I suppose some people might have forgotten that was ever writing a journal. I was, and I am sorry I haven't upheld it these past months (five or six in all..!). I'm presently sitting at a computer in the relative post-lunch calm that prevails (although, not with any consistency) upon the computer room in the Kalkaji Asha-dispensary situated in the far South East of Delhi. I'm now an English teacher, taking four classes a day and working a shorter (if slightly more pressured) five day week, still with the charity Asha. I have been doing this since Christmas and, despite a rather reluctant and rough start along with the various challenges that continually present themselves from week to week, I am beginning to enjoy it!
I can't hope to bring you up to date in one go, and I am not about to drown you in a detailed account of the past months. I suppose the significant gaps can be filled in gradually through future entries. Finer details aren't important but I hope to give an impression of my time thus far none-the-less. Perhaps the difference in the way I approach subjects in this and future entries may communicate a great deal in itself. I hope so. My own attitudes, feelings and most significantly my understanding of life in India has changed hugely since then and I think I in a much better place to be writing about it.
So this entry doesn't really have a theme, save for it being a new start. A clean slate. In brief, the months since my last entry have been good. At least I can say they have been very good for me. It has sometimes been very difficult and I have had all sorts of problems, doubts, misunderstandings and frustrations. On the other hand, I think I now have a far deeper understanding of the slums, of Asha, of the plight of the poor people here, of Hinduism, Islam and other religions and I now speak some Hindi. I had never properly attempted to learn a language before, but I have discovered that it is amazingly revelatory when you realize what people are babbling on about around you!
It is 2:30pm now, and my class is due to start. It's only girls classes in the afternoons and my next one is for the younger years. School classes 6-9 which means roughly 11-15 year olds. There is a particularly persistent girl named Pooja from the class who has been regularly popping her head round the door and firing some complicated Hindi my way. I can't tell her to go away any more, I'm getting late!
Feels great to have written something, lets hope this isn't the last!
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