Bangalore Break

My trip to Bangalore is coming to an end. I am leaving tomorrow for Kolkata. My ticket is booked, but the seat is not confirmed. I am praying that it will get confirmed before I board the train as I have a huge solar panel to carry back with me. Also, a bag heavy with battery and other equipment. Besides, it's a long, long journey -- two nights and a day. I don't wish to be be sitting up all the time! That's how it's going to be if I don't get a confirmed seat.

Anyway, it has been a great trip. The day I arrived (18th), Rahul and Jayotsana were celebrating Aarush's birthday. His birthday is actually on the 16th, but they took advantage of the weekend. It was nice to be here for it because I also got to meet a lot of nice people. I also got to meet Amar Subash, who has been supporting the project for the past few years.

Rahul and I left for Coorg early next morning. It was wonderful to drive though the Karnataka countryside. The Gulmohars and other trees were in bloom and so one saw a profusion of reds, purples and yellow all along the way. The roads are broad and well-made. So driving was a pleasure. And Coorg was absolutely fabulously green and peaceful. I loved being there. And since Rahul was scouting for land to buy, we criss-crossed the Coorg hills and I got to see almost all of the region. The icing on the cake was the "home-stay" at Bel Home, a beautiful and quaint cottage near Madapura. It's run by a wonderful and warm couple who made the stay even more interesting. The food was fabulous and delicious!

Rahul and I returned to Bangalore on Monday evening. The drive back was just as picturesque and pleasureable. It rained while we were in Coorg and it also rained when we reached Bangalore. The weather was perfect.

Once the "holiday" was out of the way, I started doing what I came here to do! I went to Rahul's office and met Manas Das, another Dakshinayan supporter. I was looking forward to meeting him and thanking him personally for his unflinching support. This evening I'll be meeting him and his wife, Preeti, for dinner. I'm looking forward to that.

At Intel, I also finally got to meet Satyajit Singh who gave me the necessary equipment to run the e-learning programme. As many of you know, two student-laptops are already on the project but we needed solar panels and other peripherals to run them. Now, thanks to Satyajit, we have all the stuff we need. I'm looking forward to getting back to the project and starting the learning process!

I also owe a major part of my enthusiasm to go back and start teaching the kids about computers to two people -- Joyeeta Das and Sathrupa Dasgupta. Joyeeta briefed me about the e-literacy programme and gave me an overview along with lots of manuals. Sathrupa explained the programme step by step via a conference call. It was great. Now I just can't wait to get back and put all the theory into action.

Well, the "work" part is over. And most of the fun part too! Going shopping with Jayotsana, watching Aarush learning to swim, having dinner at Manav and Priya's place.... and so many other little pleasureable things that I'm probably forgetting. It'll be sad to leave.

I've taken full advatage of Rahul and Jayotsana's generosity and warmth. I've enjoyed the warmth of all those whom I've met this trip. It's now time to go and share it with the kids in Jharkhand. They are waiting for me.

I've been in touch with them through Bhola and Nilambar. The latter is, in fact, at this moment on his way home to get married! That's good news. But I've also had some bad news. The second well hit solid rock at 16 feet. That's really very unfortunate. A few more feet and we'd have hit water. But this rock is too hard to break through. We'll either have to abandon it or use dynamite to blast the rock. The only problem is that we have no idea how deep the rock layer is. If it's too deep, blasting won't help either. Bhola is planning to drill through the rocks and see how thick the layer is. This will take a while. Let's see what happens when I get back.

The next post will be from Jharkhand. Till then....

A quick post before I pack away the laptop. I'm running late. I am yet to pack! Bhola will drop me off at the bus station in Godda and he's already ready. But I am hoping not to leave before 4:30. It's just too hot! I can look forward to a very uncomfortable bus journey to Kolkata.

This morning I woke up and did a bit of "puja". Thanked Baba for creating this project through me. And generally, asked Him to take care of the present and the future as He has taken care of the past. I'm not good a praying. I believe Baba can look into my heart. So what's the use of uttering things that He know anyway?

When the kids arrived the class 2 kids were in for a shock! I stood there and watched and child after child rushed into their classroom and then rushed out because their classroom had disappeared! What they saw was a kitchen with Suman cooking! When the looked at me I said that I've disbanded class 2 because I felt they were not studying hard enough! Some of them actually believed me and asked what should we do now? And of course I pointed them towards the old kitchen. It was a pleasure to watch their faces light up! The other kids too had a great time watching them. They thoroughly enjoyed the leg pulling.

We had just three classes today. The rest of the day was declared a holiday. But before they left they were given sweets to eat. That's was our "Birthday Celebration" -- short and simple as always. The kids were happy and the teachers were happy too. They promptly started washing clothes and doing other things.

