Ode to the Children: Take 1

This is something I should have started doing a long time ago but for some reason only just thought of now....sometimes I'm a little slow. Anyways, in case you haven't noticed, I am a little obsessed with the kids here at Rising Star. I can honestly say I have really come to know every single one of them since I have been here and I absolutely adore each special, sweet, individual spirit.

So, what I am going to start doing is highlighting the kids and letting everyone in the blogosphere get to know the wonderful spirits I have had the privilege of working with this year...here we go!

Ruthish

 Ruthish is a fourth standard student at Rising Star from the Bethel Nagar colony. He is one of the smallest boys in his class but is SO SMART and an amazing reader. Ruthish is as sweet as apple pie and so loving but he is not afraid to share his opinions. Sometimes, he gets the funniest, "what the hell are you doing/thinking" look on his face when he sees people doing crazy things or sees something he doesn't understand. Ruthish also loves to give me fashion advice. When he sees me with my hair back in a tight ponytail or bun (which is everyday) he will always tell me my hair looks very bad and I need to wear it down and "like this" (motioning that it needs to be parted on the side). He also isn't a fan of chuddidhars and is always telling me I need to wear saris. He is absolutely adorable and (as you can see) is QUITE the Rising Star fashion man.

earmuffs and a suit--India fashion at it's best

Kristraj

Oh what to say about Kristraj. This kid is filled with more energy and love than any kid I have ever known. His scratchy little voice and GIANT crocodile smile just make me start smiling from the minute I see him. With so much energy, you'd think Kristraj would be a handful in the classroom but he's actually an AWESOME student and a great help to his housemother. He is always obedient and respectful and loves to help people when needed. If he sees me walking down the hall with a stack of books, he always asks to help carry some and walk with me to my classroom. Kristraj is also one of THE BEST dancers on campus. He really feels the music and just lets his body do whatever the music tells him to do. I think he could very well be a Tamil Superstar one day. One of my favorite memories I will cherish with Kristraj is tucking him in to sleep at night. His big, sweet eyes looking up at me sleepily and a half little crocodile smile as I kiss his forehead and tell him goodnight.

V. Vignesh aka "The Baby"

 Vignesh is (I think) the youngest Rising Star on campus--hence my nickname for him "The Baby" (there are already two other Vignesh's on campus so it's also just easier). The Baby has one of the cutest faces I have ever seen...anywhere...ever...except for Easton when he was a baby...but other than that he's the next cutest. When The Baby first got to Rising Star, he wandered around not speaking to anyone--just looking everywhere with an intensely furrowed brow (probably trying to figure out why there were so many crazy white people at his new home). The Baby has now been at Rising Star for 9 months and still doesn't speak any English--he's still really young. A few months ago, though, I was shocked to hear The Baby calling my name from across the playground--HE HAD LEARNED MY NAME! This was a milestone for The Baby. Now it's an everyday occurrence to hear The Baby calling for me from somewhere on campus.

The Baby is fawned on by all the older kids at Rising Star--especially the older boys. They just love to carry him around, pinch his cheeks, wrestle and play with him, teach him crazy dances, and just be around him in general. I have a game with the older boys where we will all hold out our arms and see who The Baby chooses to pick him up. Whoever he goes to, everyone else ends up chasing after them and trying to get The Baby to choose them--it's loads of fun.

One of The Baby's all-time best moments (in my opinion) happened in school one day. I was teaching Seventh Standard (7th grade) when I look out my open classroom door and lo and behold The Baby was standing there...just smiling sweetly and watching me teach.....with no pants on. I immediately stopped teaching and asked, "Baby! Where are your pants??" This got my class' attention and within minutes we were all laughing at The silly, pantless Baby--and he was laughing too. I sent Ashok (one of the boys in my class who is in his house) to take The Baby to find his pants while I kept teaching. The moment was over but I will never forget The Baby standing in the door with no pants on--oh the joys of living with 200 children.

