IF THE WORLD KNOWS WHO JOSEPH KONY IS, IT WILL UNITE TO STOP HIM.
IT STARTS HERE.
KONY 2012 IS A FILM AND CAMPAIGN BY INVISIBLE CHILDREN THAT AIMS TO MAKE JOSEPH KONY FAMOUS, NOT TO CELEBRATE HIM, BUT TO RAISE SUPPORT FOR HIS ARREST AND SET A PRECEDENT FOR INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/kony2012/kony-4.html
There are times when I realize that I took a lot of my life in the States for granted.
I’ve often thought how lucky I am that my husband never watched any of the old ‘I love Lucy’ shows, as instead of my nickname being Sweetu or Princess….it would have been Lucy. I’m sure of it.
My poor husband has been through much more and had way more reason’s to say “You got some splaining to do” than Ricky EVER did.
Or “Lucy…what have you done?” for that matter.
Like the time that I dyed two of his work shirts and some of his unmentionables greenish after forgetting that my new kurta hadn’t set yet and mixing them together in the wash.
Or the numerous times I’ve boiled over the milk while making chai and in an effort to hide it have made an even bigger mess.
Or the time that I went to clean the bathroom and didn’t realize that the shower head was in the ON position and soaked myself in cold water, in the middle of winter.
Or the times that I’ve taken his picture and shared them with friends and family….looking like he just woke up and generally he HAD just woke up….or was still sleeping as everyone likes those pictures the best for some reason. :)
Anyway….
As some of you know, I’ve been very vocal in the Society Owners meetings that have occurred for the past 6 months. This was stemming originally from Bear and my desire to protect the dogs living in our Society from harm. It later turned into our need to protect us from other Society Owners wanting odd and unusual things done with Society Maintenance money which Bear and I thought could be better used for things such as actual MAINTENANCE.
Recently, the Builder wished to have what’s called an AGM meeting. This is the first meeting in which the Builder recognized the formed Society and starts the long and twisting process of handing the Society Management over to a Committee formed by the Owners.
It was decided that we should hold a meeting the weekend previous to this to elect our Committee members as the Builder would do so in absence of one.
One the day of the meeting, Bear and I had an appointment for 2pm to purchase our AC so that it would be installed by the following Monday or Tuesday. The meeting was at 10am so we felt there was ample time. HA HA HA
That morning, I over boiled the milk for our chai leaving a mess all across the kitchen counter, then I lost my grip on a pot and spilt half our prepared Potato subzi on the floor, after cleaning it all up, I slipped on a puddle of water I had missed and wrenched my knee.
Poor Bear had to run up to the Kirana to get new milk for our chai and he wouldn’t allow me to move from the couch to prepare it when he returned. He made our chai and toast and gave me an ice bag.
Did I mention how wonderful my husband is? 
Afterwards, I hobbled down to the meeting with Bear and our friend and neighbor.
It was a very large meeting where we were to discuss who the Committee should be, who should be Secretary, Treasurer and Chairman. We were also to discuss three important points that we wanted recognized and resolved upon by the Builder otherwise we would halt the hand off of the Society.
In the US, we have these same meetings. They are called Homeowner’s Associations (HOA). They have the same concerns as owners the world over have, perchance with different titles or different issues, but still the same problems.
In the US HOA meetings you can be met with the same “goings on” as can be met with at India’s Society meetings. Disagreements, arguing, yelling and much confusion. This is the norm the world over and no one holds the rights and ownership to it. When two human people are put into a room, whatever their background, culture or familial tie…they are sure to disagree on some point or another and arguments will ensue.
The only difference was the time frame allotted. In all the HOA’s I ever attended, everything (no matter how many points were discussed) was resolved in the hour and a half that was allotted for such meetings. If they couldn’t be resolved, they were tabled for the next meeting. Those then, without fail, would be resolved in the next meeting.
