer skills as well as more advanced skills such as website building. Two of their main teachers are former Uddami students. Many of the students are from very poor communities, their mothers might be what they call "moshis", (moshis do janitorial work) and their fathers might be rickshaw drivers, (each might earn around $7 U.S. a month or so) so they do not earn enough to send their children to things like computer training courses. Uddami is free of charge. The Center can take up to 36 students at a time. When they graduate they have many employable computer skills. Although if they can speak English well this is a huge asset. "My main dream is to teach our students spoken English...usually interviews are in English, most speak Bengali" said Rabia, one of the teachers I met, who was one of Uddami's first students.
Uddami now runs a for-profit IT business where they employee many of their former students.
I had lunch with Alison (co-founder of Uddami) and Bryan (her husband, the other c0-founder of Uddami, and manager of Uddami Software Services). We had Chinese food in a dark little restaurant that they had "never gotten sick from." Alison told me she and a friend had a pact that when they were 40 they would join the Peace Corps, but her friend is now a busy lawyer and only could get free for a month so they went to Calcutta. Alison decided to go back, she originally wanted to open a home for kids in need but found that what was really needed was a job skills training center.
I told them that I was interested in documentary filmmaking, so Bryan took me to meet Rono, a local documentary filmmaker. It was so nice be in a real Bengali apartment home in a quiet, tree lined residential neighborhood. The apartment was funky and classy. We drank tea and Rono talked about what he does (mostly documentary work for big companies like Tata steel here, it is difficult to get funded to do independent documentary work). His wife Keya is a book publisher and she ended up taking me along with her that night to the ISHA foundation introduction to their 7 day yoga course on "Inner Engineering", their sign said "Welcome to the silent revolution of self realization". (Ishafoundation.org)
Keya also put me in touch with her son's filmmaker friend who I am going to meet for coffee shortly.
Alison and Bryan informed me that Sahar, an old classmate of mine from Seattle University, is here, (I thought she was in Seattle right now, but she is here doing research for her masters) I don't know if we will be able to meet up because she is busy with work and school and I contacted the day before I was leaving (I'm leaving tonight). She started Kalam http://marginswrite.wordpress.com/about/ several years ago, which is a non-profit that holds creative writing workshops for youth from slums and red light districts here. And they have a lot of other projects, for example they do poetry readings, they have a lit mag, and they are starting to teach grass roots community journalism. Their main aim is to teach marginalized youth to define and empower themselves by writing their own stories about their lives. I am so impressed by what Sahar and co have done! Very cool.

My other activities this week include visiting the old British colonial building called "Victoria"(there is a museum inside), visiting the Kaligat temple (one of the most important Hindu temples here, they do goat sacrifices every morning and then feed the goat to the poor), going to the Kolkata film festival, riding the metro, walking around, and eating a lot of good Indian food. At the film festival I accidentally saw a French movie called Aurore (had bought a ticket for an Argentinian movie, actually I think they may have played the wrong one) and then yesterday I walked by a theatre and was checking out the schedule when an employee told me I could go into the "members only" screening of an old Cuban film, it was set in Angola, Africa, when Cuban soldiers were stationed there). I just saw part of it.

Walking around here you always see interesting things, one man shaving another in the street, two men singing an otherworldly tune while shuffling along, holding a white sheet between them. (shown in the photo above). People typing on typewriters at little desks on the sidewalk. Little old men sitting next to their wooden totes that are filled with glass bottles of perfume. Last night I saw another tourist about my age crouching down with one of these perfume vendors, I guess testing his wares. She was glowing. I was so happy I saw this, sometimes you get so used to saying no to things that you forget to be open to little bits of magic. India has me weary at times.
Sometimes beggars follow you for a little bit. They are not threatening. I have surprised myself by how firm and rude I can be. Even with kids. Then I feel terrible. A lot of people call out to me in the street, sometimes for me to look at what they are selling, sometimes to demand to know where I am from. So I can be on edge. Sometimes I realize someone just truly wanted to help me or talk to me without wanting anything at all from me other than kindness. Then I feel bad for being stand-offish and suspicious of their motives. I guess it takes longer to feel really comfortable here. Don't get me wrong, I am having a good experience overall.
Tonight I am finally taking an Indian train! To Varanasi. So that should be interesting.