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Gaurav Sabnis Profile picture
@gauravsabnis
Apr 24, 2021 • 21 tweets • 7 min read • Read on X
Very important.
For those Americans and other non-Indians looking to donate for dealing with the horrific second surge in India, I'm going to make a thread of organizations I recommend donating to. Lot of hindu RW and fascists in the mix you should avoid. My recos are from personal experience.
I'll start off with what in my personal experience is the gold standard for humanitarian work in the south asian ecosystem. @Khalsa_Aid is there everywhere, from natural disasters to feeding and caring for BLM and women's march protesters. 501c in US.
khalsaaid.org/donate-usa
A milaap crowdfunding fundraiser for ventilators in community in hospital in remote mountains. Still a thousand dollars short of the target as I post.

milaap.org/fundraisers/su…
Just to elaborate, what I'm posting here are organizations or drive that
1. Can accept US donations (regardless of 501c).
2. That I myself have donated to, so an FYI fwiw in case you want to be careful about your money not ending up with scammers or fascists.
Also I know @Hemkunt_Fdn is doing great work in sourcing and supplying oxygen BUT it can't accept donations from foreign citzens, which I technically am so can't donate. But if you're an Indian citizen with a way to pay in rupees, I recommend it too.
hemkuntfoundation.com/donate-now/
This is a great master list to refer, with each entry clarifying whether it can accept foreign funds or not.

FYI, this is very important because the Modi government has resurrected or created lots of red tape around payments from overseas.

Oh just realized... Before I continue with my online #CovidIndia shopping spree, any matching initiatives I should be aware of? I'm generally not comfortable tweeting donation amounts but happy to DM or email receipts if it leads to matching donations.
One thing I'm planning to do and which I recommend, is send a personal "stimulus" payment of sorts to everyone in Pune I know who is blue collar or working class. Cooks, cleaners, watchmen, etc. Direct cash transfer.

The limit for that, from a foreigner, is ₹50K ($700) fyi.
Also planning to send parents money with instructions to tip every delivery person delivering anything a certain amount I can afford that will also help them more. Consider doing that. Covid has disproportionately hurt those who serve us in india at ridiculously cheap wages.
These orgs are doing great work and I'm donating to them of course, as should you. But if you just make a cash gift, whatever you can afford, to those people in India often not allowed to ride in your elevator or made to disinfect extra or walk a thousand miles, please do.
That extra few thousand rupees at a crisis time like this will go a long way for those who literally live daily wage to daily wage. You have no idea how much it means to them even if they are too proud to ask or acknowledge. We can't even imagine the scope.
I've asked my mom to draw up a list of everyone in our lives in Pune who is working class and am planning to send them a modest "stimulus" as much as I can afford. Please consider doing this with your own families in India. Support those who work for you for less than peanuts. Image
The reason this is extra helpful in India is that while even a petulant idiot like Trump got the point of why a direct cash transfer is necessary in lockdown times to at least get food, rent, Modi is about putting the onus on the weakest. And giving money to the richest.
This is an exceptional list! Lists orgs that help some of THE most vulnerable groups and people in India. Who have been hit hard THE hardest. With details and links. Great work.

Alright, Monday morning. Let's resume this thread.
Donated to and personally recommend @apneaap if you're looking to donate with a non indian credit card or bank account.

A million meals for sex workers and their children in the most vulnerable places

globalgiving.org/projects/suppo…
Waste pickers in India live really hard lives at paltry pay and 19th century equipment and no safety net. If you've spent a day in India, you've seen at least one elderly person coughing while picking up filth people throw. Covid has been brutal on them.

fundraisers.giveindia.org/projects/provi…
Ooooh yay! Americans can now donate to @Hemkunt_Fdn
Through ketto.
ketto.org/fundraiser/o2f…
Another worthy effort I donated to and encourage you to do so too.

Donate to this. As you might have noticed, my focus is on work being done to help THE most vulnerable sections of Indian society. Hundreds of millions on a daily wage existence facing a de facto famine because of covid and a lack of social safety nets.

Oh a general donation pro-tip. I know a lot of people prefer to donate anonymously because they don't want the "credit". I used to be like that too until an activist said please always put your full name down cos
A) people who trust you see it, trust us
B) Matching initiatives

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More from @gauravsabnis

Gaurav Sabnis Profile picture
Nov 9
This will set many unkil hair on fire but when you read the full multi sided history of the 1962 India China war, there isn't much to blame Nehru about, except using hindsight and weirdly high standards and expectations of clairvoyance. And Cuban missile crisis is minimized. 🧵
First of all, Indian defeat in the 1962 skirmish is overblown for Nehru bashing purposes. And it really was a skirmish not a war. How many wars have zero civilian casualties?

