Republic Day

Indian culture is jam packed with festivals (holidays). Pretty much any day of the calendar year, there is something that is being full-out celebrated somewhere in India. Some festivals last for 1 day, some 3 days, some 30 days. And many festival timings will depend on where you live in India. Even within the same state and the same city there will be different groups that celebrate at different times and in slightly different ways.

All this to say, we were a little surprised when we all had the day of for Republic Day in January. We moved to India on Independence Day and the whole thing felt like a repeat. We asked Suresh about it and he explained that Independence Day celebrates India's liberation from the British Empire. Republic Day celebrates the signing of their constitution which happened some time later.

We did not make many plans. There was a flag raising and some music at the clubhouse first thing in the morning. The security detail was outfitted in their finest. I had managed to find some charcoal, so we got out the hibachi to make a little comfort food. The charcoal was coconut based and took FOREVER to light. But Cori got her done! I found bacon that actually tasted like American bacon (for about $20 a pound) and we had ourselves a great lunch.

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing games at the dining table and at the clubhouse. That evening, Cori headed to the church to be with the YM. Often, our branch will schedule activities on government holidays. These tend to be the only days to catch people as most people here work/school 6-7 days a week. He met up with the boys, played cricket and basketball, sent Suresh out to pick up some KFC, and had a great night.

government school service project

The F* family, fellow expat friends from our ward, have 'adopted' a local government high school. They help out where they can and attend school events (where they are treated like celebrities!). One lovely Saturday January morning, they organized a bunch of material and manpower to repaint the school in preparation for the Independence Day celebration. Interesting side note, India celebrates an independence day AND a republic day. Maybe it isn't interesting considering how many, many, many, many festivals they celebrate. Anyhoo, we were so happy to take the kids and join in the service project. The government schools are all the same: multiple rectangular buildings built of cement on a dirt lot, painted in the colors of the Indian flag. The classrooms are sparse- just benches, desks, a chalk board and some windows. Usually the children are in uniform. They were allowed 'color clothes' on the day of our project. We also spent some time cleaning up the ground behind the building. There are no rubbish bins in the classrooms, so all garbage gets thrown out the forever-open windows.

The school children were curious about us. Many were very brave and in their broken English, approached us and tried to ask questions. A large group of 15 year-old girls crowded around me at one point and screamed with laughter when I told them my age. I must be old.

4th Grade Astronomy Night

There are not a lot of places to go on school field trips in Bangalore. Indus does a nice job of bringing opportunities to the school. One night, grade 4 hosted a famous astronomer to bring a science museum to the sports complex. Parents were invited too. We got to look at the spots on the sun with a special device, perform physics experiments, and later look at the moon through three different telescopes. There was time for Q&A afterwords and I was amazed at the number of children with their hands constantly in the air to ask questions (about dark matter, universe expansion, and other things that were over my head!).

Jeffery's gaurdian angels at work again

Jeffery is a very sweet little boy. He is almost always happy. He is mostly obedient. He shares his toys, and is good about using his nice words. He also possesses the uncanny ability to quickly get himself into dangerous situations. One lovely January morning, Jeffers and I were chatting in my bedroom. I was sorting laundry on my bed, and Jeffery was puttering at my feet, just 5 feet away in my periphery. We were discussing the possibility of a pb&j sandwich for lunch when there was a tremendous crash. In the 10 seconds that I had taken my eyes off of him, he had climbed to the top of our large dresser and toppled the whole thing down upon himself. We had some crystal candlesticks, a huge vase, and framed photographs that exploded in a terrible spray of broken glass. All the flooring in our house is solid marble. The upstairs has a layer of laminate flooring over the marble, but the surface is still very unyielding. Jeffery's ankle was the only thing to come between the heavy dresser and the floor.

Selvi was on the spot almost immediately. I lifted Jeffery from the debris and she began cleaning up the glass. Jeffery's finger had become tangled up in something (a drawer, maybe) on the way down, and it had a long angry blood blister running down it. It was all he was focussing on. Once he was calmed down, and the mess was cleaned up, we tried to get him to stand on his injured ankle and he wouldn't even put his foot down. I decided to take him to the hospital.

I stepped outside. No Suresh. So I called an Uber and packed up a few things. I had no idea what to expect. The hospital is maybe a mile away, we got there quickly. The ER was practically empty, and we were attended to right away. Within about two hours, we had x-rayed his hand and his ankle, met with doctors and with the orthopedist, had the soft cast put on, and signed all the paperwork (ONE page that was filled out by an attendant). And the bill for all this attention? Not even $200. I paid on my way out.

His tears here are because he was ready to take the cast off. It had been on for 10 minutes. I called an Uber to get us home. In my flustered state juggling my overloaded handbag in one arm, and a casted and sore Jeffery in the other, I dropped my phone as I was getting into the cab. The screen completely shattered. Selvi and I agreed that it was a bad day, indeed! But I couldn't help but be amazed at the outcome which could have been so much worse. All that glass and Jeffery wasn't cut anywhere. No head injury. He barely fractured the bones above his ankle with no damage to the joint or the growth plate.

The next week, we went back and he got the plaster cast fitted. A long 2 months lie ahead...

PYP Sports Day

There are many things we really like about Indus. One of the things we do not like about the school is their lack of communication. For many parents, the first year at the school is a real baptism of fire. We all learn as we go. PYP (Primary Years Programme) Sports Day was such a learning experience. Not knowing any better, I did not attend any of the qualifying events in the days leading up to the main celebration. Sadly, these events were the venues where Grant actually participated the most. The way they lined up events this year, the second grade boys did not compete at all on the main day. But we got to watch Grace flash her sash in the opening parade. She was also selected to be in the yoga demonstration. Grant was awarded medals for his victories in the preceding days. There was pomp. There were relay races. The parents got to hit the track. (Cori took gold!) We cheered for Pegasus house the whole day through.