Tuesday in India

Another busy day. Miss Wood, Miss Kaur and I went to the DAV School today. We were welcomed by a group of army cadets. We went into the school and one of the students presented us with a garland of fresh flowers and we had a Puja ( a red spot on our foreheads as an expression of honour). We spent the day looking around the school and talking with students. We observed a maths lesson - very different to the ones at Moor Hall. We had our photographs taken and it seems we may appear in a newspaper tomorrow. Miss Wood is already famous and has had her photograph published! We saw some of the younger children who were also involved with a maths lesson - counting chicks, and very small children who were tired after lunch and having a rest. This afternoon we went to Rock Garden. It really didn't sound very exciting. However, I couldn't have been more wrong! The whole area has been created from recycled products like broken crockery, sacks of cement, old cooking pots. There were birds made from broken bangles and walls made from old plastic sockets embedded in concrete. It really is a fascinating way to use broken things. The gentleman who created it is called Nek Chand. He began building it as a result of the partition between India and Pakistan and the fact that he was left with nothing. We were invited to meet him. He kindly invited us into his home - which is in the Rock Garden. He has won a prestigious award and travelled all over the work to talk about his design. Finally today we were invited into the home of Nina Mimani who I have been emailing. Her mother-in-law had made samosas for us and then showed us how to make them. We then made our own and ate them. Yum!