Girls in the 'Hood

Girls in the ‘Hood

I live in a rented room on the second floor of a private home.  It’s common in India for families to build homes with a floor that has rooms to rent, as it helps bring in extra income for the family.  There are seven rooms to rent on this floor; two community bathrooms and a community kitchen.   A large community balcony leads down the hallway with the rooms on either side.  My  12 x 12 room has a private bathroom, as do about five of the other rooms.  The house is owned by a Brahman family, the elite caste in India,  and is the last house on the end of a muddy dirt path with no name, no address, just before a large empty field, on the outskirts of Vrindavan.

I am the only Westerner currently living here.  The front room is occupied by two men who I only see early in the morning when they come out to hang their wash over the rails of the balcony to dry.

Johena is sharing my room with me now.   A young lithe girl from Punjab.  She has been a translator for White Rainbow Project in the past as her English is quite good.  She was introduced to an American guy on Facebook,  they spent a lot of time chatting,  and decided to get married.  So the guy from Arkansas comes over to India and marries Johena – sweet little love story.  Now she is waiting for her Indian passport and American immigration visa. 

Across the hall is Mena, who at one time lived in one of the widows’ shelters on the outskirts of Vrindavan.  She was befriended by an American woman and is now supported by her as a companion and friend.  Mena recently brought in a friend from her homeland of Orissa, a state on the mid-east coast of India.  And recently our group was joined Ganga, also a friend of Mena’s.  Throughout the day, we often have any number of Mena’s friends dropping in and chatting……..