The Crossroads

My barbershop DT and RT from Natick asked about how I was getting along not knowing the language and if that was a barrier getting along in India. To me, language isn’t a simple function of speaking and being spoken to.   It’s a process of understanding.   Spoken language is only one vehicle of understanding as far as I’m concerned.   Writing, hand gestures, facial contortions, pointing to objects, laughter, non-verbal shows of respect, all are vehicles of understanding.   If you only rely on one, you run the risk of not being understood.   You do your best with all forms of communication.   You try.   Effort is universally understood.   A touch of the heart and a simple “Namaste” brings a smile to the elderly folks here in the villa.   I’ve made the effort to show respect.   I do utilize an app called “Itranslate” when I need to use spoken language.   Often times here in rural-ish India, Hindi and English aren’t spoken.   Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, are all spoken here.  

I wrote a reflection piece for the Massachusetts Department of Education on what I am doing on my Fulbright. Funny how timing works. I am at the half mark of my time in India and it is a perfect time to reflect on what I am learning and doing. Check it out! 2.   Teacher Reflection –  Active Learning for All! Brinda Tahiliani, the  2018 Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year , is in India completing a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching. She resides in Dedham and has taught U.S. history at New Mission Collegiate Academy (part of the Boston Public Schools) for 13 years. Both my teaching in a Boston public school and my research in India are focused on making sure students have the skills not only to succeed on standardized tests but to solve problems creatively through researching, learning, teaching, and collaborating. My goal is to integrate within my U.S. history curriculum the ability for youth to come together, define for themselves what problem

I am going to start with my evening and then move forward with the day. One of the last things we did last night was visit my Nani and Nana’s home with the kids   (my grandparents and where my mom grew up) . We stood outside the entrance for a few minutes and I closed my eyes and memories flooded me of my visits to Calcutta as a child. Ashram was holding my hand the way I used to hold my mom’s hand and he was listening attentively to my memories as a child. Even though the first floor has been converted into offices, the kitchen, the bathrooms, the bedrooms, dining room, balconies, living room areas are still in the same place but used for an office with desks and storage. Of course some updating as well but not too much. I was still able to see the way it used to look and explain to James and Ashram how we spent our time in this special place with my cousins. Somehow they knew I had a strong connection to this home. They followed me through the house and listened to

My two favorite things...family and food. I grew up surrounded by amazing food and a loving family. The way Indian families shower you with love is through food. Works perfectly for me. We are in my mom's home city, Kolkata. Kolkata is a very special place for me. I have very fond memories as child here and my Nani and Nana (my grandparents on my mom's side) hold a very special place in my heart. I remember so vividly my time here as a child and playing with my cousins who were also from the US. We were young, curious, and a bit mischievous. And now as adults we have a good laugh about all the trouble we caused our parents when we visited India. Thankfully my kids have not taken after me too much, they are much more behaved. This family--my Mammi and Mamma (my mom's brother and his wife) and there kids Bunny and Hunny (those are not there good name's but there nicknames) are what keep us coming back to India. They also have a dog named

 Our day and evening was filled with sites and shopping. I am going to go in order and cut and paste descriptions from the internet that explains briefly each site. I will be honest, I am not good at explaining  sites to the extent that John is, but I wanted to give you some context of our day of exploration in Jaipur. We saw everything by rickshaw with our wonderful rickshaw driver Khan. He asked us if there were specific sites we wanted to see or if we trusted him to take us to all the sites and good shopping. I am sure by now you know what we chose. We just sat back and relaxed in the rickshaw and we let Khan lead the way. 1. Albert Hall Museum- Just clicked a picture and hopped back into the rickshaw.  It is the oldest museum of the state and functions as the State museum of Rajasthan. It is an example of Indo-Saracenic architecture. We also knew that James and Ashram would not last if we went to every site and explored each one. I am not sure I would have lasted