First Impressions

   

   It’s only been four days, but Shanti Bhavan already feels like home to me.  After a whirlwind trip to India and a great day with family in Pune, I left for Shanti Bhavan (SB) on Saturday morning.  Even the short flight from Pune to Bangalore had its complications, most notably the fact that I once again was stopped by security at the airport on the verge of missing my flight.  Apparently the granola bars in my bag were both suspicious and hilarious, because the security team spent five minutes examining them while chuckling in my direction (I’m in India – I can’t even use the race card this time!).  In any case, I sprinted to the gate to make my flight just in time, and immediately set off for SB once I reached Bangalore and met up with the driver.

     The two hour drive from the booming metropolis of Bangalore, the IT capital of India, to the rural, secluded location of SB was an experience, and not only because the roads became nearly nonexistent the closer we got to SB.  The insane way that cars narrowly escape death on a minute-by-minute basis on the roads of India is not new to me, so I could ignore the looming head-on collisions which greeted our car for most of the ride and focus on the sights.  However, the most interesting and uncomfortable part of the ride was my total inability to interact with the driver.  While he knew enough English to make a quick introduction, it soon became clear that any questions posed to him in English were confusing and uncomfortable.  Thus, despite his generally cheery demeanor, we spent the better part of two hours in total silence, traveling through the Indian countryside as Justin Timberlake and Selena Gomez played on the radio. 

     When we finally reached SB, my nerves insisted on acting up, and after I was briefly shown to my room I took a deep breath before heading to the main school building.  I met the volunteer coordinator, Mohit, and then began to explore the school.  Almost immediately, I was besieged by kids who remembered me as one of three things from the brief few hours I spent here three years ago.  I was either “Karan,” “Robbie’s cousin,” or “the basketball guy,” but regardless of the title I was given, I was greeted with a huge smile and bubbling enthusiasm every single time.  I spent the rest of the day getting my bearings, hitting the basketball court, and getting to know the other volunteers, who are all amazing people in their own right (but that’s for another post).

     Sunday, my first full day here, passed in a blur of dancing, sports, and laughs.  I’d been at SB for less than 24 hours but felt like I was among old friends.  In one of the best surprises of the day, a group of girls were preparing a dance routine for a special school festival on Friday, and they happened to be using my favorite bhangra song.  After showing them some of my own moves, I jumped right into another dance with the other volunteers. 

 

     We then moved from the main building to the newly painted basketball court, where I quickly remembered that even in the middle of nowhere in southern India, kids get after it on the court.  I’m not exaggerating when I say that some of the kids step on the basketball court and play like a championship is on the line.  It’s energizing and so much fun to get out there with them.

 

     My teaching schedule started on Monday – for the first week, I’m doing both economics and commerce for the 11^th and 12^th grades, helping with daily news presentations, and teaching public speaking.  It has been a great yet challenging few days, but even a couple days of teaching at SB has shown me how rewarding this place can be.  It’s really incredible.  I’m exhausted from lack of sleep, but every night I keep going to bed late because I don’t want to pass up time with the kids during the day or relaxing with other volunteers at night to do my work (as always, the answer is procrastination).  Getting up at 6 am is always a little bit of a struggle – it turns out that no matter where you are in the world, the snooze button is your best friend.

     My next post will be a little more reflective, but I wanted to get the factual info and some pictures from the first few days out of the way before jumping into my thoughts about SB.  I'll try to keep posts coming as often as possible!