On My Way to India!

The idea of writing a blog has made me cringe with awkwardness at the same time it stirs up some excitement inside me. Not the kind that makes my heart beat so fast it wants to protrude through my chest (yes, that happens on more occasions than you would believe), but the kind of excitement that causes a sly smile and a single eyebrow raise. No, I can’t actually move one eyebrow without the other, but that’s the best way to visualize the type of excitement blog writing provokes for me. But back to the blog-inducing-awkward-cringe-part: a blog about a trip to India and a project that I am apart of must be personal (which is extraordinarily intimidating—I’m not an air-my-dirty-laundry-type of girl) otherwise its boring, typical and cliché. So, while I will try my best to keep you interested, you will have to get to know me in sporadic puzzle-piece doses. There will be no straightforward clear explanation of myself or my journey because…well, that’s not how it works. As a friend once said I think and I live like a series of post-it notes: I get everything done that I need to when I need to (for the most part, of course, I am not superhuman), but the process never follows a straight line.

And why is this blog writing so intriguing to me? Well, it makes me feel somewhat rebellious. Why? I’m a PhD student. What does that mean? It means that I have spent the majority of my life (21 of my 26 years if you don’t count preschool) in school being trained to write. And, I’m sure I don’t need to go into details about the type of writing this entails, almost everyone has gone through some type of writing class (see, at my level of academic writing, I would get in so much trouble for making an “everyone assumption”). I have even taken part in teaching and helping undergrads write formal papers. We are trained that a thesis is a must and writing should be organized, have proper grammar, and a strong, well-articulated argument. You get the picture: writing consists of lots of rules. As you can see, I don’t seem to have a thesis here (and I have used a contraction) or at least I haven’t figured one out quite yet. But this is a blog and I’m trying to rebel, so please be patient, I’m getting to the purpose of this entry.

While, I have blathered on for half a page about nothingness, (this intro would be poorly graded by me if it were to be turned in), there is a point to this blog: I am off to Hubli in the Northwestern Karnataka Region of India for two months to take part in the PiP (Puppets in Play) Multimedia Project. I am part of a great, extremely entertaining group of 5 grad students (all with very distinct voices—an understatement to say the least) who have been given a grant by the Deshpande Foundation to carry out our project in collaboration with the Agastya NGO. Agastya, a primary and secondary education nonprofit, specializes in bringing interactive curriculum to the classroom through their mobile van service and engages teachers and students through their science fairs and other educational activities. Once in Hubli, we will create a puppet drama club with a group of Indian students. After the drama club has been established, we will then film these skits, which will consist of stories that teach the students about health, hygiene, science and art (yes, we plan on getting more specific upon arrival, for all of those liberal skeptics out there).

This is an extremely intimidating project. We are dealing with culture and education—two very heavy, complex factors that are deeply embedded in country, region and local specificities. How are we suppose to bring our own memories of Sesame Street and the Muppets, plus the books we read and research we have done, to a culture already very rich in puppetry, with a different educational system than our own? Well, I don’t have the answer quite yet, but I promise to give you reports on how it works.

In the meantime, as I have stated we have done research, from across the world and have had great correspondence with Agastya, which has been extremely helpful. Our plan is to open up to the NGO, teachers and children to figure out what type of stories they want, interest them, and be aware of what we in our own powers are capable of doing. So, we shall see. I’m optimistic, but cautious, which I am hoping is a healthy combination of thoughts for the week before I leave.

Our group is full of experienced travelers and that is definitely a plus, but Krishnan is the only one who has spent a significant amount of time in India (he participated in Indicorps). I too have been to India, but it was a backpacking trip and well…I’ll save those stories for another blog, perhaps…but let’s just say this will be a very different trip. Otherwise, I am about to run last minute errands with Alex this week; Pip is recovering from getting typhoid…well sort of. He reacted to the vaccine with typhoid symptoms (no, the project is not technically named after him). Krishnan is in bed with a 104-degree fever and Nabila is in anticipation of receiving a lion costume in New Orleans (no, not necessarily for her to wear).

All in all, this seems like a very typical beginning for a very atypical (and heart protruding though my chest—I am so excited) trip.

Until India arrival,
Jennifer

BTW: In future blogs, I promise to better introduce you to my teammates (although you are welcome to read their blogs as well) and to explain why I have chosen to take part in this project (if you read my bio you will see how this project connects to my dissertation). This entry was more like a therapeutic exercise to help me come to terms with blog writing.