How to.....

Our students have turned out to be quite the teachers here in Kadod! Recently, Priya and I read the story “The Bike Lesson” a Berenstein Bears classic. In the story, Papa Bear buys Little Bear a new bike and teaches him how to ride it through a series of lessons. After the 9th and 11th graders read and fully understood to story, we had them write and then present instructions for how to make a favorite food of theirs or how to play their favorite games in a step-by-step manner to teach their classmates. Here’s what they came up with!

How to Make Lemon Juice by Manali S. Prujapati

First squeeze 2 lemons. Put the juice into a cup. Add 1 glass of water to the juice. Add 4-5 spoons of sugar into the mixture. Now add a pinch of salt. Also add a pinch of cumin. Mix everything together. Put into a glass with ice. Serve chilled and enjoy!

How to Make Dal by Manisha N. Rathod

First, bring a dal cooker. Then put in water. Put the dal in the cooker. Put the cooker on the stove. Next turn on the stove. The dal will be done in half an hour. After the dal is cooked, put masala in the dal and mix with a spoon. Let the mixture boil on the stove. After a few minutes the dal is ready. Enjoy with rice or roti!

How to Play Cricket by Rinkesh Dhangar

I play cricket. There are eleven cricketers on each team. There are bowlers and all-rounder cricketers on the team. There are fifty overs in the match. In one over, there are six balls. There are two players playing and eleven players fielding. There are two umpires in the match. There is one captain and one coach on each team. One team wins a match. There are many people in the stadium watching the cricket match.

In other news, we also showed “The Wizard of Oz” to the 9th standard students of Kadod High School. It turned out to be quite a production as we attempted to get everything from the sound to the screen and projector ready so all the students could watch in the large Examination Room. All the students (especially the girls!) really enjoyed it and kept cheering when all the different characters started singing. They especially loved the witches character as well as the fairy. However, we’ve promised the boys that next time, we’ll show them a funny animated film!

Well that’s it for now! And please let us know if you have any recommendations for movies you think the kids would enjoy!

Vanisha

Jokes!

And now for some jokes created by our lovely 9th and 11th standard students:

Daddy’s Boiling by Jinita J. Gamit, Binal H. Patel and Twinkal J. Patel.

Little Anne’s father fell asleep on the sofa and began to snore. The child ran out into the corridor and shouted “Mummy, mummy, mummy. Come quickly….Daddy’s Boiling!.”

A Fisher’s Boat by Nazim
[Two people go in the boat on the river. Then there is a hole in the boast so water is coming into the boat.]
Fisher 1 [asking Fisher 2]: What are you doing?
Fisher 2: I’m making another hole in the boat.
Fisher 1: Why?
Fisher 2: Because in the first hole water comes in and from the second hole water goes out again.

Silly Raju by Pinal Suresh Dhimmer, Sumaiya Nasrudhakh Shaikh, and Manali Shashikant Prajapati

There was a man named Raju. One day he told his friend “I have broken an elephant’s leg and a horse’s leg.” His friend said, “You are so strong! What did you do next?” Raju responded, “Nothing. My father gave some money to the toy maker.”

No desks

Dear dedicated reader,

We were sent on a mission by the Foundation to visit other area schools in the hopes of finding partners for possible expansion.

The science by which Kadod High School was picked as the flagship school for the Foundation’s work was not exact: the Founder’s father went to this school and so we are here. However, the partnership’s success has depended largely on the willingness of the school leadership to let the organization try and fail with different initiatives and the principal’s cheerful willingness to put some clueless American teachers up in his guesthouse who merely speak English as their native language and have nominal teacher training.

The principal made the arrangements for other teachers to take our classes for two or three days so we could go visit some schools. He could not come on the first day, and so he sent Dhirinbhai, our friend in the computer lab, in his place.

After loading into the back of a typical hired Indian van, we drove out into the countryside. The sugar cane fields which dominate the landscape here flew by as the car bumped up and down along the (ostensibly) paved road.

We pulled up outside the arched gateway of a large tannish colored building. Inside, I could see the students in their blue checked uniforms: collared shirts for the boys and dresses for the girls. As they opened the gate and we drove inside, the students who were free in the schoolyard for recess followed our car and when finally came to a dusty stop, pressed their faces and hands up against the glass, peering inside to see who these strange foreigners were. I try not to write in clichés if I can help it, but this was a living one.

We stepped out of the van and the students crowded around us awkwardly. They stood and looked at us intently without saying anything. I looked awkwardly back at them. Some teachers materialized out of school building and started speaking to Dhirinbhai in a Gujarati which I couldn’t follow. Students appeared behind them lugging plastic chairs which they placed next to the car for us to sit down in. We hesitated, then sat.

“Anything you want to know,” Dhirinbhai told us, “they are ready to answer.”

The teachers, still standing at attention, waited for us to ask something.

