soo coming to a new state for college was definitely not what i expected. social norms are different here. people have different attitudes. im trying to adapt, but at the same time i feel like im losing myself instead. the more i think about it, the more i lose touch of who i am. im so confused! sighs. i just wanna go home. couple more days til winter break! yayyyy!!!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Girl Scout Gold Award!! :)
i wanted to talk a bit about my gold award project for girl scouts. first let me start by explaining what it is exactly. i have been in girl scouts since kindergarten. we focus on leadership, community service, and self-awareness. as a girl scout gets older and moves on to higher levels, she can earn badges and awards for completing certain projects. the gold award is the highest award a girl scout can achieve in the last year before college. this project requires both leadership and initiative.
for my project, i decided to re-create a library at an orphanage in india. before i could go directly into working on the library, i needed funds. i organized a garba fundraiser with the help of family and friends and was able to raise about $3000. it was quite a successful event. a lot of people also donated books!
once i got to india last summer, i started interacting with the kids and admins at the orphanage. i worked with a librarian at a local school to decide what books to buy. she took me to a book fair and we picked up some catalogs and went through them. then i went to a book publisher with my dad and bought additional books. once i bought all the books, we worked on the set-up and cataloging. before i knew it, the new library was up and running. it felt amazing to see the kids in there being interested in reading and learning. it was tough but definitely worth the time and effort.
for my project, i decided to re-create a library at an orphanage in india. before i could go directly into working on the library, i needed funds. i organized a garba fundraiser with the help of family and friends and was able to raise about $3000. it was quite a successful event. a lot of people also donated books!
once i got to india last summer, i started interacting with the kids and admins at the orphanage. i worked with a librarian at a local school to decide what books to buy. she took me to a book fair and we picked up some catalogs and went through them. then i went to a book publisher with my dad and bought additional books. once i bought all the books, we worked on the set-up and cataloging. before i knew it, the new library was up and running. it felt amazing to see the kids in there being interested in reading and learning. it was tough but definitely worth the time and effort.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
college.
i am at a stage in my life where i have to be on my own for the first time. no mom and dad to constantly watch my back. no one to wake me up in the morning or to remind me to eat. meh im gonna miss them a lot. but anyways.. im not there yet actually so i really dont know what to expect. all i can say is that im nervous excited. i already know who my roommate is, and shes hella cool. she and i clicked right away when we first started talking. i hope our dorm turns out amazing. we are both pretty artsy so it should be fun decorating! :) cant wait!!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Labhkuvar Ba.
કુમ્ભાણી કુટૂંબ .. xru
my grandmother was an amazing person. ive been thinking about her since i came to india, as i do each year. she was so selfless and intelligent, even though she didnt get a proper education. during her time, money was hard to get and raising big families was especially tough with the financial sitch. but even then, she and my bapuji did extremely well. i can say that as a fact because my dad turned out to be the best dad ever. i am truly blessed to have both my parents in my life. they are both so smart, mature, and open-minded. sighs. i love my family.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
inspire fambam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTZoLpWU0-k
that is the link to a video that my amazing InSPIRE group made for me. whenever i think about them, i watch it just to feel their presence. each and every one of them has inspired me in some way or another. (im gonna use our random nicknames).
mr. im not fat im fluffy is so sweet and has an addicting laugh. he took care of everyone with such compassion and care. he really made me feel at home during the trip last summer. he was the only one who was able to finally get me out of my little bubble and make me sing. basically from delhi is so cute. he is like the only person everr that doesnt have his last name on his creditcards or anything. so. amazingly. awesome! he and i have had some good laughs about decision-making, which i suck at, and hes quite good at math and pretending to be a horse! canadian sister is one of the sweetest people i have ever met. she and i had some pretty deep discussions and i really felt connected to her. she has that motherly warmth that just makes people feel good. shredder hates it when i call her shredder, but i do it anyways because to me, she is such a strong and confidant woman, she can shred anything in her path. in a good way of course. her independence and intelligence really amazes me. naturals lover is soo bubbly and fun, she naturally attracts people to her. she has some great stories. my favorite thing about her is that she fights for whatever she believes in. she does it in such a way too that people respect her a lot. ironwoman is so down to earth and full of life, she truly one of a kind. she is the kind of woman that will try anything and do it with a positive attitude. i love her free spiritedness. raju the capricorn is hella smart. i swear, anything that comes out of his mouth sounds so intellectual that i believe it every time. as a teacher, i know he is going to have an impact on a lot of his students. ro-ro is hilarious. he advised me not to join a sorority and he has some really good tips on how to live a healthy life with his variously tested diets and stuff. at esi, his bed cubicle thing was next to mine soo every morning id see him doing pushups and be like wooww what a stud. sarasara was the second youngest after me on the trip and she and i clicked pretty well. she and i are pretty similar with the way we think so she had some good advice for me. she always lightened the mood and made people smile. ah shes adorable i was so glad she came on the trip and went out of her comfort zone. i really respected her for that. shaaaneee haha i will never forget his introduction "my name is shane and i am from novascotia, cananda." i admire how he is so comfortable with himself. he is definitely the king frog. ushhh is one of the most beautiful and strong women i have ever met. she is really poised and graceful. i remember first meeting her while she was getting out of bed after her flight superr jetlagged. i love the way she gets along so well with little kids and just never gives up in general. im sure shes going to have a great time working with the peace corps.
