Book Tiger Heart : My Unexpected Adventures to Make a Difference in Darjeeling, and What I Learned about Fate, Fortitude, and Finding Family Half a World Away DOC, EPUB, DJV
9780757318580 English 0757318584 Katrell Christie was a thirty-something artist turned roller-derby rebel who opened a tea shop in Atlanta. Barely two years later, her life would make a drastic change--and so would the lives of a group of girls half a world away. "I chose the name of my tea shop--Dr. Bombay's Underwater Tea Party--because it sounded whimsical. India wasn't part of the equation. Not even remotely. I didn't do yoga. I had no deep yearning to see the Taj Mahal or tour Hindu temples. Indian food? I could take it or leave it." Yet on a whim, Katrell did go. She witnessed the throngs at the Ganges River, toured the tea fields of Darjeeling, and helped string pearls in conservative Hyderabad. But it was in a crowded Buddhist orphanage where she crossed paths with some girls who would change the course of her life. "One night we had a conversation about their futures. What did they hope to be when they grew up? They didn't have any answers. The fear that consumed them was leaving the orphanage. What would happen on the day they were asked to gather their things and leave--to walk out the door and be all alone on the street with no one to turn to and nowhere to go?" With her mind racing about their grim futures, Katrell reached the simple conclusion that she couldn't walk away. So instead she walked forward--on a mission to help them in any small way. Once back at her shop, an idea for The Learning Tea was born. By selling tea, cupcakes, scones, and other treats, Katrell raised enough funds to provide life necessities for the girls--safe housing, uniforms, medical care, tutoring, and ultimately, a college education for each of them. To date, The Learning Tea has helped eleven young girls who once faced the bleakest of futures. "Tiger Heart" recounts Katrell's riveting adventures back to India, through the chaotic streets of Mumbai, to tiny villages with roadside tea huts and hot samosas, to elephant crossings and snow-capped mountain switchbacks of the Himalayas--an unexpected backdrop where she fell in love with a country that was gorgeous and heartbreaking all at once, where tragedy, humor, resilience and kindness were inextricably bound. From dodging feral monkeys, to slamming shots of whiskey to win acceptance at a local Rotary Club, to forging lasting friendships with the people who stepped up to help her cause, "Tiger Heart" offers a shot-gun seat on an inspiring trek across the globe, capturing the essence of India: its quirks, its traditions, and its people. Fate may have led Katrell to a tiny spot on a map, but it was a kinship that brought her back home a half a world away." Tiger Heart" is a life-affirming look at the ties that bind and the power of each of us to make a difference., Katrell Christie was a thirty-something former art student turned roller-derby rebel who opened a tea shop in Atlanta. Barely two years later, her life would make a drastic change and so would the lives of a group of girls half a world away. I chose the name of my tea shop--Dr. Bombay's Underwater Tea Party--because it sounded whimsical. India wasn't a part of the equation. Not even remotely. I didn't do yoga. I had no deep yearning to see the Taj Mahal or tour Hindu temples. I was not harboring some spiritual desire to follow the path of the Buddha. Indian food? I could take it or leave it. But a regular customer, Cate, described a trip she'd taken there as a Rotary Club scholar. She was planning to go again to work with a women's handicraft exchange. Her enthusiasm was infectious. "You should come," she said after breezing into the shop one day. I didn't give it much thought. I figured she wanted me, the former rollergirl, there as the muscle. I was a new business owner with work stretching for as far as I could see . . . But Katrell did go. She toured the tea fields of Darjeeling, witnessed the Hindu throngs at the Ganges, and helped string pearls in religiously conservative Hyderabad where Cate was working to help market jewelry. As we work, I watch. Some women shed their coverings when they enter the workroom but others remain fully covered, only a glimpse of eyes visible. It's disconcerting. I'm a Southern girl. My mother taught me to throw out a big friendly smile to the world. But with these women--their faces cloaked--I get nothing back. I can't connect. Even worse, I can't get my mind off the idea that no matter what these women do, they will never get off this path. I had never wrapped my brain around that until I sit here, hour after hour, stringing pearls. Pearls that would be worn by some other woman, on a bare and lovely neck, with a dazzling smile and a bright future stretching out before her. I'm pretty sure that this is the most depressed I've ever been in my life. Katrell had no idea at the time, but she would find a new purpose in India, and in the most unlikely way, her life would be eternally entwined with women from a whole new world. While in Darjeeling, Katrell met some girls at an orphanage who would very soon "age out" without any place to go. Their immediate futures were grim: sex trafficking, prostitution, or begging on the streets. Returning home, Katrell just couldn't forget the girls she left behind in Darjeeling, and before long, "The Learning Tea" was born. Today, The Learning Tea has provided life necessities for eleven young women--a safe home, education, uniforms, medical care, as well as music lessons, tutoring, computer classes, and other extracurricular activities. Another center may be on the horizon in Chennai. All because one unlikely hero with a little tea shop in Atlanta, Georgia, stepped forward and said, "I'll go."
