Graduation and First Week of School

It’s been nearly two weeks since arriving, and SO much has happened! The 12th graders graduated last Sunday and there were so many events, performances, etc. to celebrate. The main school hall has been completely transformed by hand-made decorations for the graduation. The children and staff have been working around the clock to make this graduation a truly special event. Many volunteers from around the world have returned to take part in the celebration, so it’s been quite a full and energetic campus.

The graduation celebration was a 3-day event. The first night the children, aunties, and teachers put on a performance with lots of Indian dances. It was AMAZING. Absolutely amazing. They were all dressed up in traditional Indian dress and it was so great to see the aunties and teachers dance as well!


The second night was a performance put on by the volunteers. There are two Broadway performers here from ASTEP who helped organize the performance – Michael and Michelle. I’ve been working a lot with them to help put together the music for the show. Michelle wrote a few songs for the performance that she sang, Michael taught the Shanti Bhavan choir a song from a Broadway show, and I accompanied them, then we did a James Taylor number “Shower the People” with me on piano, Michael singing the solo, Dimitri and Hugh on guitar, and Becca, Michelle, and Lauren on back-up vocals. What else – Michael and Michelle taught the 12th graders a waltz, so they all danced as couples while I played a simple waltz on the piano. Maura, the volunteer other volunteer coordinator who I’ll be working with did a yoga demonstration, some of the other volunteers did a Hindi dance which was great, and then I played a piano solo – the Chopin Fantasie Impromptu which is the only piece I have in my fingers right now, since moving to India has left me little time to expand my repertoire. ☺ The kids have been asking to hear me play since I arrived, so it was really exicting for them. They all gave me a standing ovation – it was really exhilarating! The whole show came of wonderfully – it’s always great to be a part of performances and Shanti Bhavan. The children love EVERYONE and it’s just such a positive atmosphere. No need to be nervous,as no one here would ever judge you for anything – they just love you, no matter what! It was really touching, as well, when the graduating class came up to the stage to say a few words and thank Dr. George (the founder of Shanti Bhavan who is here right now), the staff, the teachers, the volunteers, etc. They each gave Dr. George a hug, and it was really emotional to watch. He has been a father to all of them. And then – to my surprise – Dr. George asked me to finish the program by playing my Chopin piece again because they loved it so much. It was quite a night.


Then the third day was the actual graduation ceremony. The graduating class all had their parents and/or relatives come for the celebration which was really touching.

Classes started Tuesday and I jumped right into teaching 10th and 12th grade compulsory English which was QUITE a bit of work (reading the books, planning lessons, studying the syllabus for the Indian testing system, and grading papers). The other wrench in the system is that the principal of Shanti Bhavan resigned a few weeks before I arrived - so Maura and I (Maura is the other volunteer coordinator) have stepped into roles assisting the administration of the school as well as curriculum reorganization. I haven't had 10 minutes to myself the entire last week because of all the work she and I have been doing. So thankfully a volunteer arrived yesterday who is actually an English major at Columbia right now - so she will be able to take over for me starting Monday. While I'm sad to give up my academic classes, I haven't had any time to start my piano lessons yet because I've been so swamped. It's been heart-breaking to have my piano students from last summer keep coming up to me and asking when piano classes will start.

I'm in Bangalore right now - we finished up our last classes this morning and then took a car into Bangalore (about 2 hours). We attempted to do some shopping, though it's monsoon season, so the rains started and flooded the streets which caused quite a traffic jam in Bangalore (cars AND pedestrians). At one point we were trying to cross the street and there was basically a rushing river where the gutter would normally be. So no one could get to the opposite side of the street unless they rolled up their pants and waded through brown water. Crazy!

We're heading back to Shanti Bhavan tonight, plan to sleep in a bit tomorrow, and then prepare for our next week of classes to start. I will keep you all posted as soon as I can!