“Whoever sends students to villages on an exchange programme?” wailed 12-year-old Piyush.
His twin, Pia, was furious. “And our school is named Winlab Globus, mind you,” she yelled.
“Why, isn’t Vanngaon a part of the globe?” quipped their mom. “You wanted an extraterrestrial trip, far from the Earth?”
Piyush answered, “Anywhere but this unheard of godforsaken village, mom.”
“It’s rather uncool, unsophisticated and regressive,” continued Pia.
“Wow, it’s raining adjectives today,” laughed their mom. “Anyway, it seemed like the coolest idea to us when your principal discussed it in the meeting. So, off you go. Be prepared to leave early tomorrow morning. I’ve packed your suitcases. Sorry, we are not supposed to reveal details.”
The next afternoon, when they got off the bus with David and Phalguni, they realised the reason for the secrecy. The village was literally what its name suggested — a forest village. They were led to their ‘dorm’, a long hall with a thatched roof and thin cotton mattresses — a far cry from the super-soft slumber-clouds back home. They noticed there were no fans or ACs. Their teacher, Ms. Parekh, explained that cross-ventilation provided by high ceilings, ventilators and windows would suffice. They were shocked to know that there was no electricity.
“How do we charge our mobiles then?” asked Phalguni.
Ms. Parekh retorted, “You won’t need to since there are no towers for miles around. So, no network. There is a landline for one call per day to your parents and in case of emergencies.”
“What?” Piyush and Pia exclaimed simultaneously. They felt trapped in this terrible situation and betrayed by their school and parents.
Life in the village
The wholesome tasty meal made with farm-fresh vegetables, served on banana leaves, didn’t cheer them up. They continued to sulk while helping clean the utensils used for cooking. Around 4.00 p.m., they were served snacks — banana chips and red poha — along with a lip-smacking ragi malt.
Then they were introduced to Kalu and Pradeepa, their mentors for the day, who taught them to make kites out of newspapers and play gill-danda. During one of their attempts, the gilli hit and broke a pot of water on Yashomati’s head. Her angry curses soon turned to smiles when she saw that the unintentional offender was one of the esteemed guests of their village.
Before the setting sun ushered in the darkness, many lanterns were lit and placed all around. The children now heard the various nocturnal sounds that they had so far never heard. They were astounded to notice millions of stars shining brightly in the sky above. They actually relished their dinner but tossed and turned a lot before sleeping.
The foursome woke up at dawn to the sounds of peacocks and cuckoos. Somesh and Nathu, their mentors for the day, taught them some gardening. They learnt how to grow various vegetables and greens and then returned to their dorm for a quick shower. The breakfast of idli-sambar and godi-halwa was gobbled up hungrily, after which they had to assist Ramu the cook. The four actually enjoyed chopping vegetables, grinding masalas manually in the grinding stone, and pitching in to create magic with food. Post lunch was song time and Pia, Piyush, David and Phalguni learnt lyrical folk songs in the village school.
That evening, they learnt to prepare the khus sherbet out of khus grass, which is rich in Vitamin A, B, C and various minerals and helps cool the body during the summer. Another use for the grass that they heard about was how hanging the wet grass on windows helped reduce the temperature of the air that came in and that winding it around mud pots kept drinking water cool.
An accident
While Piyush, David and Phalguni began to enjoy themselves thoroughly, Pia was still angry and disappointed. She was not cooperative and averse to participating in the activities. While playing kabaddi, that evening, her rigidity caused her to fall and land on her right elbow. She screamed in pain and started weeping loudly.
Since she was not one to cry, this worried Piyush and he called his parents. While they were on their way, the village vaid declared that Pia had fractured her arm He prepared some medicine by grinding leaves and bound it around her elbow. A fuming Pia decided she would sue her school if her elbow was damaged.
When her parents arrived, they took her to the nearest town for an x-ray. The orthopaedician checked her report and said, “Young lady, you are extremely lucky that you were treated with the leaves of the Griffonia Simplicifolia commonly called hadjod. You will heal faster and better than with a surgery or cast, and with no scars at all.”
Now they had to pick up Piyush and head back home. The programme would be cut short by two days. But on the way back, Pia suddenly blurted out, “Mom, Dad, if you don’t mind, I would like to go back and complete my stay in Vanngaon”. Her parents couldn’t believe their ears. Pia had been grumbling and complaining all the way to town.
“I’ve realised that the people there have a lot to teach us about self-sustenance and living without technology. I was mistaken in thinking that rural people are backward and need to keep pace with us. But we got to learn so much. I’m now wondering if we will have any life skills to teach when it is their turn to send students to our school.”
Her parents smiled knowingly at each other.
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