The people are, of course, India�s asset and, conversely, are the cause of huge environmental and social problems due to overpopulation, under-education, poverty and strong cultural traditions. We have been shown such kindness and hospitality wherever we go. Things happen, things get done (eventually) and anything is possible. The children we teach are so pleased to see us. Their smiles are infectious, they are curious, excited, full of energy, friendly and the majority are eager to learn. They always ask �What is your name?�, often the younger ones� only English phrase. When we compare their schools and the poor physical structures of their classes and buildings, lack of sanitation and few resources to UK schools and to those of fee-paying private schools in India, we realize that our help is just a drop in a very big ocean.
The charity Arivu (Peace Child India) has a vision of improving children�s and people�s lives through education and raising aspirations in order that individuals and communities enjoy a healthier and more prosperous life. We are proud to be a small part of that.
At Binny High School, we help the children 3 days a week. We use the reading room which we described previously. The children like to do something different and, as we take groups of 9 or 10, this is possible. We prepare lessons in the evenings and try to improve their English writing and speaking through reading, games, role play, basic grammar and vocabulary. Some of them are very bright and pick up concepts quickly. Others, of course, need more 1-to-1 supervision.
We are attempting to involve some of the 9th standard in producing a newsletter for the school. What might seem a straightforward task is made complex by language barriers. Communicating just the concept is difficult. The surprisingly primitive computer facilities (Bangalore is India�s IT capital) in Internet cafes doesn�t help. There are few CD drives and no software for image processing. We have to think on our feet every day and adapt. It is a challenge to think up new activities to keep the pupils engaged in what they do as well as learn. We are drawing on all our experiences to do this. At the end of each session, the children shake hands to wish us goodbye.
There are primary classes on site and they always demand our attention also. They are really cute, very small and at lunchtime we try to give them some attention although we are not scheduled to work with them at all.
At GKBMS school, we �teach� the Tamil children twice per week. Th teachers are interested in our methods as we stay away from teaching by rote (which is their normal way), using flash cards, jigsaws with pictures and words, games, songs and drawings. John has still to locate a keyboard for either their or his amusement! The children here are younger but again eager to learn.
We also use the GKBMS reading room with 7th standard. Here the girls are more disciplined than the boys, the opposite to Binny�s. We have found things more difficult at this school as all the children are both curious and boisterous and tend to try and join in. Also, the reading room is very dark and smells due to the close proximity of the waste ground used as a toilet. However, the floor has now been repaired and so is much less dusty, although it is a constant battle everywhere wqith dust leaving us filthy every day.
The journey to and from school is as polluted and freetic as ever, but we seem to be getting used to it. We now haggle with the autorickshaw drivers and tell them if they are going the long way round. We barter in shops, eat Indian breakfast if possible some days with e.g Dosa Masala, a large, deep fried, crispy pancake filled with spicy potato & veg, folded into a triangle and served with sambar (dahl) and coconut chutney. Deborah is wearing Indian clothes, a salwar (loose, long pants) with kameez (long shirt) and dupatta (long scarf). John wears lose, baggy trousers and a baseball cap (unheard of for those who know him well!). We are finding out where to get things in the confusion of shops in our area. We use the Xerox al lot for stuff for school and have made friends with the lady who carefully photocopies each sheet. We are well known in the Internet caf� (imagine a small, hot room with tiny hardboard booths, keyboards that have many symbols worn away and loud, Indian music). We go to the small park nearby which is a remarkably rubbish-free area but surrounded by loads of litter and the odd cow eating it. We walk around the park perimeter in the evening with the locals as we all get a bit of exercise in the relative cool.
It rained the other day, a tropical downpour that made our area a mudbath. Picking our way amongst the water-filled potholes, bulloick carts and traffic while avoiding the cars, autos and bikes spraying us with water and other unmentionables was an experience.
Recently we ventured into a posh hotel called the Leela Palace, not far from the airport. It really is like a palace with marble everywhere, western style shops, fancy restaurants and very opulent. However, it seemed so bizarre and incongruous in our new life that we didn�y like it too much and felt uncomfortable. It is this contradictory India again that is hard to reconcile.
We have thought up words for every letter of the alphabet that describe India for us. For every letter there are 2 words (except X), not opposites, but indicating contradictions.
Amazing Arduous
Beautiful Bewildering
Colourful Contradictory
Diverse Dirty
Entertaining Enveloping
Friendly Frenetic
Gracious Groaning
Humbling Hairaising
Impressive Irritating
Joyful Judgemental
Kindly Knowing
Laidback Laborious
Mindblowing Messy
Nutricious Noisy
Overwhelming Overpopulated
Perfumed Polluted
Quiet Quirky
Religious Reactionary
Sensual Suprising
Tantalising Tiring
Unique Unhygeinic
Visionary Vague
Wonderful Wasteful
Xerographic
Yielding Yearning
Zany Zealous
