Tag Archives: STF360India

STF in India: Answering Your Questions!

We promised we’d get around to answering some of the questions you left here on the blog, so here we go! I recruited Jancy to poll the other students and take over answering your Qs.

Sarah B asks:

I guess the first thing I’d like to know is what the girls enjoy most about school? And what are their favorite subjects? Can’t wait to see more posts!

Answer: We love almost everything about our school! But, we enjoy living and growing up together the most. Prathibha loves Chemistry while Maheshwari loves Biology. Some of the other favorite subjects are Economics, Accounts, and Literature. Apart from academics, everyone loves sports.

Rahul asks:

I want to know what motivates the girls to go to school ? Is it shelter, Food, Security ?

Answer: Shanti Bhavan is a boarding school but we do understand the  importance of education. We know education is the key to the many doors we want to open in life! [Ed. Note: That is an actual quote.]

Claire Biggs says:

I’d love to know what the students are interested in and what – if anything – we can do to encourage them in their studies.

Answer: See above for our favorite subjects, but some of our hobbies are: dancing, singing, listening to Top 40s music, drawing, and doing henna on Christen (or maybe that’s just me). We love getting your comments — and writing to penpals!

Randy Ross says:

My interest is in the food in India with emphasis on bread / sweet goods – let us know what is a special bread in India.

Answer: There are so many! Chappati is made from wheat and we eat it at lunch and dinner; dosas are made from rice flour and we have them for breakfast with chutni. In the North, they eat naan, which is a thicker flat bread. Then there’s rotti, which is similar to chappati but a little harder. None of them are very sweet though…we like our food spicy here!

Emily F. asks:

Did u see any tigers? Another question is how old are the girls when they go to school? What do their homes look like?

Answer: Christen hasn’t seen any yet! And she probably won’t. They’re located mostly in the zoos and in the North! We come to Shanti Bhavan when we are four, from all kinds of homes. Some of us come from the city and others live in villages — it depends on the girl!

Aishwarya writes:

The one thing I want to know about the Shanti Bhavan students is if THEY have any questions for US! We’ve gotten to know a few of them really well through the She’s the First blog, but is there anything about us they’d like to ask or know more about?

Answer: We’ve been asking Kate and Christen tons of questions since they got here. We’re so glad we’re getting to know STF better!

Posted in STF360 | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

STF in India: This One’s for the Foodies!

The question Kate and I seem to get most often from our friends stuck at home in the U.S. is “So how’s the food?” Our answer? Awesome. Really freaking awesome. Here, a small sampling:

Dinner: Chappati, lemon rice with lady's finger, and a tiny bit of (really spicy) mango pickle

(All photos by the [currently ravenous] Kate Lord.)

Dinner: Chappati, chicken in a mystery sauce, beets, and a pea curry

Breakfast: Masala dosa with chutni. Every time this is served, everyone does a dance. It's filled with potatoes and spices.

Breakfast: Idli (the white things) with coconut chutni and vada (the doughnut thing that does not remotely taste like a doughnut)

Puri (yum!) with chickpea curry and green things. Puri is fried in oil, making it the best bread-thing.

Breakfast: Upma with curry, a hardboiled egg, and tea

Lunch: Chappati, rice with dahl, and cabbage.

All meals, all hours: Tea!

All meals: Adorable.

 

Posted in STF360 | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

STF in India: Guest Post by Jancy & Saritha

[Editor's Note: This post was written and photographed by Jancy, Saritha, and Chaithra, three Shanti Bhavan graduates.]

Yesterday the four of us (Jancy, Maheshwari, Shilpa, and Saritha) went to visit Jyoti Nivas College, where we are going to study. It was the first time we traveled by bus alone to Bangalore. It was an interesting experience. A few SB alumni, Chaithra, Kavitha, and Lilly, helped us to fill in the forms for paying the fees for the courses we are going to take.

Here is our photo journal of the day:

This is a picture of us sitting in front of the auditorium.

This is a picture of us sitting in front of the auditorium.

Tada! This is the entrance to the Jyoti Nivas College.

Tada! This is the entrance to the Jyoti Nivas College.

"Yay! This is the auditorium of my college!" says Maheshwari.

"Yay! This is the auditorium of my college!" says Maheshwari.

This is the gigantic auditorium of our college. Saritha can't wait to play the piano while Jancy will sing in the choir.

This is the gigantic auditorium of our college. Saritha can't wait to play the piano while Jancy will sing in the choir.

The building in front of Maheshwari and Shilpa is where we are going to have our classes.