soo all of them plus me make up the superfantabulous inspire 2010. i love them all so much and miss them like crazyy! they have become a permanent part of my life, and i am looking forward to continuing seeing what amazing things they will all accomplish. <3
that is the link to a video that my amazing InSPIRE group made for me. whenever i think about them, i watch it just to feel their presence. each and every one of them has inspired me in some way or another. (im gonna use our random nicknames).
mr. im not fat im fluffy is so sweet and has an addicting laugh. he took care of everyone with such compassion and care. he really made me feel at home during the trip last summer. he was the only one who was able to finally get me out of my little bubble and make me sing. basically from delhi is so cute. he is like the only person everr that doesnt have his last name on his creditcards or anything. so. amazingly. awesome! he and i have had some good laughs about decision-making, which i suck at, and hes quite good at math and pretending to be a horse! canadian sister is one of the sweetest people i have ever met. she and i had some pretty deep discussions and i really felt connected to her. she has that motherly warmth that just makes people feel good. shredder hates it when i call her shredder, but i do it anyways because to me, she is such a strong and confidant woman, she can shred anything in her path. in a good way of course. her independence and intelligence really amazes me. naturals lover is soo bubbly and fun, she naturally attracts people to her. she has some great stories. my favorite thing about her is that she fights for whatever she believes in. she does it in such a way too that people respect her a lot. ironwoman is so down to earth and full of life, she truly one of a kind. she is the kind of woman that will try anything and do it with a positive attitude. i love her free spiritedness. raju the capricorn is hella smart. i swear, anything that comes out of his mouth sounds so intellectual that i believe it every time. as a teacher, i know he is going to have an impact on a lot of his students. ro-ro is hilarious. he advised me not to join a sorority and he has some really good tips on how to live a healthy life with his variously tested diets and stuff. at esi, his bed cubicle thing was next to mine soo every morning id see him doing pushups and be like wooww what a stud. sarasara was the second youngest after me on the trip and she and i clicked pretty well. she and i are pretty similar with the way we think so she had some good advice for me. she always lightened the mood and made people smile. ah shes adorable i was so glad she came on the trip and went out of her comfort zone. i really respected her for that. shaaaneee haha i will never forget his introduction "my name is shane and i am from novascotia, cananda." i admire how he is so comfortable with himself. he is definitely the king frog. ushhh is one of the most beautiful and strong women i have ever met. she is really poised and graceful. i remember first meeting her while she was getting out of bed after her flight superr jetlagged. i love the way she gets along so well with little kids and just never gives up in general. im sure shes going to have a great time working with the peace corps.
soo all of them plus me make up the superfantabulous inspire 2010. i love them all so much and miss them like crazyy! they have become a permanent part of my life, and i am looking forward to continuing seeing what amazing things they will all accomplish. <3
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
capitalize me.
i know i should probably get consistent with posts, so i will try to write more often! you might also wonder why i rarely capitalize letters. well. it is because i feel that letters, names, words, etc are just words. each one is important so why not capitalize them all? or none of them? capitalizing would make me seem like i am yelling, and i am quite soft-spoken, so i prefer just to not capitalize. ANYWAYS. jk. anyways. well now that i think about it, i capitalize somee words for emphasis.... moving on.
on june 25, 2010 i had one of the most humbling experiences of my life.
ushma and i shadowed a rag-picker named geeta. however, to me she is not just a woman who collects trash for recyclables for a living. she is a strong mother who will go to any extent to take care of her kids. luckily i could communicate with her since we were both gujarati. she talked to me about her family, schedule, daily challenges, etc. just so you get an idea, here is her daily schedule: (why is there no "take a break" ?!)
