I’M GIVING UP MY CHILD FOR ADOPTION

Writen during the last week of our tenure in Jagaddal Mission, Kolkata...a posting which will always be dear to my heart...an experience like no other...

That’s been my feeling for the past several months. As the year advances that gut feeling is just deeper and more painful. It’s exactly the emotion any mother would feel if you take away her child ‘for a good reason’, but leave her in tears and a lifetime of regret.
Kolkata-the land of Mother Teresa-that’s how I knew it. Okay, I can add Netaji and Tagore too. Oh ya- and Ganguly; and I also had a maternal aunt here (and she still is!). Otherwise, Kolkata was just a point on the map of India- a place I never thought I’d visit-nevertheless, LIVE for six and a half years. For all these years, our pin code was Kolkata-700151 – so you see, we were quite far from the city-yet occasionally enjoyed its perks and bumps.
The old capital of the British Raj-many areas still show that grandeur and architecture even after so many decades. The City of Joy-where the rich live with all pomp and style-and the poor live ‘happily’ amidst all limitations- even under the flyovers and connectors. The food-as ‘Mishti’(sweet) as the language. The Biryani with a full boiled potato in it, the dal curry with fish heads, the baked rosagulla, the sweet chutneys with papad, the Mango season pedas - all I learned to ‘devour’. An everlasting classical destination. Khuub Sundor Jayga.
Bengalis are a very proud set of Indians – BUT (I have to say this!) with zero sense of traffic rules or even how to cross the road! They also have a inbuilt chip in their genes which keeps them muttering ‘Ami porei korchi’, ‘Kalke korbo’ (I’ll do it later or tomorrow). But you can’t help but love their adoration for fine arts and culture. Such a fun-loving, festive, carefree group cannot be found anywhere in the whole country. Any occasion is made into a gathering-a small celebration-even the death of a loved one.
Women are respected so much more than anywhere else in India-must be their devotion to Devi Durga or their respect to ‘Didi’- but I should admit it’s quite a safe tavern for all ladies-big & small-day & night.
PEOPLE – ARE – EVERYWHERE. The roads, the buses, the trains, the metros, the subways, the stations, the markets, the malls, the bus stops, the hotels, the autos, the Ubers, the yellow taxis – EVERYWHERE. If you go to Howrah or Sealdah Railway Station even in the middle of the night or early morning like 2 am- its packed – with – PEOPLE. No wonder it is the most densely populated city!!!!
Well, well –enough about Kolkata! I have to tell you about my life in Jagaddal.
To visit a mission centre is one thing- to hear priests and evangelists talk about their experiences-praying and supporting them-all are so much different than the actual living experience. Moreover, to pioneer the development is the ultimate.
The ground reality ---- rats, stray dogs and cats, all the insects in West Bengal, not to mention the early morning badminton games (to kill the mosquitoes!) Ayyo! We have no count how many snakes entered our home or how many we killed in the campus. But thankfully we always found them before they entered our rooms!!! O no, don’t think this is my sole memory- I just got over with the scary one first!
Mar Thoma Child Development Centre was truly the cream of our campus. We enjoyed your fellowships, camps, outings, VBS, celebrations –everything- and I’m sure each staff & student who was part of it, have tons of memories to cherish. All good things come to an end (even if we never wanted it to) but we do still love and pray for those kids who were a part of us. God bless you, wherever you are!
I have already shared with you that the Bengali language is sweet. To sing and worship in this language is also an amazing experience. Our Sunday worship gathering is a group of people who love singing, praying and wish to grow in faith. Even though at times I missed my previous church activities at Kuttapuzha, and got some compensation from the occasional involvement at Kolkata Mar Thoma Church (THANK YOU!!!), I truly enjoyed just closing my eyes and tried to absorb all those beautiful incantations that reached heaven every Sunday from Jagaddal. More than anything, I glowed in joy seeing the love and care this small group had for each other.
Can you imagine a classroom where three batches sit together and face front, left and right to their respective blackboards? That was ST. THOMAS MAR THOMA SCHOOL in 2012-2013. Nine batches (LKG to Class 7) sat in just 3 rooms with this arrangement. It was utter chaos. We just had to change that, first and foremost. Within one year, we added four more classrooms, a hall, a computer lab and a staffroom. One more year later the school had total 13 classrooms, plus a Library and a Science Lab. All because so many willing people helped financially-for our kids to not miss out the full experience of education. A huge thanks to them!
Those who know me from my childhood know that I always wanted to become a teacher-but I never ever ever dreamt I could be something higher than that. My Alma Mater-Mar Thoma Residential School-has always been my source of inspiration to introduce new ideas, programmes, or how to follow the ICSE mode of learning here. Even after coming here, my old teachers/colleagues were always ready to help me whenever I was at doubt. My staff here must be tired of hearing me always quote about ‘my school’. I was already so much indebted to my school- but this makes me feel much more thankful and blessed.
My old students who are reading this-do comment-I was never strict, right? Well, I truly am a softy. But I do know how to shout louder now!
My earlier teaching experiences were much easier. I didn’t have to explain much. As I came here, I was suddenly reminded of a terror from my B. Ed days. During my teaching exam, I got a set of Malayalam medium students. My goodness! My blood pressure must have gone high that day! How was I to make them understand my lesson and get a good response when I wasn’t supposed to say a word in Malayalam during the class being an English teacher-student?! Somehow I managed those 30 minutes by teaching with the charts and audio-visual aids I had brought and simplifying my English as much as possible. That was literally what I had to do as I started teaching here. Even though this had been an English medium school it needed all the pushes, boosts, enchantments, spells and prayers to reach somewhere even near the corner of a standard school.

Now there’s no turning back. This school began in 2004 but was still in its infancy when we joined in December 2012. I took care of this baby for more than six years. My baby has grown up now and she can walk by herself. Three ICSE batches have passed out. Our staff are ready to carry it forward ; our kids are talented, caring and try their best in all areas. But now I have to leave this all behind and hand the keys to the new caretakers- the new parents.
How can I ever forget that I have a constant reminder of Jagaddal right in my home- Daphne. She walks, talks and eats just like any Bengali child. Her small Bangla phrases and tone will surely be there for some more time, till she learns Malayalam better. I cannot forget the love and care she got from the entire Jagaddal centre -staff, evangelists, parents and kids - and the Kolkata church members too. We are much humbled by their unconditional affection, even though she can be moody and cranky at times.
St. Thomas Mar Thoma School made me a better person-a better teacher-and showed me that I had much more in me to offer to the society. Pens and Papers and gadgets are not enough to express our times in Jagaddal, our love and concern for these people, our gratitude to our staff and well-wishers, our eternal obligation to the people who cared for our Board Exam students, our respect to the Society bodies and our hopes for its bright future.
I came here as a new bride, but I go back as the mother of a school-going kid, having gained some more kilos and even some white strands on my head!
I’m sure to cry my soul out if I ever try to say all this in public-so I had to pen it down. Thank you Lord for this posting in this blessed centre. God bless Jagaddal Mission. God bless St. Thomas Mar Thoma School. Ami tumaader sabhaike khub bhaalo bhaashi! Light up your world, kids!

Last day as Principal : 30th April, 2019
Last day in Jagaddal/Kolkata : 4th May, 2019