Just a regular dar for The Baby

Arun

Arun is a student that I am just getting to know better and he is completely awesome. Arun has been in my 6th Standard English class since August so I get to see him everyday although it has only been in the last few weeks that we are really getting to know each other (it's hard to really get to know every, single kid!). It's a very hard competition but I Arun has it won for the best smile and laugh on the Rising Star campus. He has an ear to ear grin that lights up his entire face and countenance and his laugh...oh man his laugh! Arun's deep, throaty giggle/laugh is one of the funniest/best laughs I have ever heard. It's one of those laughs that immediately make everyone else in the room start laughing too. On top of his awesome smile and laugh, he has a GREAT sense of humor and loves to joke around and play. 

Besides having a great laugh, Arun is an ATHLETE. The kids recently had sports competitions for their upcoming Sports Day and he took first place in high jump and shotput AND was on the winning volleyball team AND on the winning Kabadi team (a crazy Indian sport to be explained at another time). I was recently playing a game with Arun and he revealed that he would like to be a doctor. Even though he struggles in school and especially with reading, I think he will DEFINITELY be able to reach his goal one day. I feel very blessed to have been able to teach Arun this year and help bring him one step closer to reaching his goal.

Deepanraj

 Where to start with Deepanraj...I have a very deep love for all the children at Rising Star, but Deepan has carved out a special place in my heart. He has become one of my best buddies on campus and I already know that saying bye to him will be one of the hardest. He asked a few weeks back when I would be leaving and after I told him he got a very sad/mad look on his face and said, "I don't want to think about that." Deepan is in 8th Standard and has a spirit that shines with joy and optimism. Deepan is one of the biggest kids on campus, yet he is gentle and kind  to all the other kids. One of my favorite things about Deepan is his child-like nature. Although athletic and very strong, he loves simple activities like playing with his yo-yo or playing Uno. One of Deepan's favorite things (and one of my favorite memories with him) is flying kites. Deepan is a MASTER kite-flyer and actually does kite-fighting when he he is home in his village. On clear, beautiful days, we take out his beat-up Spiderman kite and his enormous spool of string and fly kite all afternoon until the housemothers call the kids in. As evidence to his kind nature, once he gets the kite flying steadily in the sky, he has the little boys all line-up and let's them take a turn holding the string and flying the kite--what an awesome big brother.

Besides being an amazing person, Deepan is also insanely creative and talented. The last few months, he has been choreographing and staging these big production dances for himself and Ashok. He does lighting, costumes...the works. He also has been named the technical director for LifeDance and did an AWESOME job at the MonaVie show directing the lights and the cameras. He has the potential to do so many great things in life and I pray everyday that he has the opportunity to do so. Deepan is one Rising Star child that I cannot imagine not knowing what he does with the rest of his life. He recently really wanted me to come to his home with him to go to his sister's wedding. As Jim and I were telling him I couldn't go, Jim jokingly said that I would come to his wedding when it happened. Later that day I was thinking about it and realized it was completely true--I totally WOULD fly out to India to be at Deepan's wedding! He is like another little brother to me and I hope we can continue to be buddies even after I leave Rising Star.

Boy, these kids are awesome. As we would say here, they are "Roomba roomba SUPER!" Hopefully there will be more "Odes" coming soon!

Vanakkam

L-O-V-E

This being the month of "love", I figured it would be the perfect time to have my dedicatory post to all the things I love about India. I have been compiling this list for awhile and as I kept thinking about it, the list kept growing and growing. There are so many little things I love about this crazy, jam-packed country!

So, without further adieu...here are some of the things I LOVE about India:

Chuddidhars: I mentioned these in last year's love post (which can be read here) but they are so great they deserve another shout-out. Chuddidhars really are awesome. They're comfy and colorful and oh so much fun. Now that I've been here for awhile I've figured out Indian "fashion" and have found some pretty cute chuddidhar outfits.

