April 14, 2008

Photo: Curtis and some school lads.

Sheri and I were invited to a school sporting day at the private school where we enrolled two of the orphan boys, Niraj and Dharmendra. It was roasting hot as we got out of the tuk-tuk and walked into the Army parade ground used for the event. As we approached the rear of the podium young boys started surrounding us, asking all types of questions and practicing their English. The required uniform for the day was white shirt, white pants and shoes with blue tie. A man came and gave us a box of sweets. “Breakfast” he said.Niraj and Dharmendra appeared out of the crowd and they seemed happy although they were not participating in any events.Boys were running on the rough grass field in sprints and 400 meter events. Girls participated too in long white skirts. They had a hurddles event where they used wooden benches, but they where short a few so some runners had a lot less hurddles to clear. About 30 boys at a time would crowd around us for a time until a teacher would come with a switch and they cleared out in a hurry. They had a teacher’s race and then a male parent/guardian sprint. Curtis copped out because of the heat. But it was a true Indian affair. Half the men ran barefoot. After a few false starts they were off. The crowd moved forward and a portion of the spectator's tent collapsed. Midway there were bodies rolling on the ground and sandals flying in the air. It all ended in a huge cloud of dust. Next event was a female parent/guardian race. Sheri couldn’t wait to take the field. She lined up with the others all in their saris and at the command started to sprint. Unfortunately it was a walking race. The loud speaker bellowed “No running, no running”. Sheri slowed and was passed by some others who were “walking” suspiciously fast.