Thanks to the founder of Goonj the Hyderabad fellows learned about Goonj at the IDEX orientation. What is Goonj you ask? It is an Indian organization that recycles donated clothes. They don't just give away free stuff to the poor like charities but enable the people they serve to work for it. The donated clothes that are wearable are given to individuals plus 4 family members. Unwearable clothes are turned into products like backpacks, wallets, etc that are sold. They also have a schools to schools program where wealthy private schools contribute unused to lightly used school supplies to low funded government schools. Imagine Scarsdale schools or even Ursuline providing school supplies to public schools in Hunts Point in the Bronx. They are also working to remove the taboo of female menstruation especially in the villages. Women in the rural areas don't talk about such a subject so when their time comes each month they use whatever is available which can be very unsanitary like sand and leaves. Goonj makes cotton reusable sanitary napkins for these women. By providing this product, they are breaking the taboo by getting women to talk about and also providing education on the topic. Well this lovely organization has an office in Gachibowli. Arham got in contact with the Delhi office so the 5 of us met up at the office yesterday.
After visiting Goonj, we headed to Inorbit Mall so that I could meet Sanchita's friend Piyush who lives in Gachibowli. We walked 4km to the mall and all arrived fairly drenched in sweat thanks to the humidity. I was thankful that I had on sneakers. Along the way we stopped at a place so I could get some food. I made the mistake of ordering a paneer dish. It was yummy at the time but as soon as we started walking my stomach was angry. By the time we arrived at the mall I got a wee bit sick yet still walked around with my take home pack. Piyush and his friends were out shopping and he was kind enough to spend some time chatting with us in the food court. The mall is huge and was very busy. Kinda like the Galleria but with Westchester Mall type stores.
After hanging out at the mall I headed home attempting to walk 4km to the 216 bus stop on Gachibowli main road. After asking a few people I was on the right track. Went in the wrong direction at first but quickly found my way. I kept getting stopped by autos asking where I am going and sometimes got surrounded by a few. I kept explaining I was walking to the bus stop and took the opportunity to ask for directions. Then I saw the 127K bus pass and I was familiar with the bus so decided to find out if that bus stop was closer. A kind auto driver stopped and asked how much I could pay and when I told him I only had enough for the bus and couldn't pay him he still insisted he take me to Hitech City bus stop. I was very touched by his gesture that he was willing to pick up an unpaying customer especially a foreigner. He picked up 2 other passengers on the way to Hitech. I got stopped by a beggar who was asking for money so I gave her my paneer leftovers hoping it wouldn't make her sick since I figure she's used to the food in India.
I made it back to Chanda Nagar and decided to do some grocery shopping. Last night I tried out Heritage because I didn't wan't to walk back to Vijetha or Sunjana. Spent INR100 on cinnamon which I will probably gift my neighbors when I leave. Some of the veggies where so withered but I got my bhindi/okra to make veggie masala either today or tomorrow. As soon as I checked out it poured, so I waited in the store for the rain to subside. I headed out and resumed walking to Violet and Purple but now I had one huge grocery bag that was heavy so caught an auto to Aparna. I paid INR20 more than I normally do but I caught the auto on the main road and he had to make a u-turn which I've learned makes auto driver's charge more even for short distance trips. I stuck to the price I was willing to pay figuring it was fair even though the driver won't have a passenger on the return trip to the main road.
