By Raquel DeSouza
For some children, the coming weekend marks the last days of sweet summer break. For parents, it means running out of fun activities for the family and not having much alone time. The Learning Gallery has an event that meets the needs of both parties. For two hours, children grades k-5 can be entertained and educated in the interactive lesson called “Experiencing India.”
The Learning Gallery follows the curriculum of local school districts in Northern Virginia and Maryland to find ways to supplement the material through the arts. Last month was the first class highlighting a country’s culture. It focused on Cameroon, and one of the country’s presidential candidates, Kah Walla, instructed the class, according to co-owner Sheila Walla.
“We are global citizens, so part of our mission [is] to spread that global awareness,” Sheila Walla says. “That’s why we have this line of classes …One of the other things that we try to achieve with these classes, though, is for parents to be able to take some time off for themselves.”
They chose India for the next class because the instructor and program’s business administrator, Payal Chawda, is from Gujarat, a state in western India.She was trained in classical Indian dance for eight years, so she will teach some classical and Bollywood moves and compare these two styles to American dances.
Along with learning about the country’s history, languages and religions, children will also draw native Indian fauna and flora and get a taste of traditional foods. There will be familiar bites like fried pastries called samosas, chicken tikka and a fried dough snack called chaat. But Chawda says she also wanted to introduce flavors and ingredients that are not found in American cuisine, such as the vegetable bitter gourd.
“Food changes so much. It’s such a huge part of our culture, so even from state to state and region to region, it’s completely different,” she says. “It’ll be interesting to have young students taste that because it’s an acquired taste.”
Chawda’s goal with her class is to show the children a different side of the large and diverse country she comes from.
“When they watch the media or their parents tell them about a certain country, they’ll have a certain idea of what it is, and I would like them to see a completely different view of it,” Chawda says. “Not just the poverty and not just whatever it is that they know—I would like them to see some culture, religion, experience the food, things that they ordinarily wouldn’t experience, even in a metropolitan [area] like D.C.”
$50 per child; discounts for siblings
Aug. 29, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Sherwood Community Center
3740 Old Lee Highway
Fairfax, VA 22030