Saturday, August 31, 2013

Home Again

While I was in India, I saw teachers writing lesson plans in minute detail, by hand. At the Bhavan's Sri Ramakrishna Vidyalaya, an assistant principal showed me a massive binder of lesson plans, including the plan for the lesson that was in progress. While I greatly admire these efforts, I am also very happy to be able to use my computer and keep my lesson plan files online, only printing out when it is really necessary.

Looking around my portable, I also noticed that while the walls were painted (an effort in which I was assisted by family and a friend) in green and yellow, I noticed that the bookshelves were the same light gray. They are now a shade of orange that I feel matches some natural flora. You know those brown rolling book carts? Okay, I covered the front in a curtain made from Rajasthani fabric. And the blinds...yellowing, broken in places, eternally dusty despite the best efforts of Mr. Talgo and his cohort, they were hardly even adequate to keep out the intense Florida light when I have film clips or pictures to show. Soooo...Hector Javier of the teacher's resource store, run by Broward Education Foundation, very kindly gave me some rolls of fabric when he found out I am a drama club sponsor. Some of the fabric I have used in the Kiva as a backdrop, but there was so much left over that I could whip together some curtains for my classroom, and then some.

This has made me reflect that while my Indian colleagues are certainly maintaining rigor in their classrooms, and the students demonstrate respect for them at all times, standing and chiming, "Good morning, Ma'am" when the teachers enter the room, the magic of a bright, friendly and print-rich classroom is mostly non-existent over there since it is the teachers who do the class change, and not the students. Color means a great deal to me, not just as an eye-pleaser, but also as a mood changer. When I finished painting, though, I noticed that somehow I had painted the Indian flag right into my classroom...

About a year or so ago, I met through e-Pals a school librarian in a rural area near Mumbai and slowly we have become friends, sharing personal as well as professional details. I suppose if I had had a choice about where I was going during my TGC fellowship, I would have visited her school. She has just written to me proposing a partnership...I really think that this reflects a characteristic of culture: that it is important to develop a real understanding between teachers before plunging into a joint project without the basis of a relationship.  To be continued...

Monday, August 5, 2013

Camels and elephants in Jaipur







 The first thing I noticed on arriving in Jaipur was the difference in the way the women dressed. The saris were wrapped differently, usually with the loose part draped over the head, maybe to protect from the sun's intensity. And the colors! Brilliant oranges, yellows, reds, purples - like   desert flowers.








Then we saw the camels. Camels are used as beasts of burden, pulling carts with produce, merchandise, and loads of fabrics; I did not see them used to carry people. Elephants on the other hand are a huge tourist attraction.

 There is even a park called Elephantastic where tourists can spend four hours feeding, grooming and bathing with the beasts, if they are so daring. We took a pass on that since our time was so limited and the prospect of immersing ourselves in dung-filled water not so appetizing. A ride on an elephant up to the Amber (or Amer) Fort was too much of a temptation, so we found ourselves swaying on an elephant's back and seeing the best views of the rocky hillside, the smooth, steep walls of the fort, and the king's gardens nestling in the lake below.

 


Jaipur was ruled by the Rajput kings, who held out for the longest time against the Mughals. Rajputs have traditional been warriors, and many of them are from the kshatriya or warrior caste, but there are many other castes to which Rajputs belong as well. The men are characterized by their many-colored turbans.






The Raja's Garden
  




Elephants climbing to the fort
 

The fort was built by Raja Man Singh who was a trusted general under the Mughal Emperor Akbar, in the late 16th Century.



















 
These pictures show various details from the
Amber Fort of Jaipur.







 
Columns inside the Diwan-i-am, or royal reception hall

Detail of stone inlay from the fort's facade.

The facade of the palace inisde the Amber Fort.




Ceiling detail from inside the portico of the palace.



Wall carving detail


Fort symmetry


 


Mirror-inlaid wall detail


Ceiling detail

Bougainvillea framing the Lake Palace of Jaipur


















Donkeys in the middle of the road
Jaipur street
Even the place where we stayed had historical significance, as it was the Raja's hunting lodge under the British. It is still owned by an in-law of the royal family.
Details from the Royal Heritage Haveli, where we stayed.


Typical freight truck, colorfully painted