Nafisa grew up in Queens NY, got some sort of degree in Ethnic Studies and Political Economy, worked in youth organizing/nonprofit, then moved to Kolkata for a fellowship. Somehow she ended up in Atlanta, getting a masters in development practice. Hey so, last year the AIF midpoint was at a leprosy colony. This year it was here:
I’ve been gone for about 2 weeks and holy hells bells, it’s been fantastic. I needed it too. Haha….euh. Before we went to what was the equiv of Club Med/Sandals resort in Kerala, a few of us met up earlier and went to Cochin and Munnar. It was one of those trips where you don’t need to take photos because being present is more important. Which is just what I tell myself since I lost half my photos.
Look, in a nutshell, Munnar is the most beautiful place on earth so shut your mouth. Particularly if you’re staying at a tea plantation formerly owned by TATA corp. TATA could make an armpit hospitable I’m sure, but this was one of those preserved colonial villa deals. Don’t you love how I can say stuff like “oh you know, one of those preserved colonial villa deals” and keep a relatively straight face. Don’t worry, I’ll be living in a cardboard box next year. In a nutshell, Kerala was everything from a white-privilege exhibit, to pista marshmallows, floating chalets, toddy bonfire, to a dinner with Kerala’s cashew barons. I think I love everyone in our group, and can you believe it, some of us actually talked about those pesky pre-market factors like racism and sexism. Hahaha. Ah, you know I’m choosing to write like this and it’s not really this outrageous right?
Mid-point itself was something else. It was pretty great in fact. It was also intense because I was watching the contrast of talking development and following the CNN reports on the Haiti quake and literally dreaming of rotting bodies. I guess this sentence doesn’t even have a place here, sort of like most of my political concerns. I mean mid-point was exactly that, I’m finally able to get over it, and think past myself. As I end this paragraph by circling back to myself..
Gueillermo Gomez-Pena, always with an appropriate quote:
“In the absence of overt social crisis and political immediacy, most art students were involved in their personal process, a notion foreign to third-world artists, yet so prevalent in the United States at the time. This personal process was restricted to the realms of sexual and psychological crisis, family hatred, and technological idolatry.”
It’s time no?
Mid-point gave me some damn good Perspective on both the micro-fine personal stuff as well as my ever-present bullshit meta drama. I kind of have to call out Meghna and April even though all of the fellows were pretty fantastic to hang out with. It was a re-meeting. But I really love conscious people, particularly conscious women who take the time to check up on other women. It’s important to identify and work through all the awful things we internalize, since I usually take it out on myself and then others. They’re beautiful. Speaking of internalizing.. some girls can perform. Damn, and their performances are so fascinating to watch crack and crinkle. I mean I do it right? In an attempt to not feel genuinely clownish. For some women, strength is the hardest thing to mask. It cuts through everything. I like it.
Btw, on the same tip, GOOD LORD HOW I ALSO APPRICIATE MEN. I got literal headaches from listening to “pretty-girl talk”. Ooops, maybe my internalized-misogyny coming out but daaaamn! This isn’t so much a reflection of how nice it is to be around guys, but a complaint about that ridiculous jibber-jabber some really cute girls pull. They’re like speeches on the free-market, I end up excusing myself to the bathroom to discreetly nap.
I got so much momentum from this trip. I went back to work today and literally launched two project ideas. It’s all so easy. I can do this. Cue eye of the tiger..
So before I post a crap load of photos, here’s a list of deliverables in the next few months:
- acquiring motorized sewing machines
- host staff brainstorm for institutional vision and rep.
- build good number of case studies/interviews of lady farmers
- short film on MF federation
- short film on SRI farming
- survey data of community, I guess which falls under my evil plot of pushing for any sort of monitoring and evaluation practices, which I am now able to call M&E thanks to AIF.
- finishing the 100page OP for the MF Federation
- rural women award
- brit. development institute grant
- wallstreet journal blog post
Smiling the same smile across South India, a collection for my mom.
This photo changed my life. Annalyse Ahmad taught me how to smile for photos. I still think it is soul-less to fake a smile but it is an effective way to avoid fat-face syndrome. Sort of like balancing political ideology with scalable development models. Yes, it truly is like being between the devil and the deep blue sea. No, but really, YOU ARE SO WELCOME MOM.
The 4 Photos I Took That didn’t get Deleted
^ truth. oh, we spent a night in mumbai somehwere in between at a steak house, except we had salads and wine and said hey to anghsuman. yay. what a nice guy.
