Lights, Camera, Action!

Yesterday, I found myself under bright lights and in front of a camera, talking about equality for woman in India. And it was awesome.

It started the way a lot of things start here - I was pushed into a moment I didn't have much right to be in, just because I'm American. After attending weddings of people I've never met, listening to speaches made by important people that I can't understand, and so on, I've gotten used to this kind of treatment. So when I showed up in the office yesterday afternoon and was shooed out with instrustions to go see the tv crew at the orphanage, I wasn't shocked. Well, I was shocked there was a tv crew here, but I wasn't shocked that the office staff found it logical that I should join the crew.

The crew, someone informed me, was shooting a piece on "abandoned children." My heart dropped when I heard this. Many of the children at the orphanage here have no living family, or family that has the money needed to support them. They are NOT abandoned. Then I was asked to be interviewed. Would I please accomodate them? I looked at the scene before me. Ammachee was sitting at an angle under the staircase, and two of the girls were playing behind her. If I didn't do the interview, I would feel more comfortable. If I did talk...

I never really agreed to the do the interview. But that's how things happen here, too. A man motioned me over to the stairwell. A crib was replaced with a potted plant from outside. Someone handed me a clip-on microphone. Lights on. Instrudctions to look at the camera when I speak. I wondered if they really wanted an interview in English... but there I was.

As the interview went on, I realized that this was one of the first times since I've been here that I've been asked for my opinion. I've heard many other people's opinions on a wide variety of subjects, but I am not usually given much chance to comment. Maybe it's because I'm not Indian. Maybe it's because I'm a woman. At any rate, being able to share my opinions made me start to get excited about the interview. What do I think should be done to decrease the number of "abandoned children," you ask? Ensure that women are treated and protected as equals, of course! (I think the interviewer nearly fell out of his chair when I said this, conservative Christian tv channel as he was a part of) If women were treated with respect, then abuse against them would decrease, rape would decrease, and there would be fewer unwanted pregnancies. Furthermore, single mothers would have a greater base to fall back on if they were paid the same as men and weren't viewed so poorly by society, and would therefore be better able to care for their children.

Ahh, it felt good!

"But... I mean..." the interviewer contintued, "what should be done spiritually?"

I decided that, unfortunately, now was not the time or place to explain how this was a spiritual answer. Instead, I told the story of another volunteer who works at a school that is run by a church. This school is attended by Dalit children, and it is in total disrepair. Walls are crumbling, there are no fans... and meanwhile, the same church has a second school for the upper-class children as well, and it is in mint condition. The church should be caring for the least of these, not catering to the rich.

When the interview was over, my initial ambivalent feelings had finally turned into feelings of relief. Even if nothing of what I said gets aired, at least someone heard it. At least I know that I have the courage to say these kinds of things. I got to say something that means a lot to me - I hope it will give me the strength and desire to do it more often!