9780757318580 English 0757318584 Katrell Christie was a thirty-something artist turned roller-derby rebel who opened a tea shop in Atlanta. Barely two years later, her life would make a drastic change--and so would the lives of a group of girls half a world away. "I chose the name of my tea shop--Dr. Bombay's Underwater Tea Party--because it sounded whimsical. India wasn't part of the equation. Not even remotely. I didn't do yoga. I had no deep yearning to see the Taj Mahal or tour Hindu temples. Indian food? I could take it or leave it." Yet on a whim, Katrell did go. She witnessed the throngs at the Ganges River, toured the tea fields of Darjeeling, and helped string pearls in conservative Hyderabad. But it was in a crowded Buddhist orphanage where she crossed paths with some girls who would change the course of her life. "One night we had a conversation about their futures. What did they hope to be when they grew up? They didn't have any answers. The fear that consumed them was leaving the orphanage. What would happen on the day they were asked to gather their things and leave--to walk out the door and be all alone on the street with no one to turn to and nowhere to go?" With her mind racing about their grim futures, Katrell reached the simple conclusion that she couldn't walk away. So instead she walked forward--on a mission to help them in any small way. Once back at her shop, an idea for The Learning Tea was born. By selling tea, cupcakes, scones, and other treats, Katrell raised enough funds to provide life necessities for the girls--safe housing, uniforms, medical care, tutoring, and ultimately, a college education for each of them. To date, The Learning Tea has helped eleven young girls who once faced the bleakest of futures. "Tiger Heart" recounts Katrell's riveting adventures back to India, through the chaotic streets of Mumbai, to tiny villages with roadside tea huts and hot samosas, to elephant crossings and snow-capped mountain switchbacks of the Himalayas--an unexpected backdrop where she fell in love with a country that was gorgeous and heartbreaking all at once, where tragedy, humor, resilience and kindness were inextricably bound. From dodging feral monkeys, to slamming shots of whiskey to win acceptance at a local Rotary Club, to forging lasting friendships with the people who stepped up to help her cause, "Tiger Heart" offers a shot-gun seat on an inspiring trek across the globe, capturing the essence of India: its quirks, its traditions, and its people. Fate may have led Katrell to a tiny spot on a map, but it was a kinship that brought her back home a half a world away." Tiger Heart" is a life-affirming look at the ties that bind and the power of each of us to make a difference., Katrell Christie was a thirty-something former art student turned roller-derby rebel who opened a tea shop in Atlanta. Barely two years later, her life would make a drastic change and so would the lives of a group of girls half a world away. I chose the name of my tea shop--Dr. Bombay's Underwater Tea Party--because it sounded whimsical. India wasn't a part of the equation. Not even remotely. I didn't do yoga. I had no deep yearning to see the Taj Mahal or tour Hindu temples. I was not harboring some spiritual desire to follow the path of the Buddha. Indian food? I could take it or leave it. But a regular customer, Cate, described a trip she'd taken there as a Rotary Club scholar. She was planning to go again to work with a women's handicraft exchange. Her enthusiasm was infectious. "You should come," she said after breezing into the shop one day. I didn't give it much thought. I figured she wanted me, the former rollergirl, there as the muscle. I was a new business owner with work stretching for as far as I could see . . . But Katrell did go. She toured the tea fields of Darjeeling, witnessed the Hindu throngs at the Ganges, and helped string pearls in religiously conservative Hyderabad where Cate was working to help market jewelry. As we work, I watch. Some women shed their coverings when they enter the workroom but others remain fully covered, only a glimpse of eyes visible. It's disconcerting. I'm a Southern girl. My mother taught me to throw out a big friendly smile to the world. But with these women--their faces cloaked--I get nothing back. I can't connect. Even worse, I can't get my mind off the idea that no matter what these women do, they will never get off this path. I had never wrapped my brain around that until I sit here, hour after hour, stringing pearls. Pearls that would be worn by some other woman, on a bare and lovely neck, with a dazzling smile and a bright future stretching out before her. I'm pretty sure that this is the most depressed I've ever been in my life. Katrell had no idea at the time, but she would find a new purpose in India, and in the most unlikely way, her life would be eternally entwined with women from a whole new world. While in Darjeeling, Katrell met some girls at an orphanage who would very soon "age out" without any place to go. Their immediate futures were grim: sex trafficking, prostitution, or begging on the streets. Returning home, Katrell just couldn't forget the girls she left behind in Darjeeling, and before long, "The Learning Tea" was born. Today, The Learning Tea has provided life necessities for eleven young women--a safe home, education, uniforms, medical care, as well as music lessons, tutoring, computer classes, and other extracurricular activities. Another center may be on the horizon in Chennai. All because one unlikely hero with a little tea shop in Atlanta, Georgia, stepped forward and said, "I'll go."