After a long, awkward silence, I hesitantly asked a question. “How many students do you have here?” I could see plainly that it wasn’t very many as all of the students who weren’t crowding around us were sitting outside of the school building in neat lines, waiting to receive their free, government sponsored mid-day meal.

Dhirin relayed this is Gujarati and the teachers told us that there were 110 students at the school. We also discovered that they had 1st through 7th grade, but only had 5 teachers since the government pays for teachers based on the number of students, not the grades of students. Since each classroom needed to have its own teacher to teach all the subjects, they have to combine grades.

“It becomes even more difficult if someone leaves,” they said through Dhirin who translated, “because then we must combine further and the work for running the school becomes more.”

“Does this happen often?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said.

We were offered a tour of the facility, which we happily accepted. The tour began with the 6th standard classroom. The most striking feature of this classroom when we walked in was that there were no desks or even benches, which is what we have at Kadod High School. The students, it seemed, sat on the floor in neat rows and used their bookbags as elevated surfaces to put their books on while the teacher taught standing at the front of the room.

There were also no lights, as the electricity had been cut, as it often is here.The classroom had blackboards on all the walls on which diagrams of different concepts had been carefully drawn, by both students and instructors, the 6th grade teacher explained. We examined a neatly drawn and labeled microscope on the far left wall, followed next by a chart explaining the atomic make up of solids, liquids and gases. These students, I felt sure, had never seen an actual microscope. Knowing that, I wasn’t sure how to feel.

We were there to scope out the English program and the possibility of collaboration with the Foundation using their model of sending American teachers; however since the school only teaches English in 5th through 7th grade and since they only have English for 35 minutes a day with the same teacher that they have their other subjects for, it didn’t seem like there was much scope for partnership. It made me wonder: what kind of partnership would work for a school like this? What do they need? More staff? Equipment? What resources would be beneficial?

Teaching in a school with only chalk and a chalkboard to a room full of 65 students, I am becoming familiar with how little you actually need to create an environment of learning. But how much is necessary for the quality of an education to be satisfactory? For example, I believe that, for an aspiring young scientist in rural India, a diagram of a microscope is not enough. Students should learn about microscopes through actually using one. But the question becomes: is it enough to have one per class? Is it enough to have one for every five students? Should every student have one? If every student had one, would they be used? What about material for slides and samples to look at under the microscopes? Should these be chosen over, say, desks, if such a choice were even a possibility? Such a binary should never exist, but if some money were to come to a school such as this, it probably would.

Forget one laptop for every child (if you are familiar with this program): What about one desk for every child? What about one teacher per class?

Best,
Cat

Cloth, safety pins and petticoats

Dear dedicated reader,

Saris are the traditional uniform of the Indian school teacher; today, I was a traditional Indian school teacher.

Five and a half meters of precariously wrapped cloth, five safety pins and one airtight blouse are all that kept me from nakedness in front of my 240 students today. I can only guess at the evolution of this particular piece of Indian culture. In a place as famous for its cotton export and textile production as India, how else to best show off your wares than in a dress that showcases five and a half meters of said fabric on a (hopefully) beautiful woman?

The four of us planned to wear saris during the fast, but each day presented an insurmountable sari-wearing challenge: we were going somewhere outside the school, it was too hot, petticoats weren’t finished yet, etc. Somehow, however, this Wednesday became the target day for wearing our saris. After an early morning jog around the courtyard, we looked at each other and asked ourselves, “Do we really want to do this?” I’d love to say the answer was a resounding ‘YES’, but in reality it was more of a shrug and a hesitant nod.

Melissa and I struggled through putting on the blouses which hug so tight that breathing seems like something of a luxury, helping each other inch the skin tight sleeves up our American arms. After bringing the catches together and sighing (as best I could) with relief, I crinkled my nose as I looked at myself in the full length mirror. I was not, in my petticoat and top, the beautiful Bollywood vision that I’d hoped I’d be. Slightly discouraged, Melissa and I went to go bother Lathaben in the kitchen to see if she would be kind enough to help us wrap our saris, as neither of us knew how.

Lathaben laughed at us in our half dressed state and wordlessly knew our unspoken hopes. Returning with us to the bedroom, she carefully turned off the fan and turned to the long swath of red cloth that made up Melissa’s sari. After some time, Sejalben popped her head in to our bedroom. “Oh, saris!” she said. We had previously warned her that we might attempt said acrobatics on this day and I guess she had come to see if we were serious.

The process of wrapping the sari was a serious business: I tried to watch as Sejalben and Lathaben swiftly made the dozen or so pleats that would make the skirt with their experienced fingers, but to my untrained eye, the sequence of movements were difficult to follow, much less to memorize. This was draped and that was pleated and this was tucked and that was pinned and, voila! We had been wrapped, as the terminology goes.

Looking at myself again the mirror, I was surprised at how I’d been transformed. Melissa, similarly changed, turned to Sejalben. “How old were you when you learned to do this?” She asked her.