5:00 am - wake up/freshen up
6:00 am - bathe the 3 kids
7:00 am - make food/feed the kids
8:00 am - go out and collect trash
10:00 am - come back and feed the baby
12:00 pm - sort the trash into recyclables and non-recyclables
6:00 pm - come home and cook dinner
7:00 pm - eat dinner
8:00 pm - take a bath
9:00 pm - put the kids to sleep and then go to sleep
as you can see, geeta's schedule is focused around her kids. what amazed me the most is that she got married at age 15. her niece daksha, who was with us half the time, was married off at age 13. she was quite young, still in the early teens and was about to get a divorce. she had a miscarriage and on top of that, her husband was abusive. that is a lot for a girl in her early teens to go through. that is a lot for ANY woman to go through actually. it makes me quite sad that situations like this exist in the world.
what makes me even sadder was seeing the reaction of people when she approached them. her job is quite difficult and people dont see that. some people even insulted her for it. i was with her for a few hours in the morning and she showed me her daily route for trash collection. a rag-picker has to be very strategic or another rag-picker could take the trash from certain places before him/her. some people were nice and kept stuff for geeta on the side, while others charged her money. who CHARGES money for taking their TRASH. it just doesnt make sense to me. and by the time she was done with the route, she had 3 huge bags filled. and they were HEAVY. i felt bad, i couldnt help her carry any of them. i need to become more buff. but yah, everyday she only makes about 50 rupees for 7 hours of work. that is equivalent to $1.
unfair. and i wonder what happens to the trash she cant recycle....
on june 25, 2010 i had one of the most humbling experiences of my life.
5:00 am - wake up/freshen up
6:00 am - bathe the 3 kids
7:00 am - make food/feed the kids
8:00 am - go out and collect trash
10:00 am - come back and feed the baby
12:00 pm - sort the trash into recyclables and non-recyclables
6:00 pm - come home and cook dinner
7:00 pm - eat dinner
8:00 pm - take a bath
9:00 pm - put the kids to sleep and then go to sleep
as you can see, geeta's schedule is focused around her kids. what amazed me the most is that she got married at age 15. her niece daksha, who was with us half the time, was married off at age 13. she was quite young, still in the early teens and was about to get a divorce. she had a miscarriage and on top of that, her husband was abusive. that is a lot for a girl in her early teens to go through. that is a lot for ANY woman to go through actually. it makes me quite sad that situations like this exist in the world.
what makes me even sadder was seeing the reaction of people when she approached them. her job is quite difficult and people dont see that. some people even insulted her for it. i was with her for a few hours in the morning and she showed me her daily route for trash collection. a rag-picker has to be very strategic or another rag-picker could take the trash from certain places before him/her. some people were nice and kept stuff for geeta on the side, while others charged her money. who CHARGES money for taking their TRASH. it just doesnt make sense to me. and by the time she was done with the route, she had 3 huge bags filled. and they were HEAVY. i felt bad, i couldnt help her carry any of them. i need to become more buff. but yah, everyday she only makes about 50 rupees for 7 hours of work. that is equivalent to $1.
unfair. and i wonder what happens to the trash she cant recycle....
Friday, August 20, 2010
InSPIRE Photos!
http://picasaweb.google.com/118020986132672115348/InSPIRE2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCIG42rjCs-rsHQ&feat=directlink
That's the link to my Picasa album for my InSPIRE trip. I added captions so most of the pictures should make sense.. if not, please ask me!
Love, RU xx
That's the link to my Picasa album for my InSPIRE trip. I added captions so most of the pictures should make sense.. if not, please ask me!
Love, RU xx
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Dolphin
PACKING LIST
5 pairs of clothes
rain jacket
undergarments
toothbrush/toothpaste
hairbrush/hair ties/clips
body wash/shampoo/deo
book to read, pens
cell phone/ipod/camera/chargers
light blanket
flashlight
waterbottle
id stuff/money
so thats pretty much all i packed into my chekered jansport backpack. the lesser the "stuff" the better. we got an inspire bag thing that included the reader put together by the coordinators, a towel, spoon, cup, inscents, and mine specially had tennis balls as well. i took of all my rings, except for the one from my parents, rubbed off the eyeliner, tied my hair up, and wore a simple kurti. i was ready.