Here in India, at our Society meeting, even into the third hour we still could not agree to disagree and move on. Everyone had to have their say, everyone had their point and abused other’s that either their points weren’t logical or didn’t matter because the speakers points were more important (being intrinsic to their own selfish thought that only problems existed for them).
In the beginning, after nearly an hour of listening to people yelling, arguing, interrupting or saying nonsense diatribes, I stood up and asked for order.
During the next hour, I and three others repeated this process several times.
By the third hour, and well beyond Bear and my appointed time to get our AC, I had lost my cool, my ability for patience and my resolve to be logical. With four groups of not less than 4 men a piece in separate areas of the room, all yelling that their point was more important and nobody coming down to the actual three points that were proposed to be discussed and not a vote for a Committee member in sight, I lost it.
I stood up, I vaguely remember seeing Bear and our good friend and neighbor cover their ears and step back, I opened my mouth and screamed at the top of my not inconsiderable lungs “SHUT UP!”
You could have heard a pin drop.
People were astonished. People were shocked. Some were smiling and nodding their heads.
I continued “This has gone on for three hours and we haven’t talked about ONE of the issues we came here to speak about. We haven’t even thought of voting on a Committee. Do you think the Builder will be this disorganized? Do you think he will sit here, at your bidding, for three hours to listen to you all crow? Can we PLEASE for the love of GOD and all that is HOLY, please at least elect our Committee NOW?”
Some people cried “Here Here”, other’s seconded my motion, still more were yelling at me for yelling at them. Lots of dirty looks from Auntie’s who were more concerned with the sloop of their bathroom floor than the Builder railroading us for future maintenance.
And for some time, there was rational talk again just as there had been in the beginning. And lo and behold, twenty minutes later they agreed to vote on the Committee members.
I stood behind my husband so that he could cast his vote. I’m not listed as an Owner on our papers yet, so I felt it improper for me to vote or suggest. So I stood back.
And then I was voted in, it was seconded and before I knew what happened (or as my Grandfather would say “and Bob’s yer Uncle”) I was the first lady on a Committee of 13 men whom I had just yelled at.
YAY ME.
So, after much consideration (see my next blog), I had decided that I would attend the AGM meeting and thereafter withdraw my name from the Committee and prefer myself as an advisor.
Until the Builder rejected my name as it was not on the list of Owners, and effectively I was removed without my having done anything about it.
YAY ME!!!
And then four days later my AC was installed. On the day when our power went out 10 minutes after it was installed.
YAY ME!!!
Ahh Incredible India. >:D<
Modern Construction at FreeFoto.com
When I think about Construction, I envision the Construction sites I was used to seeing when growing up in America.
Men in hard hats, reflective vests, dungaree’s and their steel toe boots climbing around on rebar platforms carrying a load of tools or operating machinery to bring up large loads of material.
But then I moved to India and that perception changed. Most construction sites in my area are as unlike this visualization as they can be.
Poor migrant workers actually live on the construction site with the entire family. Including their wives who also work by their husband’s side and their children who use the construction site as their own personal play ground.
Recently, I took some photographs with my little (and ancient) handheld Fujifilm just so I could give you a quick look at a fairly typical construction site here in Pune India.
by Gori Rajkumari from an ancient Fujifilm Pocket Camera.
Note that there is bamboo where I’m used to seeing rebar. Also, not a helmet in sight. Also, the children playing in the gravel. ::shudder::
by Gori Rajkumari from an ancient Fujifilm Pocket Camera.
A workers child runs off with his Kaka’s shoes. Another (and much smaller) child attired after his Aunty’s spent 20 minutes chasing him around the site after a bath and he was too happy being buck-naked to care.
Still no helmets, vests, or steel toed shoes. Actually, most of them either wear sandals or nothing at all. I can barely stand to walk across rough sand….how do they do it??
by Gori Rajkumari from an ancient Fujifilm Pocket Camera.
Way up high and still no helmets, a few had no shoes. Also, they are doing some seriously hard work up there with no protective clothing or gloves.
by Gori Rajkumari from an ancient Fujifilm Pocket Camera.
