Few posts back I had talked about letter writing and the internet. I did not know then that I would find the answer in a remote village in India. As you must have noticed, this post comes after a long time. I write this post in admiration and awe to the people of India who live contently in the villages, uncorrupted in many ways.
I travelled to Nagpur, a city right in the middle of India braving the 45 + degree Celsius temperature. Ok, I was in the Air-conditioned train compartment. So what. I had to face a group of exceedingly vibrant kids who had just returned from Kashmir and were so talkative that for the first time in my travel days, I could not read the book I wanted so eagerly to finish, 'Ahmedabad' written by Achyut Yagnik. This leg of the journey took eighteen long hours. I got down from the haven of the air-conditioned train onto a platform full of waiting passengers and empty water kiosks. Can you believe that the platform did not have a single cold bottle of water. To top it all, I did not have confirmed reservations for the second leg of the journey to Raipur, in Chhatisgarh state of India. I decided to rest myself on a waiting bench and wait... After missing one train, I took the next sitting between four men on a single berth in an unreserved exposed to the weather, sleeper compartment. I reached Raipur after four long hours. From Raipur, I travelled by road to a place 86 km from Raipur, towards Bilaspur. The whole journey strengthened my faith in God and Indian drivers.
I woke up early thanks to the bright sunshine and whatever sleep I had left vanished when I stepped under the shower. Hot water flowed copiously from the cold water tap. A hot water bath on a hot day prepares you well for the day, I guess. In 1897, a christian missionary came from nowhere, to what would have been nowhere then, and started a place where persons affected by leprosy could come for treatment and rest.
More about the place in the next post.
-to be continued-
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