You are here: Home > Support > Children and Worldviews > Amrit's Story

Children and Worldviews: Amrit's story

My best thing

I've visited the golden temple, well we got there at night so we went there in the morning cos at night its closed. You go there cos its so special to Indians. Loads of Christians go there as well to see it. Its special because there was this king called the Raj and his wife died and he had a son and he wanted to make a golden temple for his wife to put her coffin in and he said that before anyone goes in the temple you have to go round it five times.

Its fun sometimes in India, we live in a narrow street. If you go out of it there's this really nice big place, really nice with all sorts of stalls on it and if you turn that way you got another temple, we go and visit that too.

I went on holiday to India in November, we went with the whole family really, all my cousins and that, but they got there before us. We went to a wedding and it was snowing in that country, it was sort of really cold and windy and so my mum said we can't go, cos my baby sister might get ill. So my dad went to the wedding and we didn't.

Its terrible going on the bus in India, they're all broken and when the bus bumps you fall everywhere and all the windows are broken and all the weather comes in. When we went on them it was at night and we put elastics round them but they broke. India's a bit messy on the floors cos all the cows are free and so the cows come and do their pooh all over the place. When I was there I saw a few cows and in the big area there was quite a lot.

I went shopping in India and I bought quite a few things. My brother had his birthday there and he got some money and he ran straight to the shops and he got a big nice teddy for my sister and we put it in our room. It was in our room and next door, these people came in and take it and they ripped it apart and they put all the pieces on the floor outside our front door. I don't know why. They don't like us because they think that we beat up their little kids. But next door down, on the other side, it was them who beat up their kids.

In India right, my brother was in the bottom class and I was in the middle class and my brother, he done something wrong, in the work, and the teacher said, 'why you done it wrong?' and he said, 'I never knew the answer'. Then the teacher got the bamboo stick out and she hit him and what my brother did, he stepped on her foot, pushed her, slapped her and ran home. The teacher came round in the morning when we were all asleep, she came round about 8 o'clock and she knocked on the door. She goes, 'where's your children? Where's the boy?' And I goes, 'which boy?' and she goes 'where's your brother?' and I goes, 'he's still asleep'. Then she goes, 'wake him up' and I goes 'what for? Just wait there I won't be a minute'. The teacher said to him, 'why did you step on my foot, push me and slap me round the face?' He goes, 'I got a reason for that cos you hit me' and I goes, 'I think you should apologise cos my dad's only going to tell you off teacher, so it's best if you do'. And then she said, 'I'm not going to do that, if you get beaten up, then you get beaten up' and I said, 'I'll call my dad'.

She told my dad, 'he stepped on my foot, pushed me and slapped me across the face' and my dad goes, 'why did you do that?' Then my brother told him the whole story and he goes to the teacher, 'you deserved that' and the teacher goes, 'you stupid old man' and my dad goes, 'get out of the house', so she went.

I went to India and I never went to school and that cos I went for the first day and she started pulling me around and everything and my dad went to the school and he said very clearly, 'if you hit my son again I'll hit you' and she said, 'I'm gonna call my husband'. Her husband came and my dad punched him right across the face cos at India they get so cheeky.

They let us do maths, but if like I draw an English picture like Mickey Mouse or something like the teacher says, 'no'. I love drawing Mickey Mouse in India cos I can't do my spellings or that lot. All you do is sit there and they start learning their ABC and everything and it was really sad for me cos all I had to do was just sit there. I forgot everything, I forgot my maths too.

They treat us very well at this school though. When I went to the school at India one day there was a broken chair and the teacher went like this to me (clicks fingers), 'you go and sit there' and I goes to her (clicks fingers), you go and sit there'. Then she goes, 'how dare you go like that to me, a teacher' and so I said it back to her, I was being cheeky and that and she was getting more cheeky back. She said, 'get up' and I goes, 'you get up' and she got up and she just screamed at me to get out and I just kicked her on the leg and ran out of the school. That's why I ran out of the school, I was trying to do my English drawing, I always draw and write in English, I hate writing in Indian, it's not difficult, all you do is write just a lot of poems.

When I'm Older

When I'm older I don't think I'll live in India. Everybody's trying to get me married there, in India, but my dad said no, cos there's not much girls in my family and my dad loves me a lot, so I'm not getting married in India cos I'm gonna get married in here. If I go to India its gonna take a long time to see my dad and everything. Its gonna be too hard for me and my dad to see each other. If you get married, like my mum goes to see her mum, the rule is you've always got to see your mother cos if your mum passed away then what would happen?

My Granddad

In my dreams I always think about my granddad, is he happy and that because he passed away and I want to go right up there to see how he looks like, but I never think I will be able to. He's up in heaven, I know I can't go there. I tried it once, in my dreams, I was walking around and there was rats in my room, cos my brother's got a Spiderman picture, and Batman and Power Rangers. So I got up and I thought I was Spiderman and I thought 'I'll go and see granddad up there' and then I ran right up and then I ran down and got into bed.