Pushpa Weds Shankar Tomorrow

Yesterday I got a call from Pushpa. She and Shankar are leaving the project to get married. They had mentioned this when we were on the project and had also invited us to the wedding, which is to take place in Danga.

A little about Danga. It's a village close to Roldih which, till recently, used to be known as Danga-Roldih as it used to be a TOLA of Danga. To explain, a TOLA is an "offshoot settlement" set up by one or more families that have moved out of the main village because they either face a shortage of house building space or wish to be close to their fields. Roldih is now a "big" village with a hundred families and it has its own TOLAS.

According to Santhal tradition, Pushpa and Shankar, who are the only permanent staff on the project these days, have been living together. Now they are getting married. This is socially acceptable. 

Repair work has started. The damaged roofs have been dismantled and sheets were taken off. A portion of the parapet walls had to be broken down and will be rebuilt before the new sheets are put in place. Just spoke to Bhola. He has ordered bricks, sand and cement, but work will only start in earnest when Pushpa and Shankar return. Bhola is too busy with his shop to spare time supervising the work. 

Meanwhile, I am counting the days to the next visit on the 14th. Pushpa and Shankar are going to be back. And school will have started and hopefully, repair work will be underway. I am also looking forward to "showing off" the project to my photographer friends.

Perhaps, I should have mentioned this earlier, some support has already come in from friends. Jayati Goswami, Manas and Preeti, have already given me some money for repair work. This, along with the small amount that I have been able to spare, should be adequate for the moment. I am sure more help is on the way. 

Well, that's all for the moment. There will be more news coming your way so keep in touch with the blog even if you can't find to keep in touch with me!