Day 24

What happened to our perfect orphanage class?

They were so good, so well behaved and eager to learn. They did their worksheets without question, played games so fairly. We we would leave smiling every day. We would think to ourselves, "Aww Pratap is so helpful. Dalu is so smart."

We wanted to ADOPT them!

And now it is clear from their icy cold glares and furrowed brows… they have turned on us.

I said "hi" to Pratap today and all he did was cross his arms and stare me down. I didn't get so much as a smile from him all day unless it was at my expense. Even Dalu, the nice little brainiac with the button up shirt and the combed hair, was acting out. During free drawing time, he took Jaswant's coloring sheet, folded it up, and stuck in Rooplal's pocket, essentially framing the poor kid. When Jaswant saw his coloring sheet was missing, Dalu looked at us and pointed to Rooplal. We could just tell from the way Dalu was laughing at pointing who the real culprit was. Besides, Rooplal is the quietest most shy out of all of them. He wouldn't dare take anything from anyone, let alone Jaswant's.

Jaswant isn't an angel either though. He is one of the four new kids in class, and I call him Cheats because, it doesn't matter what he is doing, he is probably cheating. The other kids are Chiman, his brother, a second Jaswant, and Manis. Chiman is so cute and tiny, and he behaves for the most part, but his brother Jaswant is usually up to something. He is always raising his eyebrows at me and giving me a cheeky grin like he is trying to distract me with his smile while he does something behind his back. Jaswant, however, is the only one who is sneaky enough himself to catch Cheats in the act. During an intense game of memory, the kids sat around in a circle yelling in Hindi at each other like old men in a heated poker game. Every time Cheats would lift up an extra card, Jaswant would raise his hand up like he was going to hit him and reprimand him in fast Hindi.

Manis is in the group with the quiet kids who struggle, but try really hard. Savanah, Kamlesh, and Rooplal are all still very well behaved, but getting the other kids under control is going to be a challenge. And the unruliness of Jaswant and Cheats is having an effect of Pratap and Dalu who used to be our favorites.

Not anymore.

There was no order today. None, despite how hard we tried to get a handle on things. Two people just wasn't enough. They did not want to listen, and we were vastly out numbered. One thing is for sure, no more Mrs. Nice Emily and Allie. We're bringing out the big guns tomorrow.

You can't give us the stink eye and get away with it!

We also got two new girls in our morning class, Gobi and Valeder. Gobi is extremely excited to be in school and she reminds me of Pochohantus. Valeder on the other hand is extremely timid. Either that or she really does not want to be in school. We asked her to repeat "My name is…" but she just stared at us with a vacant look in her eyes and didn't participate for the rest of class. It will probably take time for her to adjust to being in school. Somehow, we will have to find a way catch both of them up to the other students who have already been over colors, animals, and part of the alphabet. Honestly, I am just happy the two girls are able to come to school.

The reason Monika hasn't been coming to class is because as little as education is valued in this part of the city, it is valued even less for girls. Indian girls are expected to stay home and help their mothers with the housekeeping, cooking, and smaller siblings. In addition, girls are often married off to their arranged husbands around age ten. They don't actually move in with their husbands until they are 18, but once they are married it becomes more important to learn how to cook than it is to add and subtract. It is unfortunate their culture does not see the value in educating a woman beyond a certain year as it is actually the girls in our class who are brighter, more excited to be in school, and participate more actively.