The building in front of Maheshwari and Shilpa is where we are going to have our classes.

Yummy yummy in my tummy tummy.

Yummy yummy in my tummy tummy.

This is a cafeteria of the college.

This is a cafeteria of the college.

This is what we had for lunch in the cafeteria. The waiter gave us four options of dishes for 15 rupees each: rice, poori, plain dosa, and chappati. The picture shows a meal with rice, curry, chutni, yogurt, vegetable salad, and boti (the cylindrical colored things, which are Maheshwari's favorite).

Actually...Jancy doesn't even like coffee.

Actually...Jancy doesn't even like coffee.

Three of us, Saritha, Shilpa and Jancy, sit outside the gates of the college.

Three of us, Saritha, Shilpa and Jancy, sit outside the gates of the college.

Yippeeeeeee...

Yippeeeeeee...

Jancy makes jumping pics seem easy.

Jancy makes jumping pics seem easy.

This is us traveling...alone!

This is us traveling...alone!

To finish things off, here’s a quick video of Jancy and Maheshwari on campus:

Posted in STF360 | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

STF in India: Let’s Play with Henna!

If Kate and I had more time, there are many, many things we’d want to do while in India. For example, I’ve always wanted to attend a gigantic Indian wedding, we both want to try out an Indian fortune teller, and we’ve talked a lot about the pros and cons of renting a motorbike for the day (like an awesome adventure v. imminent death). But one thing we were absolutely going to do before heading home? Play with henna!

Henna has been used for centuries — apparently even Cleopatra used it (according to Wikipedia, at least). It’s derived from a plant and used everywhere as a hair and clothing dye, but it’s probably best known for its use as a temporary tattoo, especially on special occasions. The henna is basically a dark goo when applied, and you peel it off piece by piece when it’s dry. Tradition says that the darker the henna stains on a bride’s wedding day, the happier she’ll be in her marriage. We might not be there yet, but we were definitely looking forward to doing it for fun. Luckily, the girls here are incredibly talented at henna art. Preetha and Jancy went to town on Kate and me, and I think the results speak for themselves. Check it out:

This is actually the second of three sessions Jancy and I had throughout the day!

(By now you know: All photos by the quick-handed Kate Lord.)

The hardest part of this whole process? Keeping my hand still while she drew on my fingers!

Preetha created a design down the front of Kate' arm

She actually used maroon henna, so it would be shades of red after peeling.

And the finished results?

Pretty incredible, right?

Posted in STF360 | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

STF in India: Graduation Day Bonus!

If you follow the blog regularly, you probably know Jancy by now. And as you’ve put together from my last post, she graduated this week! So here’s a quick clip of something I think you’ll all find pretty awesome:

Posted in STF360 | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

STF in India: Graduation Day!

After days of preparation and celebration, graduation day finally came bright and early — we headed over to the girls’ dorm at six in the morning to help them get ready! The aunties tied saris while the volunteers handled hair and makeup. Despite the early hour, we had music pumping and everyone’s spirits were up. Ashley and Lizzy even pulled off some dance moves while curling Jancy’s hair (not recommended for those of you at home:

(Of course, all photos by the ceaselessly-talented Kate Lord)

Each sari was tied just so. You think you put a lot of work into your graduation-day look? These girls had all hands on deck ensuring every pleat was in place:Someone decided it was OK for me to work on hair (ha), but luckily I didn’t ruin anything. Finally, all the girls were ready and headed over to the school building to meet up with the boys. After an hour of  parents watching anxiously and many congratulatory speeches, the graduates finally took to the stage, one by one, and received their high school diplomas: Finally graduated, the class stands for a photo with Dr. Abraham George, Mariam George, and Ajit George:Afterward, the graduates mingled with their families and had a special lunch, but then most had to pack; half of them started college this week! The goodbye was long and heart-wrenching, with more tears than smiles — but in the end, everyone knew the graduates were off to start the rest of their lives.

(Yes, their van is a converted ambulance. You wish you were this cool.)

 

Posted in STF360 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

STF in India: Prepping for Graduation

This past weekend was graduation weekend at Shanti Bhavan and in true Indian style, the celebration was almost a week long, including parties, competitions, and performances. It’s why we haven’t been blogging much!