“Oh, in my B.Ed (Teacher Training) they taught a lesson on this.”

“Are you serious?” I asked her. I think Melissa and I had both assumed that this was like a mandatory childhood skill. But I was even more intrigued that they had taught a lesson this as part of her teacher training.

“We had to wear the sari everyday to B.Ed, so they taught us,” she said, matter of factly.

“To classes?”

“Yes,” she explained. Wow.

Saris pinned and movements practiced by walking the length of the room and pretending to write on the wall as if it were a chalkboard, we were ready to go to the lion’s den, er, teacher’s lounge. The teachers’ lounge is located on the other side of the school, and by this time students were streaming through the main gate heading to their classes as it was almost 10:40, time for school to start. It was the fashion equivalent of running the gauntlet. I had a small taste of what was to come as I waited in the doorway on our porch for Melissa to be ready to go. One of the 9^th standards students had come by to see Vanisha.

“Miss, is Vanisha ma’am ther—oh miss, you are looking very fine today.” (This, by the way, in Indian English is an appropriate, unoffensive thing for a 13 year old to say to a teacher. Intonation is everything.)

I smiled an embarrassed smile and thanked him, wishing Melissa would hurry up.

As we walked out of the gate of our house and into the courtyard, I tried to walk as quickly as my body wrapped in cloth would allow me to go. I could see students hanging around outside their classrooms, staring at us as we walked and some beginning to comment loudly. I tried to put on my most confident face, as if I was used to wearing a distant relative of the bed sheet as a dress everyday.

Having successfully faced the challenge provided by the varied terrain of one gravel courtyard, one flight of stairs and one hallway without mishap, I almost felt confident as we walked into the staff room. I braced myself, and with reason: the reaction was immediate.

“Oh! Saris!” The universal cry could be heard. I felt myself blush and I tried to look normal.

The other teachers were aflutter with questions: “Who has wrapped this for you?” “Do you like it?” “Which do you like better: A sari or a dress?” I answered each in kind and took my seat on one of the wooden benches at the side of the room. The attention continued. “Oh, you are both looking so beautiful today,” the teachers exclaimed as they made the okay sign and clicked their tongues, a Gujarati sign of approval.

“So, tomorrow – you all will wear American clothes, right?” I joked. They laughed.

The bell rang and it was time to go to class. I grimaced as I made my way to 11A. I would have given anything to have any other class first. I gritted my teeth, pasted a smile on my face and walked into the class.

“Oooooooooooooooooooooh Saaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrri…” cooed the entirety of the class.

I tried to look intimidating. “Please get out your books.”

I was interrupted. “Ma’am,” one of the girls called out, “you are looking so fine today!”

Looking good, feeling fine.

Best,
Cat

Mendhi Competition!

Last week Vanisha and I watched our very first mendhi competition! The students and teachers had been talking about this competition for days, but we had no idea what to expect when we walked to into the examination hall where it was being held. When we walked in, we were struck by how many students were participating - at least forty girls were carefully applying their best designs on the hands of their classmates.

After a quick scan, we saw two boys in the corner quietly drawing on the hands of another two boys. We had heard that boys participated last year, but we never thought we would see them putting mendhi on one another! Last year, a boy from our current Spoken English class won second place at this competition. Unfortunately, this year he forgot to bring mendhi.

After walking around and watching the students trying to finish their task, we decided to get our mendhi done as well! We sat down and were immediately surrounded by girls who asked us if they could put mendhi on our hands and arms. We eagerly agreed, and soon the students were drawing on us with the dark paste. Vanisha had both her arms and hands done, but I had to leave after one arm was finished, because I had to teach a class the following period. The designs ranged from simple ones that covered the wrist, palm, and fingers to ones that completely covered one's entire arm up to his or her elbow! We were so impressed with everyone's talent! Some designs took the full hour to complete while others were done in just twenty minutes!

Later that night, we took off the dried mendhi to uncover the designs that were left behind on our skin - they were so beautiful and dark! I hope I can get my other hand done soon!

Priya

Monkey….Monkeys…and More Monkeys!

So after my 5:00 pm Spoken English classes, the students always stay afterwards to tell me different stories about what’s going on in their lives. The boys were super excited early this week because Molly, one of my best friends from Stanford, was visiting me for a few days and I brought her to class last Monday. Even after class ended, the students continued asking both of us questions (in English of course!) about how we know each other and where we both live in the US.

Boys of my Spoken English class chit-chatting with me after-class

After a while, Molly left for our house and I was left amongst the herd of hyper 9th graders all talking to me at once. I suddenly caught a glimpse of two monkeys sitting on the roof of one edge of KHS. A few of the boys ran to get Molly as more and more monkeys came to join the ones sitting on the roof. Molly and I started screaming in excitement much to the amusement of all the 9th graders. Then the monkeys got tired of sitting on the roof and decided to climb down and run out of the school.

