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.