Editor's Note: You might want to refer to
Day I for continuity.
Day 2 and the hens were getting irritating already. After eating last night's rice with dal (wouldn't call it dal), everyone set out to do "field work". It involved cleaning the road all the way from the Khartoli Bridge up till Bamnoli. It really wasnt required, but its OKAY. So if you happened to stop by Bamnoli that day, you would've seen twenty of us vigourously sweeping the dust off the road only to have it blown back on the road by the light breeze. And if you looked really close, you would've seen half of us muttering expletives under our breath.
So today I was in the organising committee and we planned to organise a colouring competition for the kids. After bathing and lunch, we set out to inform the people of Bamnoli, Bhute and Mane. However we could only Bamnoli and half of Bhute. Anyways, had fun interacting with the people of the village though I was quite handicapped as far as the language was concerned. Karishma learnt a new word today - Kaki (pronounced:
Kaak-eee, Marathi for aunt). She just kept yelling "kakeee" in front of every house till someone came out. Of course she stopped it when in front of one of the houses she kept yelling "kakeee kakeee" and an old man stepped out.
We returned back just in time for a lecture on Criminology by Reshma Patil, Lecturer of Criminology, JSM College. Reminded me of Rita Sharma in many ways. After the lecture, at around 6pm the kids began pouring in for the colouring competition.
The kids just wouldn't stop colouring. After that we had them make crowns out of paper. Until the results for the best painting/crown were being decided, the kids decided to play Antakshari. It got quite late and some of the kids had to be dropped home. You have no idea how dark the village gets after sunset. Dinner was made by the cooking committee (read: without JP's interference, whatsoever) and it tasted like real food.
The Volunteer Activity for the night was a group discussion on "Should one have a mission in life?" and everyone enthusiastically participated. Soon it was time to sleep. Once again Karishma and I laughed endlessly for no reason. This is probably a good time to apologise to Sumitra who, on one of the nights was frustrated with us.
Today's Lesson: (i) If someone doesn't open up to you at first attempt, try again. This is what I learnt from the kids today. Shy at first, they opened their hearts to us as the evening went by. I felt I had known them for years or rather
they were the ones who made me feel that way.
(ii)
Learn how to speak Marathi!
