Vijendra.

I went to the wedding ceremony of one of Ekta’s close family friends today. It was another story book Indian wedding: decorations, food, gorgeous party plot, etc. And like most posh events in India, there was an abundance of service workers (servers, bus boys, etc.). As I was eating dinner, a server tapped me on the shoulder and in Gujarati asked me if I worked at UMEED (Saath’s vocational training program). I said yes and he, Vijendra, smiled big. Living in a nearby slum, Vijendra joined UMEED and graduated in November. His class in Vasna was the first batch of students I worked with at SAATH. The same batch that would fall over laughing when I tried to speak Gujarati and that wanted me to speak in English, not so they could learn the language but just so they could hear an American accent. He didn’t recognize me at first because my beard, but said that when he heard me speak he knew it was me. Vijendra has been working for the past 3 months (his first real job) and is loving it. It was awesome.