Life on the Other Side of the World

Sat am March 14th. Been here for a week, actually 8 days, and with the pics below you will understand that we have seen a lot of life here in India--but with so much more to explore. The common carriers of product to market are donkeys such as this one loaded with milk jugs.



Last Sunday, we walked up to top of the mountain, Char dukan, where we had coke in glass bottles and homemade french fries, called finger chips here. Right beside where we ate was this sight as shown in the pic below. These are honest to goodness cow patties, collected, formed and laid out to dry to be used for fuel later on. Where is the Board of Health--not an issue!!

Other forms of getting product to market is just plain physical grunt work, like these men hauling milk products, either uphill or downhill--level places are virtually non-existent, and where it is flat, there is a building.

Below is a picture of the lower part of the campus, where Christina and KC spent last year. The clay center and the PE classes are held down there--so the trek up and down still happens for Christina and KC.

These are abandoned terraced fields, but as you walk between villages, one will see many others that are being prepared for spring planting.

The irony of what we deem as an estate is in sharp contrast to what we have come across here in India. Often cows are wandering on the roads, in people's backyards--they are sacred and can go wherever, but often are scrounging for something to eat--in general, very poor condition.

Need something delivered, this may be the UPS of India. Trudging up these hills with a load on their back these coolies just take their time. At the end of the day, they will often all get together and be found sitting on the curb in the village.

Hydro outages are a way of life here, and the example of the infrastructure explains why.

Looking down from one street down onto the next, shows how the people in this village live.

Where there are no villages, you get these expansive areas of very steep hills, beautiful scenery and an appreciation for the ingenuity of the locals to sustain an existence.

They looked pretty pleased to put us up--but this was taken a couple of days ago--I am wondering if they are counting the days till we leave.

What the owners of these trucks don't spend on safetys, they spend on adorning their units. These trucks were bringing slate and bricks up for the new gymnasium being built on campus.

The trucks unloaded at the side of the already narrow roads, then the donkeys would be used to haul the product up the hill to the gym site--and it is not just a small climb. Or the workers would haul up slates of flooring on top of their heads and deliver it to the gym.

This is the gym project. Very few power tools, no excavation equipment--pretty well all done by hand. The roof girders that you see below were hoisted up there by block and tackle and the scaffolding system, is at best shaky, some of it tied together with sisal twine.

This past week, on the 11th, was a holiday for the locals, which they call Holi--the day the marks the beginning of spring, the first full moon on March, and on that day you avoid the bazaar and markets, because you will get powdered color thrown all over you. We attended a Holi party that evening and as you can see, there was no lack of colored powder!!