Ah, To Be Loved

I find the question, “What do you do in India?” to be a tough one to answer. I guess the simplest way to put it would be to say that, I facilitate and supply the needs of others so that they can more effectively and efficiently do their God given jobs. Does that make sense? Basically I see what the needs are, or what needs to be done, and I make it happen. Kind of like a Captain on the Enterprise, “Make it so.” (Not really, but I couldn’t get away without a TV/Movie example.)

Today was a fun and typical day for me. E. is feeling better so we were up and about (at last!). O. is in Rajasthan right now dealing with some problems there (not fun, pray for him) and I am free. Free in the sense that I don’t really have to cook for 3 days. This saves me about 4 hours a day – at least. I’m not kidding. Anyway, what I did today:

After completing some smaller errands, I drove on over to the house where our Bible Students live. I had been there briefly once before with O. and some others but I was going with just me and the girls today (and my faithful driver). I needed to get a group photo of the guys as well as some individual ones for a team that is coming from the US next month. I got the pictures over with right away and then I said, “Bring out the snacks.” You see, I’m not stupid. I came bearing –FOOD. Samosas, come-in (don’t even ask me to describe what that is) and Thumbs Up ( India’s answer to Coke and Pepsi.) Oh was I loved after that.

This seems like a little thing. To take some people’s pictures, and then sit around and eat snacks with a cold drink, but it is a big thing to these guys. They’ve all left their homes, they don’t have 2 rupees to rub together in their pockets. If they want a cold drink -tough. We don’t have a cook right now so they are all making their own food at the home. I can only imagine what these guys are cooking up…*

After a lovely visit and photo shoot it was off to the Children’s Home. Since I had been housebound with E. for a week I felt like I hadn’t seen most of the kids for a long time. Too long. I also need some pictures of the new children so I took care of that as well.

I wanted to see the bedroom where the kids slept because I needed a picture of it (we need to build more rooms, that’s why) and I noticed the ceiling and corners were filled with cobwebs.(They popup like crazy here; in my old house I could go to sleep and wake up the next day to a house full of them.) So, seeing this I said to one of the guys who helps out there, “Do you have a long handled broom here for these cobwebs?” “No, Madam.**”

OK.

“Well, What else does the home need?”
7 Kg Pressure cooker, 20 plastic chai cups, 2 serving trays, 5 lunchboxes, 2 buckets, a container for holding flour, a container with a lid for drinking water, a 20 foot pipe to drain water, mosquito plug-ins, a clothes washing brush, shampoo, lice killer, bathing jugs… and on and on. Other than the cooker most things only cost 25 cents or less than a dollar.

I wrote the list in English, told it in Hindi to my driver who wrote the list for himself in Gujarati. “Make it so.” And off he went. Done. Man, that feels good! Getting stuff done, getting back in the groove.

And I am loved. Not just because I make sure everyone has what they need and I get things done, or because I provide samosas and Pepsi but just because and It Is Wonderful. I have the best job in the world.

* See “My Little Plug”
** That’s me.