लकीरें - A poem

Ranadi, a small village in Reodar, Sirohi District , Rajasthan. The home of 186 families; predominantly SC. A small classroom in the village upper primary school. Little ones, six or seven years old, are busy opening their books and notebooks for the English period. The teacher writes down the names of fruits and vegetables on the board. She writes their Hindi counterparts too. The class resounds with the names of fruits and vegetables. The teacher now checks the copies of students one by one.

I cannot help but notice how tiny the notebooks are. Each page can hardly accommodate more than a few words. The large, disjointed letters cram themselves between the lines. One child in particular has trouble writing the letter S in his ‘four lined copy’. The topmost line is filled in by the teacher in red ink; several scarlet Ss in a row. The child comes time and again after filling the page using his pencil; his Ss leaking all over, but perfect, so perfect in form. The teacher patiently erases them and says each time, ‘Jao phirse karke lao’ (Trans. Go and write this again). I think of Padma Sarangapani, of the aspirations of a rural, tribal community, and of the child. My heart fills with an uncontrolled desire to write, and finding no paper I write in my mind. The first time ever I write in Hindi, and a rather long time since I write at all –

लकीरें

चार लकीरों के बीच

सिमट गया है

यह बच्चा ।

वही दायरा है

बस वही जगह

रहो ।

कुछ तो सीखो ।

कहता

मैं बड़ा आदमी बनूंगा ।

पर यह लकीरें

तकदीरें

कहीं और ही ले जाती हैं ।

-         रीमा कौर

Oh! To Be Little Again!

Image via I Can Haz Cheezburger

(Most) children are innocent and with each day spent at the school teaching children, my belief is reinforced.

"You're little now, so you're called a girl and he's called a boy. What will you be called when you grow up?"

"Human!"

"Err... Aren't you a human now?"

"No! I'm a kid."

In another incident, a rather feisty boy from class III came up to me and said, "Ma'am, you know what Aditya told a group of girls from class IV?"
"No.... What did he say?"
"He said, 'Girrrrrls! Come here!'" (Saying so, he roared with laughter and poor Aditya flushed a deep shade of crimson.)

So you see. While we stand scratching our heads wondering what happened, almost anything makes a little kid laugh!

Image via I Can Haz Cheezburger

The youngest children I teach always love looking at colourful photographs and pictures. This always felicitates interesting conversation, which is basically the prime motive of my classes, so the other day I borrowed a book from the library. It was about the circus and had large photographs of trapeze artists, lions, the ringmaster, flame throwers etc.. When I opened the first page of the book and showed it to the class, they let out a collective gasp. Sensing that something was wrong, I turned the book towards myself and had a long hard look at the page.
"What's wrong guys? It's just a couple of lions!"
"Oh Ma'am! Can't you see? They're all running around in a circle and a couple of them are standing on stools! Waaaooow!"
Hmm.. I saw nothing spectacular in a couple of lions running around on their hind legs, but they did. Why's that?

The main reason for our lack of enthusiasm at the simple things of life is because we've been there, done that. We've all let out our gasps and had our share of wows. A tiny earthworm splitting into two tinier ones does not excite us. We don't hoot with laughter when we see someone wearing a foil hat. A puppy scratching its head off is mundane. Uninteresting.

Image via I Can Haz Cheezburger

When was the last time we asked an interesting question? Children do that all the time. They're full of queries. No answer completely quenches their curiosity. Some of their favourite words are "what" and "why". Why are your nails green today? What is in your bag? Why is that boy crying? What do you mean? Why are you so short? Why are your feet so small? Why are you shouting? So on and so forth. You'll get tired of answering but the questions just won't stop coming! That's the beauty of childhood.

Now the problem arises when these children grow up and turn into.. well.. us! Grumpy old adults sans enthusiasm. We hem and haw over how much we know, how much we've seen. I personally believe that the day we stop being curious and enthusiastic, we lead a pointless existence. Blessed are those who realize this! A couple of days back I got a beautiful message from one of the sweetest persons I've meet in life. Having recently acquired a job, he has little time for himself and those around him. The message goes like this (ignore the errors that are typical of forwarded messages)-

One day we will all be sitting and thinking hard about life...
How it changed from a simple college life to the strict professional life...
How pocket money changed to huge monthly pay cheques, but gives less happiness..
How a few local jeans changed to a new, branded wardrobe, but less occasions left to wear them to...
How a single plate of samosa changed to a full pizza, but the hunger is less...
How a bike always in reserve changed to a car always full of petrol, but less places to go to...
How a tea by the roadside changed to CCD, Barista; but no friends for gossiping...
How a general class journey changed to travelling by flight; but less vacations for enjoyment...
Maybe this is the truth of the journey called "life"...

I'm sure we'll all associate with these words (even if just a bit!). Hidden behind this message is a desperate need to be little again; to be untroubled and carefree again! We all desire to go back to that stage of life where stress meant an exam; a decision meant choosing the right subjects and sorrow meant getting over a crush! An extremely popular Facebook page with over one lakh "fans" is very appropriately titled- "I wish I was little again, when the hardest choice was picking a crayon".

Sigh... To be little again!

