Falling into a routine

Today has been one of the quieter days I’ve had here at Nishtha. No site visits were scheduled, so I began working on a potential business plan for the craft business, and realized just how much work will go into this effort! My makeshift office is set up in a spare room next to my bedroom, and I enjoy it because it has the best breeze on the third floor. I share the office with a statue of an Indian goddess, at the foot of which the women light incense each morning.

It’s amazing how little time it takes to establish a routine in a new place. Each morning I get up around 7:30 or 8 and take the coldest shower of the day. Breakfast is served once I’m dressed, and I typically take off with Mimi or Monami, and our driver Bishu, in a small “auto” that runs on three wheels and reminds me of a ride at Whalom Park (I mean no disrespect, as this auto gets us everywhere we need to be, particularly down the narrow brick paths of villages outside of Baruipur). We return in early afternoon for lunch – my favorite meal, because it usually involves many small dishes, including a really tasty cooked pumpkin. Sometimes we make another site visit to meet girls and families that Nishtha supports, and other times I’m left to do some research or work in my office. Dinner is usually served around 7, which is when the staff makes my bed and sets up my mosquito net. Following dinner – usually the third meal at which I’ve consumed multiple carbs in one sitting – I take a fairly cool shower and hunker down for the night. I try to keep the post-shower sweating to a minimum (as if I have any control) by turning on two fans and reading the Kindle until I fall asleep.