May 14, 2001

I can't believe it... summer vacation is more than 2/3 over! 
Students spend a lot more time at the SEED Centres during the school 
break; since half of the college volunteers have now headed back to 
their villages for a month, there's plenty to do for those of us left 
here.  I'm kept busier than usual these days preparing and teaching 3 
classes daily (6 days/week) - typing for the computer students 
(10-12AM) and spoken English for all (4-530PM) at Karumbalai Centre, 
and reading + spoken English in Sambakkudi village (630-830PM).

Today's planned outing to a local fairgrounds was cancelled by a 
rainstorm - sad for the kids that it has to be re-scheduled... but 
the rain brought a welcome, if very temporary, 15 degree drop in the 
temp!  It also FINALLY gives me some time to tell you about our 
biggest, most gratifying SEED celebration to date.

On 26 April last year, we held the grand opening of our Karumbalai 
SEED Centre.  After several years of marvelous work by Dr. Taj, 
managing to fit tutoring and other educational activities for the 
slum kids into any available space - the barren, electricity-less 
local elementary school, her home, a slum lane - we had a real "home" 
for the kids!  And this year, our first anniversary was not about to 
be forgotten!!

The students and volunteers started planning for the big occasion 
more than a month in advance.  They put together photo exhibits of 
our year's activities, compiled a "magazine" of student essays on 
various aspects of SEED, wrote songs, painted pictures, put together 
skits and dances....  After several offers of donated space for our 
"function" fell thru, we ended up renting a "wedding hall" to 
accommodate our shindig - two floors, each about the size of a 
basketball court.  The downstairs was filled with tables and 
clothesline wires to hold the myriad of "exhibits."  Seeing in a 
single place reminders of all we'd done in one short year was 
overwhelming for those of us who'd been directly involved, not to 
mention for parents and guests.  Upstairs, lots of decorations were 
put up and a make-do "stage" was prepared for speakers and student 
performances.  (Students and volunteers worked thru most of the night 
getting the place ready.  They're really proud of what they've 
accomplished, and wanted to make sure all the people who came could 
get some idea of how important it is for them.)

For themselves, in the morning about 50 Karumbalai students held 
"competitions" in singing, dance, speech-giving, and art.  By 3PM, 
parents and friends started to arrive, along with 25 SEED students 
and volunteers from Sambakkudi village.  Then it was time for games, 
group singing, and a tour of the exhibits, followed by tea, snacks 
and a huge cake (a mini-celebration of my birthday).  Most of the 
other invited guests had arrived by 5PM - we were about 250 total - 
so we moved upstairs for the "formal" part of the celebration.

Shahitha (9th grader) started things off with our "SEED Centre, 
Centre of My Life" song - sung in her typically self-demeaning "oh my 
god... I'm going to forget the words" style.  Then two guest speakers 
- Dr. Anantha Valli, a woman who heads a trust dedicated to providing 
educational support within a Gandhian framework, and Dr. Manoharan, a 
college professor who regularly participates in educational outreach 
- each gave inspiring, child-oriented talks on how social service has 
brought joy to their own lives.  Rajasekharan, Wisconsin Program 
coordinator, provoked gales of laughter and rhythmic hand-clapping 
with some folksy anecdotes and song.  And Karthik, our SEED volunteer 
in-charge, managed to find some excuse or other to award "prizes" to 
a bunch of parents and guests, as well as student competition winners 
and volunteers.  Especially heartwarming were the huge rounds of 
applause and gracious clearing of aisles when awards were presented 
to Arun (a paraplegic SEED volunteer) and to the blind, widowed 
mother of Krishnaveni (11th grade student).  Thru it all, dear Dr. 
Venkatraman roamed the crowd with his video camera, capturing many 
delightful images for us to revel in as the years go by.

Finally, by around 7PM, it was time for the students to show off 
their "stuff" in person.  Delightfully entertaining skits, songs and 
dances, with almost all of the students from both SEED Centres 
participating, gave eloquent voice to the social awareness and human 
concern that is blossoming in these sensitive young people.  Of 
course, it wouldn't have been "real" without a whole bunch of breaks 
in the action - "who's next?" "they're not dressed yet" "she had to 
go home with her mom" "this flashlight doesn't work" - or the 
hilarity of half a dozen actors trying to figure out how to pass 
around a single hand-held microphone with which they'd never 
practiced!

