Planting rice paddy in Tanjore, Tamil Nadu.
Tanjore is also known as the “Rice Bowl of Tamil Nadu” because of the region’s rice productivity. Indeed, over 50% of rural residents in Tanjore make their living as day laborers, working on farmlands owned by other people for small daily wages.
The 5 Rupee Health Shop, TTK Road, Chennai
So much going on, and so little time to describe it all…
The last few weeks (okay, nearly a month) have been a whirlwhind of travel, research, writing, and planning. I’m coming down to the wire and need to crank out a paper detailing my findings about health care worker motivation; after that, we’re preparing a big meeting for the third weekend in August. Somewhere in between those two big events, I’m going to try to edit down the hours of footage I shot in Tanjore into something recognizable. I’m also squeezing in a long weekend in Pune so I can visit the Maharastran family I lived with in 2006.
In two weeks, I’ll be packing my bags for the airport. It’s hard to envision, really.
In the meantime, I’ll post a few more items of interest as I fly through the rest of my days here…
10thday ofJulyin the year2009
Photos from a recent visit to some Public Health Centers (PHCs) in rural Tamil Nadu.
See the full set here, at my flickr site.
I was supposed to start filming a short documentary this week, but my HDV camera called it quits.
I’ve got to go get it repaired.
In the meantime, I spent the last two days at our filming locations, which are various Public Health Centers (PHCs) in the rural district of Tanjore. I also met several of the doctors and nurses I hope to interview for the film.
Things are moving slower than expected, but… at least they’re moving!
6thday ofJulyin the year2009
This weekend, my friends and I boarded a bus to Pondicherry, a town on the Bay of Bengal that was once the capitol of French India.
The French part of town is quaint and crumbling; the sea air has eaten at the buildings and rusted the cars in a slow, methodical way. The pace of life in Pondicherry was also notably slower, which at first was irritating to us who had grown accustomed to the (sporadically) quick pace of life in Chennai.
After a few good Café Au Laits and the best bread we’d tasted in India thus far, our pace slowed as well, and we lingered for hours in charming rooftop cafés.
The respite from the heat and noise and bustle of Chennai was welcomed, and over entirely too soon.
3rdday ofJulyin the year2009
A set of photos from recent visits to some of Tamil Nadu’s beautiful temples & palaces.
The Hindu, 3 July 2009
This is what we were marching against just this past Sunday. GREAT NEWS!
29thday ofJunein the year2009
June 28, 2009: Making history in Chennai
Normally, Chennai is half a world away from New York City, but today, the two grew a little closer.
This afternoon, on the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Chennai held its first ever gay pride parade. My friends and I were excited - and of course, PROUD - to be a part of this historic event.
In years past, marches have been held in other major Indian cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, but today’s Pride event was impressive because of Chennai’s reupation as a rather conservative city.
Hundreds of people showed up for the parade today. Some wore rainbow-colored feather boas and beautiful sarees; others wore masks to cover their faces. My friends and I, many of us foriegners and newly arrived in the city, weren’t quite sure how we’d be received by the marchers, but as soon as the parade got underway we were welcomed into the ranks. Before long, we were carrying signs and chanting slogans - in English and Tamil - right along side Chennai’s loudest and proudest LGBT community members, activists, and allies. It was a joyous celebration, and I, for one, felt incredibly lucky to be a part of it.
At one point, I looked around me and caught my breath at the sight: Indians marching shoulder-to-shoulder with Americans, with French, Chinese, Pakistani, Japanese, British people. It suddenly became clear that Chennai’s Pride parade was about so much more than LGBT rights in Chennai: we were marching for human rights. Rights that do - and should - transcend national, sexual, cultural boundaries.
For that, I was indeed proud.
Congratulations, Chennai!
25thday ofJunein the year2009
Dr. Ravi discusses community health worker education with members of the ICTPH team.
ICTPH interns come from all over the world and bring with them a diverse range of experiences in fields like public health, epidemiology, nursing, medicine, business, finance, communications, and engineering. It’s definitely a great place to work.
Two women from the Karambayam Self-Help Group show their repayment card from the Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services (KGFS) microcredit program.
Thanks to the KGFS program run by IFMR Trust, these women have access to personal loans at low interest rates - for many, it’s the first time in their lives that they’ve had access to such a resource. These loans have provided startup capital for small businesses, money for women to send their children to school, and even give families an opportunity to save money through the income that the loans help generate.