Naturally, the boys, Molly and I decided to follow them. As we all ran out of school passing the utterly confused watchman, we ran down a little path that leads to the Tapi River located right behind Kadod high school. As we looked to the left, we captured a glimpse of a few monkeys now sitting on a ledge of the roof of a nearby house. Unfortunately, the boys started yelling at them so they ran away once again in fear. Then one of the boys decided that he had to go purchase biscuits. He had the brilliant idea of enticing the monkeys with delicious Parle-G biscuits (a favorite of mine as well as that of the monkeys, or so I was told…). Unfortunately, right as Amir arrived with the biscuits, the monkeys ran away. So what did a bunch of rowdy 9th graders and their English teacher do? Chase after them once more of course!

The boys decided that the monkeys must now be near the roof of the Kadod library which is right down the path from the high school. After multiple times of trying to scare me to death and almost succeeding at that, the boys finally got me to go up the stairs of the Kadod library, a dusty room filled with Gujarati books and up to date newspapers in Gujarati, Hindi and English, to see the monkeys up close. As I slowly walked up with 2 boys holding my hands and others following closely behind me as if protecting me from any type of attack, a monkey sprinted up until it was about 2 feet away from us. We all shrieked and ran down the stairs into a safer place.

Some of the marvelous monkeys!

After some time, we got enough courage to walk up the stairs once again. This time, the kind librarian was standing at the top of the stairs with a stick, making sure the monkeys didn’t run into the library. The boys and I then darted up the stairs sprinting into the library. As I turned around, looking out onto the roof of the nearby building, I saw a family of about 7 monkeys playing around, scratching each other and relaxing amongst the falling electric wires. They were literally about 5 feet from where we were standing. The boys and I then, after being instructed by the Kadod librarian, went up yet another set of stairs onto the roof of the library and stared at the breathtaking views of the Tapi River and Kadod.

The gorgeous Tapi River, located right behind KHS!

After taking some pictures, we almost got attacked by another monkey and went screaming down two flights of stairs, running onto the rocky terrain outside Kadod HS.

An adventure I will truly never forget!

Vanisha

Keeping Discipline

Dear dedicated reader,

My methods of discipline since I’ve arrived here have become, by American standards, slightly unorthodox.

To frame what I’m about to say, I’d like to point out that while corporal punishment is technically illegal here in India, that is a mere, er, technicality. After all, as some (cynics) would say, the law is only good as its enforcement and the Indian legal system leaves something to be desired when it comes to swift recourse. To illustrate my point, we can look to a conversation we recently had with Dhirinbhai, one of the computer teachers here.

The interns have been taking 8th standard classes for the past three weeks. This arrangement was meant to be temporary until a new teacher was found to take these classes, though the “ten days” this was supposed to last has been stretched to “indefinitely”. For many students, this is their first exposure to English as they come to Kadod High School from other rural primary schools. Some teachers have had to start from the basic alphabet. Though from what I can see the interns have managed this with their other responsibilities beautifully, this comes with definite challenges, and one of those has been discipline. Priya in particular has been having extreme trouble with one unruly class of 60 boys who refuse to respond to cajoling, bribery, yelling or threats of the principal. The monitor, or the student whose most basic responsibility in a class is to tell other kids to “shut up” is the worst of the lot, talking while Priya is talking and being unstoppably distracting.

Priya finally said something to Dhirinbhai about the situation to see what he recommended. His response was to come to her class and scream at the students continuously for five minutes and then to pull two students out of the class and leave with them. She didn’t know where they were going, but she had 58 still rambunctious 8th standard boys to worry about so she wasn’t overly concerned. Of course, as soon as he left, the boys were just as disrespectful as they had been previously, except that there were two less to add to the general mayhem.

Later, a despondent Priya spoke to Dhirinbhai about where he had taken the two boys. One is from his village outside of Kadod and takes a ride home with him everyday on his motorcycle.

“Oh, I beat him with my belt,” Dhirinbhai responded casually. Uh, come again?

Now, I have not beaten any children. But, when faced with the job of keeping a room of sixty children quiet and attentive enough to teach them anything, I find that I must employ tactics that I would never resort to in the US.

First, I constantly exploit the students’ absolute and utter terror of the principal. His name is evoked in response to any overwhelming noise problem. This creates the appropriate atmosphere of fear; you know, the kind that is conducive to learning.

Second, the fixed stare (a favorite from my class in Boston) is remarkably effective here for any individual noise problem. Students here, unlike some of my students in Boston, are exceptionally aware of where the teacher is looking at any given time and ‘the teacher look’ creates a gratifyingly instant response. Sometimes it is so effective that the offending student will immediately volunteer the next time I ask for someone to read or the answer to a question in order to get back in my good graces.

It is for repeat offenders (thankfully few) that the guns come out. I am reminded of a time that I was doing my French homework in my history class and my history teacher, Mr. Wrangham, slammed a book down so hard on my desk that I almost fell out of my chair. Believe me, I never tried that trick again. I can understand his frustration: I simply confiscate any books or materials that are not written in English here, but have used the slamming book trick at least once in all my classes.

