News Paucity

There's not much news coming out of the project. I spoke to Bhola yesterday and he was complaining about the heat. There seems to be no let up at all! Godda apparently received some rain a couple of days ago around the same time that a storm destroyed over 6000 homes and claimed over 50 lives in north Bengal. But somehow Roldih did not experience any weather changes. Nor did Kolkata. We're being promised thundershowers for the past two days. But it eludes this city. North Bengal is still experiencing some showers every now and then. People there are homeless and I'm sure are not welcoming nature's largess.

All goes well in Roldih. They celebrated Foundation Day by having a puja at Baba's temple during assembly and distributing sweets. It was also Poila Boishakh (the first day of Baisakh -- start of the Indian calendar) so I'm glad they celebrated it in some small way. I wish I had been present.

School is quite regular. It starts at 6 am and ends at 10 am. Apparently it's quite hot even at that time and I know how hot the tin roofs can get. I'm glad the kids are leaving early. The project team spends most of their time under the banyan tree. But it's so hot and humid that the shade provides hardly any relief.

Once the sun sets, it becomes more bearable and that's the time they water the plants and do whatever they need to do. The trees are bearing fruit and the vegetables are helping to cut down on food-related expenses.

So that's all the news I have to share. I'm off to Delhi tomorrow to meet Sukanya, my daughter, and I also, hopefully, be able to put Dakshinayan's accounts in order after a meeting with my accountant and auditor. Though I'm looking forward to going to Delhi. I am dreading the heat!