Well, it's time for me to leave. I don't know when I'll be able to post something again. I may write about my Bangalore experience. If I get a chance to get online.

See you anon.....

Everyone's busy moving the kitchen from where it is to what was class 2 this morning. Why? Many reasons: we want classes Nursery, one and two to be next to each other. Nilambar, Bansi and Khagen are teaching those classes. And they are close to where they reside. These classes get off earlier than classes 3 and 4. So they will be able to leave without disturbing anyone.

The kitchen is too far for me to keep an eye on what's happening there. Now it's closer and I can peep in once in a while to see what Suman is up to! Also, I never liked the idea of people coming to the project and then walking right into the kitchen. Now, since it's closer to me, they won't do that. Also, Suman won't have to walk too far to bring me my chai and cigarettes. Yes, Suman is my cigarette keeper. It's my effort to cut down on my smoking.

A couple of more reasons why the kitchen has been shifted. Now I'll know if Suman is really getting any help. Last time I walked into the kitchen, I found Bansi sleeping on the bench. I was under the impression he had gone in to help Suman. That's what he says whenever I ask him what he's up to. The other reason is it's just too hot inside the kitchen. So we are now eating under the banyan tree. The kitchen will now be closer.

The last reason, however, is to ensure that Suman gets some rest. He's the first to wake up. Server everyone tea, light the oven, make breakfast, wash the dishes, prepare lunch, feed everyone, was the dishes, feed the well-diggers, wash the dishes, make afternoon tea and snacks, light the oven, cook dinner, feed everyone and wash the dishes, clean up the kitchen and go to bed. I rarely see anyone else voluntarily helping Suman. If they see I'm observing, they go into the kitchen. And I just told you what happens once they are in there.

Part of the reason why Suman is running around like a headless chiken is that he is very inefficient. Perhaps I could ensure that he does things more efficiently so that he has some time to rest. In fact, I'm toying with the idea of putting everyone on kitchen duty post lunch. It's true that in the morning everyone is busy with school. So it makes sense that Suman should do the cooking. But post lunch, all the others could take turns doing kitchen duty. It may not work, because cooking dinner could become an excuse for not watering the plants or going on village visits. What amazes me, however, is that everyone seems to want to do kitchen work when volunteers are around. Perhaps because volunteers like to go to the kitchen to "interact"?

School is fine. I've given up the idea of trying to run a perfect school. So I am relaxed. All I want to ensure is that school runs regularly. That discipline is maintained and that I teach as best as I can. And if possible, make sure that the teachers do their best too. Nilambar is slowing growing out of his "government school teacher" mentality. But he is limited by his own experience as a student and then as a teacher. As for the others, it's obvious they go through the motions because it's a "cushy job" here. Hardly any work, regular meals, a decent place to stay, peaceful and undemanding and whatever they earn is a saving. And since I can't hope for any better kind in this region, I've stopped trying to run a "perfect school". What's the use? Whatever they learn here, they'll probably unlearn when they go to the other schools in the area, if at all they go to school after they leave here.

The second well is being dug. It's 6 feet deep. They can take their time. I'm relaxed about it. We now have an alternative source of water besides the hand pump, so I feel water-secure. It's very, very hot suddenly. So well-digging has become very hard work. The heat is enervating. Fortunately, the evenings are cool. And still somewhat chilly in the early mornings. In a way, I'm glad I'm headed for Bangalore tomorrow. It's cooler there. But the bus journey to Kolkata to catch the train may be difficult. I believe it's very hot and humid in that city. I'm glad my stop-over will be for a few hours only. Just enough time to pack, buy a few presents, get a shave and haircut and head for the airconditioned coach that will take me on a 36-hour journey to a pleasantly cool city. Must remember to take a book!

Tomorrow is 15th April. It's the day I laid the foundation for Roldih Ashram. It's sad that none of the people who were with me then are now part of this project. Only some of the children remember the occasion. They had all come to see the new place where their school was moving to. Raiman and Sahebram were there. They told me so today. Anyway, the plan is to do a little "puja" and distribute sweets amongst the kids. A new routine starts from tomorrow and assembly will be at 7:15. I hope the teachers are going to get ready in time.

This morning when I visited www.dakshinayan-volunteer.blogspot.com to see if others had posted something, I was shocked to discover that Yvonne's blog entry was missing! I am still wondering how that happened. I've written to Yvonne, but haven't got a response as yet.

However, since I fear the worst, I've heeded Gabriel Lau's warning and suggestion and have now changed the password to the site and I've made many people authors. As an author you will be able to post at the site but not make any changes. If you wish to make changes or post something and are experiencing problems, please contact me at sanyalsid@gmail.com.

