Adventures in India: The Center, the Culture, and the Boys

I realized that, for the majority of the time on my blog posts, I’m just writing about the goings-on and various activities that I’ve done, and not about the country and the center itself! So, since we had kind of a slow weekend, I’ve decided to dedicate a post to exactly what life here is like and what I’ve learned.

The Center:

The Yuvajyothi Center, where I am, is just one of many centers around the Nagpur District started and kept going by ICID. It doubles as a school and a home for boys ages 7-18. Most of these boys have either been orphaned, abandoned, or have run away from home, and now live here. I was surprised at just how proactive ICID is in promoting children’s rights and at how much they really do. If these children have been mistreated, the teachers want them to understand just how and why it was wrong, so as to educate them to become better citizens in the future. In almost every room in the center, there are posters dictating exactly what child abuse really is, and these examples span from teasing a child unnecessarily to physically harming a child, and everything in between. ICID wants the children to heal from their experiences and grow into thoughtful people, and this means accepting their pasts and not suppressing bad feelings. A few times a week, the children are split into groups (older and younger) and participate in counseling sessions.

The walls of the center are completely covered in works and projects that the children have completed. A lot of them have to do with learning to work with others and how to respect and understand each other. This may be because the children may not have found a lot of patience and understanding in their community otherwise. Everywhere you look, there are posters explaining their rights, whether it is a right to life (pro-life projects), a right to health, a right to education, or even a right to individual dignity.

There are a few girls who live at this center as well, but there are other centers in and around Nagpur that are devoted specifically to young women’s education. However, the girls here are not cheated out of a real education, either. Although the culture dictates that women are expected to help with food preparation and serving anyone who might need it (and the girls do that), they go to real classes as well. They learn about everything from dance to religion to advanced mathematics, depending on their age and interest.

The boys are educated in music (my responsibility as of late), dance, math, calligraphy, English language, computer skills, social studies, and the visual arts. And that’s only what I’ve seen thus far!

The Culture:

I’ve learned SO much about Indian culture so far, and I've only been here a week! I’m not even sure where to start, but I’ll do my best.

First off: the clothing. I already talked about this a little bit in my last post, but here’s a basic overview. Women are obsessed with matching, and have a wide variety of outfits. However, there is protocol: it has to be coordinated, and it has to cover both your shoulders and your ankles…and everything else in between. Indian people hold respect of the body in the highest regard, especially women’s bodies. Men, on the other hand, can basically wear whatever they want, but most wear long pants as well.

Mealtime is extremely important in Indian culture, and there is a set routine for meals. There is breakfast right at the beginning of the day (the boys here are done eating by 7!) which usually consists of tea, toast, and maybe some vegetables. Then, lunch isn’t until one o’clock, which took some getting used to for Emily and I, and dinner is around 7:30. There is also afternoon tea to tide one over until dinner. The last two meals of the day always consist of the same thing: rice, curry, some kind of vegetable, and bread (in this part of India, they don’t really eat naan, but they have chapatti bread, which is a flat wheat bread). Of course, there is variation of the spices and side dishes, but there is a specific routine and method to mealtimes here.

Also, you eat with your hands. This has been difficult.

In Indian culture, welcoming guests into the home is important and expected. If someone should show up for dinner unannounced, you always welcome him/her in with open arms and, as the Brothers told me, “treat them like God”. Making your guests comfortable is of the utmost importance, and Emily and I have certainly felt very accepted. It’s a little strange for us to be waited on sometimes, as we have no problem picking up after ourselves! Also, I’ve noticed that it’s the women who are expected to cater to everyone’s needs and make them anything they might need. It’s not even a question; it’s just customary.

Appreciation of the arts is also a highlight here. Of course, dance is the age-old tradition in India, and everyone here wants to be a dancer. Dancing here is like singing in America; on talent shows on television, most of the acts are people dancing and lip-syncing to a song. Their movements are the important part.

And speaking of which, Indian television and film are hilarious to Americans! It’s so different from anything we have at home that we have to laugh. Everything is very melodramatic with a lot of sudden cuts and zooming in and out and random dance numbers coming seemingly out of nowhere. There is always a love story in every single Bollywood film, and on television, too (I’ve seen more than one promo for a tv show that involves two lovers staring longingly at each other through a window…in the rain…for a while).

Also, in action movies, there is very little plot or character development, as far as I can see. The good guys are good and the bad guys are bad and the good guys beat everyone up without breaking a sweat. The boys love this, too; they want to be just like those action heroes! Lastly, a very popular genre here is dance movies. You know the Step Up series in America? They have like, dozens of those movies here.

In India, movie stars are celebrated perhaps even more than in America. Everybody has a favorite actor or actress whom they idolize and strive to be.

The Boys:

Last but not least, I have to talk about the reason that we’re here: the boys at Yuvajyothi. They are the best group of kids that I think I’ve ever worked with. I can’t even begin to imagine what some of them have been through, and yet, I’ve never met a happier group. They are just so thrilled to dance and to sing and to play hand games and kick around a deflated soccer ball (sorry, sorry, football) all day long.

They love American music, even if they don’t fully understand the meanings of some of the songs. They all want to be Wiz Khalifa or Lil Wayne and they are obsessed with wrestlers like John Cena and The Rock.

Constantly, they are teaching me new things. Whether it’s a new game, a Hindi folk song, a dance move, or how to give a proper handshake, I think they’re really just teaching me how to live a more positive life. I think about how much these boys value what they have and how much less they have than I do, and it makes me realize just how much I value having my own home and a family who is always there for me.

Now prepare yourself, because the cuteness factor on this blog is about to increase by 108%: I have a few pictures. For privacy reasons, I’m not going to use the boys’ names just yet, but I can give you little fun facts about them.