Im sorry for being late in writing to you....Just have been too caught up with things....Life’s tough in this city... but then it came by choice so i don’t regret it....Everytime I feel down I remember Bazz Luhrmann’s video Sunscreen...for all of you who havnt please check it out.....There is a line in that song – Live in Southern California once but leave before it makes you soft, Live in New York City once but leave before it makes you hard....I think Pune made me soft and now Mumbai is making me hard.....
Before i tell you about whats been up in school...I checked out the night life in Mumbai....clubs all over the city open till 5 am....i went to 2 over the weekend....and also checked out the beach near my house....Mumbai has dirty beaches and whose to blame but us!
Anyway, the last week has been my best week in school so far....Alot of kids in my class have started responding and have picked up counting....Iv become more positive about things and enjoy classes instead of taking it too seriously....Learning can be fun...i always knew this but have finally realised it....
Here are the small incidents that made me smile last week.....
- When Kamraan invited me over to his place and was excited when I finally did go with him...
- When Saif held my hand throughout the 30 minute walk to his place, jumping over puddles, pushing sheep out of his Didi’s way to show her his cute little hut...
- When Saif’s Mom told me that he hated going to school last year but now he drags them to drop him to school
- When Shehzaad finally figured out that 75 comes after 74 and the counting pattern...(even though this just lasted a day)
- When Kaif and Raza started responding in class and sat quietly and answered every now and then....Whereas they would sleep in class otherwise...N i mean literally!
- When Zheenat told my co-teacher Namita that hearing stories from Didis is like her Mum telling her stories at home...
- When Faiyan said that the community leader or “neta”(in his words) were there to make gutters and thats it
- When Simran got me a pen out of her pocket money....and said its because she likes me...
- When the class started using the words “Thank you” everytime they took something from me...
- When Kamraan learnt how to say “May I go to toilet” properly...that is the favourite question of my class right now...
- When Irfan jumped to answer at every opportunity to get points for his team....
- When the class randomly started cheering for every person who stood up to answer
- When one day I walked into class and saw everyone cleaning up on their own without Didi telling them to...(see attached photo)
I don’t know how to describe my feelings at everyone of these moments....Small things like these make life worth living all over again...Satisfaction is an understatement when it comes to explaining what teaching gives me...
I also visited the houses of Kaif and Raza (they are twins)....Im attaching a picture of their community...They live in a small hut with tinned roof without electricity..people in the house – grandmother, their mother, father, one elder brother and a toddler sister....raza suffers from a calcium deficiency because of which his legs hurt and there are days when he is unable to walk...yet he walks 40 minutes to get to school....Sometimes I wonder how can i ask these kids to dream about big things when i know their condition back home...but then i realise its unfair if they are not allowed to dream...a guest lecturer at TFI once said – you can have all the excuses in the world and blame that things are not ok with you and thats why you couldn’t achieve something but then its still you who couldn’t do it...no one else is losing anything....and so i would want my kids to dream and do their best no matter what the conditions are like....
Another visit was to Kamraan’s place...3 brothers and the 4th one on its way to the world....Thankfully his family is a little better off as their Dad runs a very small kirana store....
I also went to Yasmin’s house....12 yr old...finished clases upto 6th Standard in Urdu medium now in 2nd standard in English medium....her mother abandoned her and her siblings when she was 6....the father doesn’t live with them either....an aunt takes care of her.....she bunks school alot....is reprimanded at home all the time...what do i do in situations like these? How do i explain to the child that she is not to be blamed for what her parents did to her....
The last visit was to Saif’s house....he was super excited and offered me biscuits and water when i went to his place....His house is half the size of my room....and he walks half an hr to gt to school everyday....whoever said our ancestors walked miles to get to school.....these kids are still doing it....
Namita and i took 4 kids to Crossword on Saturday as an incentive for having full attendance...A friend of mine dropped us so they also got a chance to sit in a car....they were so happy and lolling all over the kids section trying to check out books with pictures and asking questions about things they saw...I so knew what they felt like....same feeling I had when I was gifted my first book – Secret Seven by my uncle....
So that was one more week at school between running for trainings, making charts and worksheets...
I forgot to mention we conducted the Diagnostic tests for my class....Math average is 13 whereas English is 3-4.....believe me these are just numbers the situation is worse...But I know one day, some day...they will get it!
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