Fan's GMMCS encounter:

On my arrival at the GMMC School, the pictures finally came alive inside my being, having only seen photographs of the premises previously. The size of the grounds and buildings felt smaller than I imagined yet more "whole". There was an immediate sense of cohesion, care and potential for this heart-born initiative. The classrooms are decently laid out and equipped, though this can always be improved, right now it is sufficient to embrace all the basics. The playing fields are a little uneven and definitely prone to ankle sprains but the roller arriving very soon will sort that out. We went past the "Local Rolla Man" several times and respecting the typically slow India fashion, it is surely coming to completion. A football pitch is awaiting its grass to grow properly before being used and it is massive! A lot of fun times ahead for sure. The grounds for the community centre are untouched for now and a lot of work still needs to be done to complete it. The school is surrounded by fields and there's a really airy and spacious feel to the place. My first impressions were all positives and after spending a couple of days there, they grew into a tangible vibrant experience; I was witnessing the growing of young trees of hope, real efforts have been made and are being made, and the benefits are already showing.

The village is remotely situated, several hours away from the main cities and the introduction of the school provides a real chance for the children of now and the future born in this area to flourish for their families, the community and most importantly for their individual selves. School should offer the opportunity to evolve or at least examine and understand the reasons why and the way things are done. From the little I could pick up during my time there, things seem to still be much anchored in tradition to pass on from father to son, mother to daughter, elders to younglings but this - !*without*! - questioning. For now. This is evident in the way most classes seem to unfold. Individual creativity/input or the word "Why" is rarely called upon unless the answer is "textbook". It is just assumed that the elders know best and the young know nothing or nothing that an elder would not know. It is not that this pattern *must* change, it just will - because that is what will naturally happen. It is only a matter of time. What would be good however when this wind of change comes to pass, that the best is kept and the worst is lost. In an ideal world, India can still be the emergent model which takes us beyond where we have already been and beyond where in some areas we seem to be failing.

Digressing…

There were very encouraging signs of communication in English between the children, and George & myself in English. I even attempted to teach 7th Standard class a little French. (Not my idea!) They picked it up with combination of sounds and visual interpretations of the words and laughter also helped. Some of the students are so well behaved it spooked me a little, in two years of teaching I never came across such discipline! It shows the winds of change have not yet reached as far as thought and also reflects the "respect for the elder" stronghold imbued within everyone. The latter is from a personal standpoint - refreshing, from a reflective one - uncanny.

A few games sessions later and I quickly realised the language of fun and play is universal. The deepest connections the students and I could make happened during those games sessions. George and I gave the after school club a football coaching session. The benefits of splitting the group into two to focus on the basics of the game turned into a 10 minutes final kick about that was the most football looking like game George had witnessed so far! The progress was swift and the sense of a new understanding in the students' psyche was priceless. They really just wanted to play cricket but it was clear that it was only because they felt safer in a game which they all knew how to play. And arguably there is more enjoyment in a game you know how to play. How though, did you get to that stage in the first place?

Big words have to go to the Principal of the School. He is truly a real blessing to this initiative. He has extensive experience in education and GMMCS is very lucky to have him on board. His heart is into this school like his spirit is devoted to the "right way" from a source that is divine-led. He shines out such positive energy. The few conversations we had were full of wisdom, gentleness and strength in depth and for as long as he is in charge the school can relax and be excited at its prospects of success.

I would have liked to make more of a connection with the teachers but time was limited and who knows perhaps I will be back and get a chance then. From what I have seen the school is mainly recruiting locally at the moment and the wages are not as attractive as to have the opportunity to attract a greater pool of potential to choose from. One of the challenges I witnessed was the potential downfall hiding behind teachers' worries about their reputation with regards to a student's academic failings. Whilst I understand it on one level I also think it is a great opportunity to breach beyond the old tendency that is, to judge any child who does not have a natural tendency and interest in academic matters as a burden and an individual who has less to contribute to the school. I see it as quite the opposite, these very challenges encourage the teaching ethos and methods to be reviewed and modelled on what the needs of the students are at this moment in time.

Perhaps this is the chance to look at the essence of teaching and learning again. It is true that at times parents do not place enough or in some cases any emphasis on their child's education and therefore leaking their sense of non-importance to school matters to their child. This results in a child not doing their homework for example. It does happen and it is a hard one to deal with. My compassion towards this particular incident is definitely twofold. I guess the danger is to add any more bricks to a foundation that does not have a solid base to start with. Where is the base? My heart says within the student…

A word on George, well it is clear that he's very well liked at the school. The students love him and this somewhat differently cultured teacher to them is a refreshing and energising influence. Not only with regards to the students, the school as a whole and all members of staff as well. George organised a meal amusingly entitled "The Gora Gathering" and all teachers, members of staff, family and partners were invited. We prepared and cooked the food at the school. Despite our attempts to just "do it ourselves", trying to pass on the message that for once the school staff could just sit, relax and enjoy, it just would not happen! Even the principal was peeling and chopping away! Their sense of duty and their willingness to serve is so strong. This is their "Prasad", their blessing.

When I look at their faces, they are blessed by nature, beautiful people, they live on hardly anything at all but the smile and shine on their faces shows so much, a seeming depth of existence that really touched me and inspired me to be in return more serving to my fellow human beings.

What next? Well a lot more is still to come. Starting with the introduction of Broadband internet access at the school! This is very much needed and will be vital. There is a sense that e-business is a booming industry in India as well but not only that, the sheer vastness of information suddenly accessible and available to the school will make massive waves and if structured successfully will reap fast benefits. The development and sourcing of equipment at the school will need to be ongoing. The community centre must take shape sooner rather than later. The salaries must reflect today's standards and more and more input from a wider cultural spectrum will be beneficial so long as respect for what is valued at the heart of India and the local area remains.

