58 Matching Annotations
  1. May 2023
    1. “Children like Rukku?” Anger spurted out of me. “No one’s likeRukku!” I yelled. “No one!”

      why is she so rude to people so kind to her

    2. “Stop it.” Arul yanked the pan out of my hands. “I miss her, too.So does Muthu.”

      why is she shouting with arul?

    3. She says she wishes she had more space, so she could take inevery homeless kid, but she can’t.

      why could she take in rukku muthu viji and aarul but not any more?

    4. but it was hard for me to actlike I was in good spirits.

      will she ever recover?

    5. I ate and slept, but hardly spoke to the other girls in my room or tothe boys who slept in another part of the house.

      why did she not try to make friends to disctract herself

    6. I wrote to Amma, but I didn’t tell Celina Aunty whom I waswriting to.

      what would viji write to her?

    7. “I’m not coming,” Arul muttered.

      why is he not coming in?

    8. Only a few adults had ever really helped us. And this was morethan just seeking help. This was trusting her—a stranger—completely.

      what is the problem with that?

    9. “Maybe we should light a candle in church for them?” Arulsuggested.

      what good will that do?

    10. But that night, I couldn’t pretend anymore. We couldn’t denyyou were worse

      why doesnt celina go to them

    11. It sounded like you’d given up altogether. On him, on me, oneverything

      will rukku die?

    12. “Maybe Kutti wanted a better life, so he left.”

      why is viji lying about it?

    13. Then I remembered how Amma had shielded you from doctorsand hospitals.

      why did she try to shield her from hospitals?

    14. Without saying another word, I turned around and walkedaway

      why could she spare a simple thanks?

    15. “Her fever’s worse, I think,” Muthu said. His own eyes still hada feverish glaze.

      why dont they go to celina right now?

    16. Then they moved apart, and we went to work, trying to dredgeout at least a few bottles or tins from the sea of sewage.

      why did they work in the water instead of the Himalaya or blue hill

    17. “Thought he went on holiday?” Kumar gave a bitter laugh. “Hegot sick from something. Kept vomiting and then . . .”

      why are they so natural about his death?

    18. “You three stay here,” Arul said. “I’ll work alone today.”

      why does arul pretend that viji is too weak to work all the time

    19. Muthu’s tale had horrified me,

      will she give up on school?

    20. “I was sold to a ‘school’ once,” Muthu said. “A school where they‘taught’ us to make handbags. We had to cut and sew all day. Theykept us locked in. The man who called himself our owner only let usgo to the bathroom at dawn and at night after our work was done

      why did the school do that?

    21. “Because she’s trying to catch us and sell us,” Muthu said.

      why does muthu think that?

    22. “We found a new waste mart man, but he’s worse than stingy.”Arul’s forehead was scrunched up in a worried frown. “He drove areally hard bargain.

      why did the new waste man not try to help the kids?

    23. Worse, you wouldn’t let me rub the repellent on you properly,because you didn’t like the sticky feel of ointment on your skin.

      why did she still not want repellent despite her sickness

    24. You were shivering and coughing, but you started stringingbeads while we sang out, “Bead necklaces, pretty bead necklaces!”

      why did she sing that in the rain with no customers

    25. They’redead. Gone. You can’t bring them back to life. None of us can.”

      why is she still trying to save the worms if she knows they wont revive

    26. “Mummy, you could vaccinate him,” Praba wheedled. “Please,may I get him some food?”

      why did the girl want the stray dog so badly?

    27. He disappeared around the back of the house and reappeared,carrying a few glass bottles.

      who pays for glass bottles and how does the waste man get money from it?

    28. “Any policemen there?” Muthu wanted to know. “Orwatchmen?”

      why would that matter

    29. “I’m telling you, this place is haunted,” came another boy’svoice. “I saw a ghost moving near that banyan tree yesterday

      why did they go to the graveyard if they were scared by it?

    30. surely our bead saleswould pick up again once we had a bigger stock of necklaces toshow.

      why do people like when there is many neckalces to sell?

    31. I turned the cookie package around in my hands, feeling like aprincess who’d just granted a favor to a pitiful subject.

      why does she not like receiving things from others and being rude about it?

