4. Magic mattkas are some of the coolest things ever invented. They are these sweet, earthen pots made by the "Kumar" caste people and are used to cool water (no fridge here, kiddos). The water we drank (yes, me included, but only after the 4 bottles of mineral water I brought with me were completely finished and we realized the nearest market was 30 minutes away by shitty, bumpy road. So, after Sanju finally convinced me to drink the village water, I told her that I would only drink it if she bet me Rs. 500 that I wouldn't get sick...that way, if I did get sick, then at least I would have a consolation prize of 10 bucks...I know, I'm a genius.) Water was collected from the hand pump located outside the house near the family Temple and put into the mattkas to cool. After a few hours the water was cooooold, like really really cold and super fresh...it even tasted a little like dirt...mmmm.
3. Fighting years of caste discrimination by giving prashad (prayer blessings) to the poor ST caste children of the village. When my mentor told me that we would go into the area of the lower caste community and distribute prashad, I naturally became excited. Her family, on the other hand, was not. Between some shouting and yelling, some of the more "modern" relatives (meaning the wife of the youngest brother in the family, who is actually considered an outcast because of her "love" marriage to a Singh brother) explained to Manormaji's eldest sister that "Manormaji is a social worker, that is why she is going to that area." Only after that were we allowed out of the house. According to my mentor, it was the first time someone from their family had ever gone there to distribute prashad and if her father was alive, he would have never let that happen...call me naive, but I had NO idea that there was caste discrimination in Indian villages. I just assumed that everyone in the village was poor and that was that. Apparently not...C discrimination exists so much so today that Manormaji's mother came home and took a bath after someone from the lower caste touched her when we were at the Temple. Wow.
2. Sleeping on the roof under the stars with the entire Singh family. I remember thinking when I first got there, "where will we all sleep?" The roof, of course. It wasn't even a question. After dinner we all made our way to the roof to set up the mattresses and mosquito coils. The sky was full of stars and the cool breeze made the 45ยบ C weather (114.8 F) completely bearable. It was so peaceful and serene and the air was so fresh...perf.
1. Amazing DP (Development Porn). The kids were SO adorable and SO excited to have their picture taken...what could I do?!? ...A Bollywood film could really could have been shot in the village...the scene was gorgeous, the people so friendly and the environment so authentic...as Animesh said repeatedly, "Why did they waste so much money filming 'Slumdog' in Mumbai...they could have just come to our village, Rakasiya."
2 comments:
pooja, you haven't been reading my blog! haha -- but seriously, i talk a lot about the caste discrimination i've witnessed here so far -- it pretty much exists in every village all across india and in every city as well (though perhaps not as clearly visible) but i'm glad you got to see it yourself. hopefully at endpoint we'll get the chance to talk more about this ... what a heated and interesting topic this is!
thanks for sharing this!! i've never been to bihar - only heard about it and read a lot about it - so i'd love to hear more stories about your trip there :)
you know ironically, this is more like my visit to my hometown in Baroda than your other posts (ie expensive dinners and drinks in dehli).
we sleep on the roof when it gets cold, lower castes do all the work in our homes, and we keep water in a huge "matlo" to keep cold.
ah, the nj of india.
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