Oh and I want my George back so maybe someone else is willing to go out there and give a little of themselves too? :-D (errr …wish granted in somewhat bizarre circumstances, since I first wrote the piece a while ago... George is now back here with me in England and I have no doubt he will be back for another stint at the school, with or without me, sometime in the near futureJ)

I left feeling that if at all possible I will come back because it was an inspiring place to be and because I would love to see it develop and transform into new colours having recycled the old. I will try my best from afar to be involved too. This trip touched my heart and mind very much. I thank everyone involved in making it possible for me and I also send my deepest love and respect for all the people involved with the GMMCS project.

Until next time

Much love

Fan x:-)

The Holiday After School activities sessions – an overview

It is said that there is no time, but the right time. My lessons and learning continue to grow. I had been adamant that the After School Activities should begin before the holidays began, so that their routine might be established in the habits of the students and parents. When this did not transpire, thanks to my limiting belief that the benefits the roller would endow were essential, I resolved to spend a week of my ten day Christmas holiday available from 10am till 4pm to give coaching and activities to any children who were able to make it to and from the school of their own volition. For the record, the benefits a roller will provide are hugely important, but have not proved essential.
(We are still waiting for said roller…it threatens to become a saga far longer than War and Peace…and one far more boring and gratingly tedious…not that I can claim this opinion of War and Peace, having never even picked it up. I was just looking for an apt comparison, so apologies to Mr Tolstoy if I've done his vast tome a disservice)

We began on Christmas day, and my usually optimistic mood was struggling to establish itself thanks to a thick and cloaking fog that was still embalming the ground even as quarter past nine ticked by. Having told the students they could arrive anytime after nine am for a ten o'clock start, I had expected a few eager souls to arrive bright and early. Thus, as the time neared half nine and the fog was still stubbornly enjoying its opacity, I was thinking that my hope of getting anything started at all was doomed to permanent failure. But, just after half nine, I thought I saw a figure making its way up the school drive. I rubbed my eyes to check I was not experiencing some kind of fog-induced mirage, and sure enough it was a definite human form that was nearing step by step. Once it reached about 30 metres from the school steps upon which I was sitting it revealed itself as a boy with a cheery 'good morning sir.'

My mood was instantly lifted by this particular male 'good morning,' since it belonged to Raja. Raja is the oldest boy in the school and probably its most gifted sportsman. He is also a natural leader and a very good speaker of English. My confidence was therefore significantly lifted to have him on board. A few days previous he had shown me his book of quotations, in which he has painstakingly noted down inspirational quotes, many of which are connected to the art of leadership. For someone of his age to be developing an awareness of concepts such as 'leadership' bodes very well. He is boundlessly enthusiastic, possesses a keen intellect and is very competitive. His great challenge will be reining in his personality and presence so that his ebullience does not dazzle others and make them feel more comfortable in the shade. If he can keep open ears and an open heart for others, without allowing his natural physical and mental aptitude develop
into a swollen ego, he will grow to be a very special person. This glowing portrait reflects his potential, however, for there were times when the very things that make him such a diamond in the polishing were the things that annoyed the hell out of me and thoroughly tested my patience. To put a name to the face, Raja is the one eating a lime in the photos.

I bid him good morning and revealed my fears that the fog might see our endeavours fail at the outset. Raja dismissed this possibility summarily, saying that it was only foggy here, and he knew there were other students coming. Sure enough there soon followed a small flood of students, arriving variously in cars, on motorbikes, on scooters and on pedal bikes. Each bid me a happy 'good morning sir,' and most went as far as to wish me 'Merry Christmas' also. Last to arrive were Raveena and Bharti, two girls in 4th Standard (the youngest class participating in the activities). In the end there were fourteen students in total – 12 boys, 2 girls – and after some warm ups and stretches I outlined the first coaching drill. I was particularly glad that we had at least some female presence on the first day, as I intended to make equality of the sexes one of the main lessons I built into my guidance on the importance of teamwork in life.

Before explaining the various coaching drill and activities, I feel it is probably worth mentioning the aims and intentions around which I was building the sessions. Whilst there are aspects of class room educating I love, I intuitively feel more at home when I can 'get my hands dirty' so to speak and use real life examples and real time situations of a practical nature to help highlight to my charges life's essential lessons. I guess my approach is informed by a number of influences. Principal among these are Gandhi's 'be the change you want to see' and Rabindranath Tagore's capturing of the magic in the everyday, his putting into words, perhaps like no one else, that there is magic and divinity in every moment if we can be open enough to let it reveal itself. Onto these foundations I have built an outlook on existence using bricks moulded from the clay of… (1) the nurturing approach of my parents, who always told my siblings and I we
could do whatever we wished in life and they would support us. (2) The guidance of my youth work mentor Steve McGarvey (now lead youth participation worker for Warwickshire CC), who always stressed the importance of generativity in any work related to young people…for those, like me when I first heard it, who are wondering what generativity is, it is the idea that we have no accurate way telling how our work will ultimately impact upon the hearts and minds of the young people we encounter, but if we set as our intention the goal of leaving a lasting inspirational legacy then we won't go far wrong. Sounds obvious I know, but it has proven a great source of comfort when I begin to doubt the worth of what I can achieve in such a relatively short timescale (3) The importance of working collectively – where what benefits one benefits all – for time and again our race proves that when we work together with a strong and loving determination, we are far
greater than the sum of our individual parts. (4) The experiential understanding that life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we believe 'x', 'y' or 'z', then we will create in our lives the opportunities/situations/perceptions to make 'x', 'y' or 'z' true.
Holding these bricks together is a cement comprised of the idea that everything mirrors everything in every given moment, and change is the only constant.

My ridiculously clumsy and repetitive metaphors aside, the above is what I draw on to flesh out the guidance I offer a student in any given moment. In the sessions I wished to learn how the children, being from a different cultural background, would respond to being set challenges that stretched their comfort zones. I wished particularly to challenge three areas – the rote learning and application methodology the students are suffused with each day in school, the idea that age and sex predetermine a person's suitability and capability for a given task/challenge and the idea that the instructions of the teacher/authority figure should be followed without any independent thought on the part of the student.

