Sorting Clothes – March 5

Students are starting their final exams – so no more teaching for me. When I asked what help was needed, I was asked to sort clothes. When anyone travels to the Ashram from the US they are asked if they will allow the Ashram to use one of their allowed checked travel bags to carry things for the Ashram to India. Most people agree – and that is why I was limited in what I could bring – just one suitcase and a carry-on for the 10 weeks. My other checked bag was an Ashram-packed duffle of 70 pounds of Ashram goods. Once all the bags are here, they have to be unpacked and sorted. Much of the luggage space is used to bring donated clothes for the children.

I faced a mountain of clothes. One woman, Sulochana, had already started the process (she had easily done more than half). All the remaining bags were dragged to the sorting room (one of the bedrooms in my building) that has several tall metal cabinets with shelves. Eventually we had a system up and running:

For Boys:
Pants – small, med, large
Shirts with short sleeves – small, med, large
Shirts with long sleeves– small, med, large
Sweatshirts – small, med, large
Sweaters – small, med, large
Shorts – small, med, large

For Girls –
The same but add
Skirts – small, med, large
Dresses – small, med, large
Punjabi suits
Saris

Then add all the extras:
Winter clothes
Jackets
Mittens/gloves/caps
Underwear
Socks
Shoes

It is a HUGE task. Thankfully, anything from size infant to age 4 goes right to the infant wing so I didn’t have to deal with them other than take them over there.

So, today, with almost all the sorting done, I got to help 2 of the older girls select what they wanted. They came into the sorting room anxious to add to their wardrobe. I said, “let’s go shopping” and they giggled and started pawing through my neat piles. Very rarely do they have enough personal money to be able to shop for clothes so this is a fun day for them. They didn’t turn their nose up at anything. Thankfully most donations were gently used and in good condition (Sita doesn’t send over anything that is heavily used) but I wonder what it is like to never have new things. We are so used to it.

They found several pairs of jeans, some t-shirts, and some capris. Well, they called them capris, I would call them cropped pants – you know, the pants that end halfway between your knee and your ankle? Well, they stepped out of their jeans and started trying everything on. It was like any shopping trip in America but in this case they had to squeeze between the sorting table and the metal cabinets, then climb over piles of clothes to stand on the low sorting table (really just an Indian bed with no mattress) to see in the mirror in front of one of the cabinets. I thought the jeans might be too tight for Indian standards – but what do I know? Just like in America, if the jeans were a little tight, they tugged and puffed and held in their stomach – and got the zipper up. Then they preened. “Dough-Na Didi, what do you think?” “Do you have any other short sleeve t-shirts that are right for us?” I would hold one up, they would consider it, and then usually shake their head. Clearly I was “out of it” as far as understanding what they wanted. But throughout the session there was much laughter as they went through the piles. “Here, Dough-Na Didi, this should go in the medium not the large pile.” “Dough-Na Didi, can you find the other matching sandal?” “How do you think this looks?” When I had asked Sita about how many clothes they could each take, she paused, thought about it and said, “as much as they need”. They each took about 5 pieces of clothing and 2 pairs of shoes. Not much by our standards but they were thrilled.

By the way, all the women are called “Didi” – it means older sister, Auntie. It reminds me of Hawaiian kids calling all their adult female acquaintances, “Auntie.” I love being Dough-Na Didi. It sounds absolutely wonderful to me.

So, I have a new job and it is fun. We still have to take all the new clothes and add them to the cupboards of clothes already here at the Ashram – but that will be another day.

Tomorrow – a bath in the Ganga?!?!?!