Lions, Tigers, and CHEATERS!! OH MY!

The school system here in India is way different from the states. Students attend school year round. Several times in the year, students have to take huge exams. For a week an a half, I did not teach at all because all students had exams. In the meantime, I was assigned three teachers a day to relieve them for 15-20 minutes.
From this experience I found that cheating is normalized at my school and all other schools in India.  Indian students (no offence) were bred to cheat because one's success in this country is based on test scores--nothing else. Students will do anything (i.e. cheat) to make the grade.

By the end of the exam week, I reported several students for cheating. The first few had notes hidden under their actual exams and many were caught because right in front of me they were asking other students for answers. When I catch them, I record their names/grade and report it to their teacher. To my surprise, the teachers just shake their head, write the name down and plan to yell at the student later—that’s it! The worst case took place when I was just about through with my shift because the assigned teacher came in. The moment she came in, she approached a student and slapped her (the teacher noticed she had a cheat sheet). I was SHOCKED! I felt so bad because she was one of my good students. Although cheating disgusts me, hitting a child disgusts me more. No teacher should EVER feel he/she has the right to put his/her hands on someone else's child.

 Realizing how serious I am with cheating, later in the week another teacher explained to me that naturally teachers avoid taking actions against students for cheating to avoid having disputes with the students’ parents. So basically, teachers quietly look away while other students cheat?,” I said to the teacher. He then said, well “worst comes to worst, their marks (grades) will be knocked off a few points.” GASP! A few points? What is the whole point of this educational system?, I thought. 

Kite Festival

I got to experience yet another unique celebration here in Kolkata, the annual Kite Festival. The Kite Festival takes place to pay tribute to Sarasvati Puja, the goddess of learning/knowledge.

One this day, students/schools pay homage to Sarasvati with cultural performances and they also go to a near park to participate in kite competitions. All the kites we saw being flown were made out of bamboo sticks and tissue paper. The kids fly the kite with a thread that is coated with a thin line of glass. The whole point of the glass layer is to cut every other kite out of the sky. It sounds horrible but the kids consider this to be fun not revenge. The last kite flying is the winner. The park that we went to had several kids from different schools and we spoke with a representative from an NGO that advocates for street children. This particular NGO bought all the street children materials to make/fly their own kites too. Older street kids were also out to help the younger kids with their kites. It was nice to see everyone working together to help a flier with his/her kite.

This little boy with the hat was the winner in the kite competition, he cut down so many kites

Teacher's Day!

Did you know that teachers in India are considered to be guru’s?

One of the highly celebrated holidays in India is Teacher’s day. I didn't think it was a big deal until I experienced my one myself. This year Teacher’s Day fell on September 5^th. A few weeks into my teaching, I sort of promised the other teachers I would wear a Sari(India’s traditional dress for women). It was a joke at first but I actually wore a sari for Teacher’s day. It was pretty amazing despite how anxious I felt because at any moment, I thought the drape would loosen and expose my goodies at school—but thank goodness it  didn't! Below you will see my coordinating teacher aka my 'mother teacher' draping my sari for me. In India it's considered an honor for any mother to put on her daughter's sari for the first time.

On Teacher’s Day, teachers do not teach at all, instead they get praised all day by the students. Teachers also get adorned with cards, flowers, and red pens LOL! Since teachers did not teach or have to stay in class, 12 graders were assigned to take up a subject and they had to teach the class while the teacher fulfilled her other duties (i.e. grade papers). After school was over (it was also a half day), class 12 had a special performance, the acting principal (a 12^th grader said his remarks, and they bought all the teachers lunch!! The food was so good!! I really enjoyed this day. I felt good for two reasons: the notes/cards my students gave me were super sweet and because many of the teachers were extremely excited to see me wear a Sari. 

12th graders in action as teachers

                           

XOXO all my students!! (This is only some)

Varanasi: Where Life and Death Coexist

Few weeks into teaching, the other ELT’s and I agreed that is was much needed to take a break. Thus, we decided to book a trip to Varanasi , aka the 'holiest' city in India.

Varanasi  was AH-MAZING!!! We visited several 'ghats,' they are steps that lead to the Ganges. The Ganges, known to Hindus as the 'Great Mother,' is regarded as a river of salvation. People come to her 'ghats' to pay respect, offer prayer, and cleanse themselves of sin. We got the chance to visit the Manikarnika ghat, aka the burning ghat. That's where people from all over India come to burn/put their loved ones to rest. From the looks of it, that water did not look too pleasing to the eye (in my opinion). Interestingly enough, they have the burning ceremony every single morning (4-6AM). After choosing some wood to carry the deceased, the family wraps the deceased in a cloth/pay their final respects, the priests does his rituals (varies for each caste) and they burn the body. After that (for the rest of the day), people literally bathe in the same water as a way to relinquish their sins.

Mother bathing her child

Unfortunately/fortunately (varies per person), I was not allowed to take any pictures of the funeral process. 

Varanasi  is a holy place for several religions; many of them have temples there. We visited the Tibetan temple for the Dali Lama, the Jainism temple, etc. We also visited the stupa where Buddha has his first sermon and we hiked up the place where Buddha met his first disciples. This place was super-hot but not as humid as Kolkata.

I definitely broke that rule...

Buddha's Stupa--we climbed it!!

The view from the top

In Varanasi, I re-realized that getting lost is part of the experience. The three of us visited several ghats. From the steep flights of steps to the actual town area, you will notice several narrow alleys too narrow for traffic but perfectly sized for a human being and a cow to roam or just stay put. At random we walked through several alleys. Each turn you take through these alleys leads you a live corner filled with people, chai (tea) wallahs (sellers), shop keepers, various smells, and one or two cows. We never felt unsafe because we knew with the help of a few friendly strangers we would be lead back safely.

On our last night, we participated in a beautiful ceremony called Aarti. Every night the people of the city meet at this one place. People sit in canoes or on the steps along the water watching these 7 priests performing religious rituals. This ritual is about preserving life and always keeping God at the center of all that you do. Our activities and daily life revolves around God. Everyone usually buys a candle in a cup with flowers. During the ceremony we're supposed to pray for longevity for our loved ones/friends and then release the candle in the water to flow on the holy water. It's a beautiful sight when you see all the burning candles flowing on the water. It’s is very interesting to see how these people value the circle of life by celebrating death early in the morning, cleansing of sins, then life throughout the day until night. 

My AMAZING dinner that night :) SO GOOD!!!

Great time with the girls! Carolina (left) and Kara (right)

Putting a candle down to bless my family and friends 

Several thousands of people were out in the water for this ceremony

Before I forget---I DROVE a rickshaw!!! One of the great pros to living here in India is the skill of bargaining. Unlike any typical tourist who would take up any price taxi drivers throw at them, my friends and I don’t play. Especially when we know how much cheaper it is for a local to get a ride to and from the same place. Rather than take a taxi (super expensive) we decided to take a rickshaw to the airport (1hr+ drive). Our driver did not know any English at all but during the ride to the airport he stopped to the side and said to each of us, "1 km for you, 1 km for you, and 1 km for you," lol, I seriously thought he was joking. We realized he was serious when he drove to the side and scooted over for us to drive. Never in my life did I plan for this to happen but for a minute I thought YOLO—you only live once— and I decide to go first. This man really taught me how to drive the rickshaw. When I got the hang of it he took his hands off mine and let me drive. It was CRAZY but SO MUCH FUN!!