The Woman of Pudupakkam

After multiple requests for a post (mostly from my mom) I figured it would be best to give an update.

What can I say? I have definitely been in the swing of things. Crowds, blaring music, cow dung, saris, sewage, samosas, the scent of jasmine: none of it phases me anymore. All of these things, once foreign, are a part of my environment. This environment has ceased to be overwhelming and started to feel like home. I have found that there is almost peace in the chaos and comfort in knowing that I am just one of eight million in this city. Yes, 8 million people live in Chennai. Sometimes I forget where I am and have an epiphany moment that snaps me right back. It is like, whoa... so this is India.

I find that my life in India consists of 4 parts: placement, fun, school & "American Time" aka getting my USA fix (movies, a call home, etc). Almost all of my thoughts are on my placement and the goals I have set for myself to achieve while there. I have yet to think about the 3 projects that are due on the same day..... BUT, Right now placement is what is bringing me the most joy and fulfillment in my life, so I'm going to say that a week or two of procrastination never killed anyone (famous last words?)

Some of the woman who sat in for the interview

Anyways, I have written a lengthy proposal for the Woman In Need Foundation (WIN) of what I will do during the next three months of my placement. I will try my best not to bore you with the details, so here is the shortest version I can manage. The plan is to interview around 20 woman from a local village within Chengalpattu. The interviews will focus on a typical day of their lives, what they find meaningful, and issues within their communities. The interviews will be done in the woman's home so I am able to observe her in a comfortable and natural environment. After the interview, I will compile an occupational profile on each woman and compare the profiles to come up with an intervention plan. The intervention plan will most likely be a program that is conducted to help woman achieve what they want but who knows? I guess the purpose of these interviews is to sit down with woman face to face and really find out what is going on in their lives. I hear about issues in villages but they are all coming from people who are not apart of that village. I am wondering how much of these problems are projected on to these people and I am curious to see what these woman actually perceive to be problems.

Namada in front of her house

Now that you have the background information, I am proud to say that my proposal was approved and I conducted my first interview today!! Being a well trained OT student, I came with my questions written out and in the interview mind set. Shanta and I took a 10 minute auto share to Pudupakkam, a small village that runs parallel to WIN. We arrived in the village and shuffled into a lime green house with tiled floors. This place was posh compared to some of the village huts I have been in. A woman (still in her nighty) greeted us and we sat down to begin the interview. I got all of her basic information: name, age, caste, marital status, employment, religion, etc. Just as I was about to get to the meat of my interview (the juicy stuff) we got bombarded with about ten other village woman who wanted to join in. Sigh, I guess this wasn't going to be an individual interview after all. But if India has taught me anything at all, it is to just got with it. I knew the interview was going to be a challenge, but I did not realize how frustrating it actually would be. Shanta's English is not the best and it took a good five minutes for her to grasp just one question I wanted to ask. Also, multiple times Shanta would discard my questions and lecture the woman on something completely different. I was in a helpless place where the few Tamil words and phrases I knew were of little use to me.

Despite these annoyances, I still got an amazing insight into the lives of the woman of Pudupakkam.

Namada revealing her thali

 Namada, the main woman I tried to interview (pictured right), is a 28 year old house wife belonging to the lowest caste group. She only completed school up until 9th grade and then had to move to a new village (Pudupakkam) after she got married (it was an arranged marriage). She spends the majority of her day cooking and doing chores around her house. To cook a simple meal, she must walk a couple of kilometers away to fetch water and fire wood. After the food is cooked she must return to get more water to wash the pots. After her chores, she will see if she can find any work for the day within the fields. For now she is out of luck until the monsoon season hits. She is uneducated, has no skills, and no work experience. Namada, along with almost all of the woman, expressed how much she would like to learn a skill (specifically tailoring) so she can make some money for her family.

Then there was Saraswathi, an older woman that expressed that her husband had died just a few months ago. She is unskilled and is struggling to make ends meet because now there is no one providing for her family. If loosing your husband and suffering from poverty are not bad enough, she had to take part in a degrading ceremony where her bangles were smashed, her bindi was wiped away, and her thali is taken away from her.

I could go on and on about the issues within this community and the lives of these woman. Popular topics of the interview were domestic violence, the village lake, lack of skills, and marriage. The woman were also eager to ask their own questions directed at me. I got questions such as: how old are you, are you married, what do you wear to symbolize marriage, when do people get married in the US, is there a dowry, can woman and men live together without being married, etc. Needless to say they were shocked by the majority of my answers.

Devi :)

After the interview I got an elaborate village tour where a small pack of woman paraded behind me while Devi proudly dragged me every which way. Devi (pictured right) was an absolute riot! She was constantly cracking jokes (I could understand most of them!) and insisted that I bring her gifts next time. She was awfully serious about me taking her to the US and did not care that she barely knew a word of English. Even though we could barely speak each other's language, we were in hysterics the entire time. It reminded me how universal things can be and how much communicating can be done without words.

Devi cooling off

Me, not looking as graceful as Devi

I was sad to go, but I left with my head buzzing chock full of new ideas of the potential of this project I have adopted as my own. No, not adopted, I'm going down the aisle and saying "I do" to this project.

Well, it is time for me to get my OT nerd on as I construct my first occupational profile. Shout out to my amazing OT professors that have given me the skills to do such things!

Devi & I

A picture taken to early, I love this

xoxo,
Becca