the program started off in Ahmedabad, which was convenient for me since i was already in Gujarat. for the entire amd portion of the trip, we were staying at this place called ESI-Environmental Sanitation Institute. that place was so beautiful and clean. emphasis on clean. the first thing i saw when i walked in the entrance gate was the Nandini bus. it is basically a moving toilet exhibition. did you know that about 40% of India does not have toilets? its quite shocking. also near the entrance is the actual toilet exhibition. at ESI they test out a bunch of toilets and even come up with a few originals.
the first people i met when i reached the room where we were staying were Chaiti and Shane, 2 of the 5 amazing coordinators. we talked a bit and then my parents left. ahh i really didnt really have any expectations for the program but i could tell it was going to be worth the 6ish weeks. after an hour or so, i met Ushma and Sara, 2 more participants in the program. they were a bit tired from flights and stuff. people continued to show up and eventually we started to hang out and get acquainted. Rohit, Sachi, Amitbhai, Amit, and Shraddha were all there from the start and Rajendra and Manisha came a bit later.
we played some ultimate frisbee in the sprinklers! omg i got soaked it was soo funn!! for the next couple days we played some games in which we got to know eachother. we played this one game called.. im not sure actually. but it was a name game in which we each picked an animal that best fit our individual personalities and then chose an action to go along with it. one person starts off saying his/her name, then his/her animal and does the action and then says the name, animal, and does the action of another person. the best one was "amit horse" :) i chose dolphin because i love the water and i love being free to just swim and sing.. what animal are you?
5 pairs of clothes
rain jacket
undergarments
toothbrush/toothpaste
hairbrush/hair ties/clips
body wash/shampoo/deo
book to read, pens
cell phone/ipod/camera/chargers
light blanket
flashlight
waterbottle
id stuff/money
so thats pretty much all i packed into my chekered jansport backpack. the lesser the "stuff" the better. we got an inspire bag thing that included the reader put together by the coordinators, a towel, spoon, cup, inscents, and mine specially had tennis balls as well. i took of all my rings, except for the one from my parents, rubbed off the eyeliner, tied my hair up, and wore a simple kurti. i was ready.
the program started off in Ahmedabad, which was convenient for me since i was already in Gujarat. for the entire amd portion of the trip, we were staying at this place called ESI-Environmental Sanitation Institute. that place was so beautiful and clean. emphasis on clean. the first thing i saw when i walked in the entrance gate was the Nandini bus. it is basically a moving toilet exhibition. did you know that about 40% of India does not have toilets? its quite shocking. also near the entrance is the actual toilet exhibition. at ESI they test out a bunch of toilets and even come up with a few originals.
the first people i met when i reached the room where we were staying were Chaiti and Shane, 2 of the 5 amazing coordinators. we talked a bit and then my parents left. ahh i really didnt really have any expectations for the program but i could tell it was going to be worth the 6ish weeks. after an hour or so, i met Ushma and Sara, 2 more participants in the program. they were a bit tired from flights and stuff. people continued to show up and eventually we started to hang out and get acquainted. Rohit, Sachi, Amitbhai, Amit, and Shraddha were all there from the start and Rajendra and Manisha came a bit later.
we played some ultimate frisbee in the sprinklers! omg i got soaked it was soo funn!! for the next couple days we played some games in which we got to know eachother. we played this one game called.. im not sure actually. but it was a name game in which we each picked an animal that best fit our individual personalities and then chose an action to go along with it. one person starts off saying his/her name, then his/her animal and does the action and then says the name, animal, and does the action of another person. the best one was "amit horse" :) i chose dolphin because i love the water and i love being free to just swim and sing.. what animal are you?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
New Journey
as i stepped out of the plane and took in the humid air of my beautiful india, that feeling of familiarity and warmness hit me. the only difference this time was that i knew things would be different. it officially was my first day of summer vacation 2010 since i had just taken the SAT, and a few hours later i was on the plane. the flights go by quickly since i end up sleeping a lot. anyways back to india. i wasnt there to just eat street food and get lazy. i was on a mission. a mission to understand the layers of this country that i have a strong connection to. why do i consider myself indian when i live in america? am i american-indian or indian-american? i have been coming to india almost every year since i was little. but do i really understand what india is? this question brought me to this 5-week summer program called InSPIRE. little did i know i would come back with a totally different perspective and a ton of insight. the group included me plus 11 other people, all from unique backgrounds with amazing stories to share. in the program we travelled from ahmedabad to bangalore, pondicherry, auroville, thiruvannamalai, and wayanad. we explored india at the grassroot level and experienced things i would never have even dreamed about. ill get into the deets later since i want to reflect on various experiencs. soo until then.. adios! :)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
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