A few more Indian people, places and stuff . . .

Click pic to see a larger version if you like.







































Note: Many of the school pics shown here are from the nearby village school rather than from Sreenidhi. More Sreenidhi photos will appear in another blog.

Also, most of the awesome pics in this whole blog are from my friend Dr. Donna Hull who has a better camera and a great eye.

Last Day in India

Nirmala & Lakshmi: the darling ladies who bring tea when I am blogging in the teachers lounge. We're as tight as you can be without speaking the same language. :)

This week has been so busy that it has been difficult to blog. Wednesday was probably the best day of our trip so far. One thing the ESD students and teachers have been looking forward to the most is the delivery of the books for which we raised money to the village schools and library. The villages of Aziznagar were amazing to visit. These represent a large portion of the people of India. They live extremely modest, challenging lives, but they and the KMR foundation are doing all they can to educate the children for a bright future. I anticipated that the kids would be cute, but there are no words to describe how absolutely adorable they really are. We sang with them, gave books to them, read to them, and just had as much fun as we could while with them. The resilience and eagerness in their faces were inspiring.

That evening, the owners of Sreenidhi International hosted an amazing party for the ESD students and faculty with Sreenidhi faculty and boarders. It was quite the blowout. There was a perfumer, a custom bangle-maker, and a henna painter all making things for us while we - faculty - sipped wine by the lake. The kids had cool-looking non-alcoholic drinks prepared for them. It was very cute. There was a live three-piece Indian orchestra and the final dinner was catered by a place called Fusion 9. We were really overwhelmed with the gesture, and everyone - students and faculty alike - had our best night here.

On Thursday, after I finished leading a poetry class and the students finished a two-hour Indian dance workshop, we traveled to Birla Temple, the biggest and most beautiful Hindu temple in Hyderabad. Our friend Anat served as our guide, which was very informative since he is most likely the most devout Hindu I have met. We took a barefoot walk of worship all the way to see the Supreme God at the top level of the temple. This part of the trip allowed me to see a side of India I would have missed otherwise, and we were all grateful for the opportunity.

On Friday the students and faculty from Sreenidhi put on a fun final program for us that included skits, dances, and an overwhelming presentation of Indian gifts as well as an impromptu request for the ESD teachers to dance. We complied with this last request, but I have no comment on the matter. :) I was honestly speechless when handed the beautiful collage of pictures from our time here and real Hyderabad pearls. It was extremely generous.

Today we are packing and getting ready to leave. One more shopping trip, one more high tea, one more meeting, and then, the plane, the plane. I would like to pack up some of my friends and take them home with me, but that is not possible. Maggie and Diggity, I'm coming . . .

Indian Art, Indian Dance

This morning I finally woke up with hardly any symptoms at all. Hurray!

Tomorrow we are visiting the village schools and delivering the books for which we raised money to the library. Tomorrow evening, we are visiting a very special Indian restaurant with the chairman of Sreenidhi International School.

Tuesday was a very cool morning. We had a big project this morning with the art teacher here, and the students had an impromptu dance class with some primary children. Very, very fun. I think I have found the secret to fitness for me. I need Indian dance classes.

Afterward, I taught a poetry class to ninth graders here. We read a very cool poem called "Night of the Scorpion" by Nissim Ezekial. The students opened up a little bit more this time than the last time I taught. This is a new favorite poem of mine, so I'm pasting it below for those who would like to read it:

I remember the night my mother
was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.

Parting with his poison - flash
of diabolic tail in the dark room -
he risked the rain again.

The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to paralyse the Evil One.

With candles and with lanterns
throwing giant scorpion shadows
on the mud-baked walls
they searched for him: he was not found.
They clicked their tongues.
With every movement that the scorpion made his poison moved in Mother's blood, they said.

May he sit still, they said
May the sins of your previous birth
be burned away tonight, they said.
May your suffering decrease
the misfortunes of your next birth, they said.
May the sum of all evil
balanced in this unreal world

against the sum of good
become diminished by your pain.
May the poison purify your flesh

of desire, and your spirit of ambition,
they said, and they sat around
on the floor with my mother in the centre,
the peace of understanding on each face.
More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours,
more insects, and the endless rain.
My mother twisted through and through,
groaning on a mat.
My father, sceptic, rationalist,
trying every curse and blessing,
powder, mixture, herb and hybrid.
He even poured a little paraffin
upon the bitten toe and put a match to it.
I watched the flame feeding on my mother.
I watched the holy man perform his rites to tame the poison with an incantation.
After twenty hours
it lost its sting.

My mother only said
Thank God the scorpion picked on me
And spared my children.

More Indian People, Places, and Fun

Indian People, Indian Places, Indian Fun