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Gifting is an important part of Indian weddings. As the Tiaya-ji,
wife of the elder brother of the groom's father, I've already been gifted a beautiful pale green
embroidered sari. Other relatives up and down the line will also receive gifts, hotel bills will
be paid and restaurant bills taken care of. But not all the giving is to relatives or others connected
to the wedding. On any festive occasion it is customary to feed and gift children from orphanages as
if they were part of one's family.
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My sister-in-law Neelam is a teacher at a public school (we would call
them private, what we call public they call government). Across the street from where she works is the
Government School for the Blind. She often stops by the school after her own teaching day and donates
her time to read books aloud to the children or record books on tape for them. Today she decided to
feed the whole school (about 250 children) samosas (potato pielets) and laddu (sweets).
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Her closest ties at the school are with one group of youngsters taught
by a friend of hers. They recognize her voice as soon as she speaks. "Ma'am! Ma'am! Come sit by me
Ma'am! I'll sing you a song Ma'am!" Apparently my sister-in-law 'charges' for her visits by requests
for songs. Their strong, vigorous young voices ring out in a patriotic song. These kids are good!
We should have imported them to the pooja.
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Later we go to the cafeteria and hand out our treats. "Thank you, Ma'am",
they each say, delighting Neelam. She says her own students across the road would never be bothered to
say thank you and can not even come close to these children in sweetness and manners.
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For me this is a wonderful afternoon. Firstly, I am very relaxed as my
white hair and pink skin do not draw the constant stares I usually deal with. Secondly, I am a retired
Special Needs teacher myself and the programs here fascinate me. Lastly, there is a young chap who has
figured out I'm a soft touch and has snuggled and schmoozed his way to three samosas and three laddus.
He would have scored four if we didn't have other wedding chores to do and turned over the distribution
of the rest of the food to the staff.
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The place fascinats me. Typical of India, as I experience it, wonderful
things exist simultaneously and intertwined with horrible things. They have computer assisted learning
modules where a printed page can be scanned and reformatted into a verbal form. There are ramps
between floors rather than steps. There is also a jagged, broken window on the ramp, something that
scares the heck out of me because here, fingers are eyes. The play equipment, of which there isn't much
of, is old, rickety, and rusting and in the middle of rubble and junk.
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Through all of this the children do as children do: run and laugh and
play. Hopeful and heartbreaking....my India.
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Visiting the Government School for the Blind
