THE BUSINESS OF EDUCATION - International Indian

[ FAMILy ]
and rolled, and her navy blue stockings
were always bunched up around her ankles.
However, despite her size, she didn’t put
up with any nonsense. If larger children
bothered her, she hit them. As parents, David
and I were secretly pleased to find she could
look after herself in the playground, but of
course the hitting had to stop.”
Rachita-Beth has also turned out to be a
computer whiz and spends the largest part
of each day talking to her friends on MSN.
She too has completed school and now goes
to college in France and admits it has not
been smooth sailing: “Three months after
I joined school, the bullying started. Two
sisters who had problems with all foreigners
started calling me names and pushing me. At
first I didn’t say anything, but after a couple
of weeks I told my parents, and when they
spoke to the teacher, she just shrugged it off
and said, ‘Ah yes, we had the same problem
last year with other foreign girls. They even
left because it got so bad.”
Rachita-Beth realized she would have to
stand up for herself. “I knew they hated me
so I kept out of their way. At the end of the
year I was first in class and spoke ‘fluent’
French. Since I was as smart as them, I think
I intimidated them and the bullying was
tremendous. But the year went by without
any major problems.” What the young lady
discovered was to be near-excellent in all her
endeavours, after which here colleagues had
to accept her whatever may have been their
other reservations.
Pratiksha-Kate the youngest and most
energetic of the three – no wonder her father
calls her cannonball! – is unable to keep still for
a minute and so it is left to her mother Loralee
to tell us about her. “Our third daughter
has afforded us surprise after surprise. We
thought we were adopting a three-year-old
but she was only two. When we adopted her,
we thought she had slight hearing problems,
but subsequently she was classified as deaf.
Pratiksha-Kate’s powers of observation are
keen. She often surprises us by pointing out
tiny details, patterns, light and shadow Her
love of the natural world, especially animals, is
exceptional. She is enraptured by everything
from the tiniest flower to the largest dog.
“The biggest surprise has been Pratiksha-
Kate’s aptitude and love of music. I know
of few other eight-year-olds who spend so
Rachita-Beth with her father David John Lee and Pratiksha-Kate with mother Loralee Lee as they do a
Scottish dance at the book launch in Bangalore
much time playing the violin. I know of no
other children her age who avidly listen to
opera. She works hard to keep up with the
native French speaking children with normal
hearing. She works hard with her music. And
she does all of this without complaining.
“Pratiksha-Kate’s intensity and
cheerfulness is surprising. When I
play the violin with my daughter, I am
delighted by her joy and surprised by her
concentration and ability. The combination
of a willingness to work hard and talent are
the hallmarks of an artist.” The family came
to Bangalore for a few weeks to release their
book Three Indian Orphans Touched By Destiny
which was launched by The Windsor on
30 July. It was an unusual book launch, and
many hearts were stirred as each member of
the family read out a portion from chapters
they’d written in the book. To everybody’s
delight, they did a Scottish dance which
almost brought the house down, even as it
showed the global merging of the human
connection. During the Q&A session at the
launch, when somebody from the audience
asked them whether they ever planned to
return to India on a permanent basis, each
one had a different response:
Pratiksha-Kate, the youngest, just nine
years old, endeared herself to the audience
when she said: “Of course I want to come
back to India. I am going to become a famous
violinist, marry a rich Indian man, and then
come here and have babies.”
Rachita-Beth, now all of 15, said she had
not quite made up her mind. Bina-Ruth said
with a quiet, shy smile, “I do not want to
appear rude, but no, I would not like to live
here. I would prefer to live in Canada with my
mum’s family.” Their father David John Lee
said there is nothing he would like better than
to live in India, but looking at the way India
is progressing economically, he doubted he
would be able to afford it!
All the three Indian children say that once
they are settled in life they want to come
back to India and adopt children themselves.
In fact, during their visit to India, their most
fulfilling day was a day spent in an orphanage
with 149 children from abandoned and
deprived backgrounds. The event was covered
by CNN-ibn. Their entire visit was widely
covered by the media, a fact that left them a
little bewildered.
“We’re just a normal family really,” were
their parting words as they stepped into
Bangalore’s new international airport to
catch the return flight to France.
Ingrid Albuquerque is the Content Editor and Website
Manager of the Haggai Institute’s international
website; and the Managing Director of Berean
Bay Media House. She has edited many magazines
and is an author of a few best-selling books.
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THE INTERNATIONAL INDIAN