It's Sunday. Khagen has gone home for the day. He was here this morning helping Bansi and Nilambar sort out the books in the boxes. We had lots of books but they haven't been looked after properly. So today Nilambar decided to catalogue them and rearrange them and pack them away for future use. He's taken out a few books for reference.

The well-diggers are here. The first well is complete and they have started digging the second well. I've already paid them for the first well. Hopefully by the time I get back from Bangalore, the second well will be ready too.

I'm leaving the project on the 15th evening. I could have left earlier, but decided to stay back till the 15th because it's our Foundation Day! In 2005, I laid the foundation to Roldih Project. It was Poila Boishakh, the Bengali New Year. It was a coincidence. But it's good it's on this day or else I may have forgotten when I started! I can't remember the exact date when I came to Cheo or the day I laid the foundation to Paharpur or Barai.

Sharad left on Friday. Bhola and I went with him to Deoghar. There the three of us checked into an airconditioned room and spent all our time watching TV. We had been dreaming and talking of chilled beer. But three of us could only manage to go through 3 bottles! We talked a bit, slept a lot and on Saturday we saw Sharad off at the station. Bhola and I got back to the project by 5:30 pm only to find that the plants had not been watered. Bansi and Nilambar were on a village visit. And I suppose Khagen and Suman were too busy to do what they do every day at 3:30 pm!

The school routine had to be changed after Sharad's departure. Nilambar, Khagen and Bansi are going to be teachingn in classes 2, 1, and Nursery. Nilambar will take Hindi and Maths in classes 3 and 4. I'll be teaching all other subjects in these two classes. Of course they won't have a teacher while I'm gone. But I hope to give them a lot of assignments before I leave. That should keep them busy and and hopefully creative.

A Brief Update

The well-diggers are pouring the concrete. The well is still 26feet deep. It took them two days to dig two feet. Surely the earth couldn't be that hard? No rocks. Just compacted sand. At this rate it will take another week for us to reach a depth of 30feet. Thank God we are paying per 2-feet layer. It's not our lookout how long it takes.

No village visit today. I see Bansi and Khagen at the tube well. They are getting ready to water the maize patch. They are growing nicely now that they are getting water regularly. The "okra" patch as been transplanted. Khagen did it last evening. Nilambar is probably supervising the well-digging operation. He'll join others soon. Sharad is packing. He leaves tomorrow in the morning. He won't have any time to pack later.

He, Bhola and I are going to Deoghar. We'll spend the night there and the following moring we'll see him off and get back to the project. Bhola and I decided to take a ride in the taxi so that we can get estimates for solar panels, generator sets and water pumps. We also need to buy a few things for school.

This evening we will watch a movie on my laptop -- "Tare Zameen Pe". It's a movie about a "special" child and his teacher(s). I hope the teachers here will find it inspirational. Bhola is in Chandana. He'll probably come late. He stayed overnight yesterday in order to ensure that waterpump owner would come and drain out the well before the diggers arrived. I wonder if he'll stay overnight tonight.

There have been more poetry submissions. But I just don't have the energy to type them out. Perhaps I will devote my next blog purely to poetry!

Well and Poetry

The well-diggers are finding it hard going. I can't understand why. It's the same quality of soil. And it soaks under water and should be softer. But somehow they are finding it difficult to dig through more layers of it. The well, if they manage to dig another two feet, should be 26 feet deep. Deep enough? No. Because this morning when we used a pump to pump out the water, it took hardly 10 minutes to empty out the well! So the well-diggers are cursing and slogging away. I only hope they don't give up before it's 30 feet deep. That's the minimum depth we will need to ensure that there's water in the well throughout summer.

Village visit timings have changed. When they first started, the team was going out at 3:00. Then it was 3:30. Now it is 4:00 pm. It's getting hotter and the sun is quite strong even at 4:00. Maybe in a few days it will be sensible to leave at 5:00. But 4:00 is a good time to go as it's one way of making sure people are at home. Any later and they may all go away to do whatever they have to do before nightfall. It may not be comfortable for the team. But work is work.

Yesterday we had a grand meal under the moon. The kitchen "dining table" was taken out and we had a dinner of "litthi and chutney" -- a typical Bihari dish. Usually they are baseball sized balls made from wheat dough with a stuffing of chickpea powder (sattu) mixed with chopped up onions, chillies, ginger and pickle oil. The balls are usually roasted in an open oven. But Bhola, who made it, decided to make them like stuffed parathas. He fried them. They were delicious and the chutney (dip) was made from ground chickpea and tamarid. Yummy.