Another favorite has become the “stand at the front of the room with your arms crossed”. I don’t really know why this is so embarrassing; if I had tried this particular punishment in the US, my students would have reveled in the attention and probably created unspeakable amounts of problems. However, any student here called for this particular punishment is so ashamed that they meekly stand at the front, looking at the ground. I know other teachers make them stand the whole period; I can’t bear it and usually let them sit down after 10 minutes.

I have never sent a student to the principal. At least, not yet. Some of my 11th graders are really asking for it. I am aggressive when it comes to test-taking: if I catch any students talking or copying, their test paper goes in the trash. This breaks my heart, even though my grades probably don’t count for anything, because the students here study really hard and taking their test paper tears me up. However, I am incredibly clear about this both before and during the test, so as much as I hate it, they have no excuse for not following the rules.

It absolutely amazes me, however, that as difficult as keeping sixty students in line might seem, it is a far simpler task than keeping my 12 students in Boston on task.

Which leads me to wonder: Why?

Best,
Cat

An American Visitor!

Last Friday, Vanisha had a friend from Stanford come visit us at KHS! Molly, en route to Andhra Pradesh to work in an orphanage, stopped by to stay with us for five days. Since this was her first time visiting India, we took her shopping in Surat to buy her first Indian clothes! She had a blast, purchasing several outfits and even a sari! It was also her first time riding an Indian bus – what a brave girl! The ride took two hours each way, and the bumps we went over made us jump in our seats every five minutes. However, she took everything in stride and even took pictures during the roller coaster ride!

When she arrived at the school, the news spread like wildfire that a new American had arrived in town. All the students eagerly crowded around our house, shouting questions about the new “teacher,” – "Where are you from?" "Are you our new teacher?" Molly, through many gestures and head movements, mimed that she would only be here for five days. The students, disappointed but satisfied, waved good-bye and headed home.

Five days went by in a flash, and suddenly the car pulled up to our house to take Molly back to the Surat airport. We waved her good-bye amid many hugs and promises to see each other soon.

Birthday Surprise

Dear dedicated reader,

‘Happy Birthday’ may be the most sung song in the world, but that doesn’t mean the traditions will be the same.

By coincidence, both Priya and Vanisha’s birthdays came within three days of each other this past week and as a result, the students were all aflutter with whispering and ‘secret’ plans. Vanisha’s birthday came the same day as the principal’s son, Jaydeepbhai, so we were invited over to their house for cake.

We sat in the living room as the lights were turned out and the candles were lit and an Indian English version of Happy Birthday was sung. The cake was beautiful: chocolate with roses and two lovely candles which spelled out Jaydeepbhai’s age, 26. As they cut the cake, Jaydeepbhai took the first piece to his father and the principal opened his mouth obligingly to receive it. He then leaned down to touch his feet and his father blessed him by touching his head. Jaydeepbhai then took another small piece of cake to his mother and fed her as well. Next, to my surprise, he turned to Vanisha who was sitting next to him on their couch and fed her a piece, and then Melissa, and then, me. I opened my mouth to receive it and laughed as the cake got on my face.

Priya and Vanisha laughed at my reaction. “I forgot you guys haven’t seen this before,” Priya said, smiling. “Indians cut the cake before dinner and then everyone eats it by feeding it to each other.” No plates necessary, I thought. Very neat.

For dinner, Sejalben had made a special South Indian treat: Idli, spongy round cakes, over which you drizzle sambar, a soupy sauce and along with mashed coconut. This is possibly one of my favorite dishes ever, so I was delighted. For dessert, we had gulab jamun: small fried balls soaked and served in a bath of clear, sweet syrup. Instant diabetes in a bowl and absolutely yummy, of course.

The birthday celebration did not stop there. All week, the students had been asking me to help them write English cards for Ms. Priya and Ms. Vanisha and the denoument of their plans came on Friday. As Priya and I approached the room for her spoken English class after school, some of the girls in her class came running out. “No, madam, no!” They cried. “Outside game! Outside game!”

Priya looked dubious until the girls pulled me aside and said, “Madam, you can keep a secret?” I nodded. “We have a surprise for Ms. Priya and it is not ready yet.”

I looked at Priya. “Outside game?” She smiled and shrugged.

For ten minutes or so we played Kabardi, a game which the girls taught me that involves boundaries and tagging and dragging girls over a line… honestly I wasn’t that clear on the rules but it looked like they were having a good time.

All of a sudden, a call came from the closed doors to the classroom into the courtyard and the girls went running, shouting, “Ms. Priya, come, Ms. Priya, come!”