This is not one of my "cute" chuddidhar outfits, but it's one of my favs because the comfort factor is through the roof--I love this shirt. Anne came to love it too....so much that we woke-up one morning wearing the exact same outfit.

Gotta love me some chu-ddi-dhars (that was for you Kim)

Henna: Henna is an all-natural ink/dye that they use here as a temporary tattoo. Henna is to girls here like nail polish or lip gloss is to girls in America. It's something fun to decorate yourself with and play with and then eventually learn how to use it for real. Just here are Rising Star we have a big handful of women and some of the older girls, who are RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING at doing henna.

This henna was done by Nithya, one of the nurses who lives on campus. Needless to say, she is awesome (it's traditional to do Henna on the palms of your hands).

Bright Colors: India is all about bright colors. They don't believe in blending in by wearing neutral colors or wearing black to look slimming. If you want to fit-in in India, you gotta wear BRIGHT colors with intricate patterns. And it's not only the clothes that are colorful: houses, temples, and even trucks are all painted in a plethora of colors with tons of designs. This is something I am going to miss a lot when I leave.

A colorful temple in Mamallapuram (temples like this can be found all over the place).

The front door to the village tailor's house

Colorful saris at a wedding

Jingling anklets and bangles: Anklets and bangles are the jewelry of choice in India. Most of the anklets have bells on them so everywhere you walk you are jingling along. The same goes for the bangles. The girls where them in big stacks on each wrist so every time they move their arms the bangles jingle around on their arms. I have really come to love this constant jingling and have adopted their love of bangles and anklets--I have quite the collection of my own now. :)

 Little Reshma jingles everywhere she goes.

A stack of bangles on a henna-ed hand....quintessential India

Wearing flowers in your hair: Besides henna, another way that Indian women glam themselves up is by stringing together flowers and pinning them in their hair. In just about any city or town you can find a flower stand selling strung flowers specifically to be put in your hair. One of my all time favorite things is when Kala or Anjali or Venilla comes up to me first thing in the morning with a fresh string of flowers for my hair and helps me pin them in just right. They make you feel that much more beautiful and you can smell them all day.

Some of the housemothers with long strings of jasmine in their hair

Chai: If I were to list one vice I have in India it would have to be chai. Chai is the go-to tea in India and man, is it good. At Rising Star (as is common in all other schools) the teachers are served tea twice a day (there is also warm milk if you don't drink tea). I can easily say that Rising Star's chai puts Starbucks to shame. It's delicious and amazing.

Kim and I at Rising Star's chai table with Mariammal (one of the women that helps to serve the chai). We were very sad because there was no more chai.

Autos: Autos are the Indian version of a taxi...except so much better. Granted, every time you drive in one you are taking your life in your hands but, hey, doesn't make them any less fun. I truly love whizzing through Chennai traffic crammed in the back of an auto on the way to Spencer's (the Chennai mall that we frequent).

Typical auto sitting in traffic 

Some of the autos have awesome clown-horns that they use as traffic horns

Long Beautiful Hair: Although it has made my life so much easier having short hair during my time in India, I have never missed my long hair so much. All of the older girls and women have beautiful, long, thick hair that usually flows past their butts'...yeah it's that long. I could only dream of having hair that long and luxurious.

Some of the girls with their long, flowy locks

Rising Stars: This one is self-explanatory. How could you not love these faces??

Vanakkam

Party Til the End: Part Three

Once everyone had composed themselves and gotten their emotions under control, they were left with TONS of energy--the "post performance, I just changed the world" high. The night of the event happened to also be the birthday of the founder/president of Mona Vie. They had a huge chocolate cake for him backstage that they cut into and shared with the kids once the night had come to a close. Since they had finished crying, the kids were all beaming and basking in all that had happened. 

Besides getting flowers, all the kids also took turns wearing an AWESOME flower hat that was given to them by the Mona Vie staff. Here is V's turn rockin the hat...how can you resist that smile?!?!

As mentioned above, the cake was huge so they loaded all the kids' plates. C. Vignesh and Arun didn't have slices...they had MOUNDS of chocolate cake.