After dinner we had a meeting. We decided to give people individual responsibility for various tasks on the project. And this is what was decided:

School: NILAMBAR (to be assisted by Bansi)

Village Contact: NILAMBAR (to be assisted by Bhola, Bansi and Khagen)

Kitchen: SUMAN (to be assisted by Khagen)

Storekeeping: BANSI (to be assisted by Khagen)

Project Property and New Construction: BHOLA (to be assisted by Bansi)

Upkeep of Trees and Farming: KHAGEN (to be assisted by Nilambar)

Project Coordination, Purchases and Outside Work: BHOLA

Not everyone is happy with this arrangement. But all the new people seem quite enthused and radiating a lot of positive energy. For once, I can see a team building up. I hope their enthusiasm will remain despite the negative attitude of some. If they work as a team, I'm sure the project will move forward and break out the rut it has been stuck in for the past few years.

The children were very happy that their works have been put on the net. I forgot to take more pictures. But I'll put up a few more of their poems. Kartik wrote a poem too. And yes, like you, I too was surprised that Kartik knew so much about what goes on here after school hours. But I shouldn't be. Some people on the project have very old ties with Burhikura. And in this day and age of cell phones, I'm sure everything get's reported to certain people in Burhikura.

My Get (gate) by Choti Kumari

My house has a get

I have a pet

I drink water with mug

My house has a jug

My house has wood

I eat food

I were (wear) a hat

My house has a mat

My House by Stella Tudu

My house is a big

The colour is white and red

I live in a my house

Is mother brother and me

My sister name is a Susilla

And my brother name was Surendr

All live in a my house

It is a nice house.

A Kite by Lata Kumari

Look at kite

The kite is white

The kite is red

On the bed

The kite is small

The tial is big

The kite fly

On the sky

There's a lot more from where they came! I'll be putting up a few more over the next few days. I'll also let you know how things are working out now that people have been given specific responsibilities.

Now I'll go and see what the well-diggers are up to.

Slow Progress

The work on the well is slow. Of the two diggers, one is soooooo lazy, he does no work. In fact, every time we go there, he's sitting in the shade of a tree. The older of the two, who's been here almost from the beginning, seems to be doing all the work! And it's too much work for just one man. It took then two days (yesterday and today) to dig through two feet of not so hard earth and concrete cast it. There's water in the well. So much of it that this morning when the diggers started work, they spent an hour emptying out the water which had collected in the well overnight. In any case, the well is now 24 feet deep. Bhola insists that we dig upto 30 feet to ensure that the well has absolutely no chance of drying up during summer.

One one of his village visits Bhola noticed that a Santhal farmer was using a pump. So today he went and worked out a deal with the man to pump out the water every morning. That's great. It will save the well-diggers some time. That's what I like about Bhola. He is very observant and gets things done. He doesn't have to be told what needs to be done. And even though he's not working full-time on the project, he does a lot more for the project than all the others put together. Right now he, along with Sharad and Khagen, are working in the garden. We are growing maize and they are preparing the field and will probably water the trees afterwards.

Nilambar and Bansi have gone on village visit. We decided that's it's not a good idea for 4/5 people to land up at someone's house. It could be quite intimidating. Especially if of one them is 6 feet 6 inches tall! So some of them have opted to stay behind and work in the garden instead.

Today, Sharad invited me to listen to the poems written by the kids of class 3. They were good. But honestly, I felt that the kids of class 2 were more enthusiastic and better at writing! So today I am putting up a poem written by Saniram Murmu and also something that Kartik wrote when I asked him to imagine that he's a neem tree on the project. I have typed it as it is without any editing. It's not perfect. But I'm glad that they have started to think for themselves and have learnt to express themselves in English.

I am imagin to be neem tree: by Kartik Pandit (Class 4)

I am a neem tree and i am on the school’s hill. In the morning i see the sun is raised up. My birds are chirping loudly and they flew away for food. The principal like Banshidhar, Siddharth, Nilamber, and Suman. Sooman cook the food for the principal and in the afternoon the Siddharth guruji is reading paper Banshi and Nilamber talk about the well. Suman rang the bell for lunch and all the guruji goes to eat food and my all the creatures crawls on me. My each part at the body is medicine my branch can be brush to clean teeth. Banshi and Nilambaer goes to market for goods and Siddharth and Sharad playing game under the banyan tree. The Bronny and their puppies are playing. Suman clean the pots and also they give food for Bronny. The banyan tree have lots of aerial roots. Nilambar and Sharad guruji is hanging from the aerial roots. The Elder guruji starts playing game from their telephone. The sun is slowly slanting in the western side. All the guruji is sitting together and they talk to each other. The sun set up and all my birds and insects are kept quite and they all sleep. Then all the guruji is went kitchen room for dinner they eat food and Bronny also eat food and the guruji is went their own room for sleep and then i sleep.
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The cat: by Saniram Murmu (Class 2)

Cat is a pet animal. Yes
Cat has a three 1 legs?
No no no.
Cat has a four legs.
My cat name is gunu pusi.
Gunu pusi has a little cat.
Gunu pusi cats name is I don’t no
Gunu pusi I aM going to school
Bay Bay Gunu pusi.

