Case Narratives

Smita members met around 20 students (ages 13 to 17) at SMILE centre, residing in ‘Vrindavan Aawaas’, Vastrapur.  After the basic introductions, the class was divided into three groups, to ensure a more personalised interaction with each of the Smita members.

Let Smita take you into a journey through the children’s world.

Aspirations

The children mostly stuck to conventional responses such as ‘doctor’, ‘teacher’, ‘police officer’, when it came to career aspirations. Only one child (after encouragement from his friend) said in a shy voice that he would like to pursue Cricket when he grows older.

A desire to serve others was observed. When asked why they would not like to become an actor or a singer (the people they admire in general), most said that it is unrealistic. They also felt that unlike the work of a doctor where they can help those in need, there is no element of serving others in such professions.

Since these children have grown up seeing adults around them in traditional roles, perhaps this is what comes to their mind first when asked what they would want to do when they grow older.

The huge gap in terms of awareness of career choices and the right route to occupational choices seems to be an area of concern. Usually girls wish to pursue a teaching career but limit their academic aspirations to graduation. On the other hand, while many boys would like to be a doctor or an engineer (being the accepted traditional successful career choices), they either don’t know the stream to choose or wish to study only till class 12th. The eagerness to finish study and get into the earning phase seems to be a dominant factor in making choices, many being completely unaware of the traditional career paths and the extensive investment in education.

There’s perhaps a need to understand their deeper motivations so that interventions can be planned to expose the children to other alternative career choices, which could be based on vocational training and creative efforts.

Family ties

Girls mentioned being close to their fathers and getting pampered by them, while their mother occasionally scolds. Mothers expect the girls to engage in household chores. The girls hardly go out to play or spend time with friends. Most of their time is spent at home helping around the house, or completing homework. Boys seem to be pampered by mothers, while the are more formal with their fathers. One of the boys, 17 years old, helps his elder brother at the shop, after school and tuition.

Many come from joint families, and quite a few sibling pairs are present in the classroom. Sibling pairs, including cousins and distant relatives seem to have a very strong bond, with one kid often speaking on behalf of the other. Also, aspirations seem to be influenced by friends and siblings and written on impulse with probes from friends and family. A couple of kids come from single parent family, but are taken care of and well supported by extended family members like grandparents, maternal aunts etc. In such cases, the kids are most attached to the family member whom they spend maximum time with, and usually, it is the mothers or other elderly female figures.

Hobbies

The group had varied interests, and they shared these with much enthusiasm when asked what they like to do in their free time. The boys like playing Cricket, while some of the girls enjoyed cooking – and proudly shared that they were quite good at it! One girl smiled and shared that she loves to dance, and that she and her sister often dance on pop songs! Most children enjoyed watching TV – with cartoons such as ‘Doraemon’ being a popular choice. They all excitedly talked about their love for Gujarati cuisine as well, with their favorites ranging from ‘Dhokla’ to ‘Khaman’ to ‘Maska bun’.

Inter-group dynamics

It was intriguing to note the interpersonal dynamics within the group. The children would often slip into Gujarati slang language while talking to each other, or have their own inside jokes.

While there were some obvious sub-groups or ‘best friend’ ties within the group, others seemed to be largely at ease with their batch mates. There was only one boy and girl who seemed to have some past annoyance with each other – and they shared with me that they both don’t get along well with each other (“बनती नही है”).

Another observation is the difference in attitudes of girls and boys. While the girls are eager to learn and discover, the boys want to clown around and test us - to know how we can really help them. This could be taken into account when designing the way interactions are framed, so they fully dive into this experience.

The session concluded with fun and frolic, over a garba performance with kids. Most children who were quiet at the beginning of the session were able to open up and share their experiences later – if not with the entire group, then on a one to one basis with Smita members.

“Despite being the only one that did not speak Hindi or Gujarati, this one hour’s experience with our group was really attractive. I believe the SMILE students have a lot of expectations regarding us: they want to interact with us and enjoy the most of what we can bring to them. As an example, the girls from my group asked me to tell them about my family and to sing them a song in French.”