From the outset I made it clear that I expected the students to do as I asked, not because I wished to limit their fun, but because if I did ask them to do something it was in the interests of their well being and of my well being. I explained straight away that in these sessions I wished us to work as a team, where the captain (myself) would be offering guidance on the actions and progress of the team, but that ultimately all the team members would be missing out if they did not express their opinions, wishes and ideas when they felt the need. I also made it clear that I considered all ages and sexes as equal and that all students would be treated as such. The students understood that I wished them to have fun, but in a way that would ensure they developed their skills and their characters at the same time. I asked from them in return that they give themselves fully to the moment with 100% effort, and that at all times they gave respect to themselves,
their team mates and to me.

The first coaching drill, which I have just this moment decided to call George's Usain-Ronaldo-Randall drill, since it tests a students sprinting, football and cricket skills all in the space of one exercise, begins with a 30yard sprint from a single stump to a football positioned 20yards in-front of two stumps set about 4ft apart. The student has to kick the ball between the stumps ('goal'), before retrieving it and replacing it on its spot. The student then sprints back toward the starting point/stump and as they approach they are thrown a cricket/tennis ball which they must field/catch, before shying the ball at the stumps. I had this drill set up in two lanes and each morning would begin with the students dividing into two teams and competing in a relay, with added points given for the number of 'goals' and successful shies at the stumps scored by each team. Life clearly blessed me that first morning in my attempt to establish my views on
equality among the students. I was able to draw on the immediate example that the first person out of any team to successfully shy at and hit the stump was Raveena – one of the two girls present, and one of the youngest and smallest students of the group.

We then moved on to practice some basic football skills – controlling and passing the ball – before adjourning for lunch. One of the main focuses in the sessions would be on the students cooking lunch for eachother. There is some cliché along the lines that 'a team which eats together, wins together,' but the act of cooking and eating allows for one to highlight so much more than just the obvious benefits in developing camradery. More of this anon, but on the first day many of the students had not thought to bring lunch from home, and in the busyness of end of term exams, I'd not had the chance to communicate my desire that they should bring something to cook rather bringing food cooked by their mothers. We therefore had to settle for Samosas from the local Dhaba (Indian word for truckstop café), from which I was able to purchase 15 samosas and as many Gulab Jaman (an indian sweet) and still get change from £1. Reading that sentence back I
can hear the words of my father reminiscing…(cue affected Yorkshire accent)…'ee lad, I can remember when I were your age, I could go t' t'ut pictures with a pound, have a fish and chip supper after and still have enough for t' bus ride home.' On a serious note, I hope this example does give anyone considering making a donation on the basis of my experiential evidence an idea of just how far the pound can stretch over here. It is highly unlikey it will always be this way, as India grows as a nation and the edifice of the west continues its inevitable decline…so dig deep while you can!

Enough proselytising…back to Christmas day GMMCS style. Lunch was revealing in itself. It was a struggle to overcome the students natural reluctance to accept my offering, so ingrained is the maxim of 'respect your elders/teachers/superiors.' I have encountered this a number of times. My natural generosity meets with constant rebuffs from the school's caretakers and students, who fear that others will judge them if they accept my kindness, which is normally in the form of something as trivial as a cup of tea. I sometimes get the sense that I have committed some great social faux pas, so taken aback are they that someone in a position they've been told to consider as superior is trying to reach out and include them. On this occasion, however, I had the handy tactic available of saying 'in England at Christmas time we give gifts to each other, so you'll be making me feel at home by having this samosa.'

During lunch I informed the students that from tomorrow onwards we would be cooking for eachother on the premises and they should therefore bring with them some vegetables to cook instead of ready prepared food. As to their questions why, I explained that the process by which food gets from the earth to the mouth represents one of the greatest examples of the all pervasive presence and essentiality of teamwork in life. I began with the most obvious and important – that we had to work in partnership with the earth – since the planet provided and cared for us, we had a duty to care for the planet…and so on, taking in the work of the farmers, of the students' parents, and finally of the work we would have to do together to produce an edible and nutritious meal…of the communication required, of the understanding of different people's needs, of the importance of planning and timing, of multi-tasking, of vigilance, and most importantly of
unconditional sharing…mirroring that primal act of sharing which is the earth's gift of food to us…and of course that most important trait of being a good team member – the discipline and ability to pass to a team mate, if it will mean a greater all round benefit to the whole team.

Lunch over, I introduced the first of the practical activities the sessions would incorporate – the building of a brick oven. When I first muted the idea of an After School Activities club to the students, I made it clear that it would incorporate more than just sport, that there would be sessions of arts and crafts and English conversation. My purpose in building the oven was two fold. I'd seen on Guru Nanak's birthday in November how swiftly a very effective cooking fire could be constructed using just bricks, earth and water. I felt confident that such simple construction materials would allow the children to make something of lasting worth in a relatively short space of time. My secondary motive was that I wished to spend some time with the children baking cakes (the fun aspect of the cooking teamwork theme) and needed a suitable oven in which to cook them. I outlined my vision for the oven and asked the children for their thoughts, knowing
that many of them would have served at functions in Gurudwaras/weddings, where they might have come across such constructions, and thus might be able to flesh out my rough ideas with some practical expertise. After adjusting the size I proposed – all seemed to think 'sir this is very big' – we set about the task. In order to keep as many students engaged as possible, I divided the students up and had one group beginning the oven construction, and a separate group building a fire on which we could cook the chapattis for lunch the next day.

The Chapatti fire proved a fairly simple task, but it became clear that the oven would not be constructed as quickly as I had forseen. Seeing the students interest waning (I guess there is only so long one can be genuinely engaged in lugging bricks, or digging out a pit in rock hard mud before you start enviously eying the footballs nestling in the nearby nets) I realised I was being presented with an opportunity to highlight some of the main themes I wished to address in the sessions – namely that even as their 'teacher' I was not infallible, and that one can learn a lesson in every moment. I told them to stop and admitted quite frankly that I had underestimated the size of the project, but that it would be well worth it in the end if we stuck to it and tried to do a bit at a time over the coming days. The students response was truly heart-warming…a chorus of 'no problem sir' and other such encouragement. I thanked them for their patience,
and said that I had just learnt a lesson, and that they should always keep in mind that life will present opportunities to learn when you least expect it, meaning constant awareness was vital, both on the sports pitch and in their day to day lives.