The students were in charge of everything, and created roughly a million committees to ensure everything happened on time. Jancy directed the art for the stage, of course:

(As per usual, all photos by the magnanimous Kate Lord)

The sports competitions drew the whole school out (at 6:30 a.m., no less!) to watch the current students compete against SB alum. The cheers consisted of chants like, “East or West, SB is the best!” Which is technically true, because SB would win either way. The students really are crazy-talented at the sports they played. Here are some soccer shots:

That generous spirit may have ended when we got to tug of war, though. We all put on our game faces when it came time for us to play the graduates:

They also put on two nights of performances (remember that dance practice we posted about?), and everyone participated. Here’s Vyshali, one of the girls we sponsor (second from right), performing with her classmates:

And Prathibha, center:

And finally Jancy, performing the waltz with her partner Praveen:

At the end of the night, we had barbeque chicken and went to a party hosted by the school’s founder–where everyone would break into choreographed dance for every other song (not even joking). At the end of the night, before everyone headed to bed, we snagged this picture of the graduating girls; all will be the first in their families to graduate!

Posted in STF360 | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

STF in India: Fun and Games (and Classes, too)

We knew today was going to be a good day when we found this hidden away in a desk:
As always, all photos are by the brilliant and affable Kate Lord.

Remember playing MASH as a kid? We both did it all the time, so I loved that they do, too. They also play the letter game — name a place (say, Nepal), and the next person has to name another place that begins with the last letter of the first place (so in this case, you could say ‘Liberia’ based on the L in Nepal). In their version of hide and seek, you make sure the person finding has to keep doing it by tapping him on the back and saying “tappa-tappa.” My favorite new game is a pinching game, though: You say “same pinch” and then name something similar between you and the person you’re pinching. Simple, ridiculous, and I should probably be discouraging it…but definitely my favorite.

We spent a lot of the day rehearsing our dances for graduation, since the volunteers are expected to honor the graduates with performances. Kate and I have five left feet between the two of us, but we’ve been having a blast making fools of ourselves so far.

Our dance may include some superman-ing.

Yeshwini, one of the STF girls, even taught me some Bollywood moves. I was predictably not that great, but as she says: “Everyone is a dancer. Just maybe you haven’t found your dance yet!”

And in between all the dancing and rehearsing and pinching games, there was even some learning happening today. I taught the graduating class how to write research papers. They were attentive, which made me feel like I was actually a teacher, instead of just pretending for a little while. (Grads, if you’re reading, that was a joke. I’m completely legit.)

Sometimes they even laughed at my jokes.

Next week, I’ll be teaching a four-day travel seminar for a few students who are traveling to Japan (including Yeshwini!). Has anyone been there? I’d love to get your tips!

And as always, leave have for us or the girls, and we’ll answer them soon!

Posted in STF360 | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

STF in India: Sari Shopping with the Graduates!

Know what makes a graduation ceremony roughly 1,000 times better? When you get to wear a sari instead of a dorky set of Harry Potter robes. Each year, the founder of Shanti Bhavan Dr. George takes the graduating girls to get saris (with matching slippers and jewelry, of course), and we got to tag along this time.

That pile on the right was about a foot high and 6 feet wide by the time we were finished

A sari is a single strip of cloth, wrapped around the waist (into a petticoat, usually) and then draped over the shoulder. They’ve been worn for as long as history has chronicled fashion, which is…well, a long time. Once the girls picked out the saris they wanted to try on, the store attendant wrapped them up, while former SB grads, Doc George and the rest of the girls gave their opinion. Of course no one agreed on anything, but eventually they made their choices. I was absolutely no help, since I apparently have awful taste in saris (who knew?). Luckily, their other advisers were more helpful. Check it out; the colors alone are worth staring at for at least twenty minutes:

(photos by the talented and all-time best travel partner Kate Lord)

Jancy tries on a sari

The wrapping process? Not as effortless as it looks.

Maheshwari debates which she'll pick

Divya all done up!

My one and only accepted sari suggestion

Kate looks pretty fantastic in blue, right?


Graduation day will definitely be colorful!

And you guys–while I was writing this post, I heard this amazing music coming from downstairs in the school building. So I meander over, and Kumar, one of the graduates, was sitting at the piano, without sheet music, creating a song that literally stopped me in my tracks. It’s his own composition, which he’s been working on for (only!) a week. I know we spend most of our time here talking about the women, but these guys are going places, too. Here’s a bit of his music:

Beautiful, right?

Posted in STF360 | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

STF in India: Our First Day at Shanti Bhavan!

We’ve finally made it to the Shanti Bhavan, and let me tell you: They’re not kidding when they say it means “haven of peace.” Mango grove? Got it. Flowers? Everywhere. Palm trees, paved walkways, puppies? Yep, they’ve got all that, too.

See?

Photo by Kate Lord

Jancy and Prathibha gave us a tour, and were pretty much awesome. Prathibha is a senior this year, while Jancy will be gradating in a few short days!

