Post Numero Uno since returning to INDIA

(DISCLAIMER: There are no pictures because the internet here is frighteningly slow. Hey it could be worse, there could be brown outs.)

I can’t believe its October already! How have I been in India almost a month AND this is the first time simply sitting down to write? Perhaps its the back to back 12-14 hours days of creative bliss...Well, I type this on the eve before I move into my own apartmentat the end of my 3^rd-ish day off  since leaving the US on Sept. 10^{th  right} after the beautiful wedding of my dear friends Sara Andreas & Michael Mahany.  

So…3 weeks ago I arrived in Bombay with my cohort Mauricio Salgado, one of the founding members of ASTEP (www.asteponline.org) and our Co-Program Director. He came along as concilliary to aid in forming the foundation for what will be my next year of both MAYA The Musical rehearsals as well as leading a cracker jack team of 6 amazingly talented American Lady Volunteers who will be co-teaching with TFI Fellows as a means of establishing an Arts Integrated Curriculum. The  classes vary from 80 2^nd Graders, to 30 7^th Graders, to 80 Kindergarteners…the work to be done is MASSIVE!!!

A lot of people asked me why I wouldn’t stay in the US and work.

And here are the cold hard facts:

there are 320 million children in India.

4% never make it into school.

50% never make it past 5^th Grade.

90% never make it past 10^th grade. 90%!!!!

Compare that with…say…Japan’s rate of 95% of all students going to college and its daunting. Add the fact that India will be the most populated country in the world as of 2020 and it becomes even more daunting! So the work we are doing, exponentially, will change the world. Bottom line. They always taught me in acting class to raise the stakes, but I think they are currently pretty peak. In the words of one of my great mentors and friends Jerry Mitchell- “FULL OUT!!!” And there are times I am swept away with emotions, but I know my life up to now has led to this quest and that there is no better place I could be and no better work I could be doing. This is what life is about. And I have never worked harder in my life. Period. And I couldn’t be happier!

So back to the beginning (this is where my brevity should kick in)…

My first weekend was spent in the city of Bombay. And, there was no better way to introduce Mauricio (henceforth referred to as MO) to my kiddos and co-teachers or for me to simply reconnect than this total immersion. Though, my beard did momentarily throw them for a loop as to who I was.

It started with the kids recording a special version of “THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE” at a recording studio in a Brand Spanking New One of a Kind Music School called   . (cue picture)There is housing on site  for the teachers, who mostly come via an exchange program with the Manhattan School of Music, and there is even a DJ certificate program. WHAT! There is a room full of turntables…

That night we did a flashmob with the kids on the Worli Seaface. This is a huge promenade on the ocean's shore. It was in the middle of Ganapati Festival. This is a celebration at the end of Monsoon Season celebrating Ganesha. It involves every neighborhood/family making huge ornate statues of Ganesha out of Plaster of Paris and submerging them in the ocean. That is when we sang songs, played theatre games, and tried to spread love to anyone walking by. And what a delight it was!!!!!

That night, we all crashed at the home of TFI’s CEO Shaheen Mistri. That’s right—28 kids and 6 adults sleeping everywhere. (cue picture) It was the slumber party of all slumber parties!!

The next day we took part in a Mime Workshop with ACE Entertainment. (These are the only professional theatre cats in town. And, we had a meeting with them amid their National Theatre Complex (4 different theatres) to discuss logistics in how to tour a show in India. During a tour, Mo and I had to take a photo. (cue picture). ) The kids were amazing, and my groups “PAY TOILET” scene went over like gangbusters! Afterwards we got to tour the equivalent of their HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS. It is called Film City and is built into the jungles surrounding Bombay with cheetahs walking between sets. We visited the set of a new miniseries called “CONSTITUTION” directed by infamous Indian Film Director….It chronicles the making of the Indian Constitution and all the balarky surrounding it. (cue photo) Its very topical considering the new article going through the Indian Congress titled the Right To Education act. It secures equal education for all making sure that 10% of private schools are free of charge to low income students. Awesome concept right?

The next day end capped with a true lesson in gratitude and humility. The kids performed and visited at an Old Aged Home. Though, this one in Hindi was titled  akin to “A Home for the Forgotten and Discarded.” It was home to multiple amputees, those rejected by families (both young and old), mentally ill….you name it and the Sister took them in. Having performed in many a home back in the states with my folks I thought I knew what was. But, it was a bit much for us all. The joy we brought them was unfathomable…but the lessons in perspective reality and the frailties of life consumed both student and teacher. And I am so proud of my kiddos for trying any way they could to connect with the patients: either with rhythm games, singing, drawing, playing checkers, doing drama games, or simply attempting to talk. They were more brave and compassionate than many adults I know. One harrowing story was a 70 year old dancer that just had her 3^rd major surgery. She couldn’t speak, she couldn’t walk (due to her amputations), and she could not get above laying down. But when we sang to her, she danced with the only body part she could wiggle. Her arms came springing up and jiving for close to 30 minutes! There was also the woman whose family had all died and she was alone in the world, after having been a housekeeper for a rich family for 50 years. She had learned 17 languages fluently without being able to write a one.  What a great moment that morning was…

The kids then packed on a bus and rode back to Pune without Mo or Myself. I had to stay an extra day to deal with immigration. But that night, while running ocean side, I got caught in a Monsoon. Man it snuck up on me good! On my way home in the downspout I got caught up in a Ganapati parade and danced in the pouring rain for close to 30 minutes. It just felt right.  As has this journey at every leg.

Since arriving in Pune, I and my cohort Mauricio (while he was here)((wait for his back to America story involving a trip to the hospital)) have been crashing in the extra room of a friend named Sandeep in Koregoan Park in Pune.

I met Sandeep at TFI Institute back in May. His parents are Indian and immigrated to the US in the 70s. He grew up in Mississippi, went to Tulane, then worked for Teach For America (after a job interview with a principal who showed up in nothing but umbro soccer shorts and a wife beater asking “Do you have tough skin.”)  for two years at what was called the worst school in America, as noted by the film WAITING FOR SUPERMAN. Now he trains teachers all over the country for Teach For India. He is one of the many angels I am honored to now call my friends.

There is more to write about my time here in Pune thus far, but sleep calls. Tomorrow is the birthday of Gandhi G. And though the kids have school off, we are taking them to the main thoroughfare of MG Road to spread art and love to the masses for 3 hours. I believe I shall be with the kids sharing FREE HUGS (of which I have been told already, after hugging a complete stranger of an older woman, that I give too freely. Thank you cultural taboos.). It is all part of a national DFC project that the kids want to apply for on their own. It emphasizes how the arts can make us happy and change our society for the better. Mom—the smiling skills I learned from you will be in full effect!

With my goodnight, I shall close on quotes of love by Gandhi. I do this because I think that actions can be broken down simply into two different groups: acts of love and acts of fear. Whether it is towards self, towards others, towards a group, towards an animal, towards the TV....it doesn't matter. But the moment that we simply act out of love, we have eradicated Violence (everything contained within).

Gandhi---------

1. A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.

2. Where there is love there is life.

3. Love is the strongest force the world possesses, and yet it is the humblest imaginable.

4. Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with love.

5. Love never claims it ever gives.

6. When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it – always.