I followed her to school one day

From my journal, January 1, 2009

Didn't really think I'd go to any schools. Wanted to focus on temples and chanting. But, one day, I was lost and couldn't find Radha Damodara Mandir. (I later discovered that I walked past it a couple of times.) I asked a little girl, "Radha Damodara Mandir?" She pointed toward where I had just come. She saw my face and decided to take me there. Along the way she picked up a friend. They took me in and then took me on parikrama around the temple and samadhis. She said she was going to school--the word "school" and a motion with her hand. So, I invited myself along. I felt like Mary's little lamb who followed her to school one day, school one day . . .

They met in what looked like an abandoned temple, but I later found out that it's an abandoned courthouse at Govind Ghat. The veranda is sunny, so they put out mats and line up according to grade levels, using their backpacks and bags as desks. There are two black boards leaned up against a wall, with two worn-out charts for numbers and the alphabet. The teacher has a chair and when the principal comes, she has a desk and chair. A nice sign is hung up on the building--Sri Govind Primary School, Vrndavan.

Each child has pencils and pens in their bag, a school book or two, and a small notebook for practicing their writing. Also in their bag is a stainless steel plate for lunch which is delivered every day by Akshya Patra, the rtvik group in Vrndavana. That's it for school. There's recitation, discipline with a stick, a few books, and very little else.

They brought in a translator, eventually, to see what I was doing there. They somehow thought that I was going to take the two girls back with me to America to go to my school. "When will you take them?" she asked. I had to quash that idea real fast. The translator was a bit insulting but I just kept apologizing and saying that my curiosity has gotten me in trouble more than once. Eventually we all became friends and I offered to help them. The principal said they needed uniforms--some of the children's clothes were in severe need of repair--but I asked about books. She said "As you like." Well, I took that as an instruction.

When I was in Delhi to see the dentist--that's a whole 'nother story--we went for lunch at a bookstore in Khan Market. I was pretty tired and my friends had errands to do, so I decided to stay and look at children's books. I was really dismayed to see that about 80% of the books were in English. Then I found a section of books that were bilingual--English and Hindi. They were so adorable that I started taking them off the shelf and making a pile. One of the bookstore employees helped me look for appropriate children's books that were either bilingual or Hindi only. There were so inexpensive--50 to 100 rupees or $1 to $2 each--it just didn't seem to matter. Everyone at the Govind Primary School could have a book of their choice. I was so excited!

The next day I called D. Swami to see if he knew of someone who could translate for me when I brought the books to the school. He found a great guy, J., who was born in Mathura, close by, and was an excellent English speaker.

A few days later we went to the school, books in hand. I apologized to the teacher again for previously barging in. I told her that in America (the day before was Christmas) we always give presents. So, I brought presents for everyone--books!

The kids were so excited. I put down a cloth and put all the books on it. I asked that the little ones come first to choose. That was okay for about two minutes, then everyone was there going through the books. It was so much fun! J. told the teacher that she had to read each book to the whole class. What a great idea. I thought I might be able to come again before I left, but wasn't able to. Maybe M. will be able to. We'll see.

I also visited the Sandipani Muni School. It's for children who cannot pay for school. Children are sponsored and get meals, clothes, books, and school. R. has so many great programs related to the school. He has a health facility and hospital for families, sewing facility for single parent girls, nursery for children who are in the care of students attending the school (they get bathed and fed). They also have a library, computer lab, tofu-making facility and so much more. I'm hoping to raise some money for classroom leveled readers. Center for Learning Resources publishes the bilingual books I brought in Delhi and they're leveled to help new readers. I'd also like to get computer books in Hindi and see what I can do to get Hindi fonts for their computers. Looks like I already have plans to go back!

. . . All this from following a little girl in Vrndavana. Radhe Radhe!
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