As it turned out, things progressed very quickly once the student numbers swelled over the next days and we dug through the tough top layer of the mud, but we'd done enough for one day, and I announced it was time for some cricket. I informed them that the roller's absence meant that we would not be able to have net batting practice as I had wished, but that this gave us an opportunity to hone some necessary skills in time for the arrival of the roller and the preparation of the pitches. I informed the students that while I was coaching on the GMMCS ground, there would be no bowling with using a bent arm (ie throwing). This was definitely one of the things that struck me on my first visit to India – the number of students/children throwing the ball when bowling, at an age when it would have been coached out of them in England. I set up 4 stumps against a net and had the children line up behind a stump and take it in turns to bowl at it. There was
some notable talent – namely Raja, Lovepreet and Ravinder – and some notable sources of frustration – namely Rhunpal. The latter was unbelievable. He would present all the appearances of having a perfect bowling action right up until the moment of delivery, whereupon he would inexplicably resort to a throw. Once shown the correct way to bowl, he dutifully copied all the actions and demonstrated a perfect straight arm, but as soon as it came to actually delivering a ball from his hand, it was as if some brain synapse was lacking/over-riding the practice actions he had just performed. It appeared that soon as his brain sensed he was trying to release a ball from his hand, his entire central nervous system shut down and screamed 'THROW' to his brain. I am glad to say though that we managed to exorcise the bent arm curse from all students but Rhunpal.

Time had marched quickly, and by the time most arms were straight at point of delivery, it was 3.30pm and parents and brothers began arriving to collect their wards. I sat the students down for a quick debrief. I began by asking the students for any feedback or comments, and of those forthcoming, none possessed insight that set the world alight, but they did express enjoyment and satisfaction enough. I thanked them for coming, and said I was impressed by their commitment to the drills, to the oven, and especially to improving their bowling. The progress many had made from chuckers to genuine bowlers in the space of about 45mins was truly staggering. I reminded them to bring vegetables the following day and bid them 'Happy Christmas.' So ended the first day. (except for an impromptu game of cricket among those who did not have rides home waiting for them)

The reader will be glad to hear that in depicting sessions of the following days, I will touch on the notable events and developments, rather than apply the fine toothcomb I have above. Day 2 saw the student numbers swell to 22, and the numbers stayed around 20 for the remainder of the sessions. On the girls front, I was sad to lose Raveena and Bharti, but glad to find them replaced with Navreen, Manpreet, Aman and Jaspreet (Kaur).

About 4 days later…

Sorry it has taken so long to get this to you. A combination of self-christmas presents and Guru Gobind Singhji's birthday, plus some necessary healing work have meant it's taken a little longer to get over to you. There are also about 50 photos waiting for you, but at the moment we've some computer/electrical problems that mean the broadband computer won't stay switched on long enough to facilitate their upload. Any way…to continue…

The following is a brief note I updated on my personal blog just before new year:

The holidays will be over on the 1st Jan. Nice and logical that – new year, new term. The AfterSchool club that is actually after school will begin then. In the meantime, I've been running the holiday afterschool club for the past week. It feels as though it's been fairly successful…but it always hardest to judge one's own work. There has certainly been a huge improvement in the 'straight-armed' bowling skills of all the children and in their ability to keep a volley ball airborn for longer than the duration of the serve. Perhaps the most heartening event occurred when one of the village boys came for the day and was ushered on to bowl during the now customary end-of-day cricket match. He spoke good English, so I told him that on the GMMCS ground one had to bowl with a straight arm. He said that this was not possible, as he had been burnt with boiling water as a toddler, and consequently couldn't rotate his arm fully. Having seen,
however, the way he bowled with a bent arm, I had a hunch he had never really tried. I asked him to rotate his straightened arm and asked if there was any pain. He replied that there wasn't. I said he had just done all he needed to do to bowl with a straight arm, the rest was simply a question of practice. I asked him to try bowling one ball with a straight arm, just to see if there was definitely no pain. He did so, and bowled the best ball he'd bowled yet, free of pain and with an enviable natural spin imparted to the ball. At the end of his allotted six balls, I asked him if he now felt confident that he could bowl with a straight arm whenever he wished. He replied 'yes sir, I think it was only my belief that was stopping me before'. Such words apply to so much in life, and yours truly felt pretty humbled to have been a part of this boy's realisation.

Tomorrow we're baking cakes (I hope) in the brick and clay oven the children and I have built together (with a little help from Kapil and Ramkumar, who are the school care-takers).

It's been pretty exhausting, though more from a mental than physical point of view – trying to manage 20 or so kids and make sure they don't hurt themselves or eachother, and are as much as possible engaged in some activity that will develop them as human beings. The 'teacher as pupil' theme of my experiences here has been continuing in fine fashion – I set the children the task to make string bags to keep the footballs in. they set about the task and after about half an hour I couldn't see where they were going with their idea and borrowed a few kids to help me make my design as an exemplary example (as if an example could be anything other than exemplary!) for the others to learn from.
My method would have worked fine – if I'd had a small army of malnourished child labourers and an unlimited supply of string. Of course about half-way through my abortive attempt one of the groups of children I'd written off announced they'd finished, and that their bag held 9 footballs, as opposed to the requested 8. Children 1 George 0.

Hopefully they'll be well impressed with my perfect chocolate sponge cake tomorrow. If it turns into a burnt cocoay mess, my teaching credentials will have taken something of a buffeting I'm sure…but you lives and learns…and I've always the boy who'd never bowled with a straight arm to keep me inspired.

