Photos and stories from an art therapy workshop I had the privilege to conduct in Bangalore, India, with woman from Milana, and HIV and AIDS support group.

A visit to the nursery at BIRDS, a non profit in Belgam, Karnatika, India. Nursery rhymes, duck duck goose and other adventures in photos.

I decided that I could teach the class to make the drawings I had made, and then use that as a tool to teach younger children about cleanliness and hygiene. I hope that learning to draw would interest them and the idea that they too could teach others the lessons they have learned could be very helpful as most of the children are strictly in a teacher teaches, student memorizes and regurgitates mindset.

I visited BIRDS, a non profit in Belgam, Karnatika, India and learned about the ayurvedic medicine producing plants, enjoyed lunch with local farmers and attended a local dairy collective meeting.

The younger Patilji took us, along with a local farmer and another man who knew many musicians to see a Shahnai (a high pitched wind instrument with a narrow mouth piece and large opening at the end) performance in a mandir in another village. We drove out to the Laxmi Devi Mandir. In the courtyard, children were playing around a holy tree with green bangles strung about it by grateful mothers giving thanks for their healthy babies.

A visit to BIRDS, non profit in agriculture, education and more, Belgam, Karnatika, India. Hanuman celebration

Metal sculptures, ceramic, handicrafts, live drumming, musicians, dancers, clothes, paintings and photography at a Bangalore Arts and Crafts Show in Southern India.

Flew in to Bangalore to visit my friend Jayashree; a documentary filmmaker I met in Los Angeles when she came for a screening of a film about HIV and Aids drugs and how companies are trying to create patents to prevent generic prescriptions. It had been over two years since we'd all seen each other, and I have to say it was great to see her, meet her other half and son.

I went on the walking tour called the Ahmadabad Heritage Walk. We started in the old part of the city which I had yet to see at an incredible Mandir. The walk took us through old lanes, past people making kite string, beautiful old buildings with layers of history in their architecture. To me, the old parts of towns in Pakistan and India are the most fascinating. They may not have all the modern amenities, nor are they the best planned for modern traffic, but within that chaos is that unique identity of that city as a sort of living culture and history.