No better way to celebrate a great performance than with cake :) Here's Soniya, Krishnamoorthy, and Ambiga

At some point, the kids started smearing cake on each other's faces...naturally this escalated into an all out cake-face-smearing war between all the kids, volunteers, and even some of the Mona Vie staff. Joseph eluded being "caked" for awhile but when he finally got smeared he got smeared good--straight across his nose and cheeks. He looked so stinkin cute with his sad, cake-smeared face that I had to get a picture.

The whole gang (as well as some random Mona Vie people) with cake-smeared faces

Before taking off back to the apartment, we crammed into the bathroom and attempted to get the cake off our faces and hair.

We got to the kids' apartment around midnight and finally sat down to a real dinner. The kids don't get to watch TV at Rising Star so they took full advantage of having a TV in every bedroom. It was so nice to end the night with everyone hanging out like one big, happy family. It was perfection.

A nice family dinner....at midnight.

Just as we were getting ready to leave the kids for the night and head back to the hotel, I was walking around saying goodnight to everyone and saw these two (Ashok and Arun) as cute as can be all curled up in bed watching a Tamil movie after a long, successful day. I just can't get over how cute these kids are.

We took some time the next day to sleep-in and relax because we had all had such a full, exciting day. We got on the road around 10am and started the long drive back to Rising Star. This time around there was far less puking (only one person threw-up twice!) and a lot more sleeping. Everyone was seriously wiped out....I guess changing people's lives does that to ya. We made it back to Rising Star in 9.5 hours and everyone parted ways and headed to bed.

At the restaurant where we ate breakfast, Deepan was practicing using a fork and spoon. I just adore this kid.

We ate some seriously good parota for lunch at this awesome roadside stand. The kids LOVE parota and they don't get it at Rising Star so this was quite the treat for them. This was the kitchen and cooks--right smack in the action.

Back at the Green House after we had gotten everyone off the bus and sent to bed, Kelli, Derek, and I were all swapping pictures and we commented that it seemed as if the weekend had been a dream. It had been filled with so many emotions and unforgettable moments that it almost didn't seem real. It was truly a beautiful weekend that I am so blessed to have been apart of and will never forget.

Vanakkam

A Dream Come True: Part Two

Excitement was in the air from the moment we woke up on Saturday. After breakfast we all headed over to the venue so the kids could rehearse on the stage. You could see the wonder and awe in their eyes as they walked into the HUGE hall where the event was taking place. Most of these kids have only ever been to villages and the Rising Star campus so to be in such an enormous venue with a huge stage and tons of lights was a completely new experience for them.

 As they were taking everything in, Shaun sat them down and explained all that was going to happen at the performance. They listened to everything Shaun said with rapt attention, not wanting to miss out on anything important.

From there, they got on the stage and ran the three dances they would be doing that night: Bharatanatium (a traditional Indian welcome dance), Stayin Alive, and Somebody Out There. Even in rehearsal they were dancing as hard as they could. For a group that has rarely, if ever, been on stage, they did an AMAZING job adapting to the space and all the other little quirks that come with any performance.

The stage was literally ginormous complete with confetti canons, three jumbotron screens, and the cool plexi-glass background. The kids were going to be part of a legitimate show.

After rehearsal, we all returned to our respective lodgings (the kids stayed in a nice apartment provided by Mona Vie and the volunteers stayed in comped rooms at the 5-star Le Meridien hotel--it was awesome). While at the apartment, Vadivu (the hostel warden who came with us on the trip) had her daughter come over, who lives in Coimbature and happens to be a beautician, and do all the girls' make-up for the show. I am so glad she was able to come and help get all the girls' ready--it made the performance that much more special.

We all met at the apartment a few hours later, helped the boys spike out their hair with gel, and then headed to the venue. The kids looked amazing all dressed up in their new costumes with their hair and make-up done. They were all ridiculously excited and nervous but kept their cool and held themselves together like pros. We got to the venue and had a few hours to kill before the show...so naturally we took a pictures.

