Chloe in India (16 page)
Authors: Kate Darnton
While some people, places, and incidents were inspired by real life, this book is a work of fiction, plain and simple. There is no Premium Academy, no Saxena Enterprises, no Chloe, and no Lakshmi.
There is, however, a progressive and highly inclusive school in Delhi that my own (very real) daughters had the privilege of attending. I would like to thank the administration, teachers, and staff at the Vasant Valley School, New Delhi, for the wonderful job they do every single day. Special thanks to Rachna Grewal, librarian at Vasant Valley, for her support of this project.
I could not have written this book without the people who kept my house afloat while I typed, especially Dolma, Manju, Lakshmi, and Vikram. Thank you all for making Delhi an easier place to live.
I would also like to thank the friends who supported me during the writing of this book, in particular Roopika Saran and Janya Gambir, who read an early draft of the manuscript: you gave me my happy dance in the kitchen. Also Anu Anand for her general enthusiasm. And my sister, Margaret Darnton Blodgett, who read several drafts of the manuscript and gave me valuable advice from the front lines of fourth grade.
Anita Roy at Zubaan: What would I have done without you? You are an exceptional editor and cherished friend.
To my indefatigable agent, Laura Langlie, and the fabulous editor she found me at Delacorte Press, Krista Vitola: thank you both for your faith in Chloe and in me. Thanks also to the copyediting team: Alison Kolani, Colleen Fellingham, and the eagle-eyed Heather Lockwood Hughes.
A quick shout-out to Stephen King, not because I'm a horror fan, but because his brilliant memoir,
On Writing,
taught me much about the craft.
Cut to my mother, Susan Darnton, who must be the polar opposite of Stephen King in every way, except their shared love of precise and varied vocabulary. Thanks, Mom, for filling our home with secondhand Betsy-Tacys and for taking us kids to the Princeton Public Library. To Dudley Carlson, the children's librarian at that magical place: you cannot know how much you touched my life, mainly by leaning down and listeningâand then plucking the perfect book from what seemed like miles of metal shelves. Thank you for your years of service to the Princeton community.
Thanks also to my teachers, especially the late Mr. Dougherty of the John Witherspoon Middle School in Princeton and Peter Osnos, founder and editor-at-large at PublicAffairs.
Lastly, I would like to thank the two most important men in my life: my father, Robert Darnton, who has always encouraged me to write, and my husband, Steve Stepanian, who came up with this zany Indian adventure in the first placeâand then mixed the G&Ts to survive it.
To my three graces, Sophie, Charlotte, and Elizabeth: IÂ love you.
In her email to Katie Standish, Chloe writes that Lakshmi isn't “really like the other girls at school” (
this page
). How is Lakshmi different? What about your classmates? Are they all the same? If not, what makes them different?Over dinner, Chloe's dad mentions the Right to Education Act, which declares that education is a fundamental right of all children in India. (Please turn the page for more information on the RTE Act.) Do you think education should be a fundamental right, enforceable by law? Why or why not?
Due to the Right to Education Act, disadvantaged children like Lakshmi are being admitted in greater numbers to private schools throughout India. What do you think that's like for those children? How about for the teachers in those schools? Should schools do anything special to support disadvantaged children and their teachers? Why or why not?
At your school, is everyone invited to birthday parties? Does everybody go? Why or why not?
In the book, Chloe learns empathy, which is an understanding that other people have feelings and that those feelings matter. She puts herself in Lakshmi's shoes and sees the world from Lakshmi's perspective. She comes to realize that though people may come from very different backgrounds, they all have feelings and those feelings matter. Anvi does not feel empathy; she is mean to Lakshmi because she sees Lakshmi as different. Do you sometimes feel empathy? When? Do you think empathy makes people weaker or stronger?
In Delhi, there are an estimated five million people living in unauthorized settlements. They often face the threat of eviction. Do you think this is fair? What would it feel like to lose
your
home?Chloe calls herself a misfit (
this page
and
this page
). Have you ever felt like a misfit? When and why? How did it make you feel?
