Wordless Wednesday

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Wordless Wednesday

The rat: never a love story

Remains of the feast. (a perfectly formed rosette? an artistically minded rodent?)

In the absence of any romantic tales or riveting pictures from this week, you'll have to content yourself with hearing about the rat. I was standing rather innocently in the kitchen the other day when it appeared out of nowhere, slammed into my bare foot, quickly reoriented itself and headed out the door. Needless to say, screaming ensued.

I can deal with occasional lice, frogs jumping out of the toilet, and lizards in my bedroom. But kindly keep the rats!

Allow me to add that the rat--may she rest in peace--did not survive the night. She was found the next morning, belly up, in the trash can. Cause of death undetermined, biopsy report pending. 

Basha and Sallennamaam: a love story except when I'm making him read or do long division

Each day brings a dozen little incidents which are funny or endearing or deeply moving and which I wish I could etch into my memory and never forget. Third-grade children flinging their arms around their teacher, Fathima, whom they haven't seen in two weeks because of a family emergency. Kanmani crying, head buried in his hands, when she had to leave again.

Kindergartners trying so hard to tell me something with the three words which makes up their entire English vocabulary.

Basha in his blue mood with me trying to get him through his homework. He won't look at me or talk to me. Let alone hold the pencil. But he knows I won't let him off the hook. So I ask the questions for each step of the long division problem, and he draws the answer with his finger over his pant leg. I write it down and move on to the next question.

It is a slow process but eventually we slog through most of it. It breaks my heart that it's such a painful trek for him while most of his classmates just skip through it.

Wordless Wednesday

Monsoon Wedding

Last week we joined Dhanesekaran, our math teacher, in celebrating his wedding. As appears to be typical in Tamil Nadu, it was an arranged marriage. This means that their parents made the selections based on perceived compatibility and astrological alignment. She teaches math as well.

Bride and groom had only met a few months previous at the engagement party. The wedding was the second time they ever saw each other. At the risk of offending certain sensibilities, I will add that the thought of marrying a perfect stranger (not to mention an imperfect one) makes me consider 1) hurling myself from a speeding car, 2) skydiving without a parachute, 3) hang gliding without a hang glider, or 4) all of the above.

But that aside: since the wedding was near Rising Star, many students and staff members were able to attend. The students were elated! Here we are, kids, teachers, and housemothers at the reception on the evening prior to the wedding.

Rajakumari and Kala are both dedicated teachers at Rising Star, and I am indebted to them for lending saris and helping me to figure out what to do with them. Through a little time and experience I've become increasingly less cynical about the impracticality. Who needs to be able to walk or sit down, anyway? No, seriously, this time around I mostly enjoyed it.

The wedding proper took place at six in the morning, as per Hindu custom. I wish these pictures were able to convey the smell of burning incense, the constantly shifting swarm of visitors behind the bride and groom, and most importantly, the ear-piercing pitch of the oboes and the incessant beating of drums. It was all continuous for two hours.

The ceremony is all about tying. Here relatives are tying twenty-odd gold strings around the groom's forehead. This was then repeated for the bride. Later the couple tied the edges of their clothing together in a chain of knots. The groom also placed little rings on each of the bride's toes. Knots, strings, chains, rings.

The fifth and sixth graders were permitted at the last moment to attend the wedding (older kids having gone to the reception). They were ecstatic.

Finally, a random photo from a random volunteer. But I happen to be speaking with Dhanesekaran. About the wedding? I spend a lot of my time talking with teachers, so I'll throw this one in as a memento.

Wordless Wednesday

With bride and groom at Hindu wedding

My motley crew