Well, well, well. Here I am in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India. Here I am listening to Joni Mitchell on youtube. Here I am deciding where to get my next chai. My how plans change.
It was on the bus from London to Paris that I met Nataraj, a french man who was on his way back to India. Within twelve hours of knowing each other, we had made plans to go to India together and we have a return ticket (to Paris) for April 13th from Delhi. We'll be here for two months, in Tiru, and then take about two months to go up the east coast and land in Delhi for the flight. We are living together in a beautiful house with a rooftop terrace that provides a perfect view of the holy mountain, Arunachala. The space also accommodates the neighborhood children to play with the beach balls and legos that we bought at the market for them. The kids are beautiful. Its so nice to get to know them, their names and personalities; their parents and their homes. Their homes are welcome places to us too. Shanti, the mother of three girls who are frequently at our house, is always offering us chai, dinner, to clean the house. We give her money, but I get the feeling that its not about the money. We keep the inside of our house mostly off limits to the kids to maintain some semblance of a private life. Most of the time around the house is spent with the kids though - outside on the porch or on the roof. There is so much love to go around. It is a beautiful feeling.
Nataraj has been to this particular village every year for a couple of months for the past three years. He has helped to start a school nearby, encourages every child to bring him his schoolbook to study, and gives supplies as he can: like small chalkboards, books, pens... The school that he has had a part in creating is a few kilometers from here. They have no roof and few supplies. Girls cannot attend the school because they don't have enough money to supply uniforms for them. Nataraj went to the school two days ago and the children received him ecstatically. This is common among the children (and their parents) in this village. He, unlike many of the westerners who come here, is inspired to help the community while he is here. Yes, we have more than we need in the west, and, yes, we can give to the families here who are not unlike the families of north america. The differences we create and the suffering we try to ignore is all human-made. We have the power to end the suffering we have created.
From there, on the other side of the planet, the situations here can seem too big of a 'problem' to begin to 'solve.' But here, there is no problem - only lives of joy and sorrow, peace and unrest as in the rest of the world. The obvious difference lies in the availability of resources and access to education. I have asked my dad to look into ways of getting school supplies here. I assume that there are organizations in North America already established to bring goods from the wealthy west to the poor east. Getting educational supplies to the children here is really quite simple. If anyone is interested in helping to educate the beautiful children of this small village, contact me. It could be as simple as sending money to me here in Tiru, or to my parents in Rochester. If you are more interested, we could look into donation drives and what the best way to get materials here is. Several of you who read this are connected to schools with at least a few wealthy families. Doesn't everybody want to do things that feel good? Here is an easy way to feel good! No inhaling, ingesting, or injecting needed...
If any of you feel inspired to help and/or can find a few moments to consider the ways in which you might want to be a part of this, please contact me at maggie.clifford@gmail.com or via this blog. Even if you are unable to help monetarily or with collecting donations, any advice or support is welcome!
Life is beautiful. I will be here for at least two months and there is an extra room in the house (which is now the music room). Anyone considering a trip to India? You've got a place to stay here! I wish you joy, peace, clarity, and light! Be the change you wish to see in the world!
With Love,
~Maggie