More will follow probably tomorrow or the next day…and all will be revealed about the success of the cakes or otherwise…sleep now.

Massive love to all.

Pre-Christmas update – Administration and After-School Club

Merry Christmas one and all (for those who celebrate christams and don't just get coerced by the mass media into buying unnecessary presents).

My apologies for taking so long in getting my fingers caressing the keyboard to forge another update for you. Turns out I've been quite busy. I have found myself in the dual role of admin assistant and examiner. It is the time of the students and of term exams and Miss Nehra and I have been putting ht students through their paces in their physical exams. When not doing this, I have been helping our MD Sodagar to get things moving with the FCRA. This is the governmental body concerned with foreign currency and charity donations. They have to date been blocking funds to the school, for some reason that I'm not sure any of us can fathom any more. Knowing India, it is probably the case that someone is holding out for a bribe and hope that if they delay us long enough, even though every scrap of paper work is now in order, we will eventually succumb and ask how much it will cost us to get things moving. Thankfully they will be disappointed.
Things are certainly moving now. We have been to meet with the Deputy Commissioner for Fatehabad district – a clearly bright guy of my age who told us that now the case is with his department he will ensure a speedy resolution. The only minus point to this meeting was that the DC decided he wanted to show how important he was in front of the Gora by totally misrepresenting Sodagar to me. It took me about an hour in the car afterwards to calm Sodagar down and explain that the DC was probably just trying to look big and make himself feel better because his wife had argued with him that morning. This cheered up our MD, though he was amused by my attempt to make him feel better rather than the factual content of my reasoning, since he informed me that the DC was in fact unmarried.
Having put in a word for Miss Nehra in my last blog I must now big up (which is hip hop speak for praise) Sodagar. He has quite successfully transformed himself over the last week or so from a human being into a Beesque Blue-Arsed Fly, so busy has he been and such has been the amount of running about he has done to try and get the various issues sorted.
Sodagar even managed to fit in the trip to Jalundar to buy the sports equipment. The school now possesses sufficient footballs, volleyballs, badminton rackets and nets etc to provide an excellent level of coaching. Consequently the school's reputation as an institution that builds human beings well versed in teamwork and leadership as well as academic excellence will be built henceforth.
The After School Club will begin tomorrow – my Christmas present to myself – with some unique coaching drills that combine cricket, football and athletics. We will then be playing some theatre games in the vein of 'who's line is it anyway' and will be building a brick and clay oven together so that in the coming days cookery can become an integral part of the activities. It is my intention also to share the role of documentary makers among the students each day, so hopefully once I've taught them how to edit the footage we'll have some amusing and insightful clips to parade on youtube, all of the children's own making.
The only fly in the ointment is that the ***&^%$^%$ing roller has still not %*&%$#%#$^$%& been **^%&%$^#^%^ delivered, despite the man promising it more than two weeks ago. This has gone beyond a lesson in 'this is India and be patient' into George would swear and curse profusely were there not a minute chance children might be reading this. We have now been promised a roller in two days time…I'd say watch this space, but you might end up with a very hefty broadband bill and square eyes from staring at this space for longer than…(insert suitably lengthy metaphor/simile here)

The other major development is the discovery is that it is possible to get broadband at the school. We just need 1000m of wire, a capable engineer and some persuasive arguments as to why we would get our broad band service from a different village telephone exchange than we currently use to receive our phone services. The experience of the roller has taught me not to get too excited yet, but the very fact that there is now a light at the end of the tunnel means I'm going to start working towards it with all energy and means at my disposal.

A mention must also go to my family, who have been very supportive in recent weeks. Of particular note is the sympathy of my sister, who was always the fat kid at school who hated sports (before she blossomed into a fitness fanatic who runs marathons) so she sent me some money to buy both supplementary cricket equipment, for those of a sporting persuasion, and arts materials for those children who want to take part in After School Activities of a non-sporting nature. I have used some of this to buy some pots and pans and an electric whisk, so I can show the children how to make pancakes in time for pancake day, it is also my hope that we may be able to bake a 'welcome back to school/happy new year' cake in time for the return to school on the 1st January.

I'll try to let you know how the activities pan out. I've laid lots of plans as best as I can, so I'm sure everything will be perfect!

Have a good festive period. Don't do anything I wouldn't have done in my youth.
Massive love.
Xxx

Unifying disunity and the growth of sports…

Since my last missive I have been working to get the after-school sports and English club up and running. Having discovered that the main sports pitch would not be ready with its growth of grass until march, I scaled back my plans and am now working with the space you can see in the area surrounding the community centre's foundations. Here I have marked out two volleyball courts, four cricket nets, two badminton courts and a good sized 5-a-side football pitch.
Three main tasks exist for the preparation of the pitches – to remove the small stones and rocky debris from them, then to water and flatten them. The removal of stones was completed with the help of the first standard children during a games period. As punishment for misbehaviour, I thought to teach them a lesson in appreciating their games period by making them undertake the boring and laborious task of removing the stones. I still cannot help smiling at the lesson I was taught – for the children considered it one of the most fun games periods they had had since my arrival, delighting in showing me the size and number of the rocks they had collected, before depositing them in the bucket I was carrying. Proof if ever it was needed that one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter!
I have commissioned the making of a pitch roller, which will be a lasting gift to the school, as it will enable flat pitches of all kinds and especially well maintained cricket wickets to be prepared. The watering will soon be underway in preparation for the roller's arrival.
The only practicality that remains is the purchasing of the necessary equipment to furnish a successful coaching program. To this end I have drawn up in consultation with Miss Nehra (my games teaching colleague) a list of necessary purchases and intend to make these before the week is out. This will necessitate a visit to Jalundar, a prospect that excites me, as I've not yet had a chance to visit a city since my arrival.
Here it is worth making a brief mention of Miss Nehra. She will shortly be getting married and thence leaving the staff. The school faces a definite challenge in adequately replacing her. Not only is her English proficiency the highest among the staff, but she possesses a degree in physical education and has played basketball, netball and Kho Kho (one of india's naitional games) at a national level. The luck of the school in having a staff member of such all-round competence in the neighbouring village cannot be overstated, and it is my firm belief that if the school is to go from strength to strength, finding a long-term replacement who can adequately fill her void will be essential, not least because she is one of the few teachers who will speak her mind when the Principal invites discussions in staff meetings. To date, I have learnt it is a rarity that the teachers will choose to speak at all. More on this anon.