Photo by Kate Lord

This is the girls’ dormitory, where they both sleep:

Photo by Kate Lord

The main school building consists of two levels of classrooms around a main courtyard, where the kids have assemblies–and where they’ll be graduating later this week.

Photo by Kate Lord

Each grade gets their own classroom, where they stay for the majority of the day (except when they leave for music, art, or lunch!).

Photo by Kate Lord

There are fruits growing everywhere here. These gooseberries grow toward the front of campus, but aren’t ripe–which I learned from Prathibha only after I popped one in my mouth.

Photo by Kate Lord

Also not ripe: This starfruit, which Prathibha picked for me. She likes us though, I swear!

Photo by Kate Lord

On my list to try soon: jackfruit!

Photo by Kate Lord

And behind the teachers’ house where we’re staying, there’s a whole grove of mangoes!

Photo by Kate Lord

Today, all the kids are working hard on prepping for the graduation ceremony. They’ll be performing all kinds of dances, and they’re already looking pretty impressive. Kate and I? Our dance skills could use some serious help…so for now at least, we’re sticking on the sidelines!

Photo by Kate Lord

Tomorrow we’re tagging along on a sari-shopping trip for the graduating girls–stay tuned! (And for those of you leaving questions, we aren’t ignoring you; promise! We’re collecting them all and will answer them in a post soon.)

Posted in STF360 | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

STF in India: Maheshwari at Home

We’ve only been in India for two days, but we’ve already experienced so much I feel like we’ve been here a week! After spending our first day in Bangalore running errands and grabbing a few gifts (Hey, Mom!), we woke up bright and early this morning to meet Maheshwari, a graduating senior at Shanti Bhavan. She brought us to her home, where we’d be spending the day getting to know her and her family.

Maheshwari outside her home (photo by Kate Lord)

 

I’m not going to give away too many details here, because Maheshwari is going to be starring in our upcoming documentary, but I will share a few behind-the-scenes tidbits with you–in photo form, of course!

We spent most of the day interviewing Maheshwari and her mom about their lives, and what it means for Maheshwari to be graduating from high school (she’s the first in her family to get any schooling at all!). Watching them interact was a lot of fun; they don’t get to spend much time together with Maheshwari away at school, but you can tell they have a great relationship:

a scene from our upcoming documentary!

 

It didn’t take long for them to start cooking for us on their wood-burning stove. All of the women worked together to prepare the meal, which would then go to feed everyone’s family within the compound (it’s full of Maheshwari’s paternal relatives, so everyone shares).

Maheshwari's mother prepares lunch (photo by Kate Lord)

 

Maheshwari's aunt prepares lunch (photo by Kate Lord)

 

But there was plenty to do while we waited…like play with bubbles:

And drink coconut milk, straight from the source:

And follow this hot pink chick the children had painted (yes, painted!):

a scene from our upcoming documentary!

 

When the food was ready though, it was worth the wait. I wish I could tell you what this is called (Update: It’s dahl!), but because it is late and my notes are elsewhere, you’ll just have to believe me when I tell you that it might have been the best meal of my life. The yellow bit on the side is home-made curry, and in traditional style, everything is served on a banana leaf. Maheshwari and her mom had to teach Kate and I how to eat ice with our hands–it’s harder than it looks!–but it was every bit as amazing as it looks:

lunch served by Maheshwari's mom (photo by Kate Lord)

 

At the end of the day, we packed up, said goodbye to Maheshwari’s family, and headed (finally!) to Shanti Bhavan. More on that to come soon!

Maheshwari and her mother outside their home (photo by Kate Lord)

 

Posted in STF360 | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

She’s the First Finally Makes it to India!

Yesterday, as I was getting on the subway, a woman gave my over-stuffed hiking pack and canvas bag a once-over and asked, “Are you going on a hike?”

“No,” I told her. “I’m going to India.” Is there any better way to start a day than with a conversation like that?

About to take off! We had a lot more energy before 18+ hours on planes.

Kate and I made it here to Bangalore, India, after 29 (29!) hours on the road. It’s 3 a.m. and we’re about to crash, but we had to let everyone know: We made it! And we’re getting ready to start almost three weeks of filming, teaching, and hanging out with the awesome students at Shanti Bhavan. So before we get started, we’re asking you: What do you want to know about Shanti Bhavan? About India? Let us know, and we’ll get you the answers. Watch out for more blog posts to come soon — but for us, it’s time to pass out!

...kind of like I did in the Frankfurt airport yesterday.

Posted in STF360 | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments