It’s quiz day at St. John’s and none of us (Subha, Ashu, me) have any duties, so Subha has gotten permission for us to go out. We do some shopping (FabIndia for clothes and Crossword, a bookstore) and then head to New Light to meet Urmi at noon. I buy a kurta at FabIndia and two Narayan books at the bookstore (The English Teacher and Waiting for the Mahatma). Bree will join us at New Light.

Subha’s driver (oh, what a relief to be in a regular car!) takes us close to the red light district, but we have to walk down some alleys to get to the shelter.

Urmi is elegant and beautiful—a beacon of light in this poor, poor neighborhood. She tells us that it is lucky she is here to meet with us. She had been scheduled for a trip, but cancelled it because she wasn’t feeling well. When I ask her how she cares for herself so that she can continue this kind of emotionally grueling work, she says two things—first, that it is much like the work of a doctor. Her friend specializes in treating burn victims, so that kind of pain is all he sees day after day, and secondly, she says that friends, like Subha, keep her going.

She tells us the history of the area, the story of the shelter, about the women who come, about the lost causes. There are children sleeping and children playing in the other rooms. There are 50 staff members and many volunteers. She tells us about a one day old baby she rescued from absolute neglect, then took us into the next room and showed her to us—sleeping peacefully, the picture of health.

I cried at some of her stories, acted the groupie and had her sign my copy of Kristof & WuDunn’s book, and had my photo taken with her. (Yes, Frank, I have NO shame!)

At dinner tonight—for those of us in the summer teacher program and Fulbright alums–I sit next to Sister Cyril. She is smart, no nonsense, wearing a dirty dress, her habit askew. She says that she knows she hasn’t met me before, but that I look familiar. When she leaves, she says that she’d like to get my contact information and to stay in touch. I can’t wait to see her school and the Village Program in a couple of weeks.

I am stunned, absolutely stunned by the overwhelming amount of good work that is being done in this area. I told Bree that I guess there’s a correlation between overwhelming need and overwhelming goodness. I suppose the existence of the one calls out the other. Good people rise to the occasion—at least sometimes.