My second day at Bal Ashram started bright and early at 6:00 am. I turned the geyser on, took a warm bath, and layered up for the cold. My Dad and I were not expecting it to be so cold in Rajasthan, so we packed a light jacket and called it a day. However, once we arrived we realized that that was a brutal mistake; the weather is equivalent to the weather back in NJ and NY, so layering up has been lifesaving for me.
My Dad and I joined the children for their morning activities. Every morning these kids wake up and drink some hot masala chai. They showered me with 'Namaste Didi's and 'Good Morning Didi's - again with the same bright smiles and eager eyes. After their morning chai, the boys split up into groups of 7-8; each group is named after a different Indian freedom fighter/leader. I was requested and taken by one of the boys to join his group - the Mahatma Gandhi group. We hovered over the fire and chatted for some time.
During their group time, the boys make fires, do some sweeping, clean the Ashram in their respective areas. They also communicate any worries with the group leader, who is any staff/faculty member. The idea of having smaller groups and creating that safe space first thing in the morning for the boys to convey any of their problems with a trusted adult was something that stuck out to me.
After the group meeting is breakfast, during which I sat alongside Rashmi, Kinsu Kumar, my Dad, David, and Dr. Harrison. Rashmi and the Harrisons had to leave by 10:00am, so we did some last minute chatting and clicked a picture, and then I bid them farewell.
Pictured (from left to right): Chetna (on-site Counselor), me, Rashmi Singh (Psychologist), Dr. Alexandra Harrison (Psychiatrist), Mr. David
After breakfast, all the little kids convened in the meeting room to begin their school day. The older kids go to the government school nearby and are currently on winter break until the 5th. Therefore, the older kids engage in other activities - one of them being painting murals on the walls of the Ashram. The art teacher, Mr. Kanhaiya Sao, is incredibly talented and his art was even depicted in a mobile global exhibition book (shown below). Mr. Sao shows the boys a picture on his phone of the mural that he wants to paint. Then, the boys all work together to sketch that mural on the wall and paint the entire picture on their own. TALENT!
My Dad wasn't with me when I was with the boys at the painting area in their dormitories. Thus, I had to do all the communicating on my own. The boys would speak in Hindi and I would struggle (at times) to put their words together. When they saw me struggling, they would speak in their own version of English and supplement it with some wild actions until a light bulb rang in my head. It was comforting to see the boys not getting frustrated at my lack of Hindi skills; instead, they met me where I was and I met them where they were. I made a deal with multiple boys that if they teach me Hindi, I'll teach them English :)
During lunch I was told that I would be teaching about 20 of the boys English. As a planner, my brain went haywire because I didn't know what exactly they were looking for and how I can teach.
3:00pm hit and all the boys arranged themselves onto a rug outside. They even had a blackboard ready for me. We started with an alphabet game and then I began to write some basic phrases down on the blackboard - 'I am hungry.' and 'I am thirsty.'
I realized that I can't be doing that for too long because the boys obviously won't have such a long attention span. I then began to point out things around us - a wall, leaf, slide, feet - and taught them vocabulary. I found that this was much more helpful for the boys because they had something visual to associate with the word. I helped them differentiate between leaf and leaves, and foot and feet. They even learned how to describe what they were wearing (i.e. "Esha Didi is wearing white shoes. Joe is wearing a black hat. George is wearing blue jeans.") We took a 15 minute break, which is when I introduced them to the 'Duck Duck Goose' game and then they introduced to me to their own version of that game.
Finally, we ended with reading the book 'I Want to Be Mad for a While." I would read a few lines and my Dad would translate them in Hindi. The goal with reading this book was to help the children understand that anger is okay - just like any other emotion. Anger does not mean you're weak or strong - it just means you're human. The book touches on the idea that for some, anger can subside in a few minutes and for others it may take longer.
After lunch, the children had play time from 4:30-5:30pm. I destroyed the kids at Badminton and was the all-time champion 😎. I feel like this is where I bonded the most with the kids - the friendly competitiveness helped us become closer. I also spent a few minutes in the Music Room because one of the kids had asked me to come watch him play the guitar. He sang the song 'Kya Baat Ay' for me since I played it the night before.
At around 6:00pm, it was time for the evening meditation. The meditation was a combination of deep breathing and Om chants, followed by the little kids engaging in some slogans onstage.
8:00pm was dinner time and we all reconvened in the dining hall. I met the new counselor, Lasya, who happened to also know Telugu and we both chatted with the boys during dinner.
I essentially survived an entire day only knowing some basic Hindi. I definitely do think that my Hindi has improved significantly since 2 days ago. It has been an incredibly immersive experience.
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