The Visitor

Nature Event I
Yesterday I went to the little basti (slum) down the street from the diocesan compound to check on a sick baby. When I entered the basti, several children came running up to me telling me excitedly that a monkey was in the village. That excited me too, and I wanted to know where it was. It didn't take long to find out. As I was talking to the mom about the baby, the monkey appeared. He very casually planted himself at my feet and became very interested in what I had in my hand. This is not a small monkey. He looked up at me and said something, which I did not understand, but that is not unusual for me in India, revealing lots of very sharp little teeth. I told him he would not like what I had, so I eased around him, and the mom and I went into the little room and shut the door. After a few minutes I went out to make sure the stuff in my basket was still there, and the monkey was sitting on the ledge of the house next door. When the door opened, he hopped down from his perch and came into the room. Those of us in the room moved out the other door and watched to see what he would do. Well, he made himself quite at home. He went over to the cooking area of the house where a pot was still sitting on the "stove". Remember the food is cooked campfire style on the ground, so it is just the right height for this visitor to have a look-see. He lifted the lid off the pot and I tell him "No!" He replied with his little grunt and showed me his teeth. Well, maybe he won't eat too much.
The grandmother came into the room with a tin plate, scooped some rice from another pot onto the plate and set the plate in front of the monkey. Lunch was served.
The monkey ate from the plate for a few minutes and then grabbed a handful of rice, went to the door and propped his legs up on the door frame and continued to eat.
He left this little hut and went to visit some other folks. When I was leaving, lots of people were gathered at the entrance to the basti. The monkey had decided to rest a spell on the porch of what used to be the school room before the eviction notice arrived. A man was also resting there, but that didn't bother the monkey, and it didn't seem to bother the man. I was watching from the walkway and chatting with folks when the monkey decided to come and check out my bicycle. He acted like he wanted to climb up on it, but he was content to fool around with the wheels and the pedals. I cautiously made my way to the front of the bike still holding onto it while he made his way around the back and to the spot where I had been. Then he was finished. He left the basti and headed toward the little tea stall down the road.
Of course my camera was back at my house. Twice now I've missed great pictures of monkeys because I haven't wanted to lug my camera around. This event was just too cool and even without the pictures, I am not likely to forget it.

Event II
Last year when I was living in one of the guestrooms at the compound, a wasp decided to make her home under my plastic dining table. She always came at breakfast and lunch; I guess she liked to keep me company while I was eating. She was never agressive so I let her come and go.
This year, a different kind of wasp has taken a liking to my little wooden table in my kitchen where I eat. This wasp, and maybe it's not even a wasp but something else in that family, is huge. I mean really big. The first time it flew by me, I felt a big gust of wind on my face. I have some fake flowers in a vase on my table and she seemed very curious about those flowers. I told her they were fake and that there were some real ones in the living room, but she didn't bother to listen. Then she disappeared. I looked around but couldn't find her not even under the table. All of a sudden she was back and right in my face. But she wasn't interested in me and she didn't care that I was having to do some shifting to let her pass. She has been working several days now and the other day when she came in, she had a large green caterpillar suspended from her body. At first I thought it was her body, but I got a good close up look at it and it really was suspended from the wasp's body and was curling up and uncurling. She had to work a long time to get this thing stuffed into her house. She is still working coming regularly at breakfast and lunch. I don't plan to remove this home once she is finished. I have no idea how long it takes for the baby to go through all its stages and emerge from its home. Maybe I'll be back in the states by then. If not, I hope it's a friendly little wasp, like its mom.

