New Delhi still

Kindergarten students at the government school
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The day began at the American Embassy School with a discussion of the newspaper report that the Embassy was on red alert for a possible attack. The story seems to have been exaggerated reporting, though, and the day went off without a hitch. We split into groups and visited four places. The first, and by far most pungent, one for my group was a visit into a neighboring slum to visit the Hole in the Wall technology project.

The slum is a squatter colony that began as temporary housing for the construction workers who built the school in 1972. Indian law gives the squatters the right to stay on the land until it is leased or bought, which will no doubt happen someday. It has grown over the years to encompass about 4000 people living in squalid huts. There are only 17 toilets, which means the open gutters are filled with waste. The colony has no official legal existence, no address, and thus apparently the government will not supply plumbing improvements or electricity. The electricity is stolen off the local lines, and let's just say it's not up to code. The American Embassy school maintains relationships with many of the slumdwellers, and one way is that they arranged a site for three computers to be installed. It's basically a concrete box with computers installed in the outside wall, and the kids stand at the computers. Like so many technology concepts, though, it seems oversold to me. Mostly the kids surf the web and play games, which beats the heck out of lying around the huts, but I'm not sure it is really transformative in any way.

Vocational training at Institute for the Blind
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Our next stop was a government school, K-8, and it seemed like a good and caring place, though their supplies and classrooms were very basic. The director proudly pointed out that the kids get free socks and shoes, free books, and a free noontime meal. The most interesting tidbit, from my perspective, was that some outside vendor brings in big pots of rice and other things, and that she tastes the food every day to make sure it is healthy and good.

Next stop was a very interesting institute for the blind, the cornerstone for which was laid by Helen Keller in 1955. They offer a standard K-12 curriculum and their kids do quite well, often scoring highly on the national exams and moving on to universities. They also run a vocational training institute and this year have begun a college offering bachelor's degrees. It's a very ambitious place.

Jama Masjid
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The final stop was a private school, and they talked endlessly about their innovative approaches. It was interesting to learn that they were basically doing what most of our schools do, with advisory programs, extracurriculars and the like. They have a broader language program, studying Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali, and one other Indian language, in addition to Sanskrit and English. Kids basically get the Hindi, English, Sanskrit for a couple of years, and one other language.

We spent the afternoon sightseeing. We viewed the Red Fort from the outside. It was built by Shah Jahn of Taj Mahal fame on the banks of the Yamuna River in old Delhi. He also built the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India, and we went in there for awhile. As I was wearing shorts, they provided me with a hideous and creepy-feeling kind of skirt, which earned me some funny looks from the locals. It was an impressive, powerful building. The area around it contained the narrowest streets I have ever seen and the traffic is absolutely unbelievable. Auto-rickshaws, carts, tiny cars, SUVs, bike rickshaws all jockeying for position and with no concept of lanes or traffic rules. Somehow everyone gets through the chaos, but it is really mind-boggling to witness. I was with a group of five and we hired a driver who brought us to the sites and waited for us. We did a little half-hearted shopping afterwards, but I lacked the energy to haggle and I kind of just drifted along with the group.

Dinner calls. I am hoping for some fabulous Indian fare and will be sure to report.