A new opportunity

So much has happened since I sent my first email about Hitler (see previous post). The end of December and all of January came and went in the blink of an eye, filled with traveling and redesigning plans for the rest of my fellowship here. I tried several times to create a separate bank account for Hitler, but setting one up turned out to be more difficult than it sounded. A US account required a lot of logistical gymnastics (since everything had to be sent via mail back home and then transferred to me over here), and setting up a foreigner/NRI account in Chennai turned out to be full of limitations. Frustrated, I've kept "find a way to help Hitler" on my to-do list for weeks, but kept pushing it back amidst other work and distractions.

Hitler and his wife, Jaindee, had been inviting me over for lunch at their house for weeks, and I finally had time to go and visit this past Sunday. Their house is humble: one room, a kitchen, and plenty of laughter to fill it up. They, along with some friends (also handicapped, whom I had met on a picnic in the park a few weeks ago) showed me pictures of Hitler and Jaindee's wedding, taught me new Tamil phrases, and fed me until I was ready to bust (cauliflower and karakorrumba, both my favorites - which Jaindee remembered and got up at dawn to prepare). In return, I taught both Hitler and Jaindee yoga, which Hitler has implored me to share (Jaindee's growing belly is starting to give her back pain). The entire day was simple, and beautiful; at one point, I found my eyes welling up with tears, as the thought of leaving them and Chennai slipped into my mind. Making genuine connections with people whose lives are so different then mine was my utmost hope for my time here; the mutual appreciation that we both have of each others' company is, I believe, a rare gift.



Hitler and I went to the bank today to try and open a joint savings account for him; however, since I'm a foreigner, I wasn't allowed. We also tried to get him a banking card that would make it easy to deposit money into his account, but that option wasn't possible with his savings account either. I finally decided that opening a Paypal link into my US account would be the easiest (really, the only) way that everyone could easily deposit money and get it to him. I receive e-mail acknowledgments as soon as a donation is made, so I will make sure to contact anyone who makes a deposit.

The man who previously leased the auto out to Hitler recently passed away, and the man's wife offered to sell the almost-new auto - with the city permit, which is really difficult to obtain - to Hitler for 1 lakh (100,000) rupees. Hitler has 20,000 Rs saved, so anything that you can spare can help him to take advantage of a really unprecedented opportunity.

Again, thank you so much to all of you who have listened to his story and offered to help. I've spoken enough about him for you all to realize how special I think he is; in turn, I know you can understand how much any contribution to him and his family would mean to me.

One last thought as a parting: Hitler told me today that he and Jaindee were talking last night about how excited they were to have their baby. When I asked him why he was any more excited than usual, he glowed as he said that he and Jaindee both recognized the love that surrounded them, and couldn't imagine that the baby would grow to be anything other than an embodiment of that love and kindness.

Thank you, and much love to you as well, as always.