On a lark, we decided to visit the grounds of the Osho meditation center. Osho is a cult that was started in Pune by a guy called Osho some time around the 1970s. You might remember them since they were the ones who took over a town (or was it a county?) in Oregon by sheer numbers and voted their guys in and the locals out of local offices. I don’t think they are still in Oregon but their meditation/retreat center is still in Pune. It is in a very pleasant park-like setting. Everyone wears maroon.
Our hostess, Nalini, helped start a “ragpicker’s union” some fifteen years ago. This is an organization of the women who collect and sort garbage, making money off of the recyclables. Since returning to India, Nalini has been working with them again. They had a big event Wednesday afternoon to honor the children of ragpickers who had scored especially well in standardized school exams. The kids were all ages from primary school through advance degree programs. The mothers were being honored too, which is only right since their dedication to educating their children makes all the difference in the world. These women earn only a few dollars a day but still had the very good sense to encourage their kids in school rather than squeeze out a bit more money for the family budget by putting them to work. Even though we didn’t understand everything that was said, it was still rather touching. Even the Pune mayor was there too.
After the ragpickers event we walked through a local garden and then went home and walked around the neighbourhood. I had been teasing Nalini that I had to eat at a McDonalds (which I rarely do at home) but I think she took me seriously. Anyway, we wound up at the local mini-mall with a genuine Mickey D’s. There was nothing made from beef. It was mostly chicken and vegi-burgers. All of the McDonald’s beef items appeared to be replaced with some sort of chicken equivalent but the fish sandwich and fries that I had tasted exactly like the ones at home. We had Baskin-Robbins for desert. There was also a KFC and a Subway in the mall but we left them for another day. There are barbers out on the sidewalks everywhere pling their trade. I think I will leave them for another day too.
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