There are not many people who will have me want to get into a saree.
Don’t get me wrong, I love sarees. I love seeing the elegant saree-clad women. I love admiring the different weaving techniques, the fabric, the colours!!
Just the saree and I…well, we are frenemies. I love wearing one, but it somehow lets me down, quite regularly. As for the blouses, well that's a whole other battle!!
Last weekend, as I moped over the fact that I needed to wear a saree, I was thrown into a whirlwind of nostalgia and wonderful memories which made me look at what has shaped my life. And to brave a question that plagues me everywhere I go…’ Bombay or Chennai?’
When I moved to Chennai over 26 years ago, I knew only one person and he just happened to be my husband. I’d left behind a life that was full and busy, to arrive in a city that was completely alien to me in so many ways. The language, the culture, the dominant religion, even the practice of my religion here, the food!
I floated around trying to find my way around, make some connections and figure out what to do…a travelling husband meant that I was alone a lot of the time.
My neighbour, G who was a teacher at the school I now work at…Abacus told me about a Montessori training course being started by senior teachers who had worked with her. (Uma was one of the first teachers at Abacus when it started over 35 years ago.)
Enamoured by the stories G told me about the school and the Montessori philosophy, I went to the centre at Besant Nagar and met the Director of the course, Uma Shankar.
As Uma puts it, only a Bombay girl could have walked into her office and addressed her by her first name (sorry Uma, but 26 years later, I cannot change it to Mam), which paved the way for the entire first batch addressing her in the same manner.
It was the only Montessori course in Chennai at the time and it was marked with warmth, acceptance and kindness. For 9 months I was submerged in all things Montessori and while my path took me in the direction of storytelling and now library education, Montessori gave me a foundation, grounding the philosophy of the work I do and giving me wings.
Vishnu Priya, Uma and I
So when she invited me to be the guest of honour at the graduation of the 51st batch IMTC-C, my first reaction was… ”I’m not the Guest of Honour sort, Uma! Plus, I’m not a Montessori teacher now and have never been!”
Her reply convinced me…”I want my students to see all the possibilities that they can explore in education, even if it's not as a Montessori Directress.”
This is what I love about Uma, the kindness, the openness to all possibilities and the flexibility. When we work with children, we need the ability to bend and re-mould ourselves as we guide the child. This wonderful quality of her personality rubs off on her students.
It was an honour to be part of the 51st batch’s Valedictory Ceremony and to connect with so many fellow Montessorians.
Truly, 26 years, and the bonds with Uma and Vishnu Priya…one of the first friends that I made during my course, are as strong as back in 1998.
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As for Bombay vs Chennai, last weekend made me reflect on all these years…Bombay raised me, Chennai grew me. Each one trumps the other in different ways, and after all these years I can truly say, that I’m glad that they have both been part of my life.
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The saree?
Well, it’s Navratri and Golu season…the battle continues!!
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