The flag has been hoised. Speeches made. And sweets distributed. The benches that the children had put out for the parents and guests have been put away. The place is back to normal. It's hard to believe that a while ago there were over 200 people gathered here. How do we know? Bhola had brought 200 paper plates and we ran short of them. Why he ordered paper plates instead of distributing the sweets on old newspaper or leaves, is something I haven't asked him. He likes to be a bit "modern" at times.The children were given their new uniforms yesterday in the evening when they came to prepare for today's flag-hoisting ceremony.
My English-speaking, "modern" kids were looking quite traditional and nice in their new salwar-kameez and pajama-kurtas -- thanks to Mrs Goswami's contribution. Today would have been her husband Shantanu's birthday. So it seems very appropriate that the clothes were worn today and for such a worthy occasion. Initially the children were quite self-conscious -- especially the girls, some of whom did not like the tailoring! But after a while, they all seemed quite "free and comfy" in their new attire. The girls had all bought red bead necklaces to wear!
Khagen had written speeches in Hindi, Santhali, "Khorta" (local non-tribal dialect) and Bengali for the kids and they all came and "recited" their speeches in which they talked about the sacrifices made by freedom fighters so that we could live in a free country. Vishnu Pandit, who is Kanchan's father and also the teacher for Roldih's Government School gave a speech about the significance of the flag. I talked about the need to preserve the freedom we have received and also mentioned about the economic difficulties being faced globally and how it has affected the project. I've told parents and children that we had to let go of some teachers because we can't afford to have them. I also told them that it may not be possible for us to give shampoo and soap on a regular basis.
I left immediately after my speech as I was feeling quite unwell and it was an effort to keep standing. In fact, I have not been feeling too well since night before last. And last night's excitement over the Cobra did not help matters.
I must have drifted off to sleep at about 11:00 pm when I was suddenly woken up by Bruni's barking. When I finally managed to switch on the torch I saw a snake coming out from under my bed and trying to hide behind the solar panels propped against the wall on the veranda. I called Khagen and by the time he and Suman got to me, the snake had disappeared. We searched all over but couldn't find it.
Then just as Khagen was saying goodnight all over again, he spotted a tail sticking out from my walking shoes! I use these shoes for my morning walk and they are propped up at the foot of my bed. When the shoes were prodded, the Cobra unwound itself. Khagen lost no time beating it to death. It's wasn't particularly big -- about 4 feet. But thicker than the last one we killed on the Banyan tree. This one must have fallen off the tree onto my roof and then found its way on the veranda. Since the veranda is cemented, it couldn't move very fast. And since it was cold last night because of the rain, it probably was feeling lethargic anyway. As usual, I feel bad that such a beautiful creature had to die. But really, we can't risk having Cobras running around where children come to school.
As a rule we try not to kill any snake on the project. The fauna was here before we arrived. But when they come into the living area, we have no choice but to kill them. We do try to chase them away. But Cobras are notoriously aggressive.
Khagen had written speeches in Hindi, Santhali, "Khorta" (local non-tribal dialect) and Bengali for the kids and they all came and "recited" their speeches in which they talked about the sacrifices made by freedom fighters so that we could live in a free country. Vishnu Pandit, who is Kanchan's father and also the teacher for Roldih's Government School gave a speech about the significance of the flag. I talked about the need to preserve the freedom we have received and also mentioned about the economic difficulties being faced globally and how it has affected the project. I've told parents and children that we had to let go of some teachers because we can't afford to have them. I also told them that it may not be possible for us to give shampoo and soap on a regular basis.
I left immediately after my speech as I was feeling quite unwell and it was an effort to keep standing. In fact, I have not been feeling too well since night before last. And last night's excitement over the Cobra did not help matters.I must have drifted off to sleep at about 11:00 pm when I was suddenly woken up by Bruni's barking. When I finally managed to switch on the torch I saw a snake coming out from under my bed and trying to hide behind the solar panels propped against the wall on the veranda. I called Khagen and by the time he and Suman got to me, the snake had disappeared. We searched all over but couldn't find it.
Then just as Khagen was saying goodnight all over again, he spotted a tail sticking out from my walking shoes! I use these shoes for my morning walk and they are propped up at the foot of my bed. When the shoes were prodded, the Cobra unwound itself. Khagen lost no time beating it to death. It's wasn't particularly big -- about 4 feet. But thicker than the last one we killed on the Banyan tree. This one must have fallen off the tree onto my roof and then found its way on the veranda. Since the veranda is cemented, it couldn't move very fast. And since it was cold last night because of the rain, it probably was feeling lethargic anyway. As usual, I feel bad that such a beautiful creature had to die. But really, we can't risk having Cobras running around where children come to school.
As a rule we try not to kill any snake on the project. The fauna was here before we arrived. But when they come into the living area, we have no choice but to kill them. We do try to chase them away. But Cobras are notoriously aggressive. It did rain a lot last night. The night before it had rained all night and last night it had rained from 5:30 till about 10:00. The weather is quite pleasant and I am sure the rain is making the farmers happy. They may not be able to grow paddy, but the conditions are perfect for maize and lentils. There may not be a famine in the project area at least.
I wonder what is worse -- swine flu or famine? Isn't it strange that so much is going wrong these days? Terrorism, natural calamities -- earthquakes, cyclones, famine -- diseases and also economic meltdown.
I wonder what is worse -- swine flu or famine? Isn't it strange that so much is going wrong these days? Terrorism, natural calamities -- earthquakes, cyclones, famine -- diseases and also economic meltdown.
1 comment:
Looking wonderful in the uniforms, bahut accha!
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