Rounding the corner above our little road, I was bombarded by Bangra. 6am, and the beats were stirring the ant-like army of St Georgians into frenetic activity, which had clearly been going on long before dawn. Hundreds of chairs, last minute powdering of the emblems in the sand, the omnipresent measuring and recording, and the owner of snacks bar, the nearest eatery to the field, making momos and milky cakes as if his life depended on it!
Effort like you rarely see. Surprisingly relevant after yesterday's teacher training session at KCS, delivered by Sarah with her ever willing aide. The subject, which I am sure she'll write more on, was "how children learn": trying to persuade the teachers that effort and thinking were essential attributes for the modern teacher. How to teach what, in what order, and why. How fitting, that on completion of the session yesterday afternoon, when we retreated to Snacks Bar, we were met by this image of Olympic effort, creativity, imagination, resourcefulness and celebration. The turning of a dusty field, without astroturf, or any modern materials, into an athletics track that the London 2012 committee would have been proud of. Parallel tracks, staggered starting points, a dedicated 100m track, and a dias full of Indian culture, status and colour. Imagine the Quidditch world tournament (I blame Sarah's current enthusiasm for Harry Potter for this reference!) and you wouldn't be far off in the magical transformation which has taken place. Flying golden winged balls, broomsticks, I wouldn't put it past them.
The day went off amazingly: a hectic race schedule was maintained by a duel between the two people, a male and a female teacher, holding the microphones. Children ran their hearts out, those successful being invited onto the podium and presented their medals by Olympic style medal bearers. The event was colourful in every respect, and a lovely spectacle to be privileged enough to see. So much effort, so much energy, and so much enthusiasm. To even half repeat it in the UK would be a bureaucratic nightmare. I only hope that it was done for the spirit of competition, for the gamesmanship and most of all for the children. The cynic in me just has a niggling doubt, wondering whether in fact the whole charade was instead for the headmaster's career progress. Let's hope that I am wrong.
Pictures:
Our normal exercise ground. Usually full of impromtu football practice and amateur 20-20!
Pre-dawn set up. The detail is wonderful; the bunting almost rivalled that at our wedding! And the momo 'factory' of Snacks Bar in full swing!
Start of the school day: enter the St Georgians.
The action.
Our favourites, class 3, enjoying the event.
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