Prashanth

Prashanth really is a cheerful person; however, the students don’t like pictures of themselves smiling.  Whenever I manage to get a picture with a smile they ask me to delete it and take another picture.

Prashanth was a 1^st year intermediate student.  I say was because the intermediate students have completed their end of year exams.  (The school year begins in mid-June and ends in late March for the Junior College [i.e. intermediate] and Degree College students.  The 10^th grade completed their exams on the 6^th of April; the rest of the students will complete their school year on the 22^nd of April.)  Apparently their exams were graded the moment they were turned in because each day he told me how he did on that day’s exam.  He did well so I am sure he will be returning in June for his 2^nd intermediate year.  

Definitions:

High School: grades 8 through 10

Junior College: grades 11 and 12 except they are called 1^st and 2^nd intermediate

Degree College: typically three years

It was Prashanth that explained to me that relationships are more likely to be an analogy than the literal blood relation.  His example was how a previous visitor regarded him as Thamudu (little brother).  He asked and I agreed to call him Thamudu.  His English was and is excellent.  While studying Telugu the students that were helping me frequently turned to Prashanth to get the English equivalent.

Some pictures of students in KNH Boys Hostel

Due to the large number of pictures I created a PDF.  I hope you can open the link.

KNH_Boys_Hostel

Na snehitudu M. Mahesh (My friend M. Mahesh)

As I approach the middle of my time in the Diocese of Dornakal I would like to share how my friendships are growing.  This is important not only to me (because I have the benefit of new friends) but, as Bishop Devamani Thandrigaru recently said in an address to the Diocese of Dornakal Degree College graduates, ‘this is important for the growth of the friendship we seek between the Diocese of Dornakal and the Diocese of Olympia.’

M. Mahesh (last names come first in India) is an eighth grade student at the Diocese of Dornakal Telugu high school (DDHS).  He also stays in the same hostel that I am staying in.  Shortly after I arrived (maybe a week) I was trying to use the few Telugu words I had learned.  Mahesh happened to be among the students who were there quizzing me.  First they would ask me for the Telugu equivalent of the English word they had just spoken (good English practice for them); then they asked the only Telugu question (the only sentence) I knew.  Nee peru amiti?  (What is your name?)  In an effort to learn I not only answered “Na peru bhabai Charles.”  I also turned and asked Mahesh “Nee thamudu peru amiti?” 

Mahesh, like most of the Telugu medium high school, was quite shy about speaking English; especially by himself instead of in a crowd.  (A quick side note applies here.  Most of the students in the English medium high school feel the same way about speaking Telugu even though it is the local language.  Both schools teach both of these languages as required subjects and they teach Hindi too; however, the students only have confidence to speak in the language they hear most their teachers speaking.  Let me reiterate most, not all the students feel and act this way.)  I felt bad when I saw his reaction.  He did answer but was clearly afraid of being put “on the spot”.  By the way, he doesn’t have a younger brother (thamudu); however, he does have a younger sister (chelli).  The challenge was how to tell me this when he is not comfortable in English and I can’t speak more than a few words of Telugu?  As a crowd we managed but it was awkward.  Such awkwardness befits the beginning of many of the friendships I am making.

Slowly, over time, I have heard Mahesh speaking English in the hostel.  It was mostly greetings but speaking English.  Until this week, he was still shy about letting me notice that he was speaking any English.  As you can imagine, boys pick on each other and some of those who have already become friends were picking on Mahesh.  So I just told them “don’t pick on na snehitudu Mahesh”.  That was earlier in the week.  As we were studying after dinner the students encouraged me to work on my Telugu.  In the process they asked “nee snehitudu peru amiti?”  Which I answered “na snehitudu peru M. Mahesh.”  You should have seen the smile!  He is one of the dancers in the hostel that will perform when we have visitors – he was ready to dance then and there!

In groups, the students love to have their picture taken.  It makes it dangerous to take the camera out as it is constantly “one more”.  This “one more” will disturb anything that we are preparing to do, dinner, getting ready for a visitor, lining up to go to church, anything.  Only some of them have been willing to let me take pictures of them alone.  Two days after “na snehitudu peru M. Mahesh” I finally got a picture of M. Mahesh alone.  This picture was taken on one of the rare days when they don’t have to wear their school uniform.

