I awoke to the hottest day of the trip so far. 35C heat
mirrored Britain earlier this summer, but even the local kids related how this
was unusually hot weather for India. It did, though, provide an helpful excuse
to skip the early morning run.
Mr Hunt, Jamie and I then left at 8.30am to attend a local
church service; typically, we had no idea what time it started. The 20 minute
walk through the searing heat was reconciled by a cooler church: upwards of two
dozen fans rotated at a refreshing speed. The deacon paused his service – we arrived
mid-way through – to welcome us; one of the nice features of religion is that
it binds together even two very different cultures under one welcoming banner.
The service was not a Eucharist as such, but more a series of lectures punctuated
by (English) hymns. One talk, for example, warned of the dangers of drugs and
alcoholism. As these were delivered in Tamil, we decided to slip out after an
hour.
A relaxing period of rest followed, much needed after a
tiring first week. Of course, no day would be complete without a
Fitzgibbon-orchestrated sporting fixture: this time we played volleyball. Admittedly, my team
felt a little aggrieved the opposition welcomed a local boy to even out the
teams. It turned out he played volleyball for India U16s and so he was referred
to as ‘International Player’.
At 4pm, Hannah and I attended our regular veena lesson – the
veena is a form of Indian guitar. We are being taught by Pushpa, the daughter of
Jesus the music teacher. She is a virtuosic player and a clear tutor. Needless
to say, Hannah is already vastly superior than me.
Two hours later I clambered on to a giant school bus with my
fellow Emanuels and 20 SJS pupils – a mixture of trainee monks and orphans of the
tsunami – to drive to the funfair. It was inspirational to see such unfortunate
kids with such optimism, and also satisfying to pay for their trips on various
rides, even if the risk assessment does not allow us to join them. My gang of
three kids were scared of most rides, but managed to stuff themselves with very
tempting street food – a temptation, again owing to the risk assessment, that I
resisted. However, we were permitted to visit the various exhibitions dotted around the site, including one about SJS.
After pizza for dinner – a rare break from curry – Jamie,
Will, Toby and I walked back with Miss Ellery (a representative from Christchurch
Primary School which is developing links with the GKV Primary School) to her lodgings (safety in numbers). Her
lodgings happen to be the house of SJS’s remarkable Principal, Usha Raman. As
ever, Usha’s kindness extended to inviting us all in for a drink of lemonade, a
comforting end to a day of new experiences.
By Ewan
No comments:
Post a Comment