99

10 hours, 20 minutes remaining. I got up around 5 today to take a photo of the sunrise in Naigaon. It turned out I was too early, but I got a picture of the pretty pre-sunrise pink sky. The train ride back was intensely packed and I was quickly reminded of the daily struggle for survival Mumbai imposes for its masses. I returned to have a time of reflection and fellowship with Viju and Valsa, which was a very nice time indeed. I slept terribly last night, as is common for me before big trips (though I don't feel anxious at all), and so this entry is a bit spacey.

I read for a while after breakfast, until the cleaning girl left, and then, guzzling an ice tea, I made my way to say goodbye to the folks at the ACT office in Bandra, and then made my way to where I now am at the Grant Road office.

Hmm, since this lacks flare, pizazz and life I'll try to make a more coherant, and likely final, entry upon coming State-side, after which you can e-mail (jaykhatter@yahoo.co.in) or get ahold of me in person--I'll be getting a mobile soon (will update the number here) and can be found roaming about Corvallis as of the 19th-ish.

Thanks, and see you soon, some of you sooner.

92

My train didn't get in until after midnight, and it was probably around 12:30 that I collapsed on my bed, too tired to even bother taking out my contacts. With a rush I woke up at 8, unsure whether I was supposed to be somewhere in 15 minutes or 75. A phone call to Vikas cleared that up--the latter. He could barely understand me--my throat felt knifed and unable to vibrate. I whiffed yesterday's dress shirt, it seemed bearable, so after showering I threw it on over my undershirt and gave it a dousing of body spray.

A rickshaw ride later I was at Bandra, I fetched a ticket and made the pungent 6 minute journey to Dadar where I waited for Vikas while I observed the masses entering and exiting trains. Once he arrived we got my ticket and Amul showed up, then we went to wait for our train to some place I forget the name of. I had a breakfast of potato chips and Pepsi, feeling weak. An hour later we arrived at our destination, caught up with the rest of our staff, and headed into the slum--one of the nicer I've been in, where some people have motorcycles and there's an expansive courtyard as well as a cricket field.

Today was AIDS Day and the first day of ACT's AIDS Week. After refreshments, prayer, song singing and introductions, we assembled into teams and went throughout this community handing out AIDS awareness tracts and explaining to people about the disease. A shocking number of people, even in the metropolitan cities, have no idea what AIDS is or how it is transmitted. Eventually we made our way to the courtyard and some of the staff began singing "traditional" Hindi songs to the beat of a tabla to gain a crowd. Then they acted out a skit I struggled to follow, but that the large group that had assembled seemed to really enjoy. This community's elected representative was quite impressed with the awareness that had been done and had a reporter come and take down the facts of the situation and asked ACT if they'd be willing to come to some other areas.

As that died down I went with Thang-Boi and his sister who had just flown in from the U.K. after a 4 month visit (Leanne, I think) to see them off at the train station. David, the office's servant, had joined me to [here the computer stopped cooperating and the rest of this entry has now mysteriously vanished--so I'll end this entry saying that because the toilet here will not be working for a few days, I've been invited to move into Viju's for a short while.