January 22, 2001 - Mari,
a very brave girl
January 22, 2001 - Mari,
a very brave girl |
Mari Mari is about 13 years old. She completed the fourth grade. She did not get along with her teacher at the public school so she left school. By the time she was 12, she had found employment in a tiny factory (most factories are one room) which builds seals for cargo containers. These devices indicate if someone has opened the door of the cargo container and stolen some of the contents... a common practice in India. Mari earns about 600 rupees a month which is $15 per month. The factory is upstairs from the street corner where her family lives. You can visit the factory and watch plastics injection molding done using hand power. (I studied plastics so I know this is impossible... but in India, they do it every day.) Mari's employer helps her with e-mail. |
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Left is Mari early in the morning before going to work. She is always well dressed. Above is her mother and father on their sleeping mat late at night on Triplicane High Road. (photo by Mari) |
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Mari's Family Mari's family lives on the corner of Triplicane High Road and the street where the Broadlands Lodge is located. Mari's father has an injured foot and cannot work. (He is the man on the left in the dark green clothing and above.) Three generations of women all cooking, wash, and sleep together on the same street corner. In the picture, you see all their possessions. |
Mailing Address for Mari Mari's family lives on the streets in front of his shop. To write Mari, you address her letters in care of this man. Remember, do not send money or anything of value through the post office. Aerogrammes are the only things which get through the post office without being searched. Everything else is steamed open by the post office employees. Mail takes from 8 days up to 24 days (in December) to reach India. |
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Mari's Bank Account My goal in life is to earn enough money to take the kids on a trip to Disneyland. I know they will like it because there are three amusement parks around Madras including one run by MGM which they love. To leave India and to enter the USA, the kids need passports. The passport application is part IQ test and part obstacle course. One of the ways to gain some credibility with the authorities is to have a bank account. Therefore, I started a bank account for Mari at this bank with the help of the passport broker. |
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The Plague On the last day of my second trip to India, Mari caught the plague. She started to have pimples which grew in size and itched tremendously. When they popped, you could look down inside and see raw meat. Mari was told by her parents that the Goddess Puja was punishing her. I had just seen a Tamil movie about Puja who is a green young woman who destroys the wicked. Even before this Mari had always dressed very conservatively and would panic if anyone took her photo when she was in the swimming pool where her arms were exposed to men's eyes even though she wore a full dress in the swimming pool. Now Mari does not go to restaurants and any public place where men will see her. She is afraid that Puja (and her parents) will punish her again. |
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