Well I certainly didn't expect internet issues to be the biggest frustration in India but they have created the only real issue that I've had since arriving. I am now back in Delhi for a few days so hopefully I can do some catching up. I have done so much since my last entry that it's going to be hard to remember and everything is going to be out of order, so just ignore the dates and sequence and read on.
My time in the village was one of the most interesting times of my life... So far removed from my normal life in Auckland that it felt like I was living in another time and place. We arrived back in the village just after the rice had been harvested and it was sitting in a huge pile right in front of the house. Unfortunately we had missed the actual harvesting of it but I had seen others cutting it in other places... All by hand!
My first complete day in the village started early as the children start school at 7 am. I was sleeping outside, under a veranda on a bed frame with a woven hammock-like sleeping surface.... Surprisingly comfortable. There were 4 beds outside but I'm not sure exactly how many people were actually sleeping in them... Certainly some beds had more than one person in them but I got one to myself. :-)
Chai came pretty early and Jyoti, Tarun's cousin, showed me how to make it: half a teaspoon of tea and one teaspoon of sugar ( actually I suspect it was often much much more) per cup, a handful of herbs from outside the house, and grated ginger. This was boiled up with water and milk (always full cream) and I was told that it was better with more milk and less water. Evidently one day the chai wasn't so good as the buffalo was pregnant and the milk was salty. Quite honestly I couldn't tell the difference so obviously I'm not an expert on Indian chai. However, I do know what I like and the chai Tarun made me was the best so far and he tells me he uses lots of ginger and black pepper. I'd like to experiment at home but I think I'll have to cut out all of this Indian sugar when I return.
After chai Tarun and I went for an early morning walk around the fields, passing sugar cane, rice fields and poplar trees which are sold off for furniture making wood. I ended up supervising Tarun and his cousin in the clearing of weeds along side the now bare rice field. This was all done by hand and when I told Tarun that we'd probably use weed killer for it he looked at me blankly and I had to describe what it was.
Then it was back to the house for breakfast. Nothing happens quickly in the village but there is a lot of talking. I am managing to get the gist of what the talk is about but here I was finding myself a bit lost... It appears that much of it was in Punjabi! Well at least the kids spoke some English ! Most of the conversation was about rice... Probably the main topic of conversation the both times I've been in the village. I gather that the family were trying to get a large fan and tractor for the cleaning of the rice but all the available ones were in use. There were several expeditions out of the village trying to find this equipment. As usual these trips were never boring as we passed by the usual range of sights. It was a rather bizarre experience driving through the back roads with a carload of young Indians, with Hindi music coming from the stereo and passing rice fields where people were harvesting by hand, oxen drawn carts, people walking carrying stuff on their heads and motorbikes were passing carrying several people at a time... Five people on one bike was a very common sight.
Sometimes I was never completely sure whether I really knew what was happening in the village or not so I was quite surprised when the fan eventually arrived, followed a bit later by a tractor. As I watched the scene develop I learnt much more
about how it was actually done. The tractor power a huge fan and the people collected containers of the rice which they slowly tipped out in front of the fan which blew all the leaves, sticks and any other rubbish out, leaving a pile of nice clean rice grains. Everyone worked on this with the addition of a couple of workers who Tarun said were getting 250 rupees for the work (several hours). There was a bonus of some whiskey as well and it was a funny sight as one of the guys got more and more talkative as the one who didn't drink watched very very patiently with a smile on his face.
As you can imagine this was very dusty work ... No hot showers but a dousing under the water pump.
As it got dark a couple of kids from the village joined me. They are learning English at school and although most were reluctant to use it they were quite proficient. One little girl the same age as Kate my granddaughter (12) was very keen to communicate though and we had some paper she was drawing on. It was interesting that when she drew flowers and fruit she drew lotus flowers and mangoes. She proudly showed me the loom band she was wearing which I'd introduced to them on my last visit . This was somewhere where the craze hadn't quite reached.
Village life is slow and relaxed and time means very little but thanks to Tarun I got an inkling of the tensions that underlie all of this. There are worries about the price of rice, the availability of equipment and all the stuff that any other community would be concerned about. Life is so different but also so similar. When I told Tarun that I wanted to see a non- tourist side of India he certainly obliged.
