The week-end was spent in California Tamil Academy. Sat was graduation day - completion of a school year. California Tamil Academy is an amazing organization - run entirely by volunteers, they teach Tamil to over 3000 children in Bay Area. I really like the setup and the dedication. It gives a sense of belonging in more ways than one. People felt at home - at times, they behaved just as badly as they would in a political rally in India without the lathi-armed police.
For example, the secretary was pleading, shouting, cajoling anything to get people to settle down so the ceremony could start to no avail. It was so disheartening to see people (most of them with professional careers no doubt!) standing around without the least bit of consideration for the Secretary's increasingly hoarse voice. I wonder why we embarrass ourselves thus when we congregate.
Finally, the program started, and the children trooped on stage to receive their certificates. As usual, they first sent the pre-schoolers onto the stage. They got them to stand on stage, and there was a slight delay before the certificates were given. The children were left standing on stage looking around at the crowd! One of them sat down on the stage (Guilty as charged: that clown was my child!) I was visible in the audience wringing my hands with an upward swing movement ("You can't sit like that on stage K!" I said to her multiple times after the ceremony quite horrified)
http://www.hashwinphotography.com/cta/index.php?album=cta-fremont-graudation-day-2009
Here is what she learnt to write though!
The day after, was the annual day program. It was a grand mela - a LARGE congregation of people belonging to a similar demographic (all Tamilians with one or more children studying Tamil). The day long program started with the preschoolers. We had to drop them off after taking them to the restroom!
The cuteness index to quality of the program was inversely proportional.
In the preschool lot, there was one who decided to admire the chain she was wearing in the middle of HER program (this time, thankfully, it wasn't my daughter!), one of them wanted to talk to his friends on the stage and another decided to just run to his mother halfway through the performance!
As the day wore on, the children definitely performed better! All in all, I laud the academy's efforts.
Vazhga Tamizh!
7 comments:
http://www.hashwinphotography.com/cta/index.php?album=cta-fremont-graudation-day-2009%2Fset1&image=IMG_0097_filtered.jpg
http://www.hashwinphotography.com/cta/index.php?album=cta-fremont-graudation-day-2009%2Fset1&image=IMG_0096_filtered.jpg
We already scoured through the photos and found Keena receiving her cert. She looks really tall among the kids.
If not for Tamil Academy, how can Keena say "Onu, rendu...,eru,ettu,ambadu,pathu..:-)
We really miss these graduations during our former days. I have studied TAMIL all the way through my schooling. But still I dint get any graduation in TAMIL.
"Vazhga American Tamizh"
Survivor, Kee and her 3 friends are the 4 and 1/2 year olds, while the others are 3 and 1/2! That explains the height difference.
Gaathi: I didn't attend my own graduation or post graduation for that matter! They sent the degree cert home!
Do they graduate at the end of every year in CTA? For the Tamil she has learnt, 'graduation' seems quite overwhelming! Can someone clarify what exactly she graduated in?
She attended class sometimes is what graduation is. Maybe, I'll upload her tamil writing photograph to make sure.
There Jayashree - I uploaded her accomplishments for the graduation!
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