    32. I scowled at the girl. “Did you hear us beg?”

      why is she so mean to kind people

    33. “Tea?” You scratched at a mosquito bite on your elbow. “Tea!”

      how did she remember teashop aunty by a mosquito bite?

    34. “There’s a church right by here,” Arul said. “Let’s go there andbuy a candle to give thanks to God.

      why didnt god prevent the entire situation then?

    35. “Here’s the money we saved,” I announced

      why did the waste man not steal the money?

    36. “Can’t believe they ripped up everything they got their uglyhands on,” I said

      why did they raid the tents

    37. “Ah, what a spread!” Muthu sounded entranced.I was more impressed by how much the guests didn’t eat, as theservers cleared away banana leaves still piled high with food.“Here comes our feast,” Muthu said as a man came and stuffedsome bags into the dumpster outside the back gate of the weddinghall.

      is this thing imagined or real?

    38. WEDDING BREAKFAST

      what is the purpose of this chapter?

    39. You shivered for a long time, whether from fear or being wet bythe cool drizzle, I wasn’t sure. When you finally grew still, I thoughtyou’d fallen asleep. But then you said, “Story?”

      will they get sick?

    40. “Pick out your very own grave, Muthu.” Arul spread his handsexpansively. “So many to choose from.”

      will the men go look for them in the graveyard?

    41. graveyard.

      will they stay here

    42. “Rrruuukkku,” I heard the waste mart man drawl as he and theother man stumbled toward us, “I’ve found you.”

      why did thhe waste man want to get revenge so badly

    43. “You two don’t think we should move?”

      does viji not like their new home?

    44. “Also,” Muthu said, “most people won’t pay as much as thosecollege girls.”

      why dont they move to the richer section to sell then?

    45. “Fly, balloon?” You pulled it close to your ear as if you couldhear it reply, the way I’d seen you talk to your wooden doll. “Okay,”you decided, untying the balloon. “Go.”

      why did she let the balloon go?

    46. She gave me two hundred.I returned the extra fifty.“Keep it,” she said.

      why did she not want more money

    47. “Would anyone buy them?” I asked.

      why would someone not buy them?

    48. “Sorry, Rukku,” I said. “We have to stay.”“No, Viji,” you said in a reasonable tone. “Go.”

      why did rukku want viji to go

    49. “What’s the point of living longer?”

      why does arul not care aabout life?

    50. I felt its weight, its perfect ripeness—not too soft, not too firm.

      has she never eaten an orange before?

    51. Up close the river was not beautiful. It looked more gray thansilver

      what made the river this color?

    52. You’ll be all right?” Teashop Aunty asked, keeping her voicelow so that the teashop man wouldn’t hear.

      why did she not want the man to listen?

    53. I leaped out.You jumped in.

      why did rukku jump in only now

    54. It made no senseto me why any God who made us suffer in this life would startcaring for us in the next.

      That is a very good question in hinduism religion

  2. Apr 2023
    1. Not that you’d care whether it was true or not. For you, thingswere real that the rest of us couldn’t see or hear.When I finished the story, you’d say, “Viji and Rukku together?”“Always.” I was confident.Our togetherness was one of the few things I had faith in.

      what separated them?

  3. Feb 2019
    1. intellect

      Intellect: rational aspect of human noesis.

      Sentience: Intelligence plus care.

      We need a single word for intelligence + care indivisible. Intelligence is not value/care-free.

      So far the only word I've found is the Sanskrit citta: heart/mind. As Heidegger says, "Care is the Being of Dasein (Human Existence)." Care needs to become intrinsic to the Tool System part of the whole system.

    2. whole system of a human and his augmentation

      Human System and its augmentation

      Tool System as augmenting the human system

      Can we add: Life System, as the support for Human and Tool Systems, and also affected by those.

      Can we look on that triple as the whole system, the Eco System?

    1. effective intellectual augmentation was always realized within a system, and that any intervention intended to accelerate intellectual augmentation must be understood as an intervention in a system.

      "“the success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervenor.” - Hanover Insurance's Bill O'Brien, quoted by Otto Schamer in The Blind Spot of Leadership: Presencing as a Social Technology of Freedom. This is the core of Theory U, a set of practices for individual and group self-awareness, intentionality, and innovation - i.e., the Human System as a complex, adaptive, anticipatory system.