A week in the life of a 14-year-old Tamil-Australian student — Assembly

Anju Dhanushkodi writes about competing in netball matches, reading Anne Frank's diary and feeling frustrated by the lack of representation of South Indians.

Monday, August 31

Today was a special day, not because of something at school, but because of something at home. It was Onam, the Malayali harvest festival. Despite being Tamil, I celebrate the holiday because my dad has roots in Kerala. Onam is known for its beautiful flower displays known as Pookkalam. According to legends, it commemorates Mahabali, a king whose spirit is said to visit Kerala during Onam. My Amma (that is mum in Tamil) made a huge feast of typical Kerala vegetarian cuisine that consisted of rice, aviyal (vegetable curry), pulissery (a coconut curry) and payasam (a milk dessert). It is meaningful to me because I get special time with my family and I get to know more about my roots.

Tuesday, September 1

A new month awaited me when I woke up. I quite like new beginnings. It gives hope and a chance to be better.

I went to school and had what I called a 75% day where I had “OK” subjects maths, geography and engineering and only one “good” subject like French, English or history. On a typical school day, I have mastered the skill of getting ready in 20 minutes and then I run to the train station for the commute to school. I usually listen to music on the train, sometimes they are Tamil songs, but right now I am in a throwback phase. When I get home, I study and then watch TV before having dinner. Dinner is followed by reading a book and writing my diary (in between I sometimes fight with my sister Ananya).

Anju and her sister Ananya in Singapore. (Courtesy of Anju Dhanushkodi)

But on Tuesdays, I do homework and then go for netball training. I love netball. I’ve been playing for six years now. It helps me channel my energy. It is fast paced and intense. Teamwork is necessary because you can’t run with the ball.

Today, I also emailed my aunt, who I call Chithi in Tamil. I usually email her about the news in Australia, and what I did that week and what annoying new thing my sister has done. She lives in Bangalore, a metropolitan city in South India. Then, I did my shloka classes. Shlokas are chants or prayers in Hinduism to gods. They are said in temples and some of them are in Sanskrit. I really like them because they have beautiful meanings and are very poetic. They also teach us values and life lessons. They are good for your mind and increase concentration and memory. I like doing them because I learn them from my grandmother who is a very good teacher!

Wednesday, September 2

Today was the first day of STEPtember, which is a charity fundraiser to raise money to support kids with cerebral palsy, which is the most common childhood physical disability in Australia. I need to take 10,000 steps a day throughout September. I have my own website link, which I sent around to my community and then people can donate to it. Just today alone I raised $150! The reason I joined STEPtember is because I think I need to contribute to society. I want to prove that no one is too young to help others. I know I am very fortunate to be where I am, and I feel like I have to share my blessings. By contributing to society, I feel like I have a purpose. STEPtember was also good for everyone involved; there is more awareness and money towards cerebral palsy and I have a reason to stay fit and motivated.

Library books in Tamil. (Courtesy of Anju Dhanushkodi)

Today was also my early day, which is when classes start earlier and finish earlier than the other days. Wednesdays are my early day. Making use of the time, I went to the neighbourhood library. The library is very diverse. It has books in Korean, Japanese and even Tamil. It is disappointing that there are not enough books about Indian girls like me. In Australia, people think of Indians as one linguistic and ethnic group and assume Hindi is the only Indian language. In society, Indians are always connected to namastes, samosas, Taj Mahal and lehengas, even though I am actually connected to vanakaams, vadas, temples and paatu-pavadais. The fact that I speak Tamil rather than Hindi is another surprise for many Australians. Although Tamil is one of the oldest languages, some of the Australians have not heard of it at all. I would like to write books or articles about South Indians and how different they are, for the benefit of the wider Australian society.

Thursday, September 3

Today, as I settled down to read my copy of Anne Frank's diary, I feel so many similarities between Anne and myself. She describes the struggles of being a teenager so well. It is hard to believe that the kindred spirit I have found lived and died decades ago.

Friday, September 4

Anju in a paatu-pavadais, a traditional Tamil dress. (Courtesy of Anju Dhanushkodi)

The much-awaited day of my week was finally here!! I love Fridays, because they are the gateway to a weekend and also because I have French classes in school, which is my favourite subject. One of the reasons I love French is because it is such a beautiful and sophisticated language and is very useful. I also find it easy to learn as the alphabet is similar to English. Another bonus is my teacher: she is so kind and patient and teaches in an engaging manner that makes the lesson more likeable.

When I got home from school, my Amma was on the phone to her parents. Although the government managed COVID-19 well in Australia (except Melbourne), it is not so good in India where my extended family lives. My grandparents (both at risk as 60+) had gone to a wedding. Indian weddings are huge. Everyone gets invited. The feeling in India is also different to Australia; you just can’t refuse a wedding invite.

I borrowed a book from my school library today describing the life of women in India. This made me think. Although I love my country and miss it every single day, I don’t miss the uncertainty and unsafety there. India is very conservative in some aspects, like it is a taboo to talk about menstruation. If a girl wears shorts, it is not very accepted. It is also very backwards in the sense there is not enough awareness about LGBTQ rights in certain parts. India has financial challenges because of centuries of invasion, leaving a shocking number of people living in poverty. I feel so blessed that I live in Australia where there is a lot more freedom for girls. It pains me to think that girls are unsafe in certain parts of the world including India simply because of sexism.

Saturday, September 6

Anju studying Tamil. (Courtesy of Anju Dhanushkodi)

Today I woke up at 9 a.m. (very early by my weekend standards) and went straight to my netball game. After my netball game, I logged on my laptop to do Tamil school. I have been able to speak Tamil fluently since I was born (watching Tamil movies has helped). But because I’ve lived outside India for most of my life, I did not learn to read and write Tamil. My parents think it's an important skill to fully understand my mother tongue. However, unlike English, reading and writing Tamil is very different from speaking Tamil. Written Tamil is more formal, and is derived directly from old Tamil, whereas speaking Tamil is more colloquial and used in everyday speech. There are also different Tamil dialects. You wouldn’t speak Tamil the way you write it. I am actually one of the best Tamil speakers in my class, but the worst speller!

I also video called my cousins living in the U.S.; one of them started school in front of a screen! We normally play online chess or send doodles. We video chat a lot as we don’t get to see each other often. Then I video called my other two cousins living in India, one of them is a science whiz (he helped me with my homework despite being three years younger) and the other is 2 years old and just starting to explore her world. I miss them both a lot especially considering I don't know when I can go and see them again with the pandemic.