And THIS is how the construction materials are sent up to the workers on the top floor. Sometimes the lift doesn’t work and it’s pulled up by hand. Notice the use of bamboo instead of rebar for both the shaft and to support the newly constructed concrete floors.
by Gori Rajkumari from an ancient Fujifilm Pocket Camera.
Just in case someone falls, they have nets. ::shudder::
by Gori Rajkumari from an ancient Fujifilm Pocket Camera.
OOPS! There’s a whole there fella’s! I watch this hole over the course of 3 months and it kept getting bigger. Then one day I watched them patch over it with concrete siding. All fixed….I guess.
So, what is the moral of this story? I don’t really know. Forcing the Builders and Developers to have better equipment and safety standards for their workers doesn’t really mean anything if there is no ‘bite’ to those who are offenders.
India has a long way to come with regards to protecting her workers.
On Sunday, we took help from someone to capture Brownie. The Lady did a great job but had to sedate Brownie heavily as she’s a runner.
The surgery went well, but because of all the medicine in her, she has been sleeping pretty constantly or waking up in pain since. Bear and I moved the mats from our guest bedroom and slept on the floor in our hall so that we could be close to here if Brownie had any issues. (She’s staying on our Balcony).
The sedation has taken longer to wear off with Brownie than it did with Goldie and poor Brownie is having a hard time standing for too long or staying awake for any period of time. She’s also suffering from some constipation, even though she is having some diarrhea; she seems to have a blockage and is having a hard time getting it out.
Sunday night we had a serious (I mean yelling at one point) disagreement with the man in charge of maintenance for our builder. People have been complaining heavily about the dogs and even though we’ve given him the laws concerning them, he still helps aggravate these people by blaming everything that happens here on the dogs. (Torn car cover? It was the dogs, even though it’s a straight edge cut on the roof of the car with one deep scratch underneath…hello? KNIFE asshole! Rats in the complex? It’s the dogs!) I’m also getting harassed by one of the men stoically opposed to the dogs. Right now it’s in the form of constant emails on our Society Website, getting his little cronies to also post and THEN it turned out that the car parked for over a month in our paid spot was HIS car. When I found out who’s it was and asked the guard to speak with him, he apparently had a hissy fit. “They don’t’ have a car and don’t park there so what’s their problem??” Uhm….hello? It’s our PAID for SPOT! Apparently he owns two cars and only one spot. Tough tata’s for him as my Mother would say.
Anyway, today, Brownie heard her puppies being attacked by outside dogs. When I was at the bedroom window shouting them away, she crawled up onto a chair on our balcony that I had left too close to the railing and then she jumped. We are on the third floor. I heard her scream, looked out my window to see her lying on the ground below and then ran downstairs in my pj’s. By then, she was up and moving around. She sniffed her puppies and wagged her tail at them and then gave me a run for my money trying to recapture her. She doesn’t seem to have broken anything, except one of her canine teeth.
I finally caught her and carried her back upstairs and now she is passed out cold. She woke up while I was writing this, peed (no bloody urine thank god) and ate some soft dog food and is now back to sleep again.
I’m praying. Please say a prayer for my little sweetheart. She’s such a good dog and these people here just refuse to see it.
Over here at Gori Rajkumari’s house, we got four sad puppy’s on our hands!
Yesterday, Bear and I spent QUITE a bit of time trying to capture Goldie and Brownie to take them in to be spayed and given a rabies shot.
Goldie turns out to be far more trusting of Bear and I then Brownie and so off poor Goldie went.
She’s resting on our balcony now and as she needs care for the first 24-48 hours after spaying, your faithful Gori R will be off tending to her every whim, need and shoving meds down her throat need. All whilst listening to Brownie and the pups whine for Goldie to come back home RIGHT now.
But never fear, Gori Rajkumari will return tomorrow or the next day with a thrilling ‘tail’ of what going to the Vet is like here in India!
Till then, take care all!
PS: Goldie says I should write “And send me some chicken and an escape plan.” ;)
