Teaching Saga...

I mentioned in my earlier posts about teaching three kids in the neighborhood. It is turning out to be an interesting experience to say the least. I discovered recently that the kids love my bathroom of all the things. 

What happened was that one day one of them needed to use the loo. He was under the impression that I will not allow them to use our washroom (in keep with the caste hierarchy). So they were reasonably surprised when I nonchalantly asked him to use the bathroom instead of going to his own home.

This was taken very positively and from the next day onwards, it became a game. Each one of them would excuse himself/herself at least once in every class to use the washroom. Each visit would be at least 10 minutes long.

I can totally understand their fascination with a clean bathroom or even by the fact that our daughter has one room to herself or by seeing a globe in my house. Their sense of wonder at every little and small thing is a reflection of how impoverished there background really is. 

Sometimes they would pick up glucose biscuits I offer and keep them in their bags. I turn a blind eye. Once in a while the daughter straddles by, notices this and then questions me why I don't say anything to them when they "steal" the biscuits. I have a hard time convincing her that it is not stealing since it is offered to them. The daughter also cannot understand why I keep trying to teach Neetu (who now seems slightly reluctant to learn new things) when I can just very well give up by saying that she doesn't want to learn. I tell the daughter that this might be their only chance and I would be doing a disservice by not trying as much as I can. Some days Neetu will just sit without responding to anything I say. I try to talk and then send her back knowing that she will come the next day. Maybe a part of the reason for her coming back is that I offer biscuits but even if they learn little, just a teeny weeny more then maybe it is worth it. I just want them to dream bigger than what their lives are now; to know that there are possibilities in life and that they can create opportunities for themselves in life by learning. 

Anyway, coming back to the bathroom, I finally decided to take the bull by the horn and told them that they cannot use it everyday and especially without any rhyme or reason. What was funny was that they just laughed and said, “Theek hai aunty, ab hum nahi jayenge.”