Sounds of India

My camera also takes short movies (.AVI files for those who know what that means).  Unfortunately they get very large very quickly.  I have been attempting to make some of them available.  However, the .avi file format is not supported by this blog and the only conversion program I currently have access to will only create .divx files which are not supported either.  I looked into YouTube but I couldn’t establish an account because I do not have a phone that they can call to verify my request. 

I hope to have opportunities to talk about my mission trip when I return.  I would like to utilize those opportunities to share some of these short movies.

Pasha

Please accept my apologies for the long time with no communication. Between power cuts (which is a state government power conservation program) which come at random times, graduation ceremonies for the degree college, the new computer skills program and a weekend trip to Khammam (see separate blog entry) I have been unable to secure an internet connection for many days. Please find a new blog entry below.

Pasha was recently named one of the committee leaders in the hostel.  Since he doesn’t know what committee he is leading I think the word they were looking for is “community”.  He is definitely a leader within the hostel community.  While he is still in seventh grade he takes his turn at many of the duties shared by Kalyan (eighth grade) and several students in the tenth grade.  Pasha is a close friend of Kalyan so it was just a matter of time before he came with Kalyan to visit me.

When Kalyan was sick, Pasha picked up his duties while keeping up with his own.  It is just the kind of person Pasha is.  As you can see from the picture, he won’t let me carry my computer bag or my books if he is around.  It is part of how he was taught to show respect for your elders and for your guests.  He is always careful, especially with the computer.  Like Kalyan, Pasha has become a dear friend. 

We have seven students from the Diocese of Dornakal English Medium High School (DDEMS has a red school uniform) in the hostel.  There are approximately seventy students in the hostel.  The remainder of the students attend either the DD Telugu Medium High School (which has a green uniform) or the DD Junior College (equivalent of grades 11 and 12.)

Most of the students either don’t understand me well enough to know what Telugu word I am searching for or are too shy to tell me if I get it wrong.  Pasha is one of the people I can turn to for Telugu help.

A few weeks ago Pasha went home for a local festival.  I think he told his family about me and what he saw me teaching to others (but had not taken to much interest in himself.)  When he returned he told me his mother told him to learn all he could about computers.  He voluntarily became one of my test the curriculum students for computer skills.  Now, a few weeks in, his interest is as strong as ever.  His typing skills are slow (and I am encouraging him to keep it slow until he gets very comfortable with ten-finger typing) but his accuracy is reasonably good.  In the process we have become good friends and I have learned more about the culture.

Kalyan

I have already made many friends here in India.  However, a few of them have proven to be really special people to me.  Bollam Kalyan (family names come first in India) is one of those people.

I briefly mentioned Kalyan (pronounced Kyle yawn) in one of my previous postings.  Since then I have learned that the way relationships are described in more likely to be an allegory than it is to be literal.  Therefore, my previous report that Kalyan was the son of the hostel superintendent is not true.  The superintendent was trying to tell me that the youth he had asked to assist me was special to him; almost “like a son”.  He has become “like a son” to me too.  He comes from a poor family in a coal mining town approximately 35 km from Dornakal.  Kalyan has helped me get the other student’s names correct which has been a challenge.  Especially since each time I try they all want to give me their names.  He will correct my pronunciation (the Indian vowels are pronounced differently and they roll their r’s which is a challenge for me.)  However, he allowed me to call him Kyle until I finally got it right.  I think he liked having an American version of his name.

Jayanth (not pictured) also stays in the same hostel.  Jayanth was introduced to me as Kalyan’s brother.  As I learned more, I found out he is really a cousin.  If that term exists in Telugu, I haven’t met anyone who uses it.  Instead Kalyan regards and looks after Jayanth as his younger brother.

In the picture above, Kalyan is participating in the drawing competition that was held in the Sunday school building following the service on 28 February.  The contest was coordinated by a former student who has become quite an artist.