In admin terms for the after-school club, I have sent a letter round the parents of 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th standards outlining my intentions and stating the need for the parents to be responsible for the collection of their children, since after school hours the school-vans will not be available to deliver them home. I have had a hugely encouraging response from those students who expressed an interest in participating in the sessions. I now, in discussion with the Principal and Sodagar, the schools MD, need to draw up a start date and schedule. It is my hope that I will be able to begin these sessions before January, but with exams looming, I am aware of the possibility that this may not be possible.
My intention is to work into the participation in the sports an understanding that achievement in academic work is essential if they wish to be able to consistently take part. Those who have watched the movie 'coach carter' will have an idea of the kind of thing I am referring to here. It is my hope that come the end of year exams I will be able to demonstrate that the self-discipline and team ethic forged through the after-school club will see participating students performing significantly above expectation, not just in English but in all their subjects.

Such hopes will be greatly affected by the willingness of the teachers to aid me in monitoring the homework and class performance of the students taking part in the sessions. Here I confess my heart has slight fears. I mentioned that none of the teachers responded to my questionnaire. This in itself is of course enlightening. Since then, it has become clear that disunity is rife among the teachers, many of whom seem to be unable to refrain from gossiping and slandering one another simply as a means of passing the time of day. This has inevitably fostered factions within the teaching family and has led to the teachers focussing not on the job they are doing (beyond doing the bare minimum to earn their wage), but rather on holding a constant microscope under which they can place the actions and behaviour of their colleagues. If such attention to detail could be focussed instead upon the future growth of the school and upon the immediate challenges present
in raising the standards of the weaker students in each class, then the school would not have to be constantly fighting the fires of malicious gossip and hearsay in the villages that, at times, threaten to overwhelm the repute and standing we have worked so hard to build. My hunch is that if the teachers can be given something bigger than themselves to consider, something that provides them with ample seams of productive conversation to mine, then we may be able to turn a corner. Once I have the sports and English club up and running I will turn my attention to this in partnership with the Principal. Any sage advice from across the pond would be well received.
Writing a day later…
My hunch above has been semi-confirmed by a day's illness I am in the process of recovering from. It appears that as soon as my absence was noted, all conversation among the teachers switched to what might be the matter with me. Such evident energy to tittle tattle could be considered a negative thing, but nothing is good or bad etc. The encouraging fact is that such a type of energy exists. It now simply has to channelled in a way that will bring expansive benefits, rather than being allowed to foment division.

Expansion and trees…
During all the wedding parties that have been happening, I chanced to meet a gentleman from Birmingham who is a trustee of another school over here. I showed him around the GMMCS and listened to his observations. Two main things stood out in what he said. Firstly that we should plant more trees and secondly, that we ought to consider building the accommodation blocks outside the main school grounds, as this would allow for expansion in the future. For the trustees back in the UK, the latter is definitely worth thinking about. At present the school has no way of providing for the study of Music and Drama or CDT. The space currently assigned for hostel and accommodation blocks would seem a sensible choice of location for such facilities.
The planting of trees is of course a no-brainer for any human being concerned with our planet's survival. There are already numerous trees planted around the school, but having observed the rote nature of much of the teaching, it occurs to me that one could usefully take teaching of environmental science out of the class room and institute tree planting as a practical class, with each year group having responsibility for each of the trees planted by their yeargroup as the years progress.
Whilst on the topic of growth…it has been a little wounding to discover that the growth of the school ground's flora is aided by the use of fertilizers. I know for a fact that a nutrient supplement of rockdust and a small quantity of sea salt will provide a far more balanced and broad span of nutrients than the costly 'DiAmmonium Phosphate' currently in use. Even if my suggestion is impractical, surely we must find a way of pioneering non-chemical based plant growth in our own back yard if, in time, our community centre is to have the desired impact. Again, I invite suggestions or advice from those in the farming or organic food communities, or anyone with an idea of an alternative approach.

To many it may seem that I often have only concerns to raise and discuss, so I feel I must dispel this notion. The brighter the candle in the darkness, the more one is aware of the darkness when the candle is removed from sight. So it is with the GMMCS. The children are such bright mirrors, and the way the project has developed is so commendable, that anything which is a source of gloom amid such shining is always going to be more keenly felt.

Returning to this after a day or so, I can now confirm that we are to head to Jalundar to purchase the sports equipment on Saturday. The roller should be ready by Saturday evening (an annoying delay that is an inconvenience, but not a disaster) and the afterschool program will begin on Monday. My excitement has been enhanced greatly by seeing the swift progress the students seem able to make with even a small amount of coaching. Given that we currently only have one volleyball between about 30 students, Miss Nehra and I initially deemed trying to teach volleyball to the students a very ineffective use of time. However, we picked up on the students' enthusiasm to try and play the game during their lunch breaks. Consequently, we have been having short 10 minute games at the end of their break session and have imparted to the students the basic necessities of technique. In the space of a week, they we have progressed from weak, inaccurate serving and
non-existent rallies to serves that have power and enough accuracy, and rallies that can now be said to constitute a game. Yours truly must, at this juncture, confess his surprise. I had dismissed volleyball coaching as pointless until we had sufficient equipment. I am glad that as with the 1st standard I was given a wonderful lesson in 'truth' as it exists to our younger minds, as opposed to what we of a more aged bent believe we define it to be. I am glad to report that such is the speed of the students mastery of the basic skills, I have happily forgone my entire lunchbreak to play as longer game with the students. Each day I select 5 students and 3 subs for my team of 6 and appoint an opposing captain to do the same. This has now become an established routine, and the benefits in the actual games periods are manifest. The students are dedicateing themselves with a zeal to improving each day, in the hope of winning a place on 'George sir's
team' at at lunchtime.

