Sunday 3.November 2013, 3 pm: 5th Children Class

»Two things children should get from their parents: roots and wings!« 

– that‘s from Goethe. 

Not that I am a great reciter of metaphors – usually I don‘t do so – but it seems to me the most important tools for life: roots and wings! 
A strong ground for a good stand and wings to fly to destination freely. 
For dancing we need those tools too … 

However, freedom that is something I miss, when I see the children around me here in Kerala. The parenting style often makes me sad – of course these parents grew up the same style. They just continue, what they believe they‘ve got from their beloved parents. 
What is the result of shouts, beats, pinches? And if not such methods, then too much worries and caring? I see fear everywhere, in the children, in the adults too. 

Fear causes stiffness – physical and mental, some even get sick, children too. Then worried parents run from doctor to hospital filling up their kids with english medicines … 

Nobody seems to ask for the reasons. 

In Germany all my life I‘ve never met personally a child with inborn heart disease, but here I know. 
»Follow your heart!« wise people say. 

But to listen and to follow the heart for modern children especially in this booming India seems to be something most impossible. 

To encourage the children for opening themselves to feel and hear their innermost emotions and voices – even the mad, fury or funny, and then to dare expressing their thruthful individuality freely and communicate sincere and brave with others – that is what I try to support the children with dancing and playing before drawing class starts. 

If every human being is connected with the soul in deep love, there is nothing to fear for the global future …

Since 26 children had come, we split in to 2 groups, so always one could watch – and of course had a lot of fun. 
Everybody, single or as a couple, of the play got a certain route to walk – diagonal, crossing length or width, to dipsy-doodle, circle … 
Then, whenever meet another on this route, the rule was to stop and get in short contact by whatever liked, dance, fun, look eachother … then friendly wave for good-by and continue the route until the next encounter … 

Of course, each play I joined otherwise the kids had no idea about. The youngest, our 3 year old grandniece Adeena, walked with me. 

Some really dared to open a bit, some overreacted in their unsureness, some still frozen showed signs of wish in their eyes … and smiled … 

As last time I concluded this dance-play part with a meditation to a music I chose, where in english a wonderful story with children is told. Next time I will tell them the story again and Alexander will translate into Malayalam. 

After that followed the drawing class … 

This time Alexander put a vase with a big leave on the small cube stool, telling to concentrate for seeing exactly what is there. Oh, they really concentrated and tried and tried … 

One father had accompanied his son coming first time. »To concentrate in this loud confusing time became so difficult but is so important for the kids.« Alexander explains to him. 

For me it doesn‘t matter how skillful these drawings are, each is individual, each speaks and says something even they all tried to draw the same objects in front of their eyes. 

One girl with an inborn non curable heart disease scribbles a miniature of a vase on her big white paper sheet, I need glasses to look at it. With her slight postural deformity of shoulders being bend forward there is no space for her heart. I encourage her to try again, she does again and again, also looking to her friend‘s sheet to copy from there. But the vase on her paper remains 2 cm in size only. 
One day she will walk up straight, giving her heart plenty of space and then fill the whole sheet of paper with her drawing … 

After around 90 minutes the class is over. Everybody wants to shake hands with me to say good-by. I ask some of my overreacting naughty boys, what they liked the most today. »Dancing!« they answered loudly with happy faces.