Mangoes, Ministers, and Mayhem

The commute back home after a long day in school is always a unique experience, and one that always makes me think. As we speedily (well, not so speedily because of the traffic) pass imposing glass buildings, throngs of students hurrying back from school, and hundreds of cars, I pass the time by thinking of the many events of the day. Today, I thought about two such events, my eating a mango and the group meeting several government ministers.

Although this may sound rather simple and not entirely profound, I couldn’t help but think of the mango I indulged in this morning. Not only was it wonderfully nutritious, but entirely delicious. On a more serious note however, I felt that I could liken this experience of enjoying this excellent mango to the experiences I have had working with the kids in the Nirmal Nagar School. (I know, it’s another rather abstract metaphor, but just bear with me.) At first, like when I tried to open a mango with a dull butter knife that we have in the apartment, the experience was rather difficult and frustrating. Not only did the kids seem to have had little structure in their school-life so far, thus creating a unique environment that can most succinctly be described as mayhem, but also, all of my frustrations were compounded by communication difficulties owing to my lack of knowledge of Telugu, the prevailing language in school and across Hyderabad. After the initial frustrations, however, it seems as if once one expends the required effort to calm the kids and ready them for a day at school, like opening the mango, he or she encounters what they have been trying to work towards, a group of attentive and anxious youngsters who have a great thirst for learning, in other words, one finds that uniquely sweet taste of the mango.

Finally, I feel that I would not have done my commute back home justice if I did not discuss what is perhaps the most profound event of the day, or when we were unable to teach at the second school (Sri Sai Nagar) due to the annual first grade induction. At the induction, which we had the good fortune to experience, we were compelled to take some photos with several government ministers who were also attending the special event. At the time it seemed as if the teachers at the school just wanted to give us some insight into a unique event. On the commute back to the apartment however, I wondered why the teachers were so adamant that we attend the event. It surely was not to meet the ministers, who we weren’t introduced to, or to experience the whole event, which we left about halfway through after taking a group picture with the ministers. Although this may seem to be rather odd in that we seemed to have been used as a neat little PR campaign by the school and ministers, I tend to believe in the former argument; that the teachers wanted us there to experience an event so important to ever student and to support the new first graders, and thus, I am quite grateful to have been able to attend.