More next week...as I report on the (hopefully painless) birth of the GMMCS After-School club. Should AfterSchool club be hyphenated? Capitalised? Who knows? (no seriously, if you do know, tell me so I can get it right in future!)

Much love for now.

Rote Learning…Rote Humans…

So I am now successfully installed at the school. The room I currently inhabit will become a classroom once the school expands into 8th standard and beyond. For now though, it is providing very spacious accommodation for me. I now have BabaJi (the school's watchman) and Rohit (the gardener) for neighbours. I cooked food for myself and Rohit yesterday and was glad to discover he had described it to other staff members of staff as 'pure Indian'. It seems I have had at least one positive influence so far during my stay…Rohit works tirelessly to maintain and beautify the school grounds. He has one of those smiles that lights up a person's face and instantly sets you at ease. He lives in Uttar Pradesh, where he has a young wife and son. He had recently been feeling very lonely and mentioned a desire to move on from the school. My arrival has proved a sufficient fillip to persuade him to put such plans on hold for the foreseeable future. It is
humbling to know that I might have had something to do with keeping his beaming smile at the school for some time yet.

Since last writing, things seem to be moving in the broadband world. BSNL are advertising 3G, though I suspect this will not be available in rural areas for a good year or so. More immediately for us though, it seems that it may not be as impossible as first thought to connect the school. I am currently exploring a couple of options and will report back in my next blog. Also to come in my next blog will be feedback on my teacher and pupil questionnaire, which I will be handing out at the start of next week. One incident has led me to think I may get more revealing and truthful answers from the pupils rather than the teachers. Whilst eating my lunch the other day, I became aware of boisterous laughter coming from a group of the teachers opposite me. It seemed that every time I spooned some saag onto my samosa, again the laughter would begin. Seeking to discover if I was breaking some ancient custom with my culinary habits, or if I had, unbeknown to
myself, become a comedian overnight, I asked the first hindi phrase I learned – 'tum has kyon raha ho?' – 'why are you laughing?' Immediately the laughter stopped, and when I sought to press them on it, the consensus was formed that they were not laughing at me, but about something completely unrelated. I revealed to Miss Nehra (the teacher with whom I have developed perhaps the best camaraderie, since we run games periods together and she speaks the best English) that I was not convinced of the teachers' affirmation that they were not laughing at me. She replied that I could ask them a thousand times and they would never tell the truth of the matter. Their reasons for this I can only guess at, but what is frustrating is that I am very difficult to offend and had asked why they were laughing only as a means of engaging them in a conversation. At the moment my inner debate is whether to use the slowly-softly-water approach to circumnavigate
the defensive barriers some of the teachers seem to have erected, or to create a tidal wave that will sweep them away in as compassionate and ultimately fruitful a way as possible. Perhaps the questionnaire will prove a useful first ripple. Watch this space.

I come now to the topic alluded to in the blog's title. Over the last week or so, some or other of the teachers have been absent through illness or due to travel restrictions imposed by the cloaking fog-smoke that descends some mornings. As a result I have been needed to cover a number of periods. Most commonly this has been drawing – the drawing teacher is getting married soon, and when this happens one apparently has to buy a whole new life. The possibility that the students were simply instructed to copy whatever the teacher, be it drawing, English, hindi or environmental science, had written on the board had became a more concrete reality when I walked in class to cover a drawing period and asked the students to draw a cow – possibly the most common animal/meaqns of transport in the area. The students looked at me with blank faces, then at the word cow on the blackboard, then back to me with even blanker faces. The conversation that followed
went something like this:
'But sir we don't know how to make one'
'What do you mean you don't know how to make one?'
'First you show us sir, then we draw'
'You're telling me you've never seen a cow?'
'Yes sir, but you draw first'
'If you've seen one, you can draw one'
To help them get into the spirit of things and to dust the cobwebs off their imagination, I drew a cow also. Needless to say, many of their cows were significantly better than mine. Once they had produced their first cow, they took to it like a duck to water. I am pleased to say I have since worked them up to producing 'a monkey riding a bicycle next to a river near a forest.' This last working title I tried on three classes – 3rd, 5th and 6th standard. Without question the youngest pupils took to the task with least resistance and with probably the best results, whilst it took me a good 10mins to convince 6th standard they were capable of completing my request.