I grabbed the camera and followed them. What ensued can really best be described through a photo, and so I have provided one. The boys said to me, “Move aside, move aside!” as they pulled the string on some party poppers which showered the entering Priya with golden glitter and filled the room with smoke. The students cheered and shouted, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRIYA TEACHER!” A cake had been brought by one of the students and the room was decorated with balloons which had been filled with candy and hung on strings. The cake was cut and the students insisted that the first piece come to me, so Priya obligingly fed me just as Jaydeepbhai had done.

Arms and fingers were digging into the rapidly cut cake and all were gesturing towards Ms. Priya’s mouth as she struggled to fit one piece of cake in her mouth after another as the students fed her. Oh god, she’s going to choke, I thought as I gleefully documented the whole thing through photographs with Priya’s camera. The students who were finished with Priya, however, were not satisfied and I suddenly found arms with hands holding cake being thrust towards my own mouth. It was a short time before I myself was similarly overwhelmed. The students also added an additional element: they would wipe the remaining icing on their hands on your face after feeding you. Soon, my whole face was covered in a sugary coating of chocolate and vanilla.

All of a sudden, however, a hush fell over the room as if a dark cloud had covered the sun. I turned to see the principal standing in the doorway. He began to scold the students quickly in Gujarati and Priya and I looked at each other, somber and chastened. When he finished yelling, he turned to us and said kindly, “I have told them that they should not carry on in this way.” He then turned and left.

After his departure, there was an uncomfortable silence, but after such a sugar infusion, it was not long before the party was going in full force once again. We tried vainly to make the students be quiet, saying that “Sir” would come again if they did not get calm. The sugar was pumping through their vaisn and it was impossible, however, to calm them down. After finally getting them to sit down, a talent show was organized and a Hindi film sing along commenced. All in all, an enjoyable day.

Priya and I were still worried, however, about the reaction of the principal. During the Hindi sing-a-long, I was sent to speak with him. I approached the porch hesitantly, looking apologetic. “I’m so sorry,” I began. “We didn’t know the students had been planning such a big party.”

“It is okay, it is not your fault,” the principal said, smiling at me. His face then turned serious. “But, it is tradition here, we do not celebrate birthdays. Because, you see, some of the students, they are very poor, and they cannot bring anything and the rich students can bring. So, even my birthday we are not celebrating because of this thing.” I nodded. It was a very good point, and not one that had previously occurred to me. “Also,” he continued, “it does not make a good impression. If someone is coming by the school from the outside, and they are hearing this screaming and yelling, they will think, ‘this school has no discipline, there is nothing inside,’ and this will not be good for the school. So we must not have this and must have discipline.” I nodded again. Another very good point.

I apologized once more as I could hear the loud singing issuing from the door of the classroom and inwardly cringed a little. He had made two good points and I felt stupid for not having thought of them before. There was nothing I could have done to stop them, but still, it was hard to be caught in such insensitivity.

I think he saw my face, because once again he assured me that it was all right. “You did not know, it is okay,” he said, reassuringly.

I smiled and went back to the party. When I arrived at the door, it was just time to leave.

“One kiss, madam?” Some of the girls asked me as I arrived and they were leaving.

“Um…” Too late. They had already made a line and one by one, gave me a kiss on the cheek. I awkwardly accepted this affection before retreating to the safety of our house.

Happy Birthday indeed, Ms. Priya and Ms. Vanisha. Very cute.

Best,
Cat

Autobiographies cont.!

Introducing….Nazim Khan

My name is Nazim. I am studying in 11th-B. I am very happy with my friends. My father’s name is Nasir Khan. He is a tailor. My mother’s name is Fatima ben. She is a house wife. I have only one brother. I have no sisters. My grandparents also live with me. I enjoy the wonders of my life.
I was born on 6th January 1993. I liked to play with my friends. I was born in Bardoli in the Jyot Hospital. I studied in 10th-E last year. My brother was born on 25th March 1996. He was a funny and naughty boy. He studied in standard 7th-B last year. I was good in my little life.

I will be a Mechanical Engineer when I grow up. I will live in Kadod. I will live with my lovely wife. Also, I will live with my children, my father and my mother. I will drive every car like Scorpio, Swift, and every bike life Pular, Apache, Hayabusa, etc. I will have cars and bikes. I will live in my house.

Introducing…Prinkal M. Chaudhari My name is Prinkal. I am 15 years old. I live in Kadod. I study in 11th C. Science is my favorite subject. My mother’s name is Arunaben. My father’s name is Mukeshbhai.. I have one brother. My brother’s name is Nikunj. My brother is 12 years old. My father is a doctor. My mother is a nurse.

I was born on 17th August 1993. I was born in Mandvi. I liked to watch TV. My favorite food was Pani Puri. My favorite game was Kho-Kho. I was in standard 10-B last year.

I will be a teacher. I will live in Bardoli. I will drive a Scooti. I will live with my family. I will have a dog in my house. I will have one kid.

Autobiographies continued!