There is a third nature event with a sad ending.
Last year, I made a box doll to use for teaching body parts. This doll has arms and legs of toilet paper rolls. I made some clothes for her so she is dressed decently.
I decided to use her this year to teach prepositions to one of the classes. We named her Behula and when I picked Behula up to put her on a chair, a tiny egg fell out of her body. I had to forget prepositions for a minute and scoop up the egg and show it around to a bunch of squeamish kids. Things calmed down and once again I began to move Behula to different places and once again, another little egg came tumbling out of her body. I then searched her hollow arms and legs to make sure there were no more eggs to go "splat" on the floor. These were lizard eggs, and a lizard lives in the computer lab which is also where Behula lives. I am sorry this mom decided Behula would make a good safe place for her eggs, but you can be sure, I will be very careful the next time Behula gets put to use.

simple pleasures

If you have ever spent time in a developing country, then you know about simple pleasures. I want to share some simple pleasures that I have observed here in Durgapur.
When the kids first moved into the hostel, I was especially concerned about the girls and their feminine needs, so I bought them each a package of sanitary napkins. You cannot imagine the excitement that simple gift caused. There were hugs and squeals of "Oh, thank you, Miss, thank you." When was the last time you gave thanks for a sanitary napkin?
Or when did you thank someone for giving you a dose of medicine that didn't taste especially nice? We've had some children suffering from coughs, fever, headache, the usual childhood ailments, but we have also had a couple of kids who really required medical attention. One little girl had a urinary tract infection, but we thought maybe it was typhoid fever from drinking some bad water. When her fever shot up to 105 we put her in the hospital, a good one. Every time I gave her medicine, before the hospital stay and after, and every time I took her temperature, she never failed to thank me. One of our older girls required surgery on her leg to remove a tumor which we treated as a carbuncle for over a month. This was a painful thing, and I had to apply hot compresses, cream, and a bandage twice a day. These moments were not pleasurable, but she never failed to thank me for inflicting this pain on her. I know these are not simple pleasures as such, but the act of caring for someone and about someone here is recognized, and the response is always "Thank you, Miss."
I am amazed at how the simplest thing excites these kids. They don't need thriller rides or game-boys to make them happy. A face cloth for mopping the sweat off your face, a packet of pocket tissue, a new needle for sewing are all received with exuberance.
On the 26th of March, Manju celebrated her birthday. If you live in the slums, most likely you don't even know when your birthday is or how old you are, but Manju knew.
I am not as adept as the Indians when it comes to putting together a party on short notice, but I made some barely edible sugar cookies and found a little gift from the things left behind by the NC delegation and we had a party for Manju. It was indeed a simple affair but greatly appreciated. There were no gift bags for those attending the party, no theme, no trip to the bowling alley, just two cookies apiece, the birthday song, and two simple gifts. It was joyous, and it was enough.
Now my birthday was a different matter. I was not even planning to tell anyone that it was my birthday. Last year, you may recall, I spent my birthday in the office of foreign affairs in Calcutta because of a lapsed visa. Anyway, after Manju's party, the girls started asking me when my birthday was and my response of "I don't know" was getting me nowhere, so I told them. They immediately began planning something, and it wasn't long before everyone here at the compound knew about my birthday.
On Saturday, my doorbell rang early, but I couldn't answer the door right away, and when I did, I found the children all sitting on the floor facing my door with smiles on their faces and they began singing happy birthday to me- simple pleasures,
It was visiting day at the hostel, and the moms of the kids kept coming into the computer lab to wish me a happy birthday. Then when they all left I noticed a small crowd of people beginning to gather, and the girls were running about collecting flowers. Hmmmmmm, this day is not going to pass so quietly after all.
On request, I headed up the stairs to the hostel, and in the big room there were balloons, a small table with a birthday cake on it with my name on the cake, all the children from the hostel, and my friends from the compound. Of course there were candles on the cake, which I had to blow out, and of course, these were those candles that never go out. Everyone enjoyed that part immensely. Then there was the cutting of the cake and the birthday song, and then a traditional little ritual I could have done without, someone stuffing your mouth with a piece of the cake, not just one, but several.
The children wanted me dressed in an outfit I had recently bought, kind of a wild Punjabi thing, but just right for a party, so I excused myself for a moment and changed into that outfit. When I returned to the party, there were cheers from the kids.
We set up the CD/cassette player and put on our one tape and danced. There were other things to eat as well, and it was fun. Simple by our standards, but enough.
The really fun part for me was watching the children get so excited about this party.
"Tis the gift to be simple."