Macerena! (With the Sisters...)

Hilarious morning at Shishu Bhavan. It began with a new tactic my the mashis to try and wake up Gita and Ana who always spend breakfast laying face down on top of their plastic chair/ table (which also double as a rocking chair, if turned the other way). Today I found them both standing up holding onto the rails of the nearest cots. They were swaying from side to side, but as their 'eyes' are never open they still looked firmly asleep. I shouted 'Good Morning' into both sets of ears and then began the usual tickling. The poor girls have no choice but to start to smile despite their dedication to sleep. I picked up Ana and placed her in her chair. Immediately she turns into a piece of human jelly and flops down, her little body sliding underneath the table and the legs appearing back on the floor, with only two arms left pointing out of the chair. It is impossible to pull her 'up' so I pull her 'down' and so the cycle continues – plop into the chair – wheeeeeeeeeeee – out onto the floor – a silent slide for the sleeping. Gita is a little larger so it is harder for her to play the same silent sleeping game. Instead she likes to throw her legs over the side and sit in the chair like a hammock – but like Ana she seems to instantly fall asleep again. I tickle until finally I receive a sound. Laughing is the only sound which either of the girls make, and this rarity makes it even more precious to hear.

Maria, a long term Spanish volunteer, who is incredible with the children, is saying 'Buenos Dia' to Jay. Jay is an older girl – maybe around 12 or 13 who sits in the same chair for most of the day, with her head bent so far down she almost curls back into herself. A Tiny Monkey Boy from the active section uses Jay as his entertainment when all of his other mischief has bored him. He likes to tease Jay by sneaking up and taking things from her table, but she has quick reactions and will roll her head up to give then a sharp slap wherever her hand might fall. Sometimes this manages to dissuade Tiny Monkey Boy and sometimes it just increases the 'risk' of his one person game. Jay always has her hair very neatly tied, and perhaps because she is larger than the rest of the children, she seems to have her 'own' clothes. Many of the other children are dressed in the same clothes – like a uniform but a very pretty ones. Today Maria is waving a silver tube of lipstick at Jay. Jay reaches out to take it with a massive smile spreading over her face. She loves any jewelry, bindis and clearly red lipstick. Maria bends down and starts to expertly trace Jay's lips. She is then attacked from behind as a cheeky Tiny Monkey Boy who jumps onto her back. The lipstick is accidentally left in the happy hands of Jay. Jay has the best 'seat' in Shishu Bhavan. Right next to the window, where the warm breeze can be felt, and the sun's energy absorbed. I am playing with Gita. We are standing in front of the open window. I am looking out onto Bose Road and Gita is playing with the sun on her face, swaying from side to side, letting the light and the warmth pass over her skin. Her body is leaning lightly onto my legs and her hands reaching up to hold onto the metal bars of the window frame.

I am distracted by the movement of Jay, casting a shadow over the light. She lifts up the table in front of her chair and stands up. She lifts up her kurta, pulls down her trousers and hides the 'lost lipstick' where it will never be found. She pulls her trousers back up, sits back in her hair, replaces her table and the continues to peer into herself. Jay hasn't seen me see. But Gita has; she has felt the angle of my body change and has moved herself around to stay leaning against my knees.

Maria returns with a Tiny Monkey Boy now wandering around under small sheet – one of his favorite activities. She asks Jay for her lipstick and Jay slowly moves her head up and lifts up her arm to motion that she has thrown it out of the window. The only sign of her reselection of events is the smile spread over her face, which is also mirrored by me, as I marvel at her intelligence, which like many of the children is so superficially masked by their physical disabilities. Maria is confused. Once again I don't want to betray Jay. She found herself in possession of her first lipstick and with quick thinking hid it in the only private place she has, yet Maria wants to know why she threw it out of the window and I know that before long one of the mashi's will take her to the toilet and all will be revealed. I motion to Maria that the lipstick is well hidden and Maria laughs out loud but for now she will let Jay enjoy her small act of defiance/personal possession.

Later in the morning we are able to make Jay's smile continue by teaching the Sisters a new dance. The sound system in Shishu Bhavan seems to be broken so instead we have been energising the atmosphere with some new tunes. The curiosity of two of the younger Sisters was captured and before long we had a line jumping up and down and humming. Arms outstretched, palms turning, hands on the elbows, the head, the hips and then Whaaaaoooo Macarena! Absolutely hilarious watching as the Sisters jump around, hands on their robed white hips, swinging and swaying in an utterly unorthodox manner. Maria and I laughed so much we could hardly keep dancing and before long even Jay had forgot about her hidden treasure and was standing in line, with Maria guiding her arms through the movements. Gita remained blind to cause of our hilarity but kept a hand on my legs feeling the vibrations and still sharing the collective laughter with every Whaaaaaooo Macarena - A Hoi!

When I left Jay still had a lipstick down her trousers, Gita was innocently distributing karma by sticking her legs through the bars of her cot to prod a captive Tiny Monkey Boy, and the tune of Macarena was proving highly infectious amongst the Sisters.