Din 237: I was drowning in joie de vivre.

I shuffled out of bed with my newly acquired upset stomach this morning and prepared for an interview with the Times of India. Journalist Nidhi Singhi arrived at Gyaan Ghar soon thereafter and spent an hour with Dadi and me, asking about our concept, our current programs, and our future plans. (I was being served sickie food all the while.) I think the interview went well, and I look forward to seeing the piece when it is published.


As I started to sneak back to my room for a nap, Sodi Auntie and Rajbir Uncle came over to visit! We sat in the lobby and watched the video recording of our 3rd annual Gyaan Ghar Variety Show and Awards Ceremony. It has come out well!


As the recording was ending, students started to trickle in. We finished up the letters to our Newton School pen pals as a photographer from the Times snapped shots.


I was doing my best not to get sick during class, and finally made it back to my room to rest for a few minutes before Sonal and Raina joined me at home to say goodbye! Our "farewell party" spread consisted of various types of khitchdi (more sickie food). Yum.

Sonal and I didn't even plan this!

It was already way past my bedtime, but I had promised two more families that I would visit their homes before leaving Ludhiana. So it was off to Bhola Auntie's house to enjoy looking at snacks that I couldn't eat, and then to Anita Auntie's house, where I consumed a stomach tonic. I was falling over during both of these meetings, but having a lot of fun chattering away nonetheless, so I managed to survive.

I stumbled home (literally) in time for dinner, where I ate nothing. I sent the Times a few more anecdotes about our school before breathing a sigh of relief and heaving myself into bed.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bygones -- by Marina Keegan

Image
I had a dream the other night that I was checking my email. That dream sucks. And woke to woes of seniors writing love songs for tomorrow and Tomorrow and the melodies That flirt us forward, whispering the next thing and the next thing and  – so we beat on birds flocking south until we circle round and realize maybe maybe all that running wasn’t worth it. Maybe we should build a cabin. Or teach high school. Or use our hands. My palms are smooth as words – Weak with fashion and double spaces. I want everyone else’s club and job and class The grass I sleep in always browner than Than that around erasing dreams To sit and breathe because you Only bank for two years then it's over And twenty two is nothing new It’s just another chance to build For when we’re twenty three And twenty four And time begins to sell for more than Any 9 a.m. to never. We’re not stuck. That's the thing, we're not stuck. We owe no o...
Read more

Din 227: “God took his time making you.”

Image
I awoke this morning to the sound of my students -- what could be better? We started today’s class with 15 minutes of Anapana (the first step of Vipassana meditation), which is designed to concentrate the mind. I have never seen meditators more still or focused than these children! After teaching them the technique, I told them we would be starting every class like this from now on. Meditation is a wonderful tool they can take with them wherever they go, and they are lucky to be starting at such a young age! As the class broke into groups and started practicing numbers for our upcoming Variety Show, I caught up with a few students. Vandna, a sophomore and our oldest student, was supposed to pick her academic stream (cf. major) a few weeks ago, but had been waiting for my return to consult me before making her final decision. She is most interested in commerce and dreams of holding a high position at a bank one day, but her family is advising her to take liberal arts, which has le...
Read more

PSYCHED for summer!

Image
The last few days have been emotional with packing and moving and no more exams and lots more goodbyes. Wednesday night we threw a fabulous surprise farewell party for a very oblivious Reylon, with many of his closest friends and entrywaymates turning out to shower him with love, song, and pizza. Yesterday came my last exam of the year, a truly tragic event -- I stayed in my Latin classroom until the very last possible moment, twiddling my thumbs and staring at my professor and trying to draw out my freshman year as long as possible. I cried when I turned in my test and left the room. In the evening, the Opportunes had our last private gig of the season at the Faculty Club (throwback to our first gig this year!), where our beautiful seniors performed their last public rendering of "Midnight Train to Georgia" amidst laughs from the audience and tears from Bernie. After a night of packing and snacking and New Girl , I fell asleep hoping to stay in...
Read more