Divali

Divali is quite a crazy time in Delhi, its probably the biggest festival they have alongside Holi. We weren’t able to travel anywhere for several days because there was such high security, and John and Abha didn’t want us to get hurt or anything. Apparently last year there were quite a few bomb scares in markets and on the metro so we were told to keep clear and just stay close to our apartment for a few days. That didn’t make for a relaxed weekend though- The amount of fireworks was absolutely insane! On Divali itself you there were constant explosions from about 5pm until 3 in the morning, and the air was so thick with smoke and the smell of homemade fireworks we could barely see fireworks going off only a few hundred meters away.

On the day of divali we went to the sector seven markets which were all decorated with like bunting and tinsel and things, and there were huge crowds around each stall that was selling fireworks. There were also young boys crouching on the pavements selling bags of coloured dust to do those patterned things on the ground with, and they looked so funny because they were absolutely covered in their own dust- most of them had turned bright pink but there were a few smurf like kids.

In the evening we were invited over to the David’s house for a mini party. John was still on his weeklong visit to Hyderabad (it was the longest that He and Abha had ever spent apart from each other since they got married 16 years ago), so it was just the four of us, Abha, Christie and Arnold. We played an epic game of pictionary (which Becky and me won) then watched “CHUKDE INDIA”, a film about a womans hockey team over boiled egg curry (mmmm). It was quite hard to hear the film at some points over the endless stream of fireworks outside, we had no idea so many fireworks even existed- it made bonfire night look totally lame

David 

School, Hindi and slum rehab

We have been teaching for two full weeks now, and I think we are all gradually getting to grips with what is possible in the classroom. It has been hard enough just trying to work out how English grammar works so that we can actually teach it- although Anna, Becky and myself have been doing more science based lessons on the whole, things like the solar system and human biology. Naomi has been teaching alongside Ruth doing English mainly.

We have found it reasonably easy to plan our lessons so far since anything you expect to take 15 minutes or so to do will actually take about an hour- and the children are so attentive and interested even if it seems something is taking ages to explain. One of the most challenging things is trying to pick up names, especially since there are very often pupils that you’ve never seen before arriving for class.

Abha David has been giving us Hindi lessons almost every morning for an hour or so. After getting some very basic vocabulary, we are now concentrating on reading sandscrit text. Its hard to get into the idea of it, but we can now mumble along with worship songs on Sunday, and read most words if given time. i think we are recognising how hard it must be for teams where the language is essential since most Indians can make things understood in basic English.

The Friday at the end of our first week was a holiday due to a Hindi festival (John David said it may have been the one when they worship cow dung, but he couldn’t remember exactly.) We were invited along with our host family to a cousins 4th birthday elsewhere in Delhi. After an hour we arrived in the slum rehabilitation area where they lived, and were all slightly taken back by the tiny house the whole family lived in.

Abha told us as we went in that most people live in very small houses, I think to prepare us for it but also as a general fact. The entire area is similar to where the city school is. The government provided single story houses to replace slums and people have built up and up, adding new living spaces on top, often creating dark alleyways. John and Abha were giving some marriage counseling to the couple so after a humongous meal we were invited to sit on the roof and wait. From the roof we could see quite far over the colony, with water towers punctuating the otherwise flat sea of rooftops.

An old woman who lived in a hut on the roof offered us all water (which we politely refused) and then brought out a fold out bed for us to sit on. We all really enjoyed the visit, and it was definitely necessary for us to get outside the middle class residential area we live in and see how most people live. Hopefully we will get the chance to tell you more soon.

David