My time in the village was one of the most interesting times of my life... So far removed from my normal life in Auckland that it felt like I was living in another time and place. We arrived back in the village just after the rice had been harvested and it was sitting in a huge pile right in front of the house. Unfortunately we had missed the actual harvesting of it but I had seen others cutting it in other places... All by hand!
My first complete day in the village started early as the children start school at 7 am. I was sleeping outside, under a veranda on a bed frame with a woven hammock-like sleeping surface.... Surprisingly comfortable. There were 4 beds outside but I'm not sure exactly how many people were actually sleeping in them... Certainly some beds had more than one person in them but I got one to myself. :-)
Chai came pretty early and Jyoti, Tarun's cousin, showed me how to make it: half a teaspoon of tea and one teaspoon of sugar ( actually I suspect it was often much much more) per cup, a handful of herbs from outside the house, and grated ginger. This was boiled up with water and milk (always full cream) and I was told that it was better with more milk and less water. Evidently one day the chai wasn't so good as the buffalo was pregnant and the milk was salty. Quite honestly I couldn't tell the difference so obviously I'm not an expert on Indian chai. However, I do know what I like and the chai Tarun made me was the best so far and he tells me he uses lots of ginger and black pepper. I'd like to experiment at home but I think I'll have to cut out all of this Indian sugar when I return.
After chai Tarun and I went for an early morning walk around the fields, passing sugar cane, rice fields and poplar trees which are sold off for furniture making wood. I ended up supervising Tarun and his cousin in the clearing of weeds along side the now bare rice field. This was all done by hand and when I told Tarun that we'd probably use weed killer for it he looked at me blankly and I had to describe what it was.
Then it was back to the house for breakfast. Nothing happens quickly in the village but there is a lot of talking. I am managing to get the gist of what the talk is about but here I was finding myself a bit lost... It appears that much of it was in Punjabi! Well at least the kids spoke some English ! Most of the conversation was about rice... Probably the main topic of conversation the both times I've been in the village. I gather that the family were trying to get a large fan and tractor for the cleaning of the rice but all the available ones were in use. There were several expeditions out of the village trying to find this equipment. As usual these trips were never boring as we passed by the usual range of sights. It was a rather bizarre experience driving through the back roads with a carload of young Indians, with Hindi music coming from the stereo and passing rice fields where people were harvesting by hand, oxen drawn carts, people walking carrying stuff on their heads and motorbikes were passing carrying several people at a time... Five people on one bike was a very common sight.
Sometimes I was never completely sure whether I really knew what was happening in the village or not so I was quite surprised when the fan eventually arrived, followed a bit later by a tractor. As I watched the scene develop I learnt much more
about how it was actually done. The tractor power a huge fan and the people collected containers of the rice which they slowly tipped out in front of the fan which blew all the leaves, sticks and any other rubbish out, leaving a pile of nice clean rice grains. Everyone worked on this with the addition of a couple of workers who Tarun said were getting 250 rupees for the work (several hours). There was a bonus of some whiskey as well and it was a funny sight as one of the guys got more and more talkative as the one who didn't drink watched very very patiently with a smile on his face.
As you can imagine this was very dusty work ... No hot showers but a dousing under the water pump.
As it got dark a couple of kids from the village joined me. They are learning English at school and although most were reluctant to use it they were quite proficient. One little girl the same age as Kate my granddaughter (12) was very keen to communicate though and we had some paper she was drawing on. It was interesting that when she drew flowers and fruit she drew lotus flowers and mangoes. She proudly showed me the loom band she was wearing which I'd introduced to them on my last visit . This was somewhere where the craze hadn't quite reached.
Village life is slow and relaxed and time means very little but thanks to Tarun I got an inkling of the tensions that underlie all of this. There are worries about the price of rice, the availability of equipment and all the stuff that any other community would be concerned about. Life is so different but also so similar. When I told Tarun that I wanted to see a non- tourist side of India he certainly obliged.
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