Kolkata When my dad was still alive he always wanted to know the little, special things that made my work in other countries different and interesting, so from time to time in a new place or on a long trip, a small number of blogs became “notes to my father.”  Some random observations come to …

Chennai    I waited for a meeting with leaders of various informal workers unions at the Harbour Workers’ Union building in the small bottom floor office of the CPI (Communist Party of India), one of a number of left parties that are in and out of the state and federal governments.  India is a different kind …

Chennai     Suresh, our Bangalore organizer, surprised me by coming over on the train to meet me in the afternoon on our rounds of Chennai.  We were walking through the central district “constituency” with M. Sampath.  Sampath had formally represented this area as a city councilor from the CPI (Communist Party of India).  His wife …