Morning Stories

At Gubbachi, every morning starts in a circle –teachers and students share and reconnect sitting in a circle. This is a time when we get a glimpse of the children’s lives and hear about the many real and make believe moments (sometimes hard to tell apart) that make up their eventful childhoods.

Here is a bagful of anecdotes that we have heard:

Time for sharing!

• Shashikant was once married to a stone by his sister during play. Another time, attempts were made to marry Shashikant to a dog, but when it was time to tie the ‘tali’ the dog ran away (at the altar)! (Playing ‘marriage’ is common. ‘Marrying’ means tying a make believe ‘tali’ (mangalsutra) made out of any old string and a piece of turmeric tied to it.)

• Playing ‘house’ is also common. Cooking for the family, pregnant wives delivering babies and coming of age ceremonies (Dry runs of life that get enacted in great detail.)

• In reality, Ratna’s family is waiting for their weekly payment which the contractor hasn’t paid and Nazia’s father came home drunk. Both families were on the edge that evening.

• Kasim went to the ‘ooru santhe’ (village fair back home) and is now the proud owner of a blingy plastic mobile phone called ‘Dhoom Machale’, that belted out repetitive tunes .

• When they were walking home Lakamma and Kavitha, saw, some men in a vehicle offering them, ‘sweets , trying to abduct’ them. They ran and ran. Lakamma was so scared that she came down with fever that evening. (Fever is commonly cited as a logical outcome of fear and fear of abduction is strong.

• A few friends climbed up trees to get at ripe guavas and chikoos from the “owners” trees. They were beaten up for it (said with chuckles).

• Once Harish tried to climb the same tree but he fled - scared - when he thought that the tree was a ghost waving its hands in the wind (Middle Earth Ents in Lord of the Rings?) The labour camp folklore goes that a ghost of a woman killed on the nearby railway track haunts the tree.