India lost 1300 soldiers. Not great. But not exactly Vietnam War numbers. We lost half those in Kargil.
Losing territory is never great but Aksai Chin was and is mostly uninhabited territory more useful for strategic and logistical purposes than losing actual people inhabited territory.

China didn't march on and take Leh or Srinagar, did they? It was a very opportunistic skirmish.
Read 13 tweets
Gaurav Sabnis Profile picture
Nov 2
DMs filling up with "hey can you explain this Zohran phenomenon to me" from friends & Desi columnists lol.

So this will be my NYC Mayor election mega 🧵. FAQ of sorts.

I first truly noticed Zohran in 2023 when he put out an anti Modi statement. As Ro was sucking up to Modi /1 Image
I had known of Zohran vaguely for a couple of years before that, but it was as a huge fan of Mira Nair. I had heard her son was running for state assembly. Not exactly a glamorous & enriching career. But even then I thought, that's sweet. He's choosing public service!
The only son of Mira Nair & Zohran Mamdani, while definitely no billionaire, would still have enough social networks and financial fallbacks to try to make a career in Hollywood. Or academia. Or anything really. Even wall street banker.

But he chose state assembly? Nice.
Read 17 tweets
Gaurav Sabnis Profile picture
Jul 25
The historic reasons for why England (and most of it's ex colonies) and Japan drive on the left but Europe, USA, rest of the world drive on the right are fascinating. And predate the invention of cars.

It's about chariots/wagons vs single horses as primary transportation. 🧵
In Europe, the Romans built highways 2000 years ago for military and supply chains. Lots of chariots & wagons involved.

90% people are right handed, so held the reigns in their right hand. So it made sense to sit on the left. And drive in the right. As a norm, then rule.
Britain tho, until 1800s, was a tiny island without the scale or logistical needs of Continental Europe. Transport there was primarily individual horses. 90% people are right handed there too. But right handers climb a horse from the left, using the right arm to pull them up.
Read 11 tweets
Gaurav Sabnis Profile picture
May 21
Mumbai & Chennai are port cities. Hard to avoid flooding. And Mumbai gets rainfall like no other major city in the world.

Bangalore Pune flooding is the batshit insanity. Both are on an elevation. No history of such floods until IT-fueled "development".

Felt it in Pune! 🧵
Last week in Pune, I went to many cousins' & friends' new or recent homes. In and around Pashan. And I could picture exactly which areas were sure to flood. I've walked those hills for years.

Why is it called Pashan?

Some of the oldest & hardest rock on the planet!
Marathi has a word for seasonal streams. ओढा. Literally means "to pull".

Those rocky hills had centuries, millennia old odhas which took water from heavy rain all the way down to the rivers. Mudslides were unheard of, given how hard the rock was.

Then came "development".
Read 7 tweets
Gaurav Sabnis Profile picture
May 15
Personal story 🧵

Recently I was in Pune for a short trip visiting parents. Had sprained ankle, wanted to ice it. But their fridge didn't have enough ice.

Went on dad's Activa to nearby medical store to get a gel pack. Next door is a barber shop. A dude was outside. /1
Guy in his 30s. Looked at me & gave a big smile, waved.

I was confused. This was Pune not the Midwest. People don't just randomly smile at strangers. Did I know him from childhood or youth? Didn't seem familiar.

But I was limping & in pain. So drove away.
Coupla days later, dad was making chai but we were out of khari. I took Activa to grocery store next to same barber shop.

Again as I was leaving, same dude standing outside smiled & waved. I again smiled. Still couldn't place him.

Maybe it was his way to attract customers?
Read 15 tweets
Gaurav Sabnis Profile picture
May 10
Be it 1993 serial blasts, 2001 Parliament attack, 26/11 or German Bakery, Indian govt identified perpetrators and laid out details of how they happened very soon.

But we still have no answers or details on Uri all these years later. Public was satisfied with Balakot alone.
Will that be the fate of Pahalgam too? Will we get no serious investigation of the terrorist perpetrators and no serious systemic introspection of security lapses, because these missile strikes and dogfights have brought the josh to shallow armchair patriots?
Have you ever been to Kashmir? There are so many security personnel doing security checks everywhere. You can't carry a nailcutter into a sensitive location, much less a truck full of explosives in the middle of a lot of Indian soldiers. Or guns at one of the most popular spots.
Read 6 tweets

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