Her family lives in the same village that the Acharyas are from and the two families have known each other for a long time. Gita’s family is incredibly poor – their meals consist of plain rice with salt and chilies on top for flavor. They don’t have money for vegetables or meal, or even daal! Because of their dire poverty, Ama agreed to take Gita when she was only 5 years old. Since the, the Acharyas have raised her like their own daughter – they even tried to convince Gita to go to school when she was younger. At the time, however, she was not interested… I’m sure she regrets that decision now, since she can’t read or write Nepali. When Ama is here, though, she makes Gita copy the words from a beginner English/Nepali book, so now Gita knows many numbers and most of the letters of the alphabet, though her hand-writing looks like that of a 4 year old.
Despite the kindness of the Acharyas, Gita is clearly a second class family member, but from what I gather, this is her choice. She never eats at the table, sleeps in the tiniest bed, gets second hand clothes… she’s kind of the after-thought in everything. I feel bad for her because of that, but by the same token, I think she still considers her life here with the Acharyas to be many times better than what it could ever be in the village with her birth family.
Since Ama left, Gita has been quite a lazy cleaner. I get the impression that Ama keeps her in line. My room has a layer of dust half-an-inch thick, and my carpet is so dirty that yesterday, as I sat on my knees and trying to pick up the hair on it, my hand became black, and I mean BLACK, when I pulled it away. Now I don’t walk barefoot on my carpet.
Gita, like Aartee, follows me around everywhere and loves staring at me. But unlike Aartee, the fascination hasn’t subsided or worn off in these past 6 weeks at all. And it’s not like I can really communicate with her much. So, when she’s staring at me, I’ll say things like, “Yes?”, or, “Do you need something?” or, “What happened?” Her answer is always, “Nothing”… but it never succeeds in making her stop staring. If it were for only a minute or two, I would not mind, but she has taken the habit of watching me get ready in the morning – she’ll even watch me drink tea, read the newspaper, or brush my teeth! I always knew I was fascinating (haha) but come on! I’ve had to begin locking my door in the morning so that I can get some privacy, even though I don’t want to have to do that. I told Jyoti about it the other day and she apparently talked to Gita (just to explain that because I don’t have sisters I’m not used to being stared at and it kind of bothers me) but the next day she did the same thing as always, so I suppose we’re all wasting her breath. Good thing I have a lock on my door!
I somehow detect a hint of sadness in Gita. Sometimes I think it’s just because she’s excluded from the some of the jokes and happiness that the rest of us engage in, but then, if I think about it, I know the answer. Gita is guaranteed to be doing housework for her entire life. Usually kids get to have a somewhat nice childhood here but hers is one of laundry and dish-washing. And getting married will be no release – especially because she is uneducated so can’t escape her fate with an out-of-home job.
Maybe that’s why when Gita laughs, she laughs harder and more uncontrollably than anyone I have ever met.
Despite the kindness of the Acharyas, Gita is clearly a second class family member, but from what I gather, this is her choice. She never eats at the table, sleeps in the tiniest bed, gets second hand clothes… she’s kind of the after-thought in everything. I feel bad for her because of that, but by the same token, I think she still considers her life here with the Acharyas to be many times better than what it could ever be in the village with her birth family.
Since Ama left, Gita has been quite a lazy cleaner. I get the impression that Ama keeps her in line. My room has a layer of dust half-an-inch thick, and my carpet is so dirty that yesterday, as I sat on my knees and trying to pick up the hair on it, my hand became black, and I mean BLACK, when I pulled it away. Now I don’t walk barefoot on my carpet.
Gita, like Aartee, follows me around everywhere and loves staring at me. But unlike Aartee, the fascination hasn’t subsided or worn off in these past 6 weeks at all. And it’s not like I can really communicate with her much. So, when she’s staring at me, I’ll say things like, “Yes?”, or, “Do you need something?” or, “What happened?” Her answer is always, “Nothing”… but it never succeeds in making her stop staring. If it were for only a minute or two, I would not mind, but she has taken the habit of watching me get ready in the morning – she’ll even watch me drink tea, read the newspaper, or brush my teeth! I always knew I was fascinating (haha) but come on! I’ve had to begin locking my door in the morning so that I can get some privacy, even though I don’t want to have to do that. I told Jyoti about it the other day and she apparently talked to Gita (just to explain that because I don’t have sisters I’m not used to being stared at and it kind of bothers me) but the next day she did the same thing as always, so I suppose we’re all wasting her breath. Good thing I have a lock on my door!
I somehow detect a hint of sadness in Gita. Sometimes I think it’s just because she’s excluded from the some of the jokes and happiness that the rest of us engage in, but then, if I think about it, I know the answer. Gita is guaranteed to be doing housework for her entire life. Usually kids get to have a somewhat nice childhood here but hers is one of laundry and dish-washing. And getting married will be no release – especially because she is uneducated so can’t escape her fate with an out-of-home job.
Maybe that’s why when Gita laughs, she laughs harder and more uncontrollably than anyone I have ever met.
