Wordless Wednesday

Rajakumari (teacher and former housemother) and Dani (volunteer coordinator).

Happy Indian Independence Day!

We celebrated Independence Day on August 15th, commemorating freedom from British rule since 1947. Like other holidays here, it was a grand event. I am beginning to more fully appreciate the Pomp and Circumstance, the joy in festivities, the children's anticipation and eager excitement.

And I'll readily admit that I could get used to the whole Indian dignitary thing! Why not use the occasion for floral investitures?

Hoisting the tricolor flag.

 

Surveying the marchers. The children marched around the track in four groups, each one led by a flag bearer. They spend long hours on sweltering afternoons drilling for these events until they are perfectly synchronized. Our PE teacher boasts that we have the best marchers in southern India.

Sometimes I do feel sorry for the kids when the sweat is dripping off their chins and there's no respite. But the lessons in endurance and discipline surely must be benefiting us?

Then the speeches. Several children instructed and charmed us with Tamil chants, tales of freedom fighters from Gandhi's generation, and the meaning of the holiday. I was struck by their ability to memorize and confidently recite speeches lasting up to five minutes.

My host country on the other end of the elephant hole has opened my eyes and my heart in previously unfathomable ways. Thank you! Nandri!

Wordless Wednesday

Today is Priyadarshini's birthday and this is how she felt about it.

With siblings Praveen and Gracy.

Wordless Wednesday

I am failing miserably at making this wordless: Akash and Madhaven went outside with their fourth grade class to catch frogs after reading about them. No shortage of frogs here.

We have books!

Although school began on June 1st, the education department didn't issue its books until yesterday. That would be two and a half months into the first term. In the meanwhile, they instructed us not to teach anything. I am sorely tempted to wax Orwellian and to toss around terms such as "ministry of un-education" and the like.

The first problem was that the Tamil Nadu government didn't print the books on time. So the day before school was about to begin, they issued an order that schools should remain closed for another two weeks. We didn't comply as we're a residential school. What are the children supposed to do all day? Then June 15th rolled around the books still weren't off the press.

Problem number two. The state had mandated that all children would now study from the same books, whether at a public or private institution. This would level the playing field and grant children from all socioeconomic backgrounds the same chances. Except that public schools would have their books and instruction in Tamil, while private schools would have it in English.

Private schools have objected to being coerced to use the same books as the public schools, because the latter tend to be rather simple. They fear that it will drastically lower the level of the private schools. And so, for the past month, this issue was being fought out in court.

Every week they announced that a decision would be announced the following Friday. And then every Friday for several weeks, it was announced that the decision was being postponed.

In the meantime, we were told to wait. But we defied it all and taught from photocopies made from American books (which aren't riddled with grammatical mistakes! and don't have first-graders identifying adverbs! or second-graders reading Keats! and make sense!).

Last Friday the verdict came in earnest. Private schools lost: we have to use the government books. But nothing's stopping me from heavily supplementing with materials of better quality.

I'm glad the new books have arrived because we need them for Tamil class and for the tenth grade to study for their all-important board exam at the end of the year. But I'm not thrilled with the English mistakes and the odd punctuation.

At least I haven't, so far, come across any stories that happen to mention a teacher caning a student. From the book used last year, published in 1910 2010:

Here's another favorite. The green sheets held up by Archana, our sweet first-grader, are sticker papers. We are supposed to cut out strips and then use them to cover up any quotations in the books from the previous state minister. The current state minister apparently does not want the children of Tamil Nadu growing up reciting statements from his predecessor.

This is the spineless quality of these brand new books.

Mariamal helped me sort the books. That wraps up another week at the funny far in India!

Wordless Wednesday

Our inimitable housekeeper Mira with Lola, our dear little sheep. This pair keeps me in stitches.

Thank you!

Thanks to my brother's family for donating the funds for the Superman and Batman books, in which little Hari is engrossed below. This sort of thing is a rare excitement for our kids. He had been looking forward to them for several months.

Wordless Wednesday on Thursday

wherein Harikrishnan finally gets his books!

Tidbits

How do you say "fork" in Tamil? Answer: "spoon"

How do you say "blanket" in Tamil? Answer: "bedsheet"

Would you feel slightly uncomfortable if one of your teachers had added you to the pantheon of his Hindu family gods? Some of the teachers missed me, and some of the teachers apparently really missed me. This is getting embarrassing/ludicrous, so I'll stop at that.

Most frequently asked question this week: "How is your mother?" Everyone from gardener to child to housemother inquired, right after ensuring that I was well and had survived my flight to India without mishap. My mom was here for about a week in February. But no one has forgotten and everybody cares. They are incomparably gracious and polite.

Second most frequently asked question: "Why are you not fatter? Isn't there food in America?"