[Oe List ...] A note From Kokane

[Nancy Lanphear]

Dear Hiraman, Suman, and family,

What an incredible message from you Hiraman.  Your struggle sounds very  
much like a human struggle these days with the tsunami, regular  
flooding that takes place annually and now the floods in Munbai  andf  
the Konkan region.  We are so grateful that your family made it through  
the floods alive but understand to a small extent the pain and fear  
that came with the experience.

Please don't apologize for your expression of gratitude.  Your words so  
clearly expressed your experience of 'family'  caring for one another,  
we are deeply moved by being part of that care.

Please share with your children some of the memories of our trip to  
India back in 1994 when we visited with your family in Panvel.   It was  
on Asha or Kalpana's birthday.  Remind Asha that I was with her mother  
the night she was born.  I was among the first people to see her during  
that event in her life.  Remind Vijay that I took care of him in  
Chikhale when you, Suman went out into the villages to meet with the  
women.  He was 5 months old when we arrived in India. We would be proud  
to be a part of their conscious memories.

Take care and always remember that you are loved.

Nancy and Fred


On Sep 9, 2005, at 12:22 AM, Jack Gilles wrote:

> Colleagues,
>
> Some weeks ago I sent out an appeal for helping Kokane's family who  
> lost everything in the heavy rains that hit Mumbai in July.  Little  
> did I know that all of you would be seeing so much of the same scenes  
> that were here in Mumbai and suburbs.  As bad as it was here, the New  
> Orleans is so much worse, especially the failure of the govenrment and  
> the long-term displacement.  I'm sure I wouldn't have asked for help  
> if I had know what was needed there, but I am deeply grateful for  
> those of you who responded.  We raised over $3,000 for them and Judy  
> and I will be covering the rest of their loss which was about $4,000.   
> Hiraman was here and dictated the following letter to be sent out to  
> you all.
>
> G&P,
>
> Jack & Judy Gilles
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> -------------------------
>
> September 9th, 2005
>
> My Dear Friends,
>
> The 26th of July will be the day we never want to relive again.  It  
> was most painful event in our family’s life and the life of people in  
> Mumbai, Konkan region and parts of Maharashstra.  Even today, my wife  
> Suman, when she rears rain in the night or even if someone throwing a  
> bucket of water outside she recalls the horror that she experienced  
> the whole night on the 26th.  I won’t describe to you the loss of life  
> that occurred as people were trapped in their homes, unable to get  
> out.  We were fortunate that the water only rose to eight feet inside  
> our home.  People in lower sections of town lost much more and many of  
> them their lives.
>
> Cleaning is still going on in our home.  You can’t believe how mud can  
> get into everything!  And of course it is still raining here so  
> getting things dry is not easy.  As Jack has shared with you we were  
> able to save very little of what we owned.  Even the TV that we  
> thought would be saved as we got it out, but we had to keep it in the  
> staircase and it got wet.  The children’s clothes were saved and I had  
> some with me as I was away in Kolhapur.  It took me eight days to  
> return.  But we have our lives; our house and now I know we have a  
> tremendous group of friends that care about us.  For those of you who  
> so generously gave us money we want to thank each of you.  Jack will  
> give us the addresses so that we might send you a card at Christmas  
> time.
>
> It is hard for me to express our feelings, as my English is not that  
> good.  We don’t have a word to express our feelings of being part of a  
> community that really cares.  You are our real family.  Perhaps one my  
> deepest pains have been the loss of all my notes and documents from  
> all my years of service in the ICA.  I tried to dry out some of them,  
> but I had to throw them all away.  But Jack just gave me a copy of the  
> book on the talks of Joe Mathews.  I intend to translate it all into  
> Marathi.
>
> I know you now have to care for those who suffered so much in New  
> Orleans.  We share in their pain, but I know that my colleagues in the  
> States are caring for them, just like they cared for me.  It is what  
> we do and who we are.  People Who Care.
>
> Hiraman and Suman and Vijay and Asha and Kalpana Kokane
>
>
>
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