Summer is already here, I feel. It's quite hot from sun up till sun down. The nights are pleasant and a little chilly towards the morning. But I've moved out. I'm sleeping on the veranda since day before. And yesterday was the first night that I felt the need to use a mosquito net. They have suddenly appeared from nowhere -- these blood thirsty creatures!

Well Work Slow

I thought I'd put up at least one of the articles written by the children of class 4 and one poem written by the kids of class 2. Unfortunately, I got caught up in other things and left it too late. So I will do it tomorrow for sure. Sharad invited me to come and listen to the children of class 2 recite their own poems. They were thrilled. And very proud of their efforts. It's a very lively class. The class decided that Saniram Murmu should recite his poem first. It is interesting. You will see it here tomorrow. So watch this space!

The well diggers had to take out a lot of water this morning before they could start digging deeper. They didn't count how many buckets, but it took them about an hour to drain out the well. But work has been very tardy. The did not manage to dig two feet despite the soft soil and they did not pour the concrete. Which means tomorrow will be wasted in that task. They'll have to first drain out the well and I suspect it will take at least two hours tomorrow. They they will dig some more before pouring the concrete. So the well is going to be only 24 feet deep at the end of day tomorrow. Hmmmm. I'm anxious to get the job completed and start on the next one.

Bhola, Nilambar and Sharad went on village visit today. Bansi and Khagen stayed back to water the plants. The team spent some time at Santlal's home talking to his mother. They are really very poor and whatever they may have saved must have been spent during his father's illness. But Santlal's mother said she would ensure that he comes to school. The team told her that if she needed any help she'd be most welcome to come to the project. We can't give her any financial assistance. But we can certainly waive the school fee next year. And we can also give Santlal pencils and copy books if he needs them.

Pitho's brother Dharma came to see me today. He wanted to know if I'd help him to build the roof of his house. I asked how? He said he wanted a loan to buy tiles for the roof. I told him I won't give him the money. But I could buy the tiles for him and treat the amount as a loan which he needs to pay back. I pointed out that his brother Pitho had borrowed money and not paid back. Had he done so, I would have found it easier to lend him money. But I will do the next best thing -- I'll give him the tiles as a loan and he can repay the amount in instalments that he finds easy. I also explained to him that I will use the returned money to help someone else who needs a roof. He'll come back on Sunday to discuss the issue. I think he was hoping to get the money and not pay back like his brother! But I'd be stupid if I made the same mistake twice!

The rest of the day was uneventful. I've given the team the task of drawing up a list of things that they do on the project or should be doing. All of them listed "eating", "washing clothes", "having a bath" as work they do for the project! I wonder why they didn't add "defecating" to the list! Except Suman, the others have listed teaching and watering plants as the role of the project. Hmmmmmm.

I'm sleepy now. I'm sure there's a lot more to tell. That will have to be tomorrow's entry.

Well Done!!!

The aloo-parathas were great. So we had a hearty breakfast followed by some Arabica coffee. Only Sharad and I drank it. Today is supposed to be "rest day" for Suman. Bansi and Nilambar cooked lunch. I had expected something interesting since I had personally taught Bansi how to cook and he's a fairly good cook. But all we got for lunch was dal, rice and fried potatoes! There were vegetables in the kitchen, but I guess the "teachers" felt it was beneath their dignity to become cooks even if it's for a day? I am disappointed but if they think I'll not ask them to cook because they did a bad job, they are certainly in for a surprise.

Suman, of course, did not rest. He cleaned out all the rooms and washed some project linen. He didn't have to. They were unused and clean. But I guess he finds it difficult to rest. He also did a lot of fetching and carrying for the "temporary cooks". Right now I'm seeing him preparing to make dinner. Nilambar has gone to the market in Agiya Mor. Bansi is resting in his room. I suppose cooking is really hard work these days.

Sharad and I spent most of the morning talking about the project and other philosophical things. We also made frequent trips to the well to see how work was progressing. The rock had miraculously broken up into little pieces overnight! I'm not kidding. And poor Bhola spent his whole morning getting a rock-breaking chisel made. He sat at the blacksmith's workshop and rushed to the project only to discover that not only had the rock broken on it's own, but that we had struck water! Yes!!! We have struck water. Baba be praised! I had prayed hard all night for a miracle and it happened!

We still need to dig a few more feet. We've struck water at 22 feet. Bhola and the diggers feel that we should dig upto 28 to 30 feet to ensure that we would have water even during the height of summer. Now that we have struck water, let them dig as much as they like!

Sharad just did Pooja at the well while I was writing this blog. He just game me a piece of "prasad". The well has apparently turned an agnostic into a believer!