In August 2009, the Parliament of India enacted a piece of legislation called the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, or Right to Education Act (RTE). On April 1, 2010, when the RTE Act became law, India made education a fundamental, enforceable right. Here are some brief excerpts from that historic legislation:
Every child of the age of six to fourteen years shall have a right to free and compulsory education in a neighborhood school till completion of elementary education.
For the purposes of this Act a schoolâ¦shall admit in class 1, to the extent of at least twenty-five percent of the strength of that class, children belonging to weaker section and disadvantaged group in the neighborhood and provide free and compulsory education till its completion.
No child shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses, which may prevent him or her from pursuing and completing their elementary education.
No school or person shall, while admitting a child, collect any capitation fee and subject the child or his parents or guardian to any screening procedure.
No child shall be denied admission in a school for lack of age proof.
No child admitted in a school shall be held back in any class or expelled from school till the completion of elementary education.
No child shall be subjected to physical punishment or mental harassment.
ayah:
A domestic servant who typically works as a nanny/maid.
basti:
An unauthorized settlement; a slum.
beta:
Child; little one.
bindi:
A dot or decoration worn on a woman's forehead, usually between her eyebrows.
chaat:
Savory snacks, such as fried potatoes and chutney, usually sold at roadside stalls or food carts, also served at birthday parties and other festivities.
chai:
Sweet and spicy tea boiled with milk.
“Chalo!”:
“Let's go!”
chapati:
A flatbread similar to a tortilla.
chappals:
Shoes, especially leather sandals.
charpoy:
A simple bed made of ropes tied around a rough wooden frame with no mattress.
chhole:
A spicy chickpea dish.
chhole bhature:
Spicy chickpeas served with deep-fried bread.
chikki:
Nut brittle, often made with peanuts and hot jaggery (cane sugar) syrup.
choti:
Braids.
dal:
Spiced lentils.
dehko:
“Look!”
didi:
“Sister”; an affectionate term for both sisters and ayahs (see above) or other helpers.
dosa:
A Southern Indianâstyle crepe made from rice batter and lentils, often stuffed with potatoes and served with chutney and spicy sambar (see below).
dupatta:
A long scarf, often worn as part of a
salwar kameez
(see below) to cover a woman's chest.
golgappa:
A popular street snack; bit-sized, deep-fried shells, usually filled with potatoes, chickpeas, onions, and spiced tamarind juice.
goonda:
A thug.
gulabi:
Pink.
idli:
Small, savory steamed lentil cakes, often eaten for breakfast with chutneys and
sambar
(see below).
jhuggi:
An unauthorized settlement; a slum.
kajal:
Kohl, eyeliner.
kati
roll:
A wrap sandwich, usually made of flatbread and stuffed with spicy chicken or vegetarian filling.
kurta:
A tunic.
lahenga:
A long skirt.
Lutyens:
A British architect who, in the early twentieth century, designed the new colonial capital, bringing wide, tree-lined avenues and garden-ringed bungalows to New Delhi.
mirchi:
Spicy.
naan:
Flatbread baked in a tandoor oven.
namaste:
A respectful greeting performed by pressing the palms together and bowing slightly; also a word often said aloud while doing the same.
paan:
Betel leaf, usually stuffed with betel nut, lime, and spices and chewed as a stimulant; the juices are often spat out, leaving brown blotches on roads and sidewalks.
phool:
Flower.
rajma chawall:
Spiced red beans served with rice.
rupee:
A unit of Indian currency, like the dollar.
salwar kameez:
An outfit of loose, pajama-like trousers (
salwar
) with a tunic top (
kameez
).
sambar:
A spicy, lentil-based stew, often served with
idlis
(see above) for breakfast, especially in South India.
tantai:
“Father” in Tamil, a language spoken in Tamil Nadu, South India.
Tata Sky:
Satellite television provider in India.
tiffin:
Lunch box.
wallah:
A generic term in Hindi meaning “the one.” It usually refers to a person who provides a specific service; for example, the
phool
wallah, who sells flowers, or the
chai
wallah, who sells tea.