But that all seemed to heighten the kids' resolve to prove that SEED 
isn't all about "serious business."  The final item on the program 
had been planned as a "dance lesson" for the volunteers, to teach 
them some of the latest cinema dance steps.  When some volunteers 
showed reticence, the students stepped in... and for the last hour of 
our celebration, the tapedeck sound level was jacked up, popular 
music boomed, and bodies gyrated all over the stage.  After a 
lengthy, stubborn protest, I was also finally enticed onto the stage 
by doleful pleadings - "please, saar, just this once, just for us." 
My discombobulated flailings were apparently enough to provoke some 
mothers to take the floor, too, to prove that the "older generation" 
aren't ALL a bunch of klutzes.  They were great!  What a hit that 
made with the kids, and parents too.

What a day... what a YEAR!!!  Thank you all for making it possible - 
Ted

PS - Purely personal here...

Last year, our beloved Dr.V determined that the "auspicious" day for 
our SEED Centre grand opening was 26 April, which also happens to be 
my birthday. It was truly a most unforgettable birthday gift!  At 
that time, we hadn't yet started celebrating SEED participants' 
birthdays, so no one else here knew mine was on that day.  But this 
year it was no secret.  The issue of how to celebrate came up - as 
surely it must, since for the first time in their lives, at SEED we'd 
made their birthdays (not generally celebrated in India) "special" 
days for each student.  I said that a day of celebration for the 
Centre, which is there for all of us, was equally a celebration for 
me.  (It didn't quite seem appropriate to tell that that I'd shunned 
celebrating birthdays for years.)  Far as I could tell, planning for 
the big day went on with that intent.

On the 23rd, I came home after class for a quick wash before heading 
out to the village, only to be met by a contingent from Karumbalai 
carrying fruit, flowers, and a new white shirt and veshti 
(sarong-like white men's garment).  I was asked to put on the new 
clothes and come with them; the village folks had been called to say 
I couldn't come that day.  As my scooter had been commandeered to do 
some last-minute shopping, I piled into an autorickshaw with the 
others, and back to Karumbalai we all went.  There our forward 
progress was halted by a roadblock - cutting off all traffic on one 
of the slum's main lanes (of which there are only three) - beyond 
which were crowds of kids.  I was adorned with a massive flower 
garland, smeared with various fragrant oils and colored powders, 
showered with rose petals, and "purified" with a coconut circled 
round my head.

A "stage" was set in the lane, where I sat with Karthik's father, 
surrounded by hoardes of kids.  Several groups of students sang songs 
for me, and a clarinet and drum played "Western" music - hmmm... 
sounded a lot like jazzed-up Indian popular music to me! - all of 
which boomed over loudspeakers up and down the lane.  Then everybody 
on the lane was given tea, and about 200 of us squeezed into tiny 
side lanes to sit on the ground and eat delicious chicken biryani 
that Karthik's sisters had prepared.  (What with half a dozen girls 
sitting around me shoving food in my mouth, my new white shirt and 
veshti will now forever have big bright turmeric and curry powder 
stains to remind me of the occasion!)

As if that weren't enough, the kids decided they wanted to have a 
more "private" celebration, too.  So on the 25th, I got a call to 
come to Karumbalai at about 930PM.  When I arrived, the Centre was 
dark.  As I got off my scooter, Kalarani and Sasikala (9th graders) 
came out and gave me a big candle.  Within seconds, the stairs up to 
the Centre were lined with kids, each holding a small candle in each 
hand.  I climbed the stairs, lighting candles as I went, and entered 
our roof-top abode only to be met by more kids and more candles. 
When all were lit, we sat in a circle lighted only by candles as 
several students told me how much the Centre and SEED mean to them. 
Hearing the moving words of tiny Paalthangam and stuttering Marimuthu 
(7th graders), shy Sivakami (9th), brilliant Anees (10th), thoughtful 
Maruthunayagam (11th) and others gave more inner pleasure than any 
person has a right to.  Simple, sincere, sensitive... so satisfying.

Then there was the massive cake at our Centre anniversary bash on the 
26th...

Many times I've said "thank you" for making SEED possible.  Now I 
want to thank you most sincerely for making this life-celebrating 
time possible for me.