The Night in-between...

We reached the school premises as we watched village hospitality, of villagers carrying in 'khatiyas' for us (portable beds made of wood and jute cord). Lying on them under the clear sky, we watched day turn to night. Most of our phones were dead with no way to charge them. The moon slowly rose to its almost full glory, two days short of a full moon night, accompanied by a very clear and very cool breeze. It was a calming and peaceful experience, quite elusive in our urban lives.

Pulkit, Kulwant and Mohit set off to Rasulabad town to hunt for our dinner as we relaxed to the sounds of lilting folk songs in chorus village voices. In the meantime, Vinodji and his cousin lit up a fire in the chulah (clay stove) as Pankaj baked a huge batch of potatoes with enthusiastic memories of it from his childhood summers in Rasulabad. We enjoyed the amazing potatoes with a chutney that is local to this area, organized by Vinodji.

The boys returned with chicken and more and we set out to cut loads of onions and peel loads of garlic as our chef set up the wood fire to his liking. An hour and a wonderful nap later, we were greeted to the amazing aroma of chicken curry. KFC certainly lived up to its name!

Some went up to sleep on the terrace of the school while the rest of us stayed down, all enjoying a wonderful night under a starry sky, brightened by the grandeur of moonlight. 

We woke up to bhajans at 4 am and watched the magic of village night turn to day. Subhashji kindly offered us his home to get refreshed while the boys enjoyed the unique experience of showering at the hand pumps nearby.

We felt charged up and ready for another enriching and eventful day. We drove to the empty field at Babaji's mandir to begin our day, wondering what this new day would be like!

1st May 2015