Friends and Family : India!

India!

Kayoko and I are in India for two weeks for multiple purposes. We started in Delhi, as guests of our friends Vicente and Isabel (he former Brazilian consul general for Los Angeles, now ambassador to India).

The Ambassador’s Residence is a spectacular white-columned business whose elegance was matched only by the Pimentels’ hospitality—from roast turkey, tortelloni, and brown gravy for our “Thanksgiving” meal to escorting us to the perfect shopping spots (Kayoko wearing black Indian khurta), historical monuments, and rickshaw adventures in Old Delhi.

Visited the Gandhi museum and memorial, walked in Lodi Gardens, and commanded the kitchen to prepare my version of aglio/olio. Next, on to Mumbai to meet with below the line producers for AEI-Prince Avenue’s upcoming production of Krishna Shah’s TAJ (will meet in London with director Michael Radford on way back to L.A.).

11/29 Update

A swirl of southern color—from brighter saris to match the flowers—to billboards advertising candidates and McDonalds. Hung out one day at the pool of the magnificent Taj Mahal overlooking the Indian Ocean, to catch our breaths. Lunch at Trishna Seafood—swarming with waiters and Chinese-influenced Indian seafood; and exquisite Indigo, its sister restaurant in Manhattan. Prices more reasonable than Delhi, people friendlier, language more musical, architecture colonial British monumental—coconuts, bananas, serious shoppers (fewer beggars in evidence, though the slums were alarming in their proximity to opulence and their viral spread even through the new city). Bustling beyond belief—skyscrapers in every direction going up, internet instantly available just about everywhere. Service RAMPANT—you can’t even fart in the men’s room without someone there to thank and assist you (not that we’d think of it). Sky much clearer, air healthier, people see the future in their laps. Vodka servings stingy! Glad we lugged along duty free Kettle One from L.A. Indian Sula wine—chenin blanc and sauvignon blanc particularly nice, medium-bodied and savory—just a touch of fruit. Paratas with delicious cappucinno for breakfast (complimentary!)—airport transfers the cost of a $3 tip. Dollar rising against rupee while we’re here. We’re indulging at lunch, skipping dinner—Kayoko filming everything and wearing kurtas (I keep pushing for bhurkas, but no luck so far). 90% of middle class (which dominates people we saw in Mumbai, where in Delhi it was either mainly upper or lower) women insist on having and displaying their bellies (so I fit right in!).

Finally we’re delighted with Jet Airways—its efficiency makes Southwest look like a dinosaur. You’re at your gate literally within MINUTES of entering the airport, WITH your seat selected—whether it’s in Delhi (18 million people) or Bangalore (12 million). The planes are sparkling clean and new, and warm meal on every flight (Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Hyderobad, Hyd-Bangalore) even if it’s only one hour! No alcohol served on planes. No hassles with security for luggage or hand-luggage: the system is focused on serving the client, not the other way around! The scale of this country is incomparable—34 MAJOR languages, so the newspaper stands typically have 15-20 newspapers—all of them having color photos on every page, and typically at least 6-7 papers in English. The papers are so fascinating you can’t skip a page—cobras running wild in a village, monkeys being patrolled by scare-monkeys, eve teasing, and all written with an English literary that defies belief for an American. English itself is vastly different from city to city—hardly intelligible (to either side) in Hyderobad: you clearly order two cappucinos and get one espresso, etc (poor babies!). I could go on and on, but you know me. I prefer short emails… Sorry!

Ken on Peacock Throne (location for Krishna Shah's TAG), Ramoji Film Center, Hyderobad

Grade school students at Lodhi Gardens thought I was James Bond—how far Bollywood is from Hollywood!

Leaving Bangalore

From our Leela Palace room, watching bald eagles and Indian eagles soaring. Peacocks on the lawn. Bright orange blossoms on trees. Blue skies with clouds. Enough to overcome the shocking disappointment of being interdicted from playing gin rummy in the Library Bar. Exquisite buffets for breakfast and lunch (choose one!), but the best is the coriander chutney (bright green) and the bright orange onion chutney, which I immediately mixed with my scrambled eggs and spread on freshly-baked parata. Bougainvillea blossoms used as decorations everywhere, the saris and the blossoming orange and lilac trees in kaleiodoscopic harmony.

Frustrating fun to see the newspapers filled with films and books banned for ‘political incorrectness,’ murders at weddings, cobras attacking villages, cows wandering havoc through the traffic (the cost of killing a cow causes hapless bus drivers to lapse into hit and run). Delightful chargrilled chicken with green curry on the side on the plane to Delhi.

