Day 5

Sunday – our big day out. The plan was to take the children to Fun World. This is a park where there are rides (the children call them games). We travelled on the Village bus and the driver and Mrs Kaur from the office came with us, as well as Shobha and me.

My first thought was that the children would have a good time but I wasn’t sure how it fitted into the project plan. But one of our commitments was to take photographs in locations of the children’s choosing and this was definitely their first choice. My concern was that they were choosing for different reasons and that they just wanted to have fun. But then I thought that is exactly what we should be doing – giving them the chance to have fun and then thinking about what having fun means to them.

The research project needs, in this sense to be about itself. If the children stayed outside ‘having fun’ and we got them to talk abstractly about what freedom from violence meant for them, then this would be likely to become a very abstract exercise. It might be interesting for the adults but I am not sure if it would be for the children, and if our aim is learn what participation in research means, then we have to do it and not just talk about it.

In my mind I keep coming back to what Peter Egg said when we had our planning meeting back in September, that we have to create the situation and then trust the children to make it into something real. ‘Participation’ does not just mean ‘taking part in’, it means ‘taking a part in’. It means having some control over events and decisions about events.

As it turned out there was another sense in which this place was more appropriate to our theme than my adult imagination had let me see. Ill return to this at the end, but you can probably see it already.

The bus journey took us into the centre of city and past some of the major civic buildings, the parliament, the university, the High Court and the parks and tree lined streets that the Lonely Planet guide had told me were a feature of the city. When we got to Fun World we parked the bus and walked to the entrance. Getting the tickets was complicated, not just because there were twelve children and four adults, but because two or three of the girls were too tall to be admitted as children (height was what counted rather than age) and also because we had to buy tickets to be able to take photographs.

Once in the park we headed for the first ride, which turned out to be a popular choice but one which scared some of the children. The children called it the Breakdance and I think it is what in England we call a waltzer. Four chairs, each seating two people spin around on one of three arms. So once the machine turns, you spin round being accelerated and decelerated. Some of the smaller children were not allowed on and stood patiently and watched (hence the difference in admission process I suppose). Several children were scared on this game and one or two were crying. But soon we moved on the next game, the parachute. This wound you slowly up to the top of a tower and then let you fall gently downwards. This was a favourite, I think in part because of the contrast with the previous game.

We then found some smaller games – roundabouts for the smaller children but some of the minders would not let them on because they were over five. So if you were over five but small you missed out both ways. But with a bit of persuasion most of the men did let the children on.

We stopped for lunch in a large café and orders were placed. The food was a long time coming, and then did not come all at once but over half an hour or more. The children were remarkably patient, and when the food did come they shared it without any prompting or anyone asking. Nearby was family of three children and the two boys (one dressed head to toe in a Spiderman suit) were constantly quarrelling, and hitting and kicking each other whenever their mother turned her back. I realised with a shock that I felt sorry for some of the ordinary families as they seemed disadvantaged compared to our group. They certainly didn’t seem to be having as much fun, or looking after one another so well. Later, on one of the small games Rohidas was sat next to a very small child, maybe only two years old, while the child’s parents stood behind the barrier. Rohidas looked out for the child and very gently helped him off when the ride finished. I don’t think the parents even noticed.

After lunch, we went on more rides, the small children waiting when the bigger ones went and the big ones when the smaller children played. No-one wandered off or rushed off or was impatient. The group kept itself together.

We found our way to the boating lake and took out pedalos for half an hour. I reminded the children to keep the cameras dry but I need not have worried.

Before we left Shobha bought popcorn and candy floss for everyone, by then her husband had arrived and we left them together to spend the evening there while we took the bus back to the Village. Fifteen minutes into the journey almost everyone was asleep.

The missing theme I mentioned earlier, that I only realised when I looked back through the photos was about fear and fun sometimes being closely related. They are opposites, but not always polar opposites.

Comments

[sridaran]

hello sir,
my name is sridaran. residing in mumbai gokuldham, goregeon (e).
my baby name is samartha.
she is 3.5 years old. she can do mathematics calculation in mind. she can add, subtract and multily with out any support of instruments and also with instruments.she can tell the tables still 6.
she also spell the spelling for more than 500 words.
i want make my child to focus in the studies and also expose her knowledge to the world so that i can get a proper runway to take my child in right direction.
i hope i will be getting reply from your side. expecting eagerily.

regards,
sridaran

9833964785 is my mobile number.

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