Having a good morning so…

Having a good morning so far, sitting on the couch next to Kavi (who is teething one of her last few molars and is a little cranky, so is being sedated with television), working on Kriti Festival stuff. I've sent out a note that pre-registration is now open, and also added a Sarvodaya donation button to the registration page.

I'm really glad that we're collecting donations for Sarvodaya, to help them build schools and libraries in Nepal and Sri Lanka -- ever since I started DesiLit, I wanted us to do literacy work in S. Asia as well as simply promoting diaspora authors. Feels better giving back, you know? Sarvodaya has a great track record, and did stellar work during the tsunami, receiving a United Nations Award for their work.

Even if you're not planning on attending Kriti, you can donate to Sarvodaya through our pre-registration page -- or, more efficiently, donate directly at their site.

For more about Sarvodaya, here's a short video showing the kind of local, grass-roots work they do. I was particularly impressed with the willingness of the local volunteers to beg for their lunch from the community they were helping. I have a hard time imagining that happening in the U.S. -- a hard time imagining myself doing it, even. Maybe we all need a little less pride, and a little more willingness to acknowledge our shared interdependence in the community.

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