June 26th - A Trip To The Beyond

I asked one of the station attendants which bus went to HD Kote.

“Both” he replied.

Well, which one is better?

“As you chose, whichever you prefer”

Uhm, ok but what’ the difference?

“One is 3 rupees change”

I felt I was beginning to get somewhere with this…

“So, which one leaves first?”

“That one”

Guess which one I took…

I’m in the VTCL (Viveka Tribal Center for Learning) school right now, having just been introduced to exactly how rural I’ve gotten. In fact, this place is so far rural it’s about a kilometer from the end of the bus line, where there is one or two kiosks and pretty much nothing else. I really wish I had brought some more water and snacks with me from Mysore (I cut my chips stock in half by eating a bag of them for lunch), but I’ll probably work something out – the bus driver gave me his number and said he could help me out with bus routes, or anything else for that matter.

The rest of the bus ride, which started with the interaction above, had gone really smooth. The only tricky part was finding the right bus stop in Kote where I could get a bus to Hosahalli village, because not very many people have heard of it, but I just had to ask about half a million people (and wave off an extremely persistent taxi driver – he didn’t get it until the 6^th time I said no). I had arrived about an hour early for the 2pm bus, so I chilled around for a bit, had a cup of chai, and noticed that people this far from Bangalore actually stare at white people (echoes from the past?!). I didn’t want to move around with my huge suitcase, so I didn’t go looking for lunch which I would later come to regret. The next bus ride was also around 1.5 hours long, and it finally began to dawn on me that I was going deep into the countryside. I started grinning from ear to ear, for no apparent reason. Except perhaps surprise at my own lack of realization until now. I have mixed feelings about traveling to such a far-away place – it’s difficult leaving friends and familiar places behind in Bangalore, it’s scary yet exciting to start new work, and it’s really scary to be so far away from cities and shops except it’s also kinda cool. I had an amazing 1-2 weeks at a village school in Rwanda back in 2005; most of all I loved the beautiful hills, fresh air and serene lifestyle. So my mood switched a little back and forth between anxiousness and excitement. At some point my euphoric mind went kinda like this:

(Looks to the right) uhhhhh, cows!

(Looks to the left) uhhhh, goats!

(Looks to the right again) OH, cows AND goats!

… not to mention the slowly undulating hills and occasional lake that I saw on the way.

I immediately got shown to my room. It’s a small building on the edge of the old campus grounds, quite near the boys dorms and the main dining hall. I have two rooms full of bunked beds, all to myself. I haven’t quite figured out which one I’m gonna pick yet. I could see already then that there was gonna be a lot of mosquitoes – yet another thing that reminds me strongly of Rwanda.

Up by the main campus, I met two students from Cornell called Karen and Abbie who are also staying here for another three weeks. Yay, friends!! English is definitely not people’s forte out here, so I am really glad to have them plus a young Indian intern called Abhushek that I can speak with at ease. I was shown around campus for a bit, met with the headmaster for a few minutes and then sat down to watch the girls try and connect to the internet with the office’s sole online PC. Yup, one connected computer for the entire campus – and it runs on dial up. Guess who won’t be online much for the next month?!

Besides teaching English and helping out with office work, a new research project has emerged in my mind. When I met with Dr. Balu this morning just before leaving for Hosahalli, he explained that it could be very useful if I talk to as many current & former students to learn lessons about their experiences, and infer whether SVYM is meeting their goals of being culturally sensitive to these tribal kids or not. He said it’s very difficult for an insider to take a step back and look at evaluating such things, so he would very much like it if I could write something about it. Moreover, this fits quite closely with issues that Vishal from Dream A Dream had raised about how these kids fare after their 10^th grade and attempt to pursue further education in modern places like Mysore – apparently the school has an extremely high drop-out rate (slash return rate) because students are unable to fit into “normal” society. This could furthermore be an awesome new focus of my Lilly work, seeing as I haven’t gotten very far with my original plans so far (not to mention that my original issue to look into in Hosahalli isn’t even an issue anymore). I need to start planning interviews already so I don’t end up wasting away my month here.

I’m excited for my time here, and if I make the most of it I will also be able to have an actual impact which will be felt in the long-term. If I find a pattern behind the rumored drop-out rates, then I should be able to push for Dream A Dream getting involved with teaching appropriate life skills for the tribal students which will help them assimilate into urban settings without forgetting their cultural heritage. I just need to plan my work properly around my teaching schedule (which should be determined by tomorrow). Big potential indeed!

I’m starving. Can’t wait for dinner at 8:30pm.

PS: The first bus conductor tried forgetting about my 15 rupees change on a 35 rupee ticket. Sorry pal, but it doesn’t look natural starring at the traffic for that long so I know it was deliberate.