Let us Begin

Hello, dear friends and family. I know it has been a while since I have written. I have been so busy experiencing that writing has taken second place. There is much I want to say, but in consideration of my readers, I will simply summarize my overall experience and than describe, in detail, the memories that stick out most. Life may be short, but my this blog entry likely won’t be. As I say to my children here, “Let us begin.”

It has been almost a full month since I arrived in Jaipur. While the initial two weeks were erratic, things are finally getting into a schedule. Geeti has joined me and the addition of her here has been wonderful, both from a teaching and an emotional standpoint. It is much nicer exploring the city with a partner in crime, than on my own. I have cemented my teaching plans, both for the teachers and the students, and feel at home.  I visited the Amber and Naigarh Fort, as well as the City Palace and the Janter Manter (observatory). I even ventured out of Jaipur to neighboring Ajmer and saw my first glimpses of rural Indian life. Goats. Women carrying water. The tendency for Indian highway drivers to drive into oncoming traffic, no problem. At one especially harrowing moment, when my hands flew up to my face with a cry as we narrowly avoided a collision with a tractor, my driver (who I stand in perpetual awe of due to his uncanny ability to navigate Indian traffic), just turned to me and said “India” with a smug, incredibly badass smile. Of course. What was thinking. That was all I needed to know.

The past few days have been a break from teaching, as I attended the Jaipur Literary Festival with Geeti and Deeraj, a new friend from Delhi who stayed at Tushita House during his time in Jaipur. The festival, the largest in South Asia, featured hundreds of authors, literary critics, philosophers, journalists, economists and Indian literati. The Westerns present ranged from college professors to backpackers and provided much visual entertainment. I didn’t talk to as many people as I would have liked, although I did share my cookie with a little girl who sat down next to me quietly near this fountain where I was having a coffee break. It seemed only natural to give her half of my food, to which she said a quiet “thank you” and than toddled off. I can only assume to listen to a lecture on literary critique. As all six-year olds are apt to do.

Now, the festival is over and it is back to the real world and to the joyous, challenging exercise that is teaching.  I am pleased to report that I am finally remembering names and the children take such joy when I can greet them with an “Good afternoon Lali/Talib/Anjli/Monica/Tanu” and so forth. On Saturdays, we dance and the children love teaching me the songs and laughing with me as I try (vainly) to imitate their steps. I am teaching on my own now, with an aim to increase their ability to express themselves creatively. I center each lesson around the idea of Art: We Create, and encourage them to think for themselves. Which is no small thing. And is super challenging. I arrive home exhausted and ready for mindless television. But, every day is something new and wonderful. The joy of working with children is that they can always teach you something.

This past Thursday we celebrated Republic Day at the Foundation, which is the holiday celebrating the signing of the Indian Constitution. As with all festivities, class is cancelled and the children and teachers congregate on the rooftop terrace of the building. This is my favorite place in all of Jaipur and Amber, as I may have mentioned. It is as close to hiking as I can get here. Brightly painted white and blue rooftops and houses lay out before me, hugged by three low-elevation mountain ranges that drift off into the distance. Kites are always present in the sky and the 16th Century Rajput wall built to defend the old capital skirts over the hills, giving the scenery a touch of whimsy and a fairy tale-esque ambience. The children love to see me dance to Bollywood songs and traditional Rajasthani music, and I do my best. I put on Bulletproof by La Roux for them as a change of pace, turned around and fifty pairs of eyes stared back at me, silently, waiting for me to teach them the corresponding dance. When trying to explain that most American songs don’t have actual dances got me nowhere, I made one up on the fly. And they did exactly what I did. So, my apologies La Roux - your hit song now has choreography featuring elements of the Chicken dance, MC Hammer and the Hand Jive. With some random twirling mixed in for fun.

Now, the teachers. The teachers may be, possibly more than the children, my favorite part about this placement. There are six of them ranging in age from 20-30 and are named Payal, Prianka, Ruksar, Geeta, Soonam and Ruchi. All born and raised in the village, at first they were very soft-spoken and overly-formal with me. My response was to be as outgoing as possible, in hopes they would see how desperately I want to be friends with them. And, so we are. While I love all the teachers, Ruskar and I are the closest and have wonderful discussons together .She is absolutely beautiful with an air of elegance about her, and is DESPERATE to increase her already high level of English. I have never seen anyone with such a desire to learn something. She is more open than the others, and gives me a glimpse into her world and the Indian woman perspective that I so want. She has asked me multiple times about whether women in America have “restrictions” placed on them and whether I am permitted to marry whomever I chose. The caste system troubles her, which is the first time I have heard an Indian person say such to me.

Every morning, we work with the teachers on English comprehension and speaking. Yesterday, I gave them Robert’s Frosts “The Road Not Taken” and we will continue to discuss it throughout the week. The largest thing is confidence. Two of the teachers are incredibly shy, and tears form in their eyes whenever I ask them to speak, which makes me feel awful and slightly like my old sixth grade teacher. I bought them journals to write in as well, so maybe that will be a better tool for the reserved ladies. Trial and error.

Now, I am just back from teaching, utterly exhausted and ready for dinner. Jaipur is a lovely city, as I have said, and I look forward to traveling to neighboring sights with Geeti in the coming weekends. So, yes - I am well and happy. And will write again soon.