With all the gorgeous girls waiting for their time to perform

The boys looked so handsome all dressed up with their hair done :)

For the Bharatanatium, we rented traditional Indian costumes. Gracy and Vinodhini looked AMAZING!

Right before it was their turn to go, Shaun and Kelli led the kids in a quick warm-up and run-through of the numbers--they were ready to go :)

The last, most important thing before the kids went onstage: a final prayer of thanks for being able to perform at such a huge event and a quick blessing that everything would go well.

I was in charge of taking video on the legit video camera, so I went and sat in the audience by myself to get a good shot of the entire stage. The president of Mona Vie brought Shaun onstage and they introduced the Bharatanatium girls. I was so nervous and excited, you would have thought I was the one onstage performing for 1,000 people! The girls came out looking absolutely gorgeous and did a spectacular job. Surrounded by Indian businessmen, I should have felt very stupid: sitting ramrod straight in my chair, my video camera held high and proud with a huge, beaming, goofy grin on my face...but I was barely aware anyone else was around I was so overjoyed and thrilled. Gracy and Vino were stunning and definitely got the audience's attention.

After the Bharatanatium, Shaun took some time to explain what Rising Star is all about. He told everyone about Rising Star's three-fold mission and really gave the audience a sense of where the kids come from and all they have overcome to get to where they are today. After he finished, the entire LifeDance team came out and performed "Stayin Alive": a brand new number they just finished before coming on the trip. Although they were nervous, you would have never guessed it. They held themselves together like pros and performed with confidence. Even when they set off a confetti canon at the end of the dance, they didn't jump or forget the steps or anything--they kept on dancing like they performed in huge venues in front of thousands on a regular basis. I was more and more proud of them with every step.

Their final dance of the night was "Somebody Out There". The message behind this dance is that no matter what grief or pain or heartache you are experiencing, there is always somebody there to help you and pick you up. Before they danced, Shaun talked about how few people have seen more grief and pain in their lives than these kids. They have dealt with pain and loss from the time they were young, yet have overcome it all to be shining examples of charity and love. From the minute the music started, there was a hush in the audience and I KNOW the spirit was there. As Joseph started dancing, I felt such warmth and pride to be lucky enough to work with such beautiful, inspiring children on a daily basis. From the first time I watched them perform this dance in the little upstairs foyer at the school to them performing it in front of thousands was awe-inspiring. I also couldn't help but marvel at their growth as dancers and people. They have come so far in just the 9 months I have been here, and I have been lucky enough to be witness to it. Then, as Manodhaya came through the fog to lift Joseph up and be his "guardian angel", I got choked up. The spirit was so strong and I felt so blessed to be able to witness this performance and be working with these kids.

As the dance finished, almost the entire front half of the audience stood-up: the kids were getting a standing ovation and boy, did they deserve it. Besides the standing ovation, they had moved most of the audience to tears. The founder of Mona Vie came out, visibly moved, and challenged all of his top level distributors to come to the front and donate, right there on the spot. They set-up a box at the end of the stage and as distributors came forward to donate, the kids stood on stage and were able to witness the effect their dancing had had on the audience. By opening their hearts and dancing their very hardest, they had touched the people in the audience and inspired them to open their own hearts and give back to the kids. It was in that moment, watching the kids stand on stage all in a line with such poise and grace, that I really began to cry. I have never been more proud in my life. I was so proud of the kids and what they had accomplished. I was proud to be associated with such a great organization. I was proud to be able to work so closely with these special spirits and really know them. It was a very powerful moment filled with more love than I thought possible.

As the kids stood on stage, they were able to watch as person after person came up and donated huge amounts of money to Rising Star based solely off their performance and spirit. 100,000 RS, another 100,000 RS, a man took a gold chain off his neck, another man offered up his next 30,000 RS paycheck,  people were offering scholarships to the kids once they graduated....they had truly struck a chord with the people in the audience and moved them. To top it all off, each kid was given a dozen roses and treated like royalty--the farthest thing from untouchable. Seeing the effect they'd had on the audience brought most of the kids to tears. Below is sweet Savitha.