Image via I Can Haz Cheezburger

Mini Celebrity

Image by woodleywonderworks via Flickr

What do you say when a little girl from class four asks you about your interest in writing? I of course, said that I am an ardent reader of books and love to write as well; and perhaps when the class would all grow up, they would get to read my books. All said in jest, because I don't think I would ever publish a book. But it was shockingly surprising (I wouldn't call it pleasant!) to see the entire class run up to me, carrying diaries, notebooks and even scraps of paper to take my "autograph". All because I am to soon become a high profile writer with little or no time to get back to my dear students. They pushed, tugged and waged war with ear other to get to me first. I was caught completely off guard and took my own sweet time to regain composure. The rest of the class was spent signing my name and giving out my cellphone number...

Hyperventilating Insects!

"So, how was your Science Olympiad today?"

"Oh, it was soo easy Ma'am! Here, take a look at the question paper.."

"Hmm, so what option did you choose for this question.. Which of the following dissolves in water - a) oil b) salt c) insect d) paper.."

"SALT!"

(So I decided to engage in some leg pulling...)

"Oh, but don't you know, insects dissolve in water much quicker!"

"No Ma'am! If you put an insect in water uski bus saans phool jaegi.."

CHILDREN, THESE DAYS!

So there I was, interacting with a bunch of nine year olds, trying to get them to speak effortlessly in english.

"Lets divide the class into two groups - girls and boys", I said.

"Sure!"

"Tell me boys, how do we brush our teeth? Tell me the whole procedure, step by step."

"We take a toothbrush, wet it, apply toothpaste on it, clean our teeth and tongue, rinse our mouths, rinse the brush. Done!"

"Very good! 10 points!"

"Yay!"

"Ok, now girls. Tell me, how do you get ready in the morning?"

"We get up, take bath, brush our teeth, polish our shoes, wear the uniform, eat breakfast and leave home to come to school."

"Very good! 10 points to you too!"

"Yay!"

"Ok, now I wont ask any more questions. Ask each other. Girls, ask the boys a question."

"Yay! Hmmm. How do you switch on the computer?"

"We switch on the UPS, then the CPU, then we wait for the screen to switch on, enter the password, then wait for the desktop to appear."

"Excellent boys! 10 points again! Now why dont you boys ask the girls a question?"

"Woohoo!" *whispering* "How do girls take bath????"

"No!! No!! Ask another question!!"

*more whispering* *sniggering* "How is a baby born????"

........

CHILDREN, THESE DAYS!

The Surprise - What's Keeping Me Busy

Wow! My last post was wayyy back on 12th April! Thats probably the longest I have stayed away from blogging! But I wont say that I missed writing, because in the past one month I have written more than I would have normally written in an entire year. (I continue to have this dull pain in my right thumb.) But I certainly missed posting and hearing back from you precious people who care to read!

Saying that, I should have grabbed the laptop as soon as my exams got over and typed away. But as I mentioned earlier, I have a surprise for all of you! This very surprise has been keeping me busy apart from my exams. So you want to know what it is?

I got a JOB! (Let me give you a moment to laugh. Oh, you need more than that? :P)

Yes, yes, yes! I got a job! A real, paying job! The Dearest Lady who taught me German last year is off to Germany(!) for finishing off her thesis and I am her substitute in a school! Yay man! I am a teacher!!!!!

Ok, ok.. I know that I am just 19 years old and dont even go to regular college and I've just done the foundation course in German.. But whatever I know is more than enough for the little kiddies who are in class 2, 3, 4 and 5. And seriously people, I topped the bloody language last year! *gloats*

So there I was jumping away to glory in my salsa class. Suddenly, my phone shreiked out naseela naseela tere naina (I'm lame) and pierced through the loud music. I usually dont take calls while the class is on because it all breaks the rhythm. But that day, not only did I manage to hear the phone ring, but I also picked it up. By the end of that call, not only did I have a job as a German teacher, but also as the English Elocution teacher!

The school is in the heart of the city - Connaught Place. Its a small school that goes upto class VII, but thats the best part because I wouldnt have jumped into a HUGE school with thousands of children (they would have killed me). I work twice a week, teaching German to classes II, III, IV and V on Tuesdays and English Elocution to classes I-VII on Thursdays. This school has an uncanny resemblance to the first school I ever attended - Air India Modern, and thats what makes it all the more special. For a moment I actually thought that I was a little girl again with ribbons in my hair!

My dad cant stop raving about me. Well I cant either! My heart is swollen my pride. I take this as a message that teaching can be a worthy option for me. I used to line my friends up when I was really tiny and teach them some nonsense or the other. Then I advanced to teaching the maids english. My badepapa (dadaji/father's father) used to always call me "teacherji", because I would grab a ruler and make him sit down and learn poems. Then the Principal of my 11th/12th walla school noticed my patience with little children, and how they would always listen to me. She called me to her office one day and very seriously told me to give teaching a thought. All these incidents flit through my mind every time I enter a class.

Well, life couldnt have been better. The principal is apparently very happy with my work, and I am over the moon. The children are adorable. There are some who keep doing their own thing and refuse to listen, but most of them are all bright-eyed when I walk in. The very first day, a little girl from class 4 walked up to me and said that I resembled her Masi (Aunt). Then another girl came and told me the same thing. Then another.. By the end of it all, the whole class had Masis that look like me! Then last Tuesday, another girl came up and handed me over a flimsy heart-shaped thing that she had made with her lunch foil. It felt as if she had taken out her own heart and given it to me.

Whom do I thank for these wonderful moments? The Dearest Lady, the Principal for having faith in my inexperienced soul, the children, my parents, myself...? I cannot begin and cannot end to explain how grateful I am to all these people. This is perhaps a new beginning...