Bruni's Bed

Bruni now sleeps on the extra bed I have on the veranda. She curls up on the spare quilt and expects me to put something over her. I use the meditation rug that she had chewed up to cover her up. And she spends the whole night there and wakes up late. These days she doesn't ask for her biscuits! That's strange. She's become very quiet. No longer the jumpy brat that she used to be. And what's nice is that she feeds her pups at regular intervals.

Her pups are becoming more and more mischievous as the days pass. They are all over the place. I dread to think of what will happen when they are all grown up. How will we feed them?

The painting of the school furniture is over. I've even paid Balai for his labour. There was some extra paint left over and he painted the two tables in my room. So my room is now smelling of paint while I type this out.

The volunteers are no longer teaching Nursery Class. Today I had to discipline a four kids who had apparently be throwing paper balls at each other and jumping on the desks and did not listen to the volunteers when they were asked to stop. They were publicly punished to set an example for the other kids. Today, at least, everyone was very well-behaved. I also told Nursery Class that since they didn't know how to behave and show respect for the volunteers, they did not deserve to have volunteers teaching them. From now on Bansi will teach Nursery Class exclusively. I had on many occasion explained to every one that the volunteers spend their own money and make the effort to come out here and live in harsh conditions so that they could teach the children. Whereas, teachers who are paid to teach in other schools don't. So the least the children could do is learn while they can and show some respect if not appreciation. I really makes me angry when they become indisciplined. Because then they are not only not learning, they also prevent others from learning as well.

Dani, Tak, Kaz and Ren have been busy this afternoon watering the plants. They watered them yesterday and again today. But I've asked them not to water all the plants every day. That would be too much work and tire them out. Besides, it's winter and so the plants don't need to much water. They could water a few every day and set up a rotational routine. I think they are doing that now.

And also the kitchen duty seems to be working well. Yesterday Dani was on kitchen duty. Today it's Kaz's turn. They are following an alphabetic order. That means tomorrow it will be Tak's turn. Or will it be Renee's? Suman seems happy to have some help and company. The volunteers are enjoying being able to learn how to cook Indian food. But sadly, the Hindi lessons have come to an end. Well, for the past few days Dani and Tak haven't asked me to teach them. But Suman is quite diligent about learning English. He comes to study every day for 45 minutes. That's good. Perhaps we won't have to look elsewhere for a Nursery Class teacher next year!

Sohrai is on in full swing. I can hear the drums in the village. There's much feasting and drinking and dancing. They haven't come this way as yet. But I am surprised that all the kids had come to school! I had assumed they'd want to stay home for the festival. But apparently school takes precedence. That's nice.

Well, the festival has certainly put a stop to the repair work. No labour to help the masons. Work will probably resume on Sunday. Let's see how long the hangover lasts!