All afternoon, the four of us -- Nilambar, Bhola, Sharad and I -- debated whether we should by a pump and generator or whether it would be better to dig for another well. We finally decided that since the well-diggers were here, we should dig the second well without a break. Meanwhile, we will install hand-pumps at both well. We've chosen the spot where we will have the next well -- it's about 60 feet west of Baba's temple on high ground. From here water will naturally flow to the trees in all directions. I'm a bit reluctant to start work while I'm not here. But Bhola has taken responsibility and I know I can rely on him.

Bhola has now gone home to fetch Khagen, the new recruit who's waiting there for him. Let's hope he fits in well at the project and learns fast. The way Bansi is behaving, I won't be surprised if he quits one of these days. I've seen him behave this way last September when Mr Bose and Abir had joined the project for a month. He had slipped into his "detached" mode even then too. And of course perked up once they were gone. Perhaps he'll get used to having people around him. I hope so. I've invested a lot of time and effort to help him grow. It would be sad if he left just because others are here and willing to work and take an active interest in what's going on at the project. Ah well... we'll see.

There's no village visit today. So Sharad and Suman have now taken to watering the plants. Bansi too has joined them. That's good.

I forgot to mention that Santlal has been coming to school. He was here on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. So whatever fears we had that he might be pulled out of school was unfounded. I'm glad he's coming to school and very grateful to his mother for allowing him to do so despite her loss. I suppose he may not be as regular as before. I'm sure he'll had to do his share of house-hold chores and farm work. Stella too stopped being regular after her father's death. We found out that she often has to take care of home and hearth when her mother has to go out to work in the fields. She has a brother -- Surinder -- who was in our school and then later joined the mission school. Poor fellow had to drop out. I do hope Santlal will not suffer a similar fate at some point. He's intelligent and it would be sad if he has to discontinue his studies.

The weather here is strange. The mornings are really very hot while the nights and early mornings are cold. I've decided to sleep outside from tonight. Even though it gets rather cold towards early morning, it'll probably sleep earlier than I do now and get a good night's rest. But right now I'm waiting for the sun to go down. It will become pleasant when it does. I'll enjoy sitting out in the moonlight to have my dinner. I'm looking forward to that.

Suman has a Cell Phone!

This morning I had to drag myself out of bed. I slept like a log all night. Yet, in the morning when Suman came to wake me up, I had trouble getting out of bed. But I'm ok. Nothing wrong with me. It's just that it's unusual for me not to be alert in the mornings. Usually I'm up before anyone else.

School was ok. The class 4 kids did a good job of translating their assignment into English. Not perfect. Sleep was pronounced as "slip" and spelt accordingly. We also got sentences like "the sky flew into birds". But they did manage to express themselves. On Monday they have to submit their new assignment. They have to imagine they are a Neem tree on the project. What did they see from dawn till dusk?

I promised that I would put up their work on the internet. Sharad too promised his kids that if they wrote nice poetry they would be published. So let's see what the kids do. I had asked the class 4 kids to make a list of trees they knew. Each one wrote down the names of almost 50 trees! Some of them I haven't heard of! Or perhaps I don't know their local names. I've told them they have to plant one of each on the project this monsoon. Some trees I know are rare and almost extinct from this region. Maybe we will be able to preserve some this way?

We've hit rock! 20 feet without any problems and now we hit rock! Fortunately, it's not a huge one -- at least that's what it appears at the moment. It covers only 40% of the well area. The diggers are confident they will break through and water is just below it. I hope they are right. But what's bothering me is that the remaining bit will take twice or thrice as long and cost twice as much! My estimate for the well is now out the window! Sharad is praying that the well will be completed before he leaves next Friday. The well-diggers are confident they will have the well ready by next Friday. I don't believe them! I am upset that they wasted 5 days. Our well should have been ready now! I had expected it to be ready by last Wednesday. I told the diggers that if they don't complete this well soon I will not let them work on the other two wells I have in mind. Let's see if that acts as an incentive.

Today the team visited Gandi Tola. They went to Boila Kisku's house. His father had gone to the market. His mother was there. They chit-chatted with her for a while. She has more children and Sharad wanted the only Santhali-speaking member of the team to tell her to also send her other kids to school next year. But for some odd reason known only to him, he was extremely reluctant to tell her this. Sharad was somewhat put off by his attitude. This person is still very reluctant to go on visits. The others think it's great fun.

Suman now wants to go on village visits too! He's really opening up. He now talks rather than mumbles. Nilambar's influence, I'm sure. This evening I heard Nilambar reading out the newspaper to Suman. By the way, Suman now has a cell-phone too! He was thrilled when I gave it to him. I think he really deserves to have one. He is the first to wake up and the last to go to bed. Besides, he takes an interest in all that's going on in his quiet way. He does his work quietly and efficiently. And even in the afternoon, when everyone is resting, Suman is up and about and working. I have always been fond of him, but now I'm really beginning to appreciate his worth.

