Back To School

This week, children all over India are heading back to school. Yeah, I know that sounds strange to my North American audience! Most American kids are just starting their summer vacation right now. For Indian kids, June marks the beginning of the new school year. I was startled the first time a co-worker in Chennai asked me: "This project is due summer 2006. What month is that?" Having lived in New Zealand, I knew that in the southern hemisphere the seasons are reversed--when it's summer in New York, it's winter in New Zealand. But India is in the same hemisphere as the U.S., so I assumed summer meant June-July-August, the way it does in the U.S. (A popular joke with Indians is that there are only three seasons: Hot, Hotter, and Hottest).

It turns out that "summer" here means April and May, which are generally the hottest months of the year. This is when school kids have their long vacation break. June (and in some places, late May) marks the start of the new school year, and the start of the monsoon season in many parts of India. (This monsoon bypasses Chennai; we get hit later with the second of the two monsoon seasons, in October). So all around Chennai this week I see boys and girls in fresh uniforms, with their baby blue UNICEF book bags, the girls' hair neatly braided (this is a requirement for girls who have long hair). There don't seem to be many schoolbuses here; most of the kids are walking (often barefoot), riding their bicycles, or are squeezed in between their parents on two-wheelers. They will be finishing their first school term just as American kids are getting ready to start theirs -- in September.

Comments

[Amy]

Basia: Since my husband, who works for Element K, visited Chennai earlier this year, I have been reading your blog with great interest and am now sharing parts of it with my kids. Thanks so much for this glimpse into your part of the world.

[Basia]

Hi Amy, and welcome to the blog. Thanks for introducing yourself - it's always fun to learn who is lurking in the halls of India Ink! Your husband -- was that Bill? Or Mike?

[Marzena]

Basia,
As a Polish-bred Anthropology student living in New York but specializing in (and horribly missing) India I read your blog with great interest. Your descriptions are incredibly vivid while your pictures of the Himalays make me literally ache for Shimla. Please keep on writing and linking us all to the wonders of India....Marzena

[Basia]

Hi Marzena - wow, today is my lucky day, two lurkers have come forward -- and one of them a fellow Pole, no less! :o) I'm Bialystok-bred myself -- which part are you from?

Glad to know you are enjoying the blog. I have never been to Shimla, but if it is anything like the Nepali Himalayas, I can see why you would miss it.

[Amy]

Thanks for the welcome Basia...my husband is Bill. I am looking forward to your next entry and not having to "lurk" around anymore.

[Marzena]

Basia,
I'm from Mazury-the land of thousand lakes as the locals call it:) Once again, lovely blog. Last night I read all of its archives which served a double purpose of entertaining me as well as keeping me away from a box of cookies which lurked near my computer. Thus, I strongly urge you to write entries not only to keep us full of Indian musing but also to keep our food binges from occurring:) Less cookies-more Basia!

[Sharon from CT]

A wonderful Indian restaurant in the New Haven area lists "Hot, Hotter, Hottest" to describe the level of "heat" with your order...wonder if it lets you experience the seasons of India....sharon