Calcutta

Tonight roommate "J" and I watched a documentary about the red light district in Calcutta, India.  The movie specifically told the story of a photographer who wanted to depict the lives of those who lived in brothels, and because of their shyness, and immediate reaction to ducking away from the camera, etc., she realized that she fully had to immerse herself by living there, becoming a part of their family.  With submerging herself into the environment, she was exposed to the children and became very close with them.

In return, she began to teach the children photography.  She got them each an automatic 35mm of sorts and began holding class, teaching them the basics of point and shoot techniques, how to use a flash, and also worked on aspects such as composition, point of view, etc.  What is truly remarkable is how talented these kids are, and I'd guess the oldest was no more than 12 years old.   They have one fantastic shot after another, and during class discussions, the insight that these children have just put you in awe.

The sad reality is that for the most part, the children are doomed toward a life "in the line."  As many say, their families are criminals, they have a difficult time being accepted into boarding schools because they don't want to accept children whose parents come from backgrounds of drugs, selling alcohol illegally, prostitution... the bigger upset is the fact that the photographer realizes that these children could definitely be carriers of HIV.  A pivotal point of the movie is after she gets everyone's blood tested at the doctor's office, and they're all negative -- phew.

Through support of foundations, and other prominent photographers, the children have their pictures in the Amnesty International Calendar, they have an auction at Sotheby's, all of the proceeds donated going towards their education (if they can get in anywhere).  One young artist in particular is chosen to go to Holland for an International children's photographers programme.  Here they get to share their photos and also look at photos from all around the world.  The headache that they go through to try to get this little boy a passport is unbelievable.  India being the most densely populated country in the world is one thing -- can you imagine having to stand around the regional Passport office for 8-10 hours in total chaos to try to get your passport?  Thank God they're successful, I would have had a fit.

The photographer relentlessly tries to get these children into various boarding schools to get them out of the red light district.  At the end, she is successful in getting a vast majority of them accepted-- but by the end of the film, we find out that there are only probably 3 out of the 8 children that stay in their respective schools.

The movie is amaaaazing.

"Born into Brothels"

See it.

Only at the Y

I swim at the YMCA... well - I try to.  As much as I want to love our neighborhood Y (and in many ways, it's truly great- the staff is superbly friendly, always clean, etc.)  I just get frustrated because it seems that no matter how early or how late, whatever the time, I always seem to have to share the lane with 3 other people.  I'm okay with sharing, I play nice, but I definitely like swimming at my own speed and hate having to loop with people.  Maybe I'm just a brat that grew up in northern virginia and is used to her rec center having an olympic sized pool with 10 very wide lap lanes.

Anyway, during the weekends (and most other times) the two outermost lanes are reserved for some kind of lesson, or a swim practice for a tri team, what have you.  It looked like at this time, there were people learning how to swim for the very first time.  One striking group in particular, looked like a Moroccan family of all ages.  Grandmother, mother, children, brothers, husbands, etc.

  I was doing my thing, had stopped to stretch a little bit, reached over to grab my kickboard, when I noticed that grandma had started waving to the kids in the pool, ran over to the lounge chair and sat herself down.  All of a sudden.... grandma was naked!  How she went from fully clothed to granny panties only was beyond me, she was fast as lightning with that maneuver.  At first I really didn't realize what was happening.  I've seen old lady boobs for as long as I can remember, i.e. my years of rec center swimming coming back to me (I basically workout with everyone 65+).  That, plus the years of taking care of my own grandmother, it didn't really seem strange... until I remembered that we're just in the middle of the Y.  

One young fellow ran over to the lifeguard conducting the swim lessons on the other side of the pool, "WE HAVE A SITUATION! NAKED LADY! NAKED OLD LADY!"  The lifeguard spun around on his heel and just shook his head, "what don't we have to deal with here at the Y?"

The family members of grandma were just mortified and also just couldn't stop laughing.  And who knew?  Maybe it was a cultural thing, maybe she had alzheimer's -- all I know is that grandma wanted in on the pool action and she was ready to jump out of her clothes!

What do you do in that situation but smile at the family and say -- "It's bound to happen to all of us at somepoint in our lives."

101

I walk two routes to work.  One, for when I actually make it out of the house at 9AM- and the other for when it's between 9:15-9:20 and I check the oven clock on the way out and seem to misplace everything (keys, iphone, wallet)... which I most recently found out is actually equal in distance, if not slightly longer (maybe I just walked faster that route once and distinguished it as "fast").  Beside the point.  The point is, on the slower walks, I've completely realized that the 101 Dalmations theory holds true.  The one where dogs can totally look like their owners.

For example:  I have noticed a duo so fit for each other that it makes me want to cry.  I actually have had mini-fantasies (mind out of the gutter) of following the two on their daily "adventures" and just photographing them.  

The owner: 90-year old man. Grey hair. Wrinkled. Age-spots. Hunched over so far that he looks like he's bending in half.  He walks with a cane, wears glasses, sweaters - even in the 93degree weather.  This man walks SO slowly that literally a turtle missing a leg and half blind would look like speedy gonzales next to this man.  And I mean it simply to paint a literal picture.  

While you may think that his companion, little ugly shaggy dog might be pulling this man along, I KID YOU NOT, this dog is walking 50x slower than the old man.  The leash is always completely extended behind him, and this dog NEEDS the blind turtle to push him along.  Grey whiskers, can dogs GET old person wrinkles?  It seems so.  This dog is probably the oldest dog that has ever lived.  I'm not sure of the conversion, but he's got to be approaching 300 in dog years.

If you've seen these two out on the streets, you know what I'm talking about.  I love them, and it makes me so happy and completely breaks my heart everytime I see them.  Through thick and thin, these two have seemed to be there for one another, and have given the "growing old" together a whole new perspective.