Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
Day 6, Bangalore : 23 June 2010
The day began back at VT Paradise with the telephone ringing in each room … one by one, serving as a wake-up call. The whole lot of us reluctantly left the comfort and warmth of our beds. After breakfast, we had to overcome a bumpy and long ride back to Sri Kumaran Children’s Home.
Upon arrival, we were herded to a big studio where yoga mats awaited us and thus began our meditation and stretching poses. We found the session entirely relaxing and was also tickled by the sight of lanky Mr Wee doing a butterfly pose. After yoga, we were greeted by an art teacher. “Oh dear, this can’t be happening right? Art lessons? We came all the way here for art lessons??” someone sighed.
The lesson started off with a slide presentation on Warli paintings, and we then proceeded to the art room for practical sessions. We were to draw Warli art and were quickly introduced to this new form of drawing. It was actually created by a tribe to depict folklore for those who were illiterate.
We found this new form of drawing very innovative. It was basically just a more complex stickman whose body was formed by two triangles. From this exposure, we got a glimpse of India’s culture and also our dimension for art expanded. Everyone drew perfectly and the teachers heaped praises on every one of us.
Then, we were split into three groups as we had to go to three classes - 8A, 8B and 8C. The purpose was for us to get a feel of how lessons were conducted in India. We were all amazed by how focused every single pupil was. Scanning the class, every single one would be sitting upright and focusing on whatever the teacher was teaching. We were impressed by the pupils’ hardworking mindsets. The class only erupted into a market whenever the teacher asked a question. Many pupils competed with each other just to answer that simple question. We were taken aback by their responsiveness and enthusiasm. Back home, whenever a teacher asked a question, there would be an eerie silence, everyone desperately trying to avoid the teacher’s glare. We Singaporeans were more concerned about “face” rather than learning and we would be worried and embarrassed to give the wrong answer. In short, we refrained from being the laughingstock of the class.
After the lessons, we headed down for lunch before being introduced to two different languages commonly spoken in Bangalore, namely Hindi and Kanada. Again, we were split into two groups. Everyone enjoyed the short session of getting tongue-tied and struggling to pronounce the words. I guess that was the whole fun part of going to another country - basically just to learn their language. Here is an example of some words in Kanada:
Aidu - (sounds like ‘I do’)
Enthu - (everyone laughed as ‘enthu’ is the Singaporean slang for enthusiastic)
Hadthu- (a loud guffaw was heard as it sounded like ‘had to’)
Subha madyana - Good afternoon
Dhanyavadagalu - Thanks
Ninna hesareenu - What is your name?
Cool right? The most laughable thing is that Kanada also sounds like ‘Canada’. Now we will learn some simple Hindi. It is quite commonly spoken in India and Singapore. Here are the examples:
Sekand - Second
Minat - Minute
Namak-Salt
Zamin - earth
Bahut achchha hai - very nice
Muh se ham khate haim - We eat with our mouth
I think everyone really enjoyed themselves in the language classes. After that, we were supposed to do something that all the boys were looking forward to. We were about to play sports! We approached a lawn and started playing soccer. Some of the girls were playing basketball, but some decided to watch a few people who were rehearsing for a Sports Day Ceremony. However after only 15 minutes, we had to obey nature as it decided to open the floodgates. Everyone immediately grabbed their belongings and dashed to a nearby shelter. We ran as fast as our legs could carry us and took shelter there for the time being until it was time for our home visits.
Upon arrival, we were herded to a big studio where yoga mats awaited us and thus began our meditation and stretching poses. We found the session entirely relaxing and was also tickled by the sight of lanky Mr Wee doing a butterfly pose. After yoga, we were greeted by an art teacher. “Oh dear, this can’t be happening right? Art lessons? We came all the way here for art lessons??” someone sighed.
The lesson started off with a slide presentation on Warli paintings, and we then proceeded to the art room for practical sessions. We were to draw Warli art and were quickly introduced to this new form of drawing. It was actually created by a tribe to depict folklore for those who were illiterate.
We found this new form of drawing very innovative. It was basically just a more complex stickman whose body was formed by two triangles. From this exposure, we got a glimpse of India’s culture and also our dimension for art expanded. Everyone drew perfectly and the teachers heaped praises on every one of us.
Then, we were split into three groups as we had to go to three classes - 8A, 8B and 8C. The purpose was for us to get a feel of how lessons were conducted in India. We were all amazed by how focused every single pupil was. Scanning the class, every single one would be sitting upright and focusing on whatever the teacher was teaching. We were impressed by the pupils’ hardworking mindsets. The class only erupted into a market whenever the teacher asked a question. Many pupils competed with each other just to answer that simple question. We were taken aback by their responsiveness and enthusiasm. Back home, whenever a teacher asked a question, there would be an eerie silence, everyone desperately trying to avoid the teacher’s glare. We Singaporeans were more concerned about “face” rather than learning and we would be worried and embarrassed to give the wrong answer. In short, we refrained from being the laughingstock of the class.
After the lessons, we headed down for lunch before being introduced to two different languages commonly spoken in Bangalore, namely Hindi and Kanada. Again, we were split into two groups. Everyone enjoyed the short session of getting tongue-tied and struggling to pronounce the words. I guess that was the whole fun part of going to another country - basically just to learn their language. Here is an example of some words in Kanada:
Aidu - (sounds like ‘I do’)
Enthu - (everyone laughed as ‘enthu’ is the Singaporean slang for enthusiastic)
Hadthu- (a loud guffaw was heard as it sounded like ‘had to’)
Subha madyana - Good afternoon
Dhanyavadagalu - Thanks
Ninna hesareenu - What is your name?
Cool right? The most laughable thing is that Kanada also sounds like ‘Canada’. Now we will learn some simple Hindi. It is quite commonly spoken in India and Singapore. Here are the examples:
Sekand - Second
Minat - Minute
Namak-Salt
Zamin - earth
Bahut achchha hai - very nice
Muh se ham khate haim - We eat with our mouth
I think everyone really enjoyed themselves in the language classes. After that, we were supposed to do something that all the boys were looking forward to. We were about to play sports! We approached a lawn and started playing soccer. Some of the girls were playing basketball, but some decided to watch a few people who were rehearsing for a Sports Day Ceremony. However after only 15 minutes, we had to obey nature as it decided to open the floodgates. Everyone immediately grabbed their belongings and dashed to a nearby shelter. We ran as fast as our legs could carry us and took shelter there for the time being until it was time for our home visits.
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