Yesterday I "interviewed" Khagen Dutta, a young man from Devdand. Another of Bhola's contact. This boy (he looks like one even though he's in college!) comes from a very poor family. He managed to work and study despite being impoverished. I liked his enthusiasm. He said he will be joining from tomorrow (Sunday). If he does, it would be great. He is a former student of Nilambar. And Nilambar spoke highly of him. Let's see.

Tomorrow is Sunday. Sharad's last Sunday on the project this trip. We will have aloo-paratha for breakfast in his honour. Suman and Nilambar were boiling potatoes after dinner. My mouth is watering.

Routine Rambling

It's been a routine sort of day. School and then village visit in the evening. Today the team went to visit Rai Tola. They met a few villagers and chit-chatted about this and that. They were back early and so we all sat around and talked about various things. Mostly local politics. General Elections are almost here and so politics is on everyone's mind.

The plants were not watered today. They didn't need any watering either. They got a lot of water yesterday.

Sharad and I decided to have dinner under the stars. It's nice and pleasant outside and there was a nice and bright 1st quarter moon. We could see what we were eating. And then we chatted about work, project and stars!

Oh yes, the well-diggers were here. Still no water. The well is 18 feet deep today.

Thursday Toil

It's Thursday today. Hence, no village visit. Most people must have gone to Chandna Haat (market) anyway. Bhola has gone too. He sells aluminium utelsils at this market. He'll also do our shopping. He'll be bringing vegetables to last us till Sunday and also bring meat for Bruni and her brood. Two of them are exactly like her. They are both female. The male black one keeps to himself. The two girls do try to kill him whenever they get a chance!

Yesterday's village visit was apparently good. They had gone to Gadda Parom to Shanti's house. The last time they had gone there, the people were in mourning and also drunk. Shanti's uncle had insisted in speaking to the team in English. All he kept saying was "one bottle please". They couldn't figure out if he meant that he had only drunk one bottle or if he wanted them to pay for one bottle of booze.

Yesterday, however, everyone was sober. And even though THE uncle was not, he just said hello and disappeared. Apparently quite a few people from the village gathered and they all had a nice chat about this and that. This is exactly what I want! That the villagers should learn to trust the team and the project and feel free to voice their opinions. The conversation, however, mostly centred around Baburam Hansda from nursery. Apparently, he drinks, smokes, chews tobacco and hangs out with boys twice his age. He also does not listen to his parents and whenever they berate him, he runs away for a few days. The whole village felt that the school should straighten him out. I have my eyes on him. He behaves well in school. Though he tends to sleep in class. Bansi is his class teacher. I wonder why he doesn't take the boy to task or at least tell me so that I could "fix" him. But then how can I say anything to a child whose teacher also sleeps in class! No kidding. I've seen it with my own eyes. Though not recently.

Anyway, I'm glad the visits are paying off. Everyone is getting enthused. That's a good sign. And I'm happy. We had an informal get-together before dinner. It was nice. I continued my pep-talk. It seems to be helping. Or is it? Sharad seems to feel it is making a difference with some people.

Last night there was a party in Roldih Paharia Tola which is further down the road. We could hear music all night. But it was not that bad. Or maybe we are getting used to it. But there were lots of people (drunk mostly) walking up and down our road and so I had a disturbed sleep. It didn't help that Bruni decided to bark at everyone who passed by. At one paoint I wanted to throttle her. She must have realized she was close to getting killed. She shut up and fell asleep. It was dawn already.

We had school as usual today. But today I set the children of class 4 a task. They had to imagine that each one was a huge Peepal or Banyan tree. They had to describe what they saw, did and felt throughout the day from dawn till dusk. I even got them to shut their eyes and meditate on this. Become a tree and then sit down and write the way a tree would write! They have to first write in Hindi. Then they will have to translate it into English. Let's see what they write. They said they've finished writing. I'll check their work tomorrow.

This afternoon, since there's no village visit, we decided to make channels to water the plants and the vegetable patch. We've rigged up a pipe and we are using the natural slope of the land to ensure that water reaches all the trees. Or at least most of them. It works. And so now all one has to do is stand at the handpump and pump. The water will naturally flow to the trees and the vegetable patch. No more carrying buckets of water. We all worked through the afternoon -- including me! The boys are still working while I'm writing this blog.

