Karunai Illam

The Illam

I’m starting to settle into life at the illam (illam means home).  Jean, it’s founder, and Mr. Khader, met me at the train station in Dindigul which was nice because the illam is quite far away.  I felt welcomed instantly as we arrived and the children were all waiting outside to greet me with a long necklace made of flowers and a bowl of red ink which they used to mark my forehead with a bindi.  

View from the main street in town

I ran into a goat herder with his charges on a walk

There are several other visitors at the illam at the moment although this I’m told is unusual.  There is a couple from New Zealand who are making a film about Jean and her work in India, and there was one other woman who has been a contributor for years and has visited many times.  Jean is here for the film and also to help oversee the beginning of construction of a new illam on a parcel of land that she bought years ago.  Currently the girls live in the illam and the boys live on this other piece of nearby land but they are working to consolidate it. 

Shops in Nilakkotai

I spent some time getting to know the girls and then we all gathered in the dining room for dinner.  Each meal begins with a prayer and chanting in Tamil and then Nagarathana, or 'Madam' as the kids call her, gives the children instructions or chides them for not completing their chores.

Nilakkotai Town

The food here is fantastic, and all vegetarian which is great.  We normally get some sort of rice or bread / pancake like chapatti or dosai, and then sauces or vegetables.  I do feel like I need to start running though.  Too many carbs!

The illam's guest rooms were all full so I spent my first two nights at the home of one of the foundation's staff right down the street.  They were so kind, and excited to have me, I really felt like one of the family.  When I first arrived they were all sitting around a mat in the living room eating dinner.  And eagerly asked me to join and peppered me with questions about where I'm from.

Local pigs scavenging across the street

In Indian culture it's perfectly alright to ask questions that in Western society would be considered inappropriate.  My host's daughter was especially inquisitive.  Within the first two days she had asked all about my work and salary, if I was married, had any children, etc.  They were mystified that I am unmarried but have lived alone and supported myself.

In these small villages, many generations of a family will live together.  I didn't quite catch who everyone was but there were about ten people staying there the first night including the children of my host, and their children, and their spouses.  I felt a little bit awkward because I went to bed earlier than everyone else and when I woke up I realized that they had given me the only bed in the house.  They were all sleeping on the floor in the bedroom and living room.  

Milk man

The day starts early here because of the heat.  The girls at the illam wake up at 4:30AM to do yoga and get ready for school and then spend an hour doing homework before prayers and breakfast and finally heading off to school.  I didn't have to get up quite that early but I did want to be up in time to walk over to the land with Jean.  Before I left my host insisted that I have a cup of tea.  The tea here is made with fresh milk and sugar in apparently a relatively complicated process because they won't let me make it for myself.  People don't have refrigerators here for the most part, and the milk isn't pasteurized, so a man comes by twice a day on his motorbike and a large metal canister of milk and people come out with small bowls and get them filled.

A typical coffee shop

The land is only about 15 minutes walk from the illam, through a small and relatively poor village. There are a few public toilets but no one uses them, they just go off in a field or on the side of the road.  Most of the houses have electric lights, although the houses range from small cement cement structures to shacks to tents.  Apparently the government just got them all TVs though, which I don't really understand.  

The people here are quite poor, especially now because the main industry is farming and this is the second year of a drought.  The people who do work normally work as coolies, or per diem workers, and have trouble supporting a family. This is one of the ways that children come to the illam.  

Primary school

I went over to the school where I met the principal and head of school.  I got to observe one of the classes for a few hours and it was interesting how different it was from the US.  It was really loud, everyone, students and teacher alike.  When the kids are asked to answer a question they don't raise their hands they just shout out the answer, over and over.  Although I noticed the main teacher for the 5th standard runs her classroom much differently.  The kids are (relatively) quiet, and she doesn't let them scream and repeat answers like the other teachers.  It was a nice break from the chaos.  The school is supposed to be 'English medium', which I assumed meant that it was taught in English, but aside from the reading and writing it seemed they still used a lot of Tamil.  I spent about ten minutes of a geography class completely clueless as to what subject was being taught.  I didn't figure it out until she pulled out a map.  I spent a few hours on Saturday working on a project for Children's day in a month and will probably help out with a few other projects and hopefully also get a chance to spend some time in the classroom as well.

Being here with the founder and the film crew is a lot different than if I were here by myself.  They have been taking trips for filming and I've tagged along on a few.  We went to a hill which overlooks Nilakkotai to watch the sunset so that they could film Jean talking about the village.  

Angela, the other Kiwi, left yesterday, and the children had a farewell ceremony where they all danced.  Jean and I took her to the airport in Madurai, a small airport, with a new building and not very many flights.  We had to buy a ticket to enter the airport which was a bit strange.  On the way home we stopped in town to visit the DHAN foundation offices.  DHAN does all kinds of work all over India, and is a partner in the illam.

Filming the sunset