Dramatic Rollercoaster

The past two days have been a series of ups and downs for the play. The children are impressively dedicated, showing up to practice through an unforgiving thunderstorm, walking for an hour to the clinic, and walking another hour to go back to their homes in Sundar Nagar. We visited their basti yesterday to get acquainted with the parents. They saw who we were, we answered questions, and the kids performed the scenes they've worked on for them. That's the good news.

Rekha's mother said her father wouldn't allow her to be in the play. Her younger brother Nilesh can participate, but Rekha is a girl, and apparently girls aren't allowed to leave the house for such reasons. Pinky's absence today was for the same reason. There's people like Pinky and Rekha's parents that want to continue the cycle of female oppression by treating them differently. That or they just don't trust us. Or both. Then there is Sarita's father who wants his daughter to be independent and empowered. How is it that families in the same community can be so different in their upbringing of females? We are going to talk to Pinky and Rekha's parents on Friday; they need to know that their children are needed in the play. Pinky, despite her softspoken nature, says her lines well and with oomph. She has a way of talking in a serious tone that is somehow almost sarcastic, it's hilarious.

Yesterday night, Sarita called me and asked if we could come over for dinner. I was gorging my chole bhature down so had to decline but jokingly said that when we do come over, she should make aaloo paranthas. Apparently something was lost in translation (even though we both spoke in Hindi), because today she shows up with a tri-layed tiffin full of aaloo paranthas. For you Pragya Didi, she says. I must not be very funny if people take me literally.

But all's well that ends well- the ten of us shared the paranthas and phenomenal achaar today, before the kids left to take Aarti's brother to the hospital. Amit is three years old but can not walk nor speak. The only way Aarti can come to practice is if she brings him along, and I am so glad she did. She will be the one narrating the first scenes of the play.

Working with these kids is the one thing I look forward to each day. Data entry and reading papers on MIC toxicology can be exciting too I suppose, but they dull in comparison to the smiles on the kids' faces as they leave, turning their heads every two seconds to wave goodbye before the hour long walk that awaits them.