A few are orphans, and this is understandably not exactly their favorite day.
Others do have at least one parent who is not able to make the visit for one reason or another. Although they try to hide it, I sometimes find children on the verge of tears when their parents don't show up.
Amirthavasan and his mom:
Praveen Kanth (left) and family:
It was unclear why these people were grouped together. Relatives? From the same colony? They told me, but is was Tamil to me...
Nagalakshmi (left), Harikrishnan (middle), and Soniya (right). I'm finally learning some names. It always fills me with dread and fear when a child comes up to me and asks, "Principal ma'am, what me name?" I'm supposed to know their names just because they know mine? But no one's blaming me with names like Thamimul Ansari and Sathrabathi, right?
Some of the mothers leave their children with henna tattoo designs on their hands and forearms. I think I'll get in line next month!
Sweet Priya and her dad:
Hariharan and his sister Suganya with their father, who has lost a leg from leprosy. It's devastating to see this happen to young people, but at least they are more mobile and can cope physically better than the older folks.
Prankster Mohankumar with his grandmother. Try as I might, I couldn't get him to reveal his toothless grin for the camera.
Speaking of teeth, little Gokulraja had half of one of his front teeth knocked out at dance last week. It made me sick to my stomach to see his new lopsided smile. But he has so much character that maybe he can succeed in making it look fashionable. Here he is with his sister Vanamalar, who never ceases smiling, and their mother. She's a bit lacrymose from being told, through the kids' translation, how much her boy loves hanging out with me in the library.
A frightful and potentially tragic day for this family: Basha and Mariyambe with their mother and aunt. The father is about to have a leprous foot amputated and stayed at home. The mother has been threatening for months to withdraw the children from Rising Star. Her alleged reason is that she wants to place them in a Tamil-speaking school. But it seems pretty clear that she has early employment in mind: increasing the family income through begging.
(Rising Star's mission is to end begging by providing the school for the children and micro-loans for the parents to start small businesses. The hope is that these programs will result in new mentalities and lifestyles, but this does not always catch on right away!)
So today I met with the mother, along with two other administrators. The language barrier prevented me from playing much of a part in the conversation. But the end result is that we somehow were able to convey the importance of education, and that she is not taking them home today at least. Hooray!
Maybe it helped that I burst into tears when she said (this was translated to me), "They don't need to be doctors or engineers. As long as they can read a little, I'm satisfied." Mariyambee's the best reader in second grade and I refuse to have it all end with Dr. Seuss.
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