Round II

Between feeling like I’ve had nothing genuine to add and being too engaged to prioritize the blog, not much has happened on this space. But much is happening.

I’m back in India.

There is a constant flow of inspiration here as always. In Ahmedabad, I saw an amazing performance from a school for the once untouchables. They were dressed in such beautiful outfits and their performances were mint. The upscale venue was filled with a few thousand of their parents. All I could think is that things have come a long way in the last 100 years – which is awesome.

In Mumbai, I hooked up with my good friends Madhu and Meghna who have brought together a pool of young filmmakers under a group called MAM. The synergy and camaraderie that has emerged is remarkable.  One of their first projects was a really ambitious one – partnering with their friend, Ajesh’s, group The Peacock Project to create the Genesis Film Project – where 101 filmmakers were given 101 hours to make films on 101 nonprofits in Mumbai. The project was a huge success both in content, spirit, and widespread attention. They’ve also created an ideal platform to provide a real incentive for more films to be made on NGOs – a real need in the nonprofit community. There is really no end to where they can take this. I was fortunate to arrive just in time for the festival and to spend time with this awesome group.

On the surface level, I came here to work on three projects – Seva Café 2.0, Friends Without Borders Round II, and to possibly start up a special school for the underprivileged at the Gandhi Ashram in Delhi. It’s quite a bit to take on in 2 ½ months, and if I weren’t in India, there is no way it would be possible.

The other day Loveleen wrote to me and said that birds were making nests in the attic and she needed help getting a birdhouse put up and moving the eggs from the hard-to-access attic to the birdhouse (if that’s the right thing to do). Last year, a few of the birds fell to their death and we didn’t want that to happen again. We both strained to think of who might be able to help her. If she needed the same help here in India, there would be 400 people ready to help within a moment’s notice.

At the moment, all of these projects are moving forward – all with great possibility, but leaving not much time to blog.

Whatever happens, it’s all ok. Hope to report more as we go.