Shoshanablank’s Weblog

India is going great. Really great. No one told me that we would have so much interaction with the people here. But two days this week we have been immersed into conversations with different types of Indians. I’ve learned a lot and have seen a lot and I just want to briefly describe it.

OK, so on Friday we visited the Women’s Christian College. The first group we talked to was a first year microbiology class. We asked them about their future plans and how they liked college so far. Their English was great and they showed us some great places to visit in Chennai. And they have intermural sports at their college too, so cool! This is just inspiring because not many females participate in sports here. One girl even taught me some traditional Tamil Nadu dance moves. After that class left, we talked to some girls from the third (and last) year in college, It surprised me how many of these girls wanted to go on in school after their bachelor’s degree; I am so proud of them! As a typical biology student would, one of the girls gave us her powerpoint presentation on placenta. Despite their Indian apparel, these college students were very similar to American students.

Yesterday we had a day full of meeting new people and experiencing the culture. It all started when we traveled to an old age home nearby ICSA. This old age home is different because it is for the impoverished elderly. We took a tour of the facility and then met about 30 of the residents there. Some of them shook our hands and said “Good morning”, but many of them also put their hands together at their chest and said “Vanakkum”. Some of the women took our faces in their hands and then put their hand on our forehead and then cheeks. Some sort of blessing or something? One of the women took me on her own little tour, past another woman that makes purses with beautiful cloth patterns and sells them. Then I went to the arts and crafs room where one of the volunteers told me about the dances that some of the elderly perform on special occassions such as birthdays. It makes me so happy that people who have faced such dire conditions for most of their life (conditions we can’t even imagine from a U.S. perspective) can retire to a home like this one, and enjoy a few years of happiness.

I talked to a lady there named MaryPaul, (or at least that’s how it sounded). See my picture with her. She told me that she was once married but her husband was not a good man (for what reason I couldn’t quite understand, beating or gambling probably) so she eventually divorced him and now lives a much happier life. Divorcing in India is still a rare occurrence, and seeing as how old MaryPaul is, she must have done so when it was really looked down on. She told me that she had one daughter who was working and married but did not have children. I told her about my plans in India and when I was saying goodbye she started asking me to stay for lunch. I told her I couldn’t, as we had a busy schedule today, so she asked about tomorrow. I said I was really sorry, but I probably wouldn’t be coming back. I think she understood, but I could tell that she never ever gets visitors. It was heart wrenching to leave her.

Next we had a lecture on social disparities and after lunch we went to visit a daycare that the chiurch provides free of charge for children from the slums (around 2 and 3 years of age). The children were SOOOOOO cute. See the picture for proof, they’re the babies in the green outfits. They were just waking up from their nap when we came. Their parents picked them up by 4pm, and we say on of the little ones (maybe almost 2 years old) in her fathers arm while he rode his bicycle with the other hand. Wow, that takes skill.

Next we went to a slum. A slum in India is where the very poor live. It is not uncommon to be poor in India; 70% of the population lives below the poverty line. The slum had stray dogs and chickens runnign around. Also half naked babies and women making flower necklaces. The people live in little cement shelters about 9 sq. feet in area. So basically they spend most of their time outside, with the elements. This slum was special because it had a women’s self-help group that was committed to educating their children. We were welcomed by these women with yellow sandalwood goo on our cheeks and a red bindi smeared slightly above the space between our eyes. We all sat and watched as four little girls performed a very fun dance for us and then two early teen girls did a traditional Indian dance.

After the dance performances, we had a discussion with the women of the slums, via our translator. They asked us questions like “We hear students in America also work. How do you have time for both work and study?”  “What are some of the problems that America faces?” and “The cost of living in India is high, what is it like in the US?”. We asked them about their hopes for their children, what they do each day, and how long they have lived in the slums. We got answers like “That my child can have an education and work in  an office” “basket weaving” and “20 years”.

After this discussion we had a huge playtime/ photo session with the children. They went crazy each time we took a picture of them. This one little boy wanted to be in every picture just to see himself on the screen afterwards. These little boys were so hyped up with energy, pushing others out of the picture so that there could be a picture just of them. Conclusion: the energy level of 6 year old boys is the same regardless of country or economic class.

Well, that’s the end of my interactions this week. I have a lot more about Chennai to write, but I will save that until next time (probably within a few days). I can only sit in this public internet place for so long.

P.S. i haven’t written any postcards yet because I can’t find them. But i will soon. I promise.

P.S.S. Here’s my address from Sept 20th through October 30th (ie:start mailing me now):

Shoshana Blank

C/O Ms. Pippa Mukherjee

Kodaikanal International School

Post Box 25

Kodaikanal 624 101

Tamil Nadu

SOUTH INDIA