Introducing…Jinita J. Gamit I am a girl. My name is Jinita. I am in standard 9. My favourite movies are Bal Ganesha, Hunuman and Harry Potter. My father’s name is Jivanbhai. He is a conductor. My mother’s name is Jayanaben. She is a nurse. My brother’s name is Gaurav. He is in standard 12 Science. My family is very happy.

I was born on 23rd April 1995 in Masad. My native place was Balpur. My brother was born on 1st April 1992 in Bardoli. When I was little I liked to eat ice-cream. I also liked to read books. My mother and father were born on 1st June in 1976. I was in standard 8-B last year.

When I grow up, I will be an astronaut. I will live in Vyra. I will drive a Scooty. I will live with my family. I will have a dog and a horse. I will live in a house. I will have two kids.

Introducing…..Sneha Shah

My name is Sneha. I was born on 1st February. I liked pictures of nature scenes. My favourite game was Hide and Seek. My favourite actor was Ekbal Khan. My favourite actress was Sonal Chauhan. My hobby was helping my parents. I played with my friends. I liked my family and my big, happy house.

My father’s name is Hareshbhai. My mother’s name is Parulben. She is a housewife. I have a sister. Her name is Dipti. I have two brothers. Their names are Anish and Nikhil. My favourite game is Hide and Seek. I like my family: my parents, my brothers and my sister. My favourite actor is Ekbal Khan and my favourite actress is Sonal Chauhan.

Everybody has an ambition in life and even I have one. My ambition is that someday I will become the biggest lawyer in India. I will always fight for the justice of the people. I will always try working for the betterment of the people of India. I will live in Bardoli. I will live with my parents and my brothers and sister. I will drive an Activa.

Autobiographies!

Hey everyone!

So here's a sample of some of the Autobiographies the students have written in our Spoken English classes. We hope you enjoy them!

Introducing…Yashpalsinh Kishoresinh Rana

My name is Yashpal. I am studying in standard 9-F. I am very happy when I am with my friends. My father’s name is Kishoresinh. He is a farmer. My mother’s name is Kumudben. She is a housewife. I have one brother. His name is Raviraj. He is studying in standard 7-B. He is twelve years old. My grandparents also live with me. I am fourteen years old.

I was born on 25th January 1995. I liked to play with my friends when I was little. My friends were very happy with me. I enjoyed my little life. I was born in Kim in Mamta Hospital. My brother was born on 31st January 1997. He was very funny when he was a little boy. My brother was a very naughty boy. I studied in standard 8-H last year. My brother studied in 6th-B last year. I was good in my little life. I was very fat in my little life.

When I grow up, I will be an ITI Engineer. I will live in Surat. I will drive a Honda City, I will live with my wife, my child and my parents. I will have a dog, a lovebird, and a parrot in my house.

Lights. Camera. Action!

This past week has been extremely hectic here in Kadod.

At about 5:00 am early Monday morning, I was woken up by Cat and Melissa. I was told that I was to replace Cat (who was sick) and travel to Vidyanagar with Principal Mahida and Melissa. We had a meeting with at the H.M. Patel Institute of English Training and Research in Vidyanagar about implementing the SCOPE (Society for Creation of Opportunities through Proficiency in English) program at KHS. ). After a 5 hour drive on the rocky roads of Gujarat during which we made many stops to meet the Principal’s brothers and sisters along the way, we finally made it to Vidyanagar, the education capital of Gujarat! This town is amazing—it was filled with students of all ages going to and from school. In Vidyanagar, we spoke with R. P. Jadeja (Director) and Surendra Gohil (teaching faculty) about the SCOPE program and its possible implementation. We also learned a little bit about the history of the Institute: it was started in 1965 by H.M. Patel, who also played a role in the Partition of India. Although there was a lot of opposition to the creation of the institute in the beginning because people did not see the worth of English on Gujarat, especially after British rule, Patel gradually gained support. The Institute is now one of the only Institutes of Advanced studies in Education and English in India. The SCOPE Program, which is an initiative by the Gujarat government, is a program through which students can gain teacher training in English. We were told that it is extremely useful for those planning on going abroad in the future.

Back at school, we’ve been working on a Dialogue Project for the past week in our Spoken English classes. Students worked hard on Tuesday and Wednesday, writing their own skits in which each member of the group played an important role in the scenes they portrayed. On Friday, it was finally time to see what everyone had come up with! All the groups performed their dialogues for the class….and they were truly hilarious!!!! In my all boys 5:00 pm class, one of the groups performed a scene that took place at a post office. Another group had created a restaurant dialogue; one student, who was a customer, ordered some food from the waiter at a restaurant….only to find a mosquito in his pizza! Luckily, the manager, gave the customer another pizza! In another scene in Priya’s class, students put on a robbery scene. These students are seriously amazing actors and actresses. I was so proud of them and the show they had put on for the class!
The Bank Scene! A Visit to the Doctor's Office!
In other news, we also planned a little 4th of July party in our home. We invited the Principal Mahida, his wife, their sons Yashpalbhai and Jaydeepbhai, and Yashpalbhai’s wife, Sejalben, for dinner and after-dinner festivities! In order to bring a little of America to Kadod, we bought American-style Sour Cream and Onion chips to serve as appetizers. We also bought cheese (Amul cheese that is….), and tomatoes and bread to make little sandwiches. Cat and Melissa even made flags and “Happy 4th of July” signs to decorate our living room! After our guests arrived, we ate the appetizers and chatted. We then ate a delicious meal of Chinese Manchurian and noodles that had been prepared for us. After we had finished eating, we went outside to set off the fireworks we had bought earlier in the day. Even though it had rained all day long and it was windy and wet, we eventually managed to light the sparklers and fireworks! It was so much fun! Even the hostel boys came out to see what all the commotion was about! The celebrations were a great end to the week and we were so glad that the party we’d been planning for days worked out so well!