I tell this story to highlight both the need to cultivate a child's imagination and the worrying trait that seems endemic within the curriculum teaching practices of 'copy and repeat'. The students right the way through the school are spoonfed answer after answer. In English this manifests in an ability to read and quote verbatim quite complex vocabulary, but not the slightest idea of how to use that vocabulary independently and outside the perspective of the given sentence. In a wider context, this current emphasis on rote learning may well be one of the causes for the children's lack of application to their homework. With the spark of curiosity having been replaced with the damp ditch of routine, the children perhaps struggle to motivate themselves. Such an approach serves over time to limit a child's imagination, and thus their ability to comprehend and cohere what they are learning into a vibrantly interdependent holistic world view,
producing instead a series of sterile headings under which they file certain words and concepts – soil erosion and deforestation under 'Environmental Science', poetry and rhyme under 'English' and so on. Inhibiting the imagination in this way also robs a child of one of its most potent resources for problem solving, meaning there develops a vicious circle as they grow older, where more and more they depend on being given the answer rather than having to work it our for themselves.
At this point I would usually launch into some overly wordy tirade about how this rote learning is simply the educational mirror of the way our entire gloablised social structures operate – ensuring that there are sufficient peons available with sufficient capability to perform the necessary functions required by the corporate-economic paradigm with which we've allowed ourselves to be yoked.
My preference these days is to focus on the positivity of seeking to be the change. So let us return to the 'monkey riding a bicycle by a river near a forest'. I was not aware of it at the time, but it has since become clear that this monkey is no ordinary monkey, but rather 'the hundredth monkey' made famous by Sheldrake's morphogenetic fields. Allow me to explain. Until yesterday, I had given this drawing task to 3rd, 5th and 6th standards. As stated, once they overcame the belief that they were not capable of drawing what was asked, they embraced the challenge warmly. However, I still had great difficulty in getting them to embellish their pictures with anything else they might wish to include. Even once they had decided to put fish in the river and birds in the trees of the forest, they tended to rely on eachother for inspiration, rather than their own imaginative faculties, and still needed some prompting and encouragement from me that it
was ok to 'make it up'. But again, once they saw the enjoyment to be had in giving their artwork their own personal touch and populating it with whatever they saw fit, they loved the task.
Fast forward to yesterday. I was covering another drawing period, this time for 4th standard. I set them the 'monkey riding a bicycle by a river near a forest' challenge, hoping to test my not exactly genius theory that 3rd and 4th standards, having not been so 'roted' would find the work easier than the more rote-ingrained 5th and 6th standards. More than just confirming this idea, I received a jolt of pleasant surprise when one of the students showed me his picture – in it were the requisite monkey, bike, river and forest, but there was also something at the edge of the forest that looked like a cross between a tortoise and a beetle. I asked him what it was and he said the name of some Indian bug I have already forgotten. What I have not forgotten, because instantly an unprompted voice from within whispered 'hundredth monkey,' is the sense that having guided the students of 3rd 5th and 6th to make their own additions to the picture, this
child in 4th had known intuitively that it was commendable to add his own details without any word from me.
I leave the reader to draw their own conclusions from the above. I shall move on to tell the other side of the story, because of course, nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so. Aware of this I have tried to look at the rote learning from another angle, to see if there is something I am missing. Is it possible that the worlds of imaginative and rote learning can meet in a marriage that will benefit our entire educational family? My present understanding is that the two approaches are as the two legs of a person. Of course the person can move with only one, but will take a great deal longer to get to the same place, and their range of movement and activities will be significantly limited. The odd couple of a monk and a student have given me an idea of perhaps how to combine the rote and the imaginative. In the travel blog of a friend, she mentioned having come across monks who learnt English by memorising sheets of Eminem lyrics. Then during a
computer period with 5th standard, I showed some of the students the usual method for performing a rap poem. They immediately began imitating my rhythmic annunciation and associated gesticulation and hand waving. I have a hunch that engaging the children in some form of rote/rhyme learning may be a seed to develop a way of learning certainly English more effectively. I shall report back.

Great challenge…

As feared, the reception from the teachers to my questionnaire was luke warm to put it kindly. The large silver lining to this cloud however is that it has hinted at the nature of the beast we may be dealing with in terms of trying to get the teachers onside and helping to paint the big picture. It seems we face not disunity or disinterestedness (certainly not from all the teachers) but that far more insidious monster – apathy. The reason for their apathy toward my questionnaire is their feeling that many people have come from England, asked there concerns, listened to their suggestions…and sweet FA has happened as a result. This has led them to the collective belief that it is pointless to tell me anything because nothing will get done even if they do. Initially I became quite despondent when I realised this was the case, wondering what I'd got myself into etc. However, a chat with the Principal lightened my mood. He was of the opinion that
certainly the teachers had some grounds for their feelings but that, given the bureaucratic teething problems the school has had to deal with, such a state of affairs was unavoidable and that many of the changes the teachers hope for cannot materialise overnight.
The fact remains that the teachers do feel slightly let down and I believe we take their feelings lightly at our peril. Next week I will hopefully take a few steps toward the root of their concerns and will then be better placed to suggest any action that might be necessary from the UK.

The students, equally predictably have been very forthcoming with their responses. A skim through reveals a few common strands – namely cooking and music classes and a water cooler.

To my great indignation, a large bus full of students drove into the middle of my 2nd standard games period football pitch. So it was that the geography students of Kurukshetra university announced themselves. They are here doing a socio-economic study of village of Lehrian. I have only had the chance to briefly pick the brains of India's bright young things. I will report back once I've made a fuller acquaintance. They of course have wasted no opportunity in ascertaining from me the EGI (Essential Gora Information), consisting of 'are you married' 'where are you from' 'what are your qualifications' 'how many family members' and 'what is your job in england'. I am thinking of putting together a video/powerpoint presentation to answer these questions, or of seeing if there is some form of investment scheme I can setup whereby I earn a commission for every time I answer these questions.

Today, a day earlier than the rest of the country, we celebrated children's day, in honour of J. Nehru, India's first Prime Minister who had a true love for children. In the last two periods of the day we had a dance program, where students from each year group could come on stage and perform an impromptu dance if they so wished. I should here mention that it took a showing from yours truly to convince the children to get into the spirit of things. It seems arab springs have never been seen set to Indian music before, and that I have worryingly memorable snake hips!

Here's a poem I wrote a couple of days ago that seems a suitable testament to children's day and to our school's principal.

See you soon.
Xx

The Principal and the slide

I heard it told that school Principals
Cannot afford the time for cares
That their schools will go to the dogs
Without stern punishments and stares

So you can imagine my surprise
When through the window I see one day
Our Principal leading the kinder garden
For a lesson in creative play

They filed out like a troop of magic ants
With Principal the Head-Ant guide
And stopped with bubbly anticipation
In the playground by the slide

Calling for hush the Principal asked
What else the slide could be
And in the silent moment
One sensed imaginations were set free

'I'm climbing up to heaven'
Said one girl with a laugh
Her friend replied that if she liked
They both could ride on her Giraffe

The timid boy was not so sure
About the plan to climb K2
So he bid his braver friend go first
And said 'I'll follow you'

Till two by two all the legs
Had scaled the dizzying height
Then descended back to terra firm
With peals of fresh delight

While, immaculate in his pressed shirt
The Head Ant warmly smiled
Thanking life for that most beautiful song –
The laughter of a child