Back on Track

19th March 2009: Bansi, Nilambar and Sharad have gone for village visit. Yes, it’s started in earnest. Thanks partly to Bhola’s efforts and also on Sharad’s insistence. The feedback is good even though these are early days. Nilambar seems happy for a chance to be out of the project. Sharad is ecstatic about being able to visit the people. But guess who is looking unhappy? It seems he does a “twenty questions” whenever he visits a family!

Sharad is here. He’s taken to the project like a fish does to water! He was 15 when he left India and even though he’s quite American in some ways, he’s still an Indian at heart. He seems to like it here and is already involved in all aspects of the project’s functioning – cooking, cleaning, watering the plants, planning, projecting, questioning, flying kites with children, teaching, showing them how computers work, showing them what a Blackberry is. He’s also giving me tips on how to run a business! It’s great to have him here. I also have someone to talk to. We seem to share the same taste in music, books, and attitude towards spirituality. And though he’s half my age, I feel I have made a new friend. This gentle giant (6 feet 6inches) is very, very sensitive.

Things are looking good at the project at the moment. School is doing fine. Plants are getting watered. Village visits are taking place. The materials needed for well-building have arrived and I met the man who will make the well. He and his partner will start work tomorrow. Great – everything’s working like a clock. The only thing that’s not working is the net connection! There’s been no net connection since day before yesterday. I hope it gets fixed soon. I’ve tons of emails to send. Some very urgent.

The weather is getting warmer day by day. The nights are still cool. And sometimes when there are scattered showers, like last night, it gets cold! One minute you take off your clothes because it’s warm and the next moment you are putting them back on because it’s cold. God, grant us cool weather for a while longer.

Well, that’s all for the moment. I’ve decided to write the blog. I’ll upload it whenever connectivity is restored.

20.03.09: I finally got net connectivity this evening. Wow... am I happy? Net access via mobile phone was restored this morning. But not via the usb modem that I have. In any case, I went online to check mail and for that 49 rupees was deducted from my account! I'm glad that I can now connect via the usb modem and get on the "unlimited access" plan.

Things a good on the project. School went off well. Sharad tried to teach the children how to use building blocks to make aeroplanes... they couldn't on their own. He also tried to get them to do puzzles. He also taught them. The kids love him though they don't know what to make of this man who is almost as tall as the palm trees!

Bhola came. The well-diggers came. Work on the well has started. It's a new system of digging wells. The first dig a hole. Place a flexible cylinder. Pour concrete between on the outer edge and let it dry overnight. The next day they dig further. Remove the flexi-drum from the layer that is set and pour concrete into the next layer. In other words, they build top to down. And it works. Only thing is, they can only do a 2 feet layer every day. So assuming it's a 30 feet deep well, it will take 15 days. But in two weeks one will get a finished well. Better than the traditional method where you first dig the hole and then build bottom up. I find this method fascinating. So does Sharad. We were both wondering what will hold up the upper layers while they dig under them. But it makes sense. The concrete is poured between the outer layer of the drum and the earth. The earth surface is unever. So once the concrete is set, the concrete ring can't move down. Smart.

Bhola, Sharad, Bansi and Nilambar went on a village visit. Yesterday they had gone to Dama. Today they went to Haripur Rai Tola. Good. I hope they keep this up even after Sharad is gone. Sharad eggs them on! But I guess Bhola will also motivate Bansi and Nilambar to continue the visits. Nilambar is very keen. So hopefully it will continue.

When the net was not working, I was thinking of soooooo many things to write on the blog. But now that it's working, I can't think of half the things I had thought about. Well, the weather is strange. Hot one moment and cool the next. There's a strong breeze blowing. And it's cool. I hope I good night's rest. I am difficulties falling asleep these days.