Five Kids and a Play
Jen's the theater person. Diana and I are not. Yet there we were, sitting with five youngsters staring at us, expecting us to tell them what to do. It was an idea-having the children from the bastis perform a play during the upcoming hunger strike. And after today's meeting, it is becoming a reality.
Sarita was outspoken and articulate, mature beyond her adolesence, and gave her 110% in each of Jen's warm-up activities. Rekha and Nilesh were the sibling pair that had done a play at their school before, so they weren't as inhibited as Aarti and Pinky. But by the end of the two hours we spent with the group, they were enthused and wanting to meet the very next day.
During the initial discussion on the subject of the play, the kids told us how their lives are different because of the gas disaster their parents suffered through. Aarti can't even go to school because she has to take care of her handicapped younger brother. But she wants to be a doctor. Nilesh dreams of being a policeman so he can stop the looting rampant in his village. And Pinky...well, Pinky was the tiniest of the bunch: meek, frail, her glazed eyes making it seem as if she was going to cry any minute. But she participated some at the end of the meeting, which was more than the nothing she did in the beginning. She even smiled at one point; it's the small victories that count.
Based on the discussions we had, the play could be over an activity each of these youngsters are very used to- collecting water from the water tanks in their communities. Because the groundwater is contaminated, these children take their empty jugs, buckets and pots and stand in line for two, three, maybe four hours, amidst people fighting to go first before they can get some water from the few water tanks in their bastis. That is, if the water hasn't run out, in which case they have no choice but to resort to the contaminated handpump water. Stay tuned for more news on our directorial skills, or lack thereof. My attempt at theater ended at a failed 11th grade audition where I couldn't "project" enough. Of the three of us, Jen is probably the only one who knows what she's doing.
P.S. I found a mouse scurrying across my bed today and screamed. I don't mind the evil creatures running around on the floor or in the panels of the ceiling, but in my bed? That was reason enough to clean my side of the room. How long it stays that way is another matter.
P.P.S. I am currently obsessed with Tamil music even though I don't speak the language. Wierd, huh?
Sarita was outspoken and articulate, mature beyond her adolesence, and gave her 110% in each of Jen's warm-up activities. Rekha and Nilesh were the sibling pair that had done a play at their school before, so they weren't as inhibited as Aarti and Pinky. But by the end of the two hours we spent with the group, they were enthused and wanting to meet the very next day.
During the initial discussion on the subject of the play, the kids told us how their lives are different because of the gas disaster their parents suffered through. Aarti can't even go to school because she has to take care of her handicapped younger brother. But she wants to be a doctor. Nilesh dreams of being a policeman so he can stop the looting rampant in his village. And Pinky...well, Pinky was the tiniest of the bunch: meek, frail, her glazed eyes making it seem as if she was going to cry any minute. But she participated some at the end of the meeting, which was more than the nothing she did in the beginning. She even smiled at one point; it's the small victories that count.
Based on the discussions we had, the play could be over an activity each of these youngsters are very used to- collecting water from the water tanks in their communities. Because the groundwater is contaminated, these children take their empty jugs, buckets and pots and stand in line for two, three, maybe four hours, amidst people fighting to go first before they can get some water from the few water tanks in their bastis. That is, if the water hasn't run out, in which case they have no choice but to resort to the contaminated handpump water. Stay tuned for more news on our directorial skills, or lack thereof. My attempt at theater ended at a failed 11th grade audition where I couldn't "project" enough. Of the three of us, Jen is probably the only one who knows what she's doing.
P.S. I found a mouse scurrying across my bed today and screamed. I don't mind the evil creatures running around on the floor or in the panels of the ceiling, but in my bed? That was reason enough to clean my side of the room. How long it stays that way is another matter.
P.P.S. I am currently obsessed with Tamil music even though I don't speak the language. Wierd, huh?
posted by Pragya | 4:42 AM
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