Accompanying Kayo to meet Mrs. Reddy at Grameen Koota in the far outskirts of the city—a quiet oasis of palms and figs and mimosa that reminded me of Louisiana. There for 2 days she filmed the work of lending to poor women without collateral. Grameen Koota started with $450 in 1989 and now controls funds of nearly $40 million—lending to over 100,000 women with a 100% return rate. Kayo got a good start on her documentary!

Bangalore extremely pleasant weather—70s, breezy, blue skies with delicate clouds—people even friendlier than Mumbai. More women driving (nearly none in Delhi, some in Mumbai). Parliament houses spectacular, visit to the Bull Temple—a 10-ton statue of a black bull with saffron-robed monks on both ends offering candle and water sacrifices—in the midst of the swirling peanut festival with blocks and blocks of raw and prepared peanuts for sale. Beggar children in this city cartwheel up to your car at every stoplight. Very difficult to ignore them, which is the only way not toward madness. 15 years ago I couldn’t wait to leave India. But it was a different country then. It has entered the 21st century as a massive force to be reckoned with, all without leaving its past the least bit behind, and all because its culture and education have not only been magnified but have become distinctly Indian—though the British influence is still heard in the intonations of every encounter.

Six attendants at the Leela packed us into our car as we departed with driver Suresh (very sad to be seeing you leave today, M’am and Sir, it is not a good day for me as a result), 2 Leela attendants at the airport to meet the car at the airport and get us through to the gate.

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Campaign To Help India's Poor

Yoga Gives Back

Written by Kayoko Mitsumatsu

From Posture To Power: Microcredit Changes Lives On Both Sides of the Ocean

We can talk about making change. But affecting real change in the world comes from impacting the lives of individuals. It comes from empowering people to be independent and able to make a living on their own while at the same time being fully integrated in our interdependent global community. Sometimes it takes something that seems to be radical to make this change, but these shifts can be deceptively small. They can be even as small (or as large) as the cost of a Los Angeles Yoga class.

How could this be? In the practice of microcredit, lending seemingly small amounts of money to small-scale entrepreneurs allows them to succeed and change their circumstances. This is the fundamental basis of microcredit’s transformative power; it’s a revolutionary concept in finance. This practice shifts the emphasis from financial transactions being focused only about large loans and large scale businesses, which are out of reach of many one-person operations, institutions and organizations – to lending practices that actually make a positive difference in a person’s life. Microcredit practices based on social justice and empowerment operate through a combination of small-scale loans based on trust and community support, with structured repayment plans and programs that encourage savings. In these situations, people actually have the opportunity to solidify long-term change in their lives.

Dr. Muhammad Yunus and the Yoga Gives Back Team: Joel Bender, Leslie Hendry, Dr. Muhammad Yunus and Kayoko Mitsumatsu (left-right)

In 2006, economist Dr. Muhammad Yunus and the institution he founded, the Grameen Bank, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This award was in recognition of their revolutionary efforts to create this micro-credit model, support sustainable economic practices, and provide an alternative to what were exploitive norms. When a person is caught in a cycle of poverty, they may become trapped in the system, particularly since large banking institutions have historically ignored people without assets or credit histories, who are just starting out and who may not have already proven themselves. Most banks prefer to lend large sums of money that represent a greater profit margin and are set up only for large loans in order to make a profit themselves. And even making it more challenging, people at the bottom of the economic scale worldwide have had to rely on moneylenders charging usurious terms and interest rates to obtain funds to plant the next crop, buy inventory of new equipment, or upgrade a business in any way. Institutions such as the Grameen Bank and their affiliates are offering another approach. It’s one that has significantly impacted millions of people.

As Dr. Yunus described in an exclusive interview with Yoga Gives Back in May, 2009, “We started in 1976, and today within Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, eight million people borrow micro loans, ninety-seven percent of them women.” This represents an enormous potential for change and empowerment that just did not exist on a large scale in this form prior to 1976.

There is a social cycle in economics, and Dr. Yunus explained this: “Poverty is not inside the person. Poverty is forced from outside. Poor people are as capable [a] human being as anybody else. They have the same power and energy, same potential. But they are denied such facilities. They cannot express themselves. Money is one of the most important items missing in their lives. You need a dollar to catch a dollar. You cannot catch a dollar with an empty hand. So, that first dollar, nobody has given to her. So she remains dependent on someone else. She has to be hired, to slave; she has to work to make food available on the table. What we have done, we have put that first dollar into her hands as a banking proposition. Conventional banks never come to the poor people. They go to rich people to make more money. The person who does not have a dollar – she cannot get it. So we did it. We did it in a way that is affordable to her. Because we do not insist on collateral. There is no collateral.”

While that may seem like a radical concept, the Grameen Bank has proven that their success is much more than ideological. Dr Yunus cited statistics for us, “The repayment rate is almost 100%, without collateral or anything. This is the strength of microcredit which is now spread all over the world. There are by now at least 150 million borrowers in the world today. Bu it is still very small comparing to the need. We need more microcredit organizations in the world so that more people can be reached.”

