Nov 27 It looks like I will get the quiet day I hoped for. The children finish breakfast slightly before me and call out their goodbyes. I finish quickly and dash up to the roof. I see them just down the road and call their names loudly. They turn and wave. I am happy. A truck has been to pick up the pieces of wood for the door frames. These will be shaped and then returned. Lots of people are on the building site today. Pillars are being concreted. Fill is being dumped in rooms. As well as the 3 spaces at the near end of the building being filled, now the centre one at the other end is done, along with half of the verandah and close to half of the main hall. I love seeing things progress. More sand has been delivered. Samuel and Rajesh have been out wetting and settling the rubble and soil. More iron rod has also been delivered and is being shaped into more pillars. A man is digging holes at the base of the pillars in the main hall. This is so the pillars can be increased in size to withstand the weight of the concrete beam which will run across the room. Two men are digging a channel along the back of the building. This is for the wall. It will run from the current house across the (dead end) street and along the back of the new home. There is a small triangle of set concrete at the base of one of the pillars. Samuel tells me it was just left over from creating pillars the previous day, but is similar to what will be used to top the rubble and create a solid base for the floor. I have been thinking about the words I am learning, the ones I can use without looking up and how much more there is to learn. I think I should probably set aside at least one hour a day (when I am not out for the day) to really study the words I am aware of. Then Jaya will happily give me more to learn. It does take me a couple of hours to type up stories and edit photos and I find that after a poor night or a full day out I do need a siesta. Samuel usually rests for an hour or so after lunch when he is home too. I would also love to visit Jaya’s home one day when she heads home for a couple of hours. Maybe I will ask in a couple of days. I find the heat very draining – particularly in the morning. I don’t wait for siesta after lunch. I type up stories then rest for an hour or so before lunch. After I have rested Samuel suggests a ride over to uncle’s house so I can use the internet. I also discover that it is not uncle as I understand it. It is the home of Archee & Tartar & grandmother Bukyal (Priya’s parents & grandmother). Samuel calls Priya’s father ‘uncle.’ I decide that from now on it is Archee & Tartar’s house to me. I get the stories uploaded, then the internet tech calls Samuel and we head home. I find later that we still don’t have access – hopefully tomorrow. We make a quick trip into town to the shop of Suresh, so that I can top up my phone/internet. While we are waiting there is a loud bang. People are also playing drums across the street. I ask Samuel what it’s all about and he says it’s a funeral. Crackers go off every now and then – making me jump every time. Occasionally a whole lot go at once. Suresh carries a wide variety of things in his little shop. Along with mobile phone SIMS, he is a pharmacy and snack bar. I previously purchased herbal ointments and packets of chips. These had to be dusted off before he gave them to me. Everything is constantly dusty. Dishes are rinsed before use. Scratch your head and you will get dust under your fingernails. The children’s uniforms get washed every day because they are dusty. Feet are always dusty. Hair feels dusty. This is Incredible India after all. I have noticed that the children are quite happy to put on damp uniforms in the morning if they haven’t dried overnight. I imagine they are dry by the time they get to school anyway. They have two uniforms to choose from. The school uniform is a green pinafore/pants and white shirt. The government issued uniform is a maroon skirt/pants and beige top. Evidently at the government schools they are also given a meal at school. Thinking of meals – this morning I was given a potato and cauliflower dish to accompany my idly. Evidently it had no pepper or chilli – but something still burnt my tongue. I am told it is ginger. I thought I liked ginger. Maybe not in the amount they use. Samuel seems to enjoy cooking for me at times. He has made lovely fried rice, an egg and noodle dish and other food which I always enjoy. He has admitted that when he first came to Gudiyatham the food also burnt him going in and going out. So he understands how I am feeling. I am sure he adjusted faster than I will, but I hope I will adjust. As we ride from Archee’s house to home I look down side streets. Again I see a man in a ‘wheelchair.’ Again I wish I had my camera out. I still can’t work out what the wheel part is made of. The chair is just your standard plastic garden chair set into a frame. This also makes me remember the man I saw lying in a ‘shop’ as we were walking to Robert’s shop last night. I had to look twice because there was an IV dripping into his arm. I wish I had asked about that one. The one female construction worker is very friendly. Samuel tells me her name is Chennatai – which means little mother. She does appear to fill that role for the 6 men on the site. Every afternoon she heads home with her thermos and brings back tea. Today she includes me and brings a packet of biscuits – of which she only eats two and insists I eat the other six. When Jaya brings tea and biscuits to the study session around 6pm I pass the biscuits to Santhosh. If I keep accepting all the hospitality there is no way I am ever going to lose weight. The meals I am served are also larger than I would normally take – but still smaller than those of the children. I have an opportunity to speak with Santhosh (through Sam) during the study session. He tells me about his work. He has work at a college where he is a history professor. There he is paid 10 000 rupees twice a year. That is approximately $180 for the 6 months. He also teaches at a school. There he is paid 2 000 rupees per month. That’s about $35. So his wages reach about $65 per month, or $780 per year. As a motorbike costs around 58 000 rupees it will take him a very long time to save. For now he doesn’t even have a pushbike. How much do I wish I was rich and could do so much more!!! Tonight Robert brings the three completed outfits. I try them on to check the size. The children ooh and aah when I walk into the room. We decide that the lined tops need to be let out an inch or two over the bust. I prefer looser when the weather is so hot. I love the balmy evenings and sit on the verandah talking with Samuel about culture, religion and tradition while the children make their final toilet trip to the field. Although I am cool enough out there I would like to bathe before bed. However, there is no water. The tank has run dry. The public water is not available at the moment – in fact we only get access every second day – so Samuel will need to fill the tank using the bore. We are using so much of the public water on the construction site that we are needing to use the bore more often for the home. Well again it’s quite late. I need to sleep because tomorrow is another town day. Hopefully we can get to the police station and get me registered. I’d also love to find a stationery shop so I can get sticky tape. Poor Sandea was trying to repair a tear in her book with glue. Maybe I can find clear contact so that next term we can cover the books and they will stay in good condition. I’d also love to pick up a couple more small stools for the children to sit on while they do their washing. Some of the rocks they perch on are pretty small. Some sturdy buckets wouldn’t go astray either. They are trying to squeeze their dirty clothes into old 2 litre paint buckets to wet and rinse them. I’m sure buckets can’t cost that much. However, it’s another of those cases – it doesn’t bother them so should I let it bother me or save the money for other things? I just don’t know.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Nov 2013 15:08:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015