10. Sports Day at Tushita Foundation

Saturday’s are activity days at the Foundation and last Saturday we had a Sports Day.  There were to be 3 types of races:  3-legged, straight race and hula-hoop as well as badminton and football (read soccer) and during the week, children signed up for their activity of choice. 

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, which is normal, but warmer also - sometime in the last week the temperatures have ramped up and spring flowers are blooming.  We arrived at the Foundation early afternoon to the first surprise of the day for me.

At first I thought the children had not arrived yet because I didn’t hear the usual sounds of them from the playground, but when I stepped through the gate, there they were - all sitting together along the side wall on stools they had carried out from the classrooms.  I wasn’t there when the stools were brought out of course, but I know they helped because I’ve seen it before.  Still, a Saturday afternoon in a playground and the children sitting, waiting patiently for the events to start?

Soon we got the races underway and what an absolute delight to see - the combination of the smiles of determination on the faces of those racing and the sounds of the other students cheering them on.  And not just the younger ones cheering younger -all the children were cheering in each race and nowhere was the cheering louder than during the hula hoop races and most of the kids doing that were the younger girls.  

Following the races, there was football.  Its pretty popular here so there were lots of kids wanting to play, older, younger, boys and girls.  It was a bit of an exercise getting teams sorted out and there was some minor grumbling  (very minor) from some of the boys about the number of girls on their teams but all in all, Federico and Alex were able to get the kids sorted into 4 teams in pretty short order.  It was getting later, so there was time for 2 short games amid lots of cheering from the sidelines.

It was an unusually windy afternoon so we weren’t planning on badminton but the kids really wanted to play and to do that, the holes for the posts had to be dug back out so the posts could be put back in, the high wire strung and the court marked out.  I can’t tell you how heartwarming it is to watch as teachers and children alike help make all that happen.  

There were winners in each of the activities of course and while Alex, Federico and I had toyed with the idea of getting small trophies, we decided against it and I was glad we did because there was not one child who even brought up the idea of a reward for winning.

What we did do was opt for a sweet treat in place of the usual fruit, Jaipur being renowned for their love of sweets, after all.  When the treats are being handed out, there was no rush to be first in line - they wait their turn.  The only rush is children offering their sweets to teachers and volunteers.  Imagine.  That’s actually a daily occurrence when the fruit gets handed out - the children plead with you to take some of theirs -“please ma’am, please, take some, please ma’am” .  (I think I mentioned before that, in India, when you decline an offer of something, its only grounds to be offered many more times!)

But, by far and away, the thing I think the students loved the most?  Hands down, they had the most fun watching the teachers and volunteers do the 3-legged race - especially when, faced with a loss, Alex resorted to picking up his partner and carrying her to the finish line!   It wasn't enough to beat Federico and Ruksar anyway, but oh, such hooting and hollering from the fans!

When it was time to put everything away, their were children there to help with that as well.  When I was carrying two stools, one of the children ran over to say “no ma’am - please, let me”.

It was another wonderful day at Tushita Foundation and, well timed I would say because soon it will be too hot to have such a day and activity days will be held indoors.  I’ve not mentioned this before -  I knew the backlash would be swift and fearsome but, for the first few weeks here, I was cold all the time.  I know, I know!!!   But consider this - a high of +12c with lows of +4c, buildings constructed of concrete and marble to keep them cool in the hot months and - no heating of any kind.  Like those before me, I wasn’t prepared to be cold so had no real warm clothes - thankfully Federico had two hoodies, one of which he leant me at the Jaipur Literature Festival and never saw again for 3 weeks!!  Its just springtime here and the temps are already in the low 30s….