Day 1
The cock crows at 3.30, definitely pre dawn. Villagers are up and about at 5.30 to cut fodder for the animals and perform many household tasks before the first of their 2 daily meals at 10 am. So we’re down to the school where the solar panels are to be mounted later than we would have liked. The school is conveniently, or inconveniently, quite central to the village. It’s quite a trek downhill from Netra’s house and an equal distance uphill from the lowest home.
Anthony lays out the pieces of frame that are to house the 5 solar panels. He’s swarmed by “ helpers” who follow him onto the corrugated tin roof, generally getting in the way and risking damage to the flimsy structure ( the noise from inside the building is deafening) . A knot of little girls and I sit on the high terrace, level with the roof and only a few feet away. We watch the workers, the volley ball game and admire the sweeping vista of ridges, valleys and clouds.
The volley ball court abuts the end of the school and is maybe 30 feet wide. Our terrace edges it on the uphill side, the only barrier on the downhill side being a low, bamboo fence. Frequent miss hits entail a long ,steep scramble to retrieve the ball for the younger players of the game.
The Welcome Ceremony
We’re down on the volley ball court (net removed) the following day, accompanied by Netra at the appointed hour of 8am.The benches from the classrooms face the more elaborate wooden chairs from the school office. A few children eye us curiously. It’s already uncomfortably hot. Amazingly, by 10 am the benches are filled and the terrace which provided us with the perfect view of the solar panel installation the previous day, now provides an ideal gallery for the overflow to watch today’s entertainment. The ceremony is reminiscent of the one held in our honour 2 years previously but thankfully the speeches are not quite so lengthy or numerous. Translation for our benefit is sporadic. A young boy confidently faces the audience and tells of the difference having an extra teacher at the school has made to him and his friends. Various parents do the same Finally, we’re on stage. We share a large umbrella to shade us from the hot sun. Netra’s father, the head man sits solemnly next to us with an umbrella to himself. Firstly, amidst constant applause each porter approaches for payment from Anthony and a gift of a “Light up the World” T shirt from myself.
The children are being shooed into the school by the teacher
to emerge each armed with a garland of marigolds. With much guiding and
instruction they line up in front of us, place the red Tika on our foreheads
and drape the garlands over our bowed heads. One after another they come
as the heap around our necks gets higher and higher. The weight and the
scent are overpowering. The bees are delighted to find such a concentration
of flowers and buzz constantly around our ears. Rising laughter from
the crowd makes me glance at Anthony and I realize he has totally disappeared
under a cylinder of garlands; unable as he is to do anything about it,
with the umbrella clutched in one hand and his camera in the other!