Yesterday evening, I rode on the train for the first time. I must admit I was nervous and did not know what to expect beyond the scene in Darjeeling Limited when the conductor explained to a crowd of frustrated passenger that the train took a wrong turn and was now lost. So I arrived 2 hours early, and was so cautious that I ended up taking the wrong seat.
When I found my berth, later, inside three indians were already seated - an old couple returning from treatment in Chennai and a man wearing specs, who spoke impeccable English. When, this man learned that I was here working with a microfinance group, his eye immediately lit up. It turns out he is a manager of NABARD (National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development), one of the first banks to pioneer microfinance in India. In fact, he is living in Tuticorin now, working with Self Help Grops. His bank lends to smaller credit divisions at 7-8% interest, and those in turn lend to the SHGs at a reasonable rate of 12-13% interest. He has worked directly with DPG's partnered NGO (the one I am going to visit) with loans to set up a Garment cooperative, owned and perated by the
village women. The bank also provided the grant for the craft-training. In addition to his knowledge of microfinance operations, he was also well-versed in Indian history, religion, Eddie Murphy, and Jackie Chan. He seemed very optimistic about the changes coming through India. In fact, he described his own personal experience with the empowerment of women. According to him, at home his wife and daughter are "in charge." "No I can't make my wife stay in the kitchen. If I do that, she will leave me." said the modern Indian man.
In the evening, the conversation ended, the beds came down, and the sleepies crawl into bed. I tied down my luggage, then shortly after, tied in myself. Each passenger is neatly shelved in their designated space. A white sheet cover is used to keep off the dust. And plastic straps over the side of the bed ensure that the human cargoes do not roll off its shelving space.
6:30 A.M. we arrived at the station. I waved goodbye to Kumar, the NABARD manager, but he invited me to dinner at his house so perhaps I will see him again real soon.
When I found my berth, later, inside three indians were already seated - an old couple returning from treatment in Chennai and a man wearing specs, who spoke impeccable English. When, this man learned that I was here working with a microfinance group, his eye immediately lit up. It turns out he is a manager of NABARD (National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development), one of the first banks to pioneer microfinance in India. In fact, he is living in Tuticorin now, working with Self Help Grops. His bank lends to smaller credit divisions at 7-8% interest, and those in turn lend to the SHGs at a reasonable rate of 12-13% interest. He has worked directly with DPG's partnered NGO (the one I am going to visit) with loans to set up a Garment cooperative, owned and perated by the
village women. The bank also provided the grant for the craft-training. In addition to his knowledge of microfinance operations, he was also well-versed in Indian history, religion, Eddie Murphy, and Jackie Chan. He seemed very optimistic about the changes coming through India. In fact, he described his own personal experience with the empowerment of women. According to him, at home his wife and daughter are "in charge." "No I can't make my wife stay in the kitchen. If I do that, she will leave me." said the modern Indian man.In the evening, the conversation ended, the beds came down, and the sleepies crawl into bed. I tied down my luggage, then shortly after, tied in myself. Each passenger is neatly shelved in their designated space. A white sheet cover is used to keep off the dust. And plastic straps over the side of the bed ensure that the human cargoes do not roll off its shelving space.
6:30 A.M. we arrived at the station. I waved goodbye to Kumar, the NABARD manager, but he invited me to dinner at his house so perhaps I will see him again real soon.
1 comment:
i miss you, little one. keep blogging. i've read all of them so far.
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