Over 11 languages are spoken in Kathputli Colony and our guide, Laxmi, speaks five in 11. They call her ?Auntie" and she has so much love for them, so much hope to see them stand and grow and learn. Laxmi took us walking. Go here if you?re curious, and you really should be. It's the kind thing everyone ought to do - a healthy experience. If you have problems, it?ll help them feel small.
It was wonderful to see children smiling, to see them filthy and playing with sludge and smiling. But it?s not how you might imagine. It?s not an awkward walk through a dirty place, where children are crying and begging for coin, candy or a smoke. It's a home to simultaneously desperate and happy people, who look at you, nod and wave, who wish you well and invite you in for chai or naan, and then they show you how to play the drums. It?s a homely place where people introduce themselves and shake your hand, they ask your name, you say your name and they ask you how you are. They ask you how you are.
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