Skip to main content

Ten days...

By Vasudev, Student (14)

 

When the teachers in school said that we had ten days off when the juniors were away, to explore things we enjoy, I really could think of nothing. I knew I had to study a lot, because of my exams this November, but other than that I had nothing much. I decided to continue my normal routine of studying, cycling, listening to music etc. Just that I would study a lot more.

 

Usha aunty had suggested that I should learn to play Table Tennis as it’s a game that can be played alone without a team, as there aren't any other boys my age in Shibumi. She knew of a class in Jayanagar (4th Block). As a result of this I found myself playing TT every day for an hour and a half. I wasn't too enthusiastic about it on the first day but after a bit I found myself enjoying it quite a lot. The classes were at 5:30 and went on till 7:00. This used up most of my evenings (as I had to leave at 4:00 and was only back at round 8:00) and I suddenly found myself struggling to find time, when I originally thought that I'd have too much.

 

I also thought I'd do some roller blading since I hadn't done it for a few years. Angie said she had a pair of roller blades at home (as mine were now way too small) and she got them. During the ten days I didn't actually do as much as I'd liked, but I did manage to skate for an hour every day or two. Another activity that I didn't do as much as I'd thought I'd do was cycling. I did do a bit here and there but I'd hoped to do a couple of long trips that never materialized.

 

During the weekends I had Spanish classes. I had two hours of private one on one classes and three hours of a group session. So this meant that I couldn't do anything else on the weekends. But overall between Spanish, TT and my studies, my ten days were quite packed, but very enjoyable. Moreover if I hadn't had any one of these activities I'm sure I'd have been very bored.   


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mask-making at School

The theatre workshop planned for Kiri on Tuesday could not happen because Saraswati, who was going to conduct it was ill. So we planned a half-day mask-making workshop using collected junk and natural material, to be followed by a film screening for the children. Angie and I were going to conduct the activities for the day. The mask making activity was something I had done in college and enjoyed tremendously, so I was very excited to do it with the kids, but of course there was no knowing how it would actually go! I started the day by showing the group photos of several different kinds of masks from different parts of the world and some junk art, just to get some juices flowing in the kids’ minds. They were quite enthralled and fascinated, and in hindsight it did feel like a useful presentation to have made. We then went out for a walk around school armed with plastic bags to collect interesting things from the roadside. Some of the children had chosen to pair up for the activity, ot
16 comments
Read more

Ladki pe ghoda

Mahiti (Age 8) has been facinated with horses. Wanting to draw horses, paint them, stitch them. Last year for our Poetry mela she chose a poem about how to love a horse  to illustrate and share with others. The other day , she was swinging on the tyre swing and walked up to me with a smile on her face. When she was sure I  was listening to her she shared ....  'I have an idea! I want to make a horse I can ride. See , I will explain.... --looks around... finds a cardboard box.... gets into it...-- so, I want the horse around me , so I can ride it. and we can use some boxes for the neck and head.' Our learning space for the young children is consciously stocked with a variety open-ended material. For the children to easily access, use, play and learn with. Cardboard boxes are a open-ended resource material that lends itself to versatile unstructured play/learning beautifully. It takes the children on an adventure and helps them explore the imaginary places in their
Post a Comment
Read more

Chittara Workshop

The Paaruls and Palash were introduced to the Chittara art form through a two day workshop at Shibumi.   Chittara is a folk art form practised by the women of Deewaru community living close to Jog Falls in Shimoga, Karnataka. CFRIA (Centre for Revival of Indigenous Art) is a non-profit organisation that is committed towards preserving and Indigenous Art practices in India. We had Geetha Bhat, from CFRIA, as the facilitator and Lakshmakka, who is from the Deewaru community, introducing the kids to this art form.   We started off with an introduction to ’Hase Gode Chittara’.   The motifs used in Chittara are geometric and mainly lines. Hase Gode Chittara represents a marriage ceremony in the community. The drawing of the Chittara itself is part of the ceremony.   The colours used in Chittara are red, white, black and yellow. For white, ground rice paste is used; roasted rice for black, yellow seeds (Gurige), red earth and the brushes are made up of pundi naaru. The children starte
2 comments
Read more