A Story About Myself

For the second time in the last five years he felt he was on top of the world. He had now become a father! A million thoughts occupying his mind – she is so tiny, what do we call her, my little princess, will she grow up to be a doctor or an engineer? , I can’t wait to see her talk, to see her take those little steps and walk.

He held his wife’s hand and said, “Thank you for this wonderful gift” and they hugged each other with tears of joy rolling down. Both he and his wife were bankers and workaholics. They decided to raise their child with the maternal grandparents which is a norm in the culture of Indian working professionals. Their daughter was named Sindhu* on an auspicious day when friends, relatives and well-wishers were invited for a feast. Sindhu’s eyes sparkled; she was a very special child – born with two teeth. Over the years, her parents visited her every weekend. Sindhu’s grandparents meant everything to her. She would eat with them, play with them and spend all her time listening to her grandmother sing and grandfather telling her stories of his travel. They loved their evening walks when the three of them would eat ice-creams, road-side food and watch the sun setting down for the day. Sindhu’s uncle and aunt lived with her grandparents. While returning from work, they made sure they stopped by a store and picked something special for the little girl at home.

This is the beginning of my story, the journey of a traditional Indian middle class girl’s foray into pursuing her goals.

* Sindhu means oceans, rivers and seas.

I was an early beginner – started talking, walking and eating dirt from the floor before I turned one. I believe the reason for me to start early was my grandparents being around me all the time, talking to me, putting on the tape recorder with a nursery rhymes cassette, reading my favorite book and telling me stories repeatedly. It is beautiful how even today, they have saved up all my books, my first bicycle and a photo from my first day at school at home. Though I don’t have many memories of my early childhood, my grandparents retell the stories of my journey with them every time I visit them. I have learnt from them that I really enjoyed nursery rhymes, loved listening to stories over and over again and scribbling on the walls.

It was six in the morning when I was woken up by my grandmother. It was my first day at Frank Anthony Public School. I had turned four already. Everyone at home was excited to dress me up, make me some breakfast, pack my lunch and drop me to school. I was the only one weeping that morning – I never liked the idea of going to a school. My grandfather made sure he was standing a few feet away from my classroom all day as promised. This went on for over a week. Eventually, I started making friends and enjoyed going to school. It was more like a fun trip or a picnic to me. By this time my parents visited me once in a month or two. At school, I learnt math and English for the first two years. I am told by my grandparents that I had a knack of learning things at the first time and had good retention of what I learnt. Good for me! J

Time had come when I had to say goodbye to my grandparents and start a new life with my parents in a new city, a new school and a new set of people. I was eight years old by now. I hardly knew my parents! The separation from my grandparents almost felt like I was being ripped apart. I made sure I would fair badly at the school’s entrance exam. During the interview, I told the Principal that I wanted to go back to my old school and did not like the ambience in the current school. Unfortunately for me, the Principal liked my so called “speech” of disliking the new school and I was enrolled into the school. It took two weeks for me to settle into a new classroom with a different set of people. I searched for my elementary school friends in the crowd but my efforts went futile. It took me over a month to settle down with my parents, get accustomed to their way of life, and forget my old friends and the routine I shared with my grandparents. My class teacher then, Mrs. Yeshodhara was a very friendly, understanding and an intelligent teacher. She felt that I would never come out of my cocoon if she didn’t put in efforts on me. In front of my classmates, she called me out and pinned a badge on my uniform and said, “Sindhu, this term you will be the class monitor. It is your duty to see that your peers are well behaved, understood, punctual and learned. There should not be a time when anyone from this room is left behind.” After saying this she left and I stood there stunned (not knowing what was happening – in excitement). In a fraction of seconds, I was surrounded by my classmates who hugged me and congratulated me. It was a very proud moment for me. I felt like a leader. I now had a whole class of friends. My parents wanted to treat me on this occasion and I was loaded with gifts. I faired pretty well in my academics too. My friends and I exchanged our comics, we visited each other’s homes; I do remember events that took place in my life from that year on. We watched TV shows like The Small Wonder, The Bewitched and, The Aladin and the wonderful lamp. We also enjoyed cartoons like Tom & Jerry, Captain Planet, Pokemon and, Disney. Since I grew up in a India, where the majority of the population is comfortable communicating in their native language, the English cartoons and TV shows also had access to subtitles. This is one of the reasons why my reading and writing skills are poised and I still continue to enjoy both. Another reason is that, my father loved reading and writing. He had monthly subscriptions of a science magazine, the reader’s digest and loved reading the dictionary. The dictionary reading became like a ritual for me and dad at home. We would make sure we read one word, its synonym and the parts of speech every day. At the end of the month, we had a test for each other.

Years flew by. I was good at writing, reading and had developed good language skills too. My parents were bankers just as I mentioned before and we were forced to travel to different states every three years. This led to me learning the local language easily and I now speak seven languages including English. And for those who don’t know, in India, we have over 780 different spoken languages and 86 different scripts… which is a lot! Woaaa..

I was in my X grade now, all set to give my board exams. I stood second in the district and was awarded a scholarship for the next two years at school. Another feather in the cap for both me and my parents! The next two years, XI and XII grade, I was absorbed into books, studying to get a good score and enroll myself in a decent engineering college. My engineering degree and my Masters program ate up a couple of years. I understood that my goal was to work in the field of education - join Teach for India. I enjoyed teaching, learning and playing with forty 7-8 year olds. The greatest lessons in life so far were taught by my forty children at school. Harsh, the tiniest one in the class would enter the class with a huge smile and a bear hug. Irrespective of whether I was sad or gloomy, he would just make me flash that smile. I had mentioned about this child even in my blog; he has a huge impact on my teaching and learning in the process. Krithika taught me that hard work is the stepping stone to success. Neha taught me that unconditional love would leave no stone unturned! Every child in my class taught me a lesson over the two years of my fellowship. I am so proud of each one of them. My parents visited me when I was teaching and were overwhelmed looking at what my kids and I have grown to be, the relationship we share and the things we do. During this time, I also met my boyfriend, Sandeep who is now my husband when he visited India for Christmas. We are friends from middle school. After 3 years of skype, international calling cards and social networking, we finally decided to take one step forward and tie a knot! In order to pursue my career goal, I joined the Education program at University of Illinois. I learnt about the education system here in the US, the philosophy behind implementing the policies and, working with children of various age groups. After graduating, I moved to Seattle to join Sandeep who is currently working with one of the giant corporates (biggies). He is happy with his job but feels like he is a fish in the ocean. Anyways, he enjoys being in one of the top notch firms and hasn't gotten bored so far. And, as of me, I work with an Education based startup as a Curriculum and Instruction specialist. It's been a roller coaster since then :)