Once the well is ready, we may even buy a pump. Let's see when the well is ready. The well-diggers came today. But they were working listlessly. Bhola, Nilambar and even Suman had to go and yell at them to work! Thank God they are on a contract. Or else they would have shirked even more! Suman brought me some soil. It was wet and sticky. He feels, water is now within reach. The diggers are pretending it is hard work because they will probably try and negotiate for a higher rate for the next well. We'll see about that when the time comes. They've been very stupid. Now we are wondering if we should get someone else to do the job. Besides, I don't think I will let them start on the next well till I get back from Bangalore in the beginning of May.

Nilambar is getting married. He got engaged a few days ago. He will be going home end of April. Probably before I return. Bhola promised to stay on the project while I'm away. He's also trying to find one more teacher. He did find someone. But apparently someone told him that he would have to "work very hard" at the project and salaries are never paid on time! So he decided not to join. Bhola has found someone else to replace him. Let's see if he too get's scared off!

Well, that's all for today. Are people reading the blog? Yvonne seems to be the only one! At least she bothers to comment. That's why I keep writing. Or else I may have given up long ago!

Pep Talk Perk Up?

When the visitors reached Jobdi Tola yesterday, they found that everyone had gone to watch a football match. So they decided to follow suit. They enjoyed watching the game and also saw some familiar faces in the crowd. People are beginning to recognize them. And they, the people.

According to Sharad, it was a grand affair. They had put up loudspeakers on bamboo poles and there was running commentary of the game. Once the game was over, the same loudspeakers kept blaring Hindi songs! It kept us awake till late into the night. They were on all night. So apparently the revelries went on all night. Must have, because at 3:00 am a group of drummers decided to beat their drums near every habitation. I heard them drumming in Roldih. Then they “performed” outside the project’s gate and then later I heard them playing the drums in Burhikura. The loudspeaker fell silent this morning.

Everyone on the project had a disturbed night. Maybe that’s why Bansi fell asleep during lunch! He was in his room. But we didn’t know that. Suman searched for him all over. We assumed he had gone out. But when we finished lunch, we saw him coming out of his room. I thought he was ill. But he said he had fallen asleep. I had fallen asleep this afternoon. When I woke up everyone had gone on village visit.

Last night after dinner we had a meeting. We evaluated the work done on the project over the past one year and the first quarter of this year. We also chalked out our plans for the next quarter. Firstly, we have to have a school which should be the BEST in Jharkhand. Not just a school which is “better” than the other schools in the area. The teachers need to take a more active interest in the children. Be ready for school before the kids show up. Spend time with them before school starts. Spend time with them during break and then “see them off”. So far the teachers have come out of their rooms a few minutes before Assembly and would not be in sight during the break. They don’t have to play with the kids. But they can always drink their tea where they can keep an eye on what the kids are up to. And be accessible if a child needs them.

I saw Nilambar sitting under a tree on the “hill” when the gates were opened. He was there during the break and also was standing at the gate when school was over. That’s good.
The other target is that by the end of this quarter, the team should have visited the homes of every child who comes to school and if possible they should also have visited every home in all the villages from where children come to our school. The target for the quarter after that would be to do a survey of the villages. But let’s see if the target for the current quarter is met. I had a lot of hope when we stated the village contact programme in September last year. But it fell flat as the people who were to do it left after a month and no one else showed any interest after that.
During the meeting I also told them how I started work in Cheo and the things I had managed to get done because I had a team of people who were willing to work. Of course, they used to goof off at times. But by and large they were a committed lot. Some of them have died. A few have moved on, but are community leaders of sorts. Ramnath in Cheo is one of them. He runs the Cheo project as his own. I told the team here that I expected the same commitment to the project. It can’t be a “job”. A social activist was on call 24-hours.

Sharad too participated in the meeting. He told the team that in the short while he’s been here he’s been impressed enough to wish to become part of the project and that he’d always be there to provide support. He told them they should use this project as a platform for personal growth and as a good opportunity to serve the community. He told them that “we should all learn from the vast experience that Siddharthji has” and do something positive in a place where corruption is the rule rather than the exception.

I hope the meeting will have inspired the team. Except Bhola, no one had anything to say. But they all looked pensive. Bhola said he would devote as much time as he could to the project and the community. He said he quite enjoyed the village visits as it is giving him, a local, a new perspective regarding the area and the people. The meeting lasted till 10:00 pm – way past everyone’s bed time. And then the infernal loudspeaker did not allow anyone to sleep!

It’s been a routine day so far. School. Lunch. Rest. Village visit. Bhola had stayed over last night. And when he woke up this morning he was told that his uncle had been arrested on some trumped up charges. He had to rush off to Godda.

The well-diggers did not show up today either. Yesterday they promised they come to work today. But there was no sign of them all day. When Bhola had called them he was told they come to work in the afternoon. It was their way of saying we are not coming to work today!
Well, whatever happens, happens for the best. I am only hoping that the well will get done before I Sharad leaves the project or at least before I leave for Bangalore.