Meeraji

For a Westerner, living in India for six months can prove to be challenging in many ways. There are many social, cultural, personal and gastrointestinal difficulties that one encounters on a daily basis. Being away from family and friends and your home is more difficult on some days than others and it helps to be surrounded by a good circle of people to get you through the more difficult days. One such person who has been an important part of bringing a smile to my face everyday is Meeraji. Meeraji has been with WLC for many years. She is a co-worker who is responsible for the daily running of the Ganga Mahal, the building that the WLC operates out of in India and the place where the Canadian interns live. She keeps the place spick and span and running smoothly. She also happens to live right next door so she is the one we run to if there is ever a problem.

To many of the staff Meeraji is also a strong maternal figure. She is always called on to hand out the sweets to children at special events and I have often observed staff members heading into the kitchen to have their daily chat with Meeraji (she is apparently a great story teller). Over the last six months she has become my surrogate mother too. Each morning I wait to hear the soft tread of her feet as she brings in our morning chai (on a silver platter if you can believe) and as 12:30 comes around I am thinking about what she is cooking up for lunch. My excitement for dinner is of climatic proportions that I really can’t get into it in this one blog. No matter what she makes, it’s always delicious. One staff member commented that the food tastes so good because “she cooks it with love”. Well, whatever she is putting in the food she has successfully got me eating and enjoying a strict vegetarian diet, including dal (something I usually despise), everyday.

It’s hard not to fall in love with Meeraji; her soft gentle nature has a soothing influence on the most difficult situations. She is often the one that is putting our minds at ease during the various mini crises that have taken place, including frequently reoccurring gastrointestinal issues, colds, water shortages, power outages, strangers showing up at our door and for me personally swarms of locusts and various other seasonal insects. And despite the obvious language barrier she always manages to make me feel better. These last six months just could not have been as comfortable and enjoyable without her.