where i live, part two

i scamper down the path in the morning, excited about my upcoming day with the girls. and keeping watch at the end of the driveway is the daytime guard, who greets me with a cheery, "good morning!" and wave as i head off to work.

after a long day teaching ukulele -- and counting c,2,3,4; g,2,3,4; c,2,3,4; a minor,2,3,4 about a million times! -- i sometimes head to the market to buy fruit. and while at the market, i often wet my whistle with some fresh coconut water. i always buy from this coconut pani wallah, who takes time to find me a great coconut. and then i watch him risk his fingers to get to the water.

after the coconut water is finished, the wallah takes it back, hacks it in half, scrapes all the coconut flesh together, and hands me a bowl of yummy fresh coconut.

and here's a 25 second video from inside the market. the man you see standing is the charmer i buy watermelon from, and the woman at the end is my guava lady.

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if you're short on time, here's the watermelon wallah.

its great to share the cost of an auto-rickshaw home from the market. sort of like super shuttle and leaving lax airport, the auto drivers want to fill the van so to speak. as you can see, this auto already has eight women and children, and one more girl is about to squeeze on. yay, india!!

as i waited for my own shared auto to fill, a guru-type guy dressed in all white and sporting two flat dreadlocks that reached almost to his knees got into the auto right in front of me. all this happened before i could get my camera back out and snap a photo of him. i was chagrined.

and then, oh joy! my auto wallah talked him into switching rides. he got out of the auto in front and squeezed in beside me. quickly i got my camera out and without even asking permission, took a few snaps. could not help myself.

as the auto approaches my gate, i tap the driver on the shoulder and say in hindi, "bhai, bas," which means, "brother, enough," (-- i think!)

and here is the outside of the gate where i live. if you look carefully, you can see that by the small tree is an altar where people stop by and give small offerings such as coconut or flower petals.

the long crumbly gray wall doesn't look like much, but at the end of the day, i'm always glad to get home sweet home!!

the sound of music and give me some sunshine

some days i feel like i'm fräuline maria in the sound of music.

oh, there are those minor differences: she was in salzburg and i am pune; she wore a dirndl and i wear a salwar kameez; she had a guitar and i have a ukulele; she had a handsome sea captain, and i have a -- hey, wait a minute!

anyway, the the joy in task is the same!!!

i now have 26 students in four different classes. they are all learning anthony raj's "tu pyaar ka saagar", which i've transposed into the key of c major so it's easier to play. its a song they love, so they are willing to play it over and over. we start with chords and strumming and counting. we then add singing. and then we move into the c major scale -- complete with naming the notes on the fretboard as they play, and from there they learn how to play the melody in fingerstyle.

here's a 39 second video of batches 2 and 5 playing "tu pyaar ka saagar." (i know these videos take a while to load, but if you watch this one to the end, you will be rewarded with a view of one of the dear kitchen girls hanging in there despite difficulties :) )

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one day toward the end of my batch 1 class, nandita* was struggling to keep up with the other girls in learning the c scale. soon there was a frown on her face as she complained in bangladshi about all the english letters in the c scale and how it was too difficult to learn. the next class i took her and another girl aside to give them special attention on the c scale. within minutes she had it. and what was so cool about her success was how eager she was to share with the other girl and teach her how to do it, too. she could hardly contain herself in her eagerness to help the other girl. yay!!

and here's a 12 second video of yet another girl, anika, and her 3rd batch classmates working that c scale.

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i wish you could see the smile of achievement and delight in her face as she finishes off with a flourish. they love learning ukulele!!

and here is alisha* who, along with laksha*, bravely learned how to change ukulele strings.

what would fräuline maria do? create contests and give prizes? i think she would!

here are the prizes from last week's contests. the addition of little plastic rings and nail polish has upped the ante.

two happy winners in batch 3!

when you know the chords to play, you can play most an-y-thing.

recently one of the girls started jamming on her uke and singing, "give me some sunshine," the catchy and yet poignant song from the much-loved bollywood movie 3 idiots, starring aamir khan.

the girls all chimed in on the song, and that evening when i looked up the chords and lyrics, it struck me how relevant the words of the song are to these girls.

here are some of the lyrics from "give me some sunshine" translated from hindi into english (adapted from: http://johnboednew.blogspot.in/2010/08/translation-give-me-some-sunshine-ost-3.html). the chorus is already in english.

we kept living

an incomplete life till now,

let us live fully for a moment now

we have lost our childhood

as well as youth

now let us live fully

for a moment

give me some sunshine

give me some rain

give me another chance

i wanna grow up once again

na na na-na...na na na-na....

i'm hoping that learning to play the ukulele will be part of the survivor girls's chance to grow up once again.

*names have been changed

where i live

would y'all like to know a little bit about where i live and who else i hang out with besides the girls at the protective home? ok! well, i'd be happy to tell you all about it. a man named cini happens to be a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend from my days volunteering at freedom firm. and cini, who knows just about everyone in town, connected me with a place called the maharashtra fellowship for the deaf -- otherwise known as the mfd. and the mfd is just down the road from the protective home. still with me?

and the mfd had a couple of rooms in the upstairs of a big house that they weren't using. and that is where i now live. it really is a blessing, because it is safe, has wifi, and also because it is so close to rescue foundation that i can walk there. i usually catch an auto rickshaw, but it is just a 5 - 10 rupee fair (10 - 20 cents). whee!!

here's a photo of the big house where i live.

my rooms are on the second floor behind that staircase that you see on the left side of the building. if you squint, you can see the door to my outer room is slightly ajar. i also have access to the roof, which is a pretty cool place to do exercises in the morning if i can get up before the sun gets too hot.

and here is the room where i spend most of my time when i am home.

most of the linens from an american family who have been in pune for five years and are now headed back to the states. thank you, dear janet!!

mfd is a boarding school for over 100 boys and girls who are deaf, and one of the cool things about living at mfd is that i never ever ever have to cook. at around 8 pm i just listen for the banging of metal bowls and ladles plates and cups -- i thought mfd would be a really quiet place to live, but it isn't!! --  and then i look out the window and down below to make sure they haven't started without me, and then i scurry downstairs and outside to the girls' dining area. and then one of the girls signs to me, asking if i want to have food, and i sign back and say yes, and when the buckets of food are toted over from the huge outdoor kitchen, one or two girls from each table pop up and get the rice and curry, and when it is all doled out, i get a plateful.

here is the dining area where we eat. it looks a little gloomy at night, but it is always fascinating.

i love it here and am learning some sign language, too. it's also very handy that i learned the american sign language alphabet years ago.

here's two of the 10th standard girls who are always so nice.

and here is a short video of sarubai, who is asking me if i want breakfast. this is the last breakfast of the school year for 9th standard and below.

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and that is my post for today. i hope you are having a fabulous week!!