Once they finished up the donations, we all shared hugs and congratulations. One of my favorite moments of the night was when I came up to Joseph, put my arm around him and told him how amazing he had been and how proud I was. Already overwhelmed with emotions, Joseph started to cry. He really knew and could feel how special the night had been.

All the kids with Shaun, Kelli and the Mona Vie staff

I am so blessed to be able to have been at this performance. Manodhaya kept saying throughout the day, "Don't forget this incident. Remember this incident"  It was an unbelievable night that myself, the kids, and the entire audience won't soon forget.

Vanakkam

Answered Prayers: Part One

Wow....this weekend has definitely been one for the books. I want to do the whole story justice so I'm splitting the weekend into three posts. Here we go:

Mona Vie is a multi-level company that is Rising Star's newest sponsor. They are just opening up distribution in India and were doing a pre-launch in Chennai. They estimated about 5,000 people would be in attendance. A few weeks before the event, Mona Vie contacted Rising Star and asked if the LifeDance team would be able to come and perform at the event. As mentioned, the event was originally supposed to take place in Chennai so it seemed like there would be no problem getting the kids there to perform. One week before the event, Shaun (the dance master) was contacted and told that the event location had been changed to Coimbature--a city that is an 8 hour car trip from Rising Star. With the last minute location change, everything became uncertain. Shaun and Dr. Susan now had to figure out transportation, accommodations, food and everything else involved with a big performance. The performance kept inching closer and closer and even though the LifeDance team continued preparing for the event, we were still unsure if they would be able to go.

Three days before the performance and we still weren't sure the team would be going to perform. This opportunity was literally a dream come true for the kids and they wanted, more than anything, to be able to perform at this event. Wednesday after practice, the kids asked Shaun if they could all pray together so they would be able to go. Manodhaya, a 9th standard student on the team, poured her heart out in prayer for three minutes, pleading for this opportunity to come through. When her prayer was finished, the whole team sat silently for another minute and said individual, silent prayers--their humble hearts open and asking for help. The kids continued to pray through Thursday, and not just the LifeDance kids, the entire school was praying for LifeDance to be able to go to this performance. Kids were continually coming up to Shaun and the other volunteers telling us that they had prayed for LifeDance and, because they had prayed, they would be able to go. Finally, at 11pm Thursday night, we got the final word that a bus would be arriving at Rising Star at 6am the next morning to take the team to Coimbature for the Mona Vie event--the prayers of 200 children had been answered.

Filled to the brim with excitement and anticipation, the 18 LifeDance members and 10 chaperones loaded onto a bus to start the journey to Coimbature. What should have been an 8 hour drive turned into 11 and boy was it a lovely 11 hours (that was serious sarcasm). Joseph summed it all up: near the end of the journey he came and laid his head on my lap and said very exasperated, "This bus is like Vomit Land!" And indeed it was. We had 5 kids throw-up and a few of them threw-up multiple times equaling at least 10 vomiting instances throughout the journey. That compounded with the length of the trip made for a very long day. Besides the bus being vomitland, though, the kids really did well entertaining themselves during the ride. After 11 long hours, we finally arrived in Coimbature.

Savitha, as well as many of the other kids, spent a lot of time gazing out the window.

iPods, iPads, and laptops from Derek, Sam, Kelli, and myself were hot commodities on the bus.

Sleeping proved to be the best way to pass the time. I swear Joseph spent 90% of the trip like this.

Not my best moment, but at least we were comfy!

Using each other as pillows was also a big trend on the bus--as demonstrated here by Ashok and Arun.

So after a week filled with long rehearsals, fervent prayers, and an 11-hour bus ride, we all made it to Coimbature in one-piece...and the best was yet to come.

Vanakkam