It's Been a Month!

So it's been a while, both since I've updated and since I've been at Sambhavna. About a month actually. Crazy how time flies, it surely doesn't seem like a month has gone by. And a month of what? Discovering the reality of what people really are, both good and bad. Demolishing my over-romanticized notion of the idea of social service, how it's not always a feel-good-warm-and-fuzzy feeling, that it does get frustrating at times when you were supposed to get on the bus going the other way but found out 20 minutes too late. Ah yes, the buses. A large portion of my mornings are spent travelling on their non-shock-absorbing seats, often squeezed between two overly plump women clad in burkhas. Yes, not wearing a dark body cloak that hides everything but your eyes is sure to draw attention, given the majority Muslim population in Old Bhopal where the clinic and many of the hospitals are. So its not as luxurious as my nearly-delapidated '92 Nissan Sentra back in Austin, but I do not mind it at all. Riding the bus around Bhopal lets you see the city through a different lens. The conductor's record-like announcements of the coming stops at a breakneck speed that would put the fine print orators for sweepstakes commercials to shame. The worst collection of Bollywood songs known to mankind blare fuzzily through the speakers conveniently placed right above your head for your listening pleasure. Running on and off packed compartments, losing sight of your arm amidst other arms whose owners are probably clueless as to what part of the metal railing they are clutching for their dear life. I know of the unpleasantries/random feeling ups that take place on buses, but I have experienced nothing of the sort in Bhopal, not even once. A seat is almost always immediately offered to the girl that stands out like a sore thumb on public transportation. Not that I dress in gaudy party wear, but I do not look at all like the dark skinned, sari wearing, burkha clad women that occupy the bus if at all. That is, if there are any women. But just because the bus is not overflowing with females doesn't mean I can't take advantage of the uber cheap prices that go with travelling at its finest. That was sarcasm, by the way.

The 22nd anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy is quickly approaching, and Sambhavna-ites are constantly running back and forth in hysteria, even if nothing gets accomplished. But a lot is getting accomplished. We will have an exhibition for 3 days in an auditorium, a candlelight vigil, a masked march, and probably more things that I am not yet aware of. So after coming back from the hospital inquiries during the day, I eat a hearty lunch which oddly enough is starting to taste amazing if I don't use a spoon, and apply my aesthetic talents (or lack thereof) to create the posters I've been assigned to work on. I compensate for my lack of artistic ability by using- to the point of abuse- stencils and highlighter markers. They do wonders, and I've received many a compliment for my first poster, for which I'd like to credit the neon greens and hot pinks that I've forced to grace the lime green paper. The color combinations might sound a bit odd, but trust me, it's fairly presentable. My feeble attempts at making bricks for a poster titled "Chemicals in Your Home- Everyday Items Can Be Harmful!" have come out not exactly as I expected. But if you look hard enough, they look like bricks. This is why I majored in Biology.