OK well school just ended and students are all running out of classes in every direction like caged animals that have just been let loose! Spoken English class is just about to start….so until next time!

Vanisha

Our Fun Weekend!

Hi everyone!

Last week Vanisha introduced herself and told you a little bit about our work lives here in Kadod, so now it’s my turn to tell you a little bit about our personal lives! But first, let me introduce myself: My name is Priya Garg, and I graduated from Emory University this past May where I majored in International Studies and minored in Spanish. I became very interested in the Nanubhai Education Foundation because of my prior experience in teaching English to immigrants through a program called Project SHINE during my college years.

So this past weekend was one filled with discovery, walking, and sodas. On Saturday, Vanisha and I, along with Melissa and Cat, wandered around Kadod in order to find interesting sights and to get out of the house for a bit. We walked to the famous mango tree where some of the teachers at the high school had taken Melissa and Cat earlier in the week to get mangoes for our home. After looking at the tree and taking some pictures, we continued on to the hospital which was further down the road. We walked right up to the front door, but then stood about as we were unsure whether we were allowed in or not. We quickly decided that it was too hot to stand in the heat and decided to walk back onto the main street; once there, we decided to walk down even further as the street leading away from Kadod was extremely shady and we were quite hot! All four of us walked down that road for about 2 kilometers, looking at the scenery and occasionally getting scared by stray dogs or goats that would come into our path. Finally, after a long walk down that road, we decided to turn around and visit Rajasthan, the most famous ice cream parlor in Kadod. I can’t tell you how amazing it was to relax under a fan and eat delicious mango ice cream after such a long walk!

After we finished eating our quickly melting ice cream, we decided to visit the public garden, which was very close to the parlor. However, once we got there, we realized that the garden was not yet open to the public! After taking a few pictures from the road, we decided to continue on down the road to see what else we could find. Cat had mentioned there was a temple nearby, so we set out to find it and pay our respects. However, we never found the temple! We walked further and further down the road, but no temple was to be seen! Finally, we decided to turn around both because of our mounting disappointment and because of my feet: I was wearing flip flops that were rubbing my feet raw and I desperately wanted to get some new shoes! We walked home slowly to accommodate my injuries, and lo and behold! We found the temple! We became very excited, but then we came across another problem – we couldn’t figure out how to reach it from the road! We finally decided to admire it for a bit from where we were, and then headed back to town, our home, and my stash of Band-Aids.

The next day, some of the boys from Vanisha and my spoken English classes came to our house to take us for a tour of Kadod. We were really excited that the boys were taking us out, and we quickly gathered our things and headed for the door. We had been taken on a tour by some girls a few weeks earlier, so we were hoping they would show us something new. The first place the boys took us to was the greenhouse here in Kadod! We were so happy with this wonderful surprise! The greenhouse was huge, filled with hundreds of Berber flowers of different colors – pink, white, red, orange, and others! We took tons of pictures and then continued on our tour.

Next, the boys took us through a neighborhood where we ended up at one of their houses, Amin’s. There, his family warmly welcomed us in, and his cousin offered to put mendhi, or henna, on our hands. I eagerly stepped forward and she put some of the most beautiful designs on my hands! Melissa and then Cat had their mendhi done as well; Vanisha decided to get her done later, so it would be fresh for a wedding she is planning to go to in a few weeks.

Now, while we were extremely happy to get our mendhi done, we came across some hilarious difficulties as well! First, Amin’s family insisted that we drink some Limcas they had bought for us, but it was very difficult to hold the bottles with our hands still wet! Then, after Amin’s house, the boys lead us to at least four other houses, where all the families insisted we drink sodas as well! We finally begged the last house to forgive us this once, but we could not drink any more sodas because we were so full! The family graciously let us off the hook, but made us promise to visit again soon.

When we finally came back home, we waited for about an hour longer, and then scraped the dried mendhi off our hands to unveil the most beautiful designs we had ever seen! Melissa, Cat and I were so happy with our newly decorated hands! We decided then and there that we would get it done again as soon as these designs faded!

Ok, well that’s it for now! Please come back soon for more posts!

Best,
Priya