Kumari's cup

"Don’t take that. It’s Kumari’s cup.”
I set down the small clay tea cup I was fingering and for a moment brood the loss of such a fine little thing. Though inexpensive, I find its earthiness charming. I am disappointed I would have to put off my next use to some indefinite time in the future. Or, depending on how severely my mother thinks Kumari is tainted, I may never drink from its delicately shaped rim ever again. But then I am smarted by shame.
“Mom, that’s ridiculous. Should I be avoiding her shadow, then?”
“It’s not like that!” Her sudden response suggests that she did not intend to sound like a stuck-up Brahmin who unrelentingly follows the groupthink of the caste system. But she becomes quiet and reflective.
Kumari enters the kitchen and wordlessly signals for us to leave. Her mop traces half circles, again and again, across the short distance to the washing room. When she gets to her sink, she rinses the mop and ties up the small garbage bag—her garbage bag—that has been accumulating vegetable peels since yesterday morning. We re-enter. My mother goes to Kumari’s sink and makes a few discriminating sniffs in the air.
“You have to understand, they have different standards of hygiene. See here. She clearly has an incontinence problem. We’ll get sick from being stupidly idealistic! Don’t just stand there—smell it!”

But all I can acknowledge is the lingering smell of the trash.

My mother continues her lecture, casually gesturing to sixty percent (according to my History teacher) of the world’s second most populous country as she talks about “their” water, “their” bathing habits, and “their” eating utensils. By the time the country gained independence, “they” actually had a multitude of names: dalits, shudras, untouchables. The most patronizing one of all was coined by Gandhi—harijan, meaning “child of God.” But in our house, none of these names are used. After all, “that” isn’t what we’re talking about.

I was very sick only last week, but exhausted our supply of mugs in pampering my throat. Kumari washed them as she gabbed on about her family and attempted to draw gossip out of my mother about the other building residents. Kumari knows how to slip in a request for an advance or a hint that she will not come in to work the following day. My mother says her sly little monologues have to be heard out, however tedious.

When I was studying world history in sixth grade, my grandmother told me that you could always tell the difference between a Brahmin and a non-Brahmin.
“We have a certain neat look,” she said in her usual cluelessly vain way, to which my mother always rolls her eyes.
“You mean, we dress rich and they don’t, right?” I asked.
“No, no. Even without finery, you can just tell. It’s perhaps in the face—certain features. You can tell if you have been in India for a long time. You are young, so you don’t understand right now. But when you grow up, you’ll see that there is a difference.”

Indeed, there is.

4/24/09 Kare 11 6:00pm Newscast

The Kare 11 newsbroadcast this evening reminded me why I usually don't watch local news; coverage of the majority of the stories is shallow enough for me to lose interest or completely miss significant points of information. I understand that local news doesn't typically give in-depth coverage of things. . . but I can still feel frustrated for missing important information, right?

A woman was raped in her garage and police cautioned city residents to be "on alert" but information about the suspect's looks or his whereabouts is missing. That the victim couldn't catch any significant descriptors about her attacker sounds horrible. The story was so fast, I initially missed which neighborhood this even happened in.

Other frustratingly fleeting stories included the bomb threat from a middle-aged woman (though it was mentioned, I totally missed the how and where. Completely missing is the why) and the swine flu strain this year which claimed 60 deaths in Mexico. This story is turning out to be a big deal--even the University of Minnesota issued an email this morning about this, but according the written story, the U.S. health officials are saying the disease isn't cause for alarm in the U.S. yet. Some more coverage about the nature of the disease would be great, but I don't blame Kare for this. The website includes a statement from some guy saying that health officials could have responded sooner to the outbreak. Clearly, not all the information had trickled out in time for the 6 pm newscast.

The closing segment, "Grow with Kare," went more like an infomercial than an a legitimate news story. They featured a short, white-bearded grubby-looking guy raving with enthusiasm about a corn gluten-based weed preventer. The stuff doesn't allow seeds to germinate. It works by stopping new growth by 40% the first year it's applied, 70% by the next year it's applied, and 100% in the following years. Of course, there was heavy encouragement to check out the product on Kare's website. I'm not sure if all "Grow with Kare" segments are like this, but this was so partial, I wonder why it's part of a newscast. This product sounds too good to be true. According to the website, the product was originally patented in 1991 but is most widely available this year. Why wasn't it made widely available until now? They could have done a really interesting piece if they asked scientists and horticulture specialists what the environmental effect could be. Perhaps I'm just not understanding the point of local news.

The Startribune featured a story from the AP about new documents that illuminate who gave the okay for a case of waterboarding in 2002. In the story, former Bush administrators give differing accounts of how they were briefed on interrogation methods; some say they were warned that the waterboarding was extreme and others say they were told it was safe. The story mentions Obama's stance on the issue--that the CIA will not torture--as well as the fact that he won't press for charges on CIA officials or put them through special investigation. That last bit is the most important. What good is declaring that the state won't use torture as an interrogation method if it won't hold itself accountable for it? I don't believe transparency on this issue has improved much, if at all.

The Washington Post picked up a story from the Detroit News about a girl in Canton, MI (my hometown) who got perfect scores on the ACT, SAT and PSAT. Instead of turning it into an insightful story on college admissions tests or how different school districts prepare kids for college or any sort of story at all, it turns out to just be a little bulletin so this girl can get bragging rights. I was expecting an actual story! I suppose it's still a pretty awesome feat that deserves national recognition, but it would be nice to at least see a fuller profile on the kid. Maybe I should blame Detroit News instead of the Washington Post.