I Have a Dream

Tonight I found myself chatting with Lakshmi G., one of the girls that I haven’t spent much real time with. I am going to be teaching English classes solo beginning next week, and I asked her what she wanted to learn. She started telling me that she doesn’t speak very good English, which is a consistent complaint among the girls, but we don’t let that be an excuse for them to speak Kannada and are consistently praising their English skills. I told her that she does speak very well, and that the more she practices the better she will become…and that every time she speaks with me, she will be practicing. And we can talk about anything, so that she can practice speaking about all topics.

She began telling me about her family, and her mother, and how she is in 8^th class but in March will be in 9^th and then 10^th and then college for her first degree and then maybe her second degree. She wants to be a teacher. Her mother’s degree is social work, and so her mother is always saying, “Lakshmi, do social work.” Her brother is a doctor, so he is always saying, “Lakshmi, be a doctor.” Her brother’s wife (for some reason) always says, “Lakshmi, do social work.” Always always always her mother is saying social work. But she wants to be a teacher. She wants to teach Kannada, her language. And social studies. Then, abruptly, she said, “Your dream, Auntie?” Whoa, that made me start. Her dream was so easy, so clear-cut (not easy considering all of the barriers that she will most likely come across, but simple nonetheless). So inspiring.

In this conversation, two things happened: 1) a reminder to always have a dream, and to not make life too complicated and 2) an idea for my English class: the writing and presenting of their dreams. More to come J

P.S. Yes, this is Day #2 of ABBA songs as my blog post titles. Sorry, just can’t help it (thank you, Levys, for engraining ABBA forever in my heart). I think I could probably narrate my life by song lyrics…and the lyrics of this song reminded me of Lakshmi and her dream:

I have a dream

A song to sing

To help me grow

In anything

If you see the wonder

Of a fairy tale

You can take the future

Even if you fail…

I have a dream

A fantasy

To help me through

Reality

And my destination

Makes it worth the while

Wishing through the darkness

Still another mile