Farther Into the Colony

Yesterday afternoon, we had an end-of-the-year celebration with the dalit children who come for the remedial classes. We sang a few songs together, had some cake and tea, and made plans to reconvene in January, after the children have finished their school exams and taken some time off.

Usually, I walk the children home after the classes, but yesterday I stayed behind to help the girls clean up the mess of cake crumbs and spilled tea. And when I emerged from the gate about 10 minutes later, there were five little children waiting there for me. Just weeks ago, they wouldn’t come near me, they were so scared of the madama, and here they were, waiting for me to walk them home. And, as we walked, they proceeded to fight over who got to hold my hands. I wanted to calm them down, but I was too touched to bother with any reprimands.

I was, however, hot and tired and looking forward to dropping each sweet child off at his or her respective home and heading back to my own to take a shower and douse myself with bug spray. That was not to happen, though, because Ayna – a darling first grade girl – would not let go of my hand. She wanted to show me her veedu, her house. So I let her lead me there, where I met her amma and her appan and picked up her brother, Manvin, who had gone home from the classes earlier. From there, Ayna and Manvin led me to various other houses in the colony, and, in the end, I had not gotten rid of any children but gained several, all pushing each other to get as close to me as possible.

After I had visited several of their houses, met their mothers, fathers, and baby brothers and sisters, and gotten about three thousand mosquito bites on my feet (which the children so graciously scratched for me when I complained), the sun began to set and I said it was time I went home. Still, they did not want to let me go, so, with three of them still clinging to me, I made my way to the road. There, they finally told me “ta ta,” shook my hand, and wished me goodnight.

And the minute I got home to take that shower and find that bug spray, I only wished I were with my children again.