I spent the day at Madhi HS Lyndi and Kirsten. I had the opportunity to see the Nanubhai fellows in action. I attended several different classes throughout the day. I went to the Spoken English class with Kirsten where the students created colorful paper ornaments, and they made Christmas cards to give to teachers throughout the school. I had fun assisting Kirsten and interacting with the kids. They were ecstatic to paint and color. The kids at these schools do not have the option to be creative, or think outside the box. Each student is expected to perform a certain way in their academics and there is little room for creativity. I could see that when students would copy one another on their greeting cards. Kirsten played Christmas carols on her laptop for the kids while they worked. It was a fun class. I thought it was excellent to meet bilingual children and speak to them in both English and Gujarati. I also had the chance to travel to the nearby English Medium school with Lyndi, where we watched the tiny kids eat lunch. They were so adorable. They had the nicest plaid, navy uniforms. Some carried mini tiffins full of Indian food, and other had plastic containers. Each of them sat down and sometimes exchanged items. The kids swarmed Lyndi with warmth and questions. I was the mystery person, and everyone wanted to know what my father’s name was. (to identify where I am from) The students were much quieter at this school than the Gujarati Medium school. They sat down and listen attentively and actively participated in the courses. Lyndi had a simple lesson plan for the day. She would read the 12 days of Christmas story to the children. Everyone enjoyed it. The best part of all of the classes throughout the day was when they sang 'We wish you a merry Christmas'. That was the best. You can imagine Indians pronouncing their "w's". It sounded so funny. As you tell them how to pronounce it properly, it seemed like they wanted to try harder to pronounce it incorrectly. It was odd. I felt like the ascent was kind of fake? If the kids really tried, they could pronounce the words just like me, Lyndi, and Kirsten. I wish they would have tried harder. It did add character. I was so impressed by the openminds, and the Christmas parties at the schools.
In the evening, everyone has something they want to do, whether it’s run in the fields, prep for the next day, or in my instance, each morning and night at 7 am and 7 pm the temple in front of the flat that the Fellows live in, conducts aarti. Aarti is a song that is sung to Goddess Durga. This prayer lasts about 15 minutes and is concluded with an offering of Prasad (food blessed by God). So I decided to venture out into the darkness to the brightly lighted temple that had blaring music. I entered to only find three other people inside with the priest. I was surprised that a village that has a lot of people in town would not come out of their own and walk down the road to take Aarti. I say this because in the America, you do it at home at your alter, or drive out to the temple. I enjoyed my moment in the temple. It had been over two years since I had taken Aarti. ( After my move to NYC, I have been unable to find a garba to attend, a temple to become a member of, and overall, lost my beliefs). This was a lovely experience. The power of the song was a new energy moving through me.
Another fun thing I got to do in Bajipura was take a walking tour with Drew. He was an excellent host. He showed me the different houses, styles of infrastructure, and the dairy farm. He showed me the house made of mud, and how it was so clean. He told me about “Patel Street”, where all of the Patels live. I learned about the NRIs that were in town. I saw the migrant workers and their tents set up in the distance. As well as a few of them washing clothes in the river. Drew also mentioned that many different religious groups were in the area, and had places of worship. For example, just down the road was a mosque and often you could hear their call to prayer. Drew also mentioned that there were church groups nearby. He said it was nice to see everyone living amongst each other.