It’s been a relatively cool day. Overcast but no rain. That’s bad. We could do with some rain so that the trees don’t need any watering. And if we have a cloud cover, I’d rather it rains because an unproductive cloud cover is just that – unproductive. My solar panels don’t produce enough electricity to charge the batteries. I’ve suddenly become a sun worshipper!

There’s been some improvement in attendance. I have a feeling that from Monday it will get back to normal. I’m glad attendance in class 4 was was good. Five out of Six came to school. Raiman was missing. So he missed out on the first computer class.

Today I taught them how to start up the computer. Open a word document and type. They also learned to save their work. In English class they had been asked to write 7 sentences each. So that is basically what they wrote down in the word document. Today it was Anjana and Prahlad’s turn at the computer. Tomorrow it will be Lalita and Kartik. The boys have one classmake laptop. The girls have one. I do wish, however, that we had more laptops to go around. Then I could teach more kids at the same time. I’ve decided to start with class 4 and then once they are savvy, I’ll get them to teach class 3! By that time I hope to get a few more laptops. Know anyone giving away any? These classmate laptops cost roughly 15000 rupees.

Nilambar, Bansi and Khagen have been busy with painting work. They are painting the main gate and the iron doors of the volunteers’ room. They also did a bit of cleaning up work. I’m glad they are doing something and not just lolling around in their rooms. Bhola has gone to Godda to see if he could get me an attachment for my computer so that I could charge it directly from the battery. Right now I charge it through an inverter which sucks up a lot of power for itself and delivers only a fraction of it to the laptop. No wonder my battery gets depleted so soon after recharging. Setting up the solar system has been such a learning experience for me!

While in Godda, Bhola also tried to contact the Airtel people to see if he could get my connectivity problem fixed. The manager concerned was not available. But there’s some hope that the service will be restored by this evening or tomorrow. Failing which, I guess I will have to spend money all over again to get a new connection. I’m still getting online via my mobile, which, as you all know because I’ve cribbed about it so often, is very expensive. To conserve money, I type the blog offline and cut and paste it at the blog site. So if anyone’s wondering why they don’t get any email from me and yet find the blog post every day, it’s because I’m trying to save money. I’ll go back to writing mails once I have unlimited connectivity.

The kids have come to play football. I wonder what the girls play? I don’t hear them at all! The boys are, as usual, noisy. I wonder if football and swearwords go together? Today Khagen is not here to play with them. He’s gone on a village visit with Nilambar. Maybe he’ll come back in time. Or maybe today they won’t have to do any marching and PT. The girls seem to enjoy PT more than the boys. I wonder why.

Ramnath from Cheo came down for a visit (and also pick up his honorarium and some money). He brought news that has disturbed me a lot. It seems four out of the five “Ashram Boys” have passed their Board Exams in the first division. One of them failed. What’s upsetting me is that Sunil, who was the brightest of the lot and who used to, in fact, coach the others, has failed. Whereas the other four got first divisions! How is that possible? A little bit of prodding and Ramnath revealed that the four boys who have passed had to pay a bribe of Rs 3000 each to a private tutor to “fix” things. Sunil refused to pay. He knew his subjects. Studies hard. And hence refused to pay a “bribe”. He was confident that he would pass. But the system here is so damn corrupt!

Ramnath and the villagers are trying to give him hope and courage. I’ve also sent word to him that I am very proud that he stood against the system. I hope he will not lose his ideals and his faith in himself. I have also sent word to the others that I derive no pleasure or pride from the fact that they have passed. I know they bribed their way into a first division. I would have preferred that they had failed, like Sunil. I now feel Sunil is definitely head and shoulders above a lot of people in Jharkhand. He did the right thing. Ramnath feels he’s probably another Gandhi in the making! I feel he’s probably going to be yet another rebel.

Tomorrow the General Election results will be declared. Like everyone else I am anxious to see what happens. Which party will form a new government. Every time one feels a surge of hope and in a few months it’s replaced by apathy. It’s the same people who will be placed at the helm no matter what their party affiliations are. Will they make a difference this time? Or will they spend all their time feathering their own nests and vying for power? What difference does it make to a little village in backward Jharkhand anyway. Everything here is “Ram Bharose” – dependent on God (Ram) – the rains, the roads and even the net!