time to move on, time to get goin'.

great news, my friends. i got an email back from the NGO that i want to work with during my independent study and they 100% invited me to come and intern with them for the month. so, so exciting.

for those of you who don't know, the independent study porject (ISP) is the main component of the academic curriculum with SIT. it's a study that students individually design entirely on their own, tweaking the focus of the project to exactly what each student is interested in actively researching while in india. it's so cool to see that each person comes up with seperately, and even cooler that SIT lets us do this in the first place.

while my academic campus is stationed in jaipur for the first two months of my stay here, the ISP you design can take you anywhere in india. each person chooses the location that is the most beneficial to his/her study, aka i'll spend my time in a place where there are a significant amount of resources at my disposal, such as NGOs, public figures, organization officials, etc. once one decides on a location, he/she will stay there, all-by-self, for the next four weeks. usually, students live in a guesthouse or an apartment, and while each person will be keeping in contact with azimji and others at the SIT office in jaipur, students will live independently until the 4 weeks are up. exciting? yes. terrifying? definitely. can't wait.

i've chosen to focus my month-long study on the hijras of bangalore. hijras are male-to-female transgenders who hold a role in society that is entirely unique and overwhemlingly complex. hijras believe that they are too effiminate for the physique of a man, and in an effort to parellel their bodies with their personalities, the hijras alter their physical appearance by fully castrating themselves. because the majority of indian society sees "man" and "woman" as the only two natural options of life forms, hijras face severe abuse, harrassment, and isloation as a result of the lifestyles they embrace. they're victims of constant police brutality, ostracized to the outskirts (mostly slums) of towns, and denied basic human rights.

however, while the hijras are seen as a stain to society in one instance, they also have great power and authority in certain circumstances.
castration is also seen as an act of devotion to certain gods and goddesses, and because of this, hijras hold an auspicious role in society as those who have the power to bestow fertility to newlyweds and health to newborns. their presence is requested (and socially required) at marriages and births, and they are capable of cursing those who don't invite them to oversee these events. yet, at the same time, hijras are controlled and abused by the very people they bless and curse.

police brutality has become a serious issue for hijras, especially in bangalore. a high-tech tourist city that's seen a lot of progressive change, bangalore is an area with a large concentration of hijras. this southern indian city is home to plenty of NGOs that are fighting for human rights for all. one such organization that is working hard to improve the lives of hijras and other sexual minorities is Sangama. this NGO offers everything from a 24 hour helpline to HIV/AIDS information to bail for victims of false charges and police violence. Sangama has provided aid to countless individuals and is an organzation that is slowly creating social change by fighting for equal rights in a climate that is severely hostile to sexual minorities.

this is the NGO that i've been wanting to work with and just got their approval to do so. LITTLE STORY-- so, i've been in contact with Sangama representatives via email-- exchanging information about myself/my ISP intentions/the start date of my internship. WELL, last week, i was in the bazaar with my friend chelsea and i was trying to get a blouse stitched for a saree. i know i don't need to tell you that living here is like living on the sun, so, needless to say, i was sweating a lot which is the WORST when some older man is measuring every which way around the top half of your body. not to mention that after chelsea and i chose to shop in this certain store, about 300000 more people came in and everyone was yelling and bargaining and being fiesty. the climate was hot and stressful and i was a wee bit flustered.

so, during all of this, i somehow manage to hear my "om shanti om" ringtone. an unknown number was calling me and i assumed that it was the cell phone service that calls me LITERALLY 5 TIMES A DAY yelling at me in hindi. thinking this, i answer the phone stressed and annoyed. the voice on the other line had such a thick indian accent and that, coupled with the noise level in the small shop, made it just about impossible to understand the person talking to me. sooooo, because i could not hear a thing, i basically repeated these words (in a high-pitched, hesitant voice) over and over again for the first 45 seconds of the conversation: "oooohh...riiiightt...yep...okkkkk". i definitely would have kept this front up had i not miraculously caught the word "Sangama" about a minute into the call. AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME. it was my NGO calling and i had spent the first half of our phone call sounding like a newborn baby who had no tongue and couldn't speak english. SOLID first impression. i had totally forgotten that i had given them my cell phone number in my first email and was NOT expecting a call. i'm sure they're second guessing their decision to host me for a month.

not much else has been going down in j-town. it's still as hot as hades. have i ever mentioned that i don't have air conditioning? my floor MIGHT break through due to water damage from my long nights of endless sweat.

mmm. roll that image over in your head. i'm so attractive, it hurts.

love, love, love,
ccf