CENTER DAY #1

Center Day Meeting

Rusheel Nayak
           Today was the first of four center days in a row.  During center days, all CORD workers from all over Himachal Pradesh come to the CORD center to discuss problems, get up to date on protocol, and write reports.  Also, all new volunteers are introduced to the CORD workers via the “hot seat.”  Each new volunteer sat in a chair next to Dr. Kshama Didi and talked about themselves.  Also, Dr. Metre asked us all various questions, such as “Why are we at CORD?” and “How are we affiliated with CORD?”

           I helped all day writing a report on the Mahila Mandal.  I had to research the Mahila Mandal and realized the importance of this program for CORD operations.  It was nice to see how the women are becoming more outspoken about village issues.

Meera Parat

 I helped out an intern working in the Legal Cell today. She had to translate 8 Domestic Violence cases form Hindi to English. Since her English wasn’t the best, I got to edit all her cases. I also ended up translating one case from Hindi to English myself. It was really interesting to hear these stories! All the ones I was involved in were about how a wife received thrashing and abuse form her husband and in-laws soon after marriage. She would report her case to the police who would transfer it to CORD. CORD does counseling classes with the husband and wife and usually they live happily in the end, but sometimes the fighting still goes on.

Krishna Narra

Today Kshama Didi, or “Doctor” Didi, as some people call her arrived to meet all the members of CORD Sidhbari personally. Although I was unable to understand Hindi, I felt exhilarated by her presence. I really admire how she has chosen to devote her life to CORD. I remembered how Narenderji mentioned how she puts in 20 hours a day for CORD. Getting to sit next to her, even though it was very brief, felt like a true blessing.

Sonali Nayak

Center days are definitely more relaxed than field days. Today, I was formally introduced to all of CORD. I had to sit in front in the “Hot Seat” with Kshama Didi to talk about my experiences. It was very nerve-wracking because I was at a complete loss at what to say. Also, most of the field workers did not understand my English, so Doctor Didi had to translate my words for them. Though it was fun telling the workers my reasons for wanting to do seva and what I hoped to gain from this trip, I was relieved when I was able to go sit down next to my fellow volunteers.

After work, we all went to the Ashram for aarthi.  The aarthi in Gurudev’s Samadhi was wonderful because the chanting from the vibrations was truly a special experience.  After dinner, we played mafia while a terrible lightning-filled storm raged outside.  We were scared to go back to our apartment during the lightning, but we all made it back in one piece.