Sports Day at GDGoenka World School

This past Friday was Sports Day at school. I think they are using the term "Sports Day" loosely, since there was actually very little of what I might call sports. It started with Opening Ceremonies, a parade led by horses and marchers from each of the four "houses" (like in Harry Potter!) Alex was a marcher for her house. She hates marching, especially since it has meant no horseback riding for the past 6 weeks. After the march-by, there was some singing and oath-giving etc. The Chief Guest was a world-class cricket player of recent fame - if you follow this sort of thing, he bowled the winning pitch in the T20 final against India's long-time rival Pakistan. And that is an example of my skill at spitting back information that I really don't understand. I heard it, and I realize that makes him a big deal, but since we don't follow cricket, or even understand it, who cares. And I would love to tell you his name, but don't know it. Here is a photo as he awards the medals. Maybe you recognize him...?Anyway, due to weather and traffic, he was delayed, and they held up for awhile waiting for him, but finally went ahead. After much ceremony and many superlatives from the commentator (and I must digress a moment. There is no "truth in advertising" in India. Reality means nothing. Everything is bigger, better, and more fabulous than ever. The marching was fantastic. The students' enthusiasm was overwhelming. The displays of skill were inspiring. The singing was like angelic choruses of magnificentness. You get the idea. I so wish I had had a piece of paper to record some of her more eloquent turns of phrase - it was really something! I spent most of the time either laughing out loud or wondering if she and I were watching the same event! OK I am done with the digression.) ...where was I? oh yes, after all the superlatives, the sports began. That is, footraces. The kids ran 100 metres and 4x100 relays. And that is it. With no starting blocks, and a couple pieces of wood to clap together for a starting gun. Here is Miranda's race. She didn't win.

Alex ran the 100m and in the relay. She didn't win. She did better in the relay altho she said she hates the baton (or BATen, as they say here). The kids pretty much stopped and passed it, then ran. Even the high schoolers. I was NOT impressed with any athletic prowess. I am sure Randy could have outrun ANY of those kids (grade 12 boys included) and I suspect I could have given some of the girls a race! (and as I am no speed demon myself, that may give you some idea. I swear one girl was in slo-mo. I was waiting for the Bionic Woman music!) And everything was won by Koreans and Chinese students. Everything. I suggested to the kids there was a lesson in there somewhere. Anyway, between races were displays of other sports , like tennis (notice Miranda's Serena Williams backhand), karate (which was supposed to include Isaac but he didn't tell his mother he needed money for the uniform rental so he had to sit out) and aerobics.

The aerobics team was actually very entertaining. There was about 50 girls, and they actually were synchronized and altho it barely resembled aerobics (more Bollywood dance number than anyone getting sweaty) they did put on a pretty good show. The best part of the karate was a demo by the instructors - they broke tiles, leaped over 4 crouching kids in a single bound, and looked like they knew their stuff.

Then came the good stuff... the DANCING!! oh, Sam was sooooo not happy to be involved in this! She didn't sign up for an event, believing she could sit on the side and read a book, but she was WRONG! The teacher chose her to learn and perform a Kashmeri dance WITH A BOY! She tried everything to get out of it, and was very close to faking her own death to escape the torture. I was merciless, however, and the show did go on. It was NOT a warm day, and they waited a long time to perform, while dressed in light cotton clothes and bare feet. Notice in this photo her smiling countenance and happy attitude. NOT.

Here are the three odious boys that she actually had to TOUCH! YUCK!!! I tried 4 times to upload the 55 seconds of torture Sam endured, but it kept having issues. Just imagine. I am sure Kashmeri dance is much more beautiful than this when not danced under duress.
There were other dances as well, from other regions of India, some done very well. I enjoyed this one with three boys who were leaping and twirling all over the place. Look closely, I know the background is distracting. The other photo is of another group, whose dance was not so interesting but their costumes were great.

As I was leaving Isaac found me and introduced me to his friends. This is BomSue, Doonahdi and Lemming. I am sure that is not the right spelling, but I am going with phonetics. They were very polite. I hear about them all the time.

I sat just a few chairs away from Mr. Big-Shot Cricket Hero in the VIP tent. I was served cookies and juice (against my will, I might add - they were VERY insistant!) and had a great view. Now, you may wonder why. Well, I was the only parent there. Yup. As I have mentioned before, this school is tight on security and loose on welcoming parents. The kids said I was not able to come (oh, really?) but I rented a car and off I went. At the outer gate the guard was suspicious and took my name in case I caused trouble. Inside the gate, I signed in and got a pass as usual but when I tried to go onto the field area, everybody freaked. I was made to go to reception where I stated my intention to watch my kids and the lady (probably assuming this interest in my kids' doings is an American affliction) was shocked at my mistreatment and got me an escort to get past the guards at the field gate. Of course, I was escorted to the tent so I didn't get to find and talk to the kids until after, but I WAS there, and I DID see Sports Day. Again, score one for me. I have determined that the best method is just to act like what I am doing is normal and let them work it out. Usually, the guards don't have a reason for resisting, they just have always done it that way, and if you push against the rules they bend them. Especially if no one has ever showed up for Sports Day before and they are not sure how to handle it! At any rate, it was a show. A fabulous, unbelievable display of unparalled sportsmanship and .....oh whatever. I can't even do it!!

This photo is from the driveway out, showing the field and the tent and some dorm buildings behind.

ok this is NOT the video I wanted to post - this is before they started dancing. The video I wanted to post is 57 seconds long and I guess that is too much to upload. So watch this and imagine the dance!