Yoga Gives Back is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization begun in LA, with the goal to provide a way for Western Yoga practitioners to give back to India, the birthplace of Yoga, which has given us so much. We’re heeding Dr. Yunus’ call to reach more people through expanded opportunities for and awareness of microcredit and have targeted India and Indian families, women, and would-be entrepreneurs, who would be otherwise stuck in the cycle of poverty that Dr. Yunus described. Yoga Gives Back supports microfinancing operations in India, through the Grameen Foundation, headquartered in Washington, DC. Donations go directly to Grameen Koota, Bangalore, South India and our YGB awareness campaign focuses on the real stories of how poor women are changing their lives with small loans from Grameen Koota.

Ms. Vinatha M Reddy

Grameen Koota was started by visionary teacher and philanthropist, Ms. Vinatha M Reddy (pictured, above) in 1999, who learned about Nobel Peace Recipient Dr Muhammad Yunus’ microfinancing and immediately began exploring ways of replicating his work in her hometown. In 2000, she started providing small microcredit loans, averaging $25.00 a month, to fifty local women. Today, Grameen Koota’s work is reaching out to over 280,000 women in Bangalore, Mysore and many areas of Karnataka state, in South India, making real impact on these women’s lives as well as on the local economy.

Yoga Gives Back

The Los Angeles-based Yoga Gives Back has a worldwide reach and began out of the inspiration and dedication of my Yoga mentor Joel Bender and me. Our group has suddenly started growing almost daily and our mission is shared by a quickly expanding and loving Yoga community.

When I was growing up in Japan, which is a very middle-class society, I had never experienced or seen any real poverty, especially growing up in Tokyo in 1960s and 1970s, when Japan's post-war economic miracle was taking place. Then, I had a chance to live in Brazil in the late 1970s for two years, where as a teenager, I saw the divide between poverty and wealth, the reality of the real slums, kids on the streets begging every time you stopped the car at the traffic light, all very much like India. Social injustice hit me hard.

Once I started Yoga practice and feeling my life being so enriched by it , I felt a need to use my resources to help others. I was producing a documentary on Social Entrepreneurship and learned about microfinancing. I shared this information with Joel [featured in the teacher profile in this month’s issue of LA YOGA] who had been looking for the way he could give back to India since his first visit there – so we teamed up.

When I think about the growth of Yoga Gives Back thus far, I give a lot of credit to the entrepreneurship and volunteer spirit of Americans, willing to embrace and support a new grass roots campaign like ours.

Kayoko Mitsumatsu, co-founder of Yoga Gives Back, is a documentary filmmaker whose films deal with social justice issues, including First They Killed My Father a memoir of a Cambodia’s Killing Fields’ survivor.

A Life Changing Story of Microcredit: Jayashree

Jayashree

Jayashree lives in the suburbs of Bangalore and is married and the mother of two children. We visited her at her humble dirt floor one room home for the first time in 2007. We were touched by her warm smile and most generous hospitality, serving us hot tea and cookies.

Jayashree was born into a very poor family in Bangalore. When she was a child, her family’s financial situation became so severe that she had to drop out of school and work at a garment factory. She toiled throughout her childhood and after she got married at fifteen, her meager earnings had to support her ailing in-laws. She had two children. Her husband’s rickshaw business was not enough to pay her sons’ education or secure food for the family.

In 2007, Jayashree learned from her neighbors about Grameen Koota’s microcredit program and applied for her first loan. She was granted a first loan of 7,000 rupees ($175), and immediately bought her husband’s auto rickshaw. Owning their own rickshaw business increased their income significantly.

Jayashree was able to pay back her entire loan in one year and became eligible for her second loan in 2008. Having proven her diligence, her second loan amount doubled to 15,000 rupees ($375). This time, she bought a sewing machine and started stitching bags. The family’s earnings have now tripled and she is earning 150 rupees ($3.75) a day. In addition, she opened a small shop next to her house to sell her products which is earning her an additional 100 rupees ($2.50) a day.

She is sending her elder son to a medical school. Her son dreams of becoming a doctor and thanks his mother’s business for providing his education, their own home and daily food.

To participate in a Yoga practice where the proceeds support Yoga Gives Back and directly impact the transformation of not only your own life, but that of someone in India, start your Thanksgiving week at Yogaglo, Sunday, November 22, 10:00 A.M. - 12 noon. Some of the teachers include John Sahakian, Felicia Tomasko, Alexandra Aiken and Ally Hamilton; more to be announced. Yogaglo.com; yogagivesback.com.

For more information on Yoga Gives Back or to host a Yoga Gives Back class at your own studio or location, visit: yogagivesback.org or contact yogagivesback@earthlink.net.