Besides fulfilling my lifelong dream of traveling there, the main reason we went to India was to meet our contact. We got along very well because he’s a big dreamer as well as us, perhaps even more if that’s possible. The sheer amount that needs to be done can be completely overwhelming. There’s just so much need. He has a lot of big ideas and I think with lots of help from both the connections he has in India and the states we can actually start to make a difference.
One major thing that will help is his cousin. You know, the one we stayed with. While we were there they had a big political meeting. After much yelling and shouting and clapping we were invited upstairs and were surprised to be invited to sit down with the leaders.
Then we watched as our host was appointed as (from what I understood) a sort of state representative.
Then we were even included in part of the ceremony.
Receiving a dot and being fed a sweet was part of the ceremony. Very fascinating to be able to be a part of.
We then had pictures taken with the whole big group.
This picture ended up in the paper in a report about the election. Or rather in 7 or 8 papers. Then the next day several papers called and interviewed M about why we were there and ran a story just about us in just as many papers.
As a result the chief of police wanted to have a meeting with us.
We also got a tour of the station. During the tour one of the officers made sure to emphasize that they no longer beat or torment their prisoners. Um, that’s good to know. Very modern of them.
I’m not sure whether it was because of the article in the paper or just because of our light skin but we became very popular later in the trip. Like, celebrity popular. But those stories can wait until my next post. *smile*