Re-Connecting

The 3 months in Mumbai have been quite as planned so far. An important agenda for me was to re-connect with a few people, convert acquaintances & colleagues into friends. I’ve realised that every sincere effort to connect does have an impact – eventually if not immediately.

Friends during college are always special; almost like immediate family - they’re bound by love. This sentiment, however, is covered by layers of insulation, which with time forms a rocky layer – difficult to penetrate. I knew it will require persistence. What I mean by re-connection is that we get communicating seamlessly, burst the bubbles we’ve got so used to living within. Friendship is more than love and concern. Family members, who are able to communicate seamlessly, become friends. In that sense, re-connecting with siblings, parents, a few cousins and some relatives is also on the agenda.

Reaching this stage of seamless communication is not easy at all. Disconnecting is a very popular option. Social media and social gatherings create an illusion of options. Disconnecting does not seem to cost much therefore. So, I need to be careful.

With Shubha, I did manage to make some progress. It’s been 15 years since we passed out and have hardly been in touch. To add to the difficulty, the gender isn’t same. What worked is that she sees some value in our experiments with life outside the city and homeschooling. It’s too early to talk on these subjects, but the good thing is that because of them, we’re been able to significantly shrink the bubbles around us. A good start to a long journey.

The commonality Sajesh and I shared at office was an alienation with the popular way of life. I had thought that our experiments with lifestyle would bring us closer, but it didn’t happen that way. Conversations did not lead anywhere when I tried them during my earlier visits. This time, I tried differently. I took him and his family with me to a farm and got them to firsthand experience life on a farm. It worked more than I’d hoped for. We got talking and connected at a level deeper than earlier. Again a good start to a long journey!

I’d wanted to connect with Mirat for a long time, especially because he’d also stepped off the beaten path to pursue his passion in writing. The initial years are a bit rough and I thought he might do well to have some moral support. But he didn’t respond then. After a few attempts to fix time, we did meet and spent some decent time knowing our outlooks better. The connection with Mirat is important for me because he brings that extra fizz of intelligence and a youthful energy.

Vinay has always been an admirable colleague. Though 10 years senior, he challenges me with stuff, which one would expect from the younger lot. I’d spent good time talking on phone, but wasn’t sure if I’d communicated anything relevant to him. Eventually, he did respond and rubbished all my apprehensions. There’s lot in store with this connection.

The re-connection with GPJ Gupta was a jackpot. I’d always admired his no-nonsense professionalism and a rare commitment to work, but had neither communicated it nor anything else. Thanks to Vinay, I got to understand that he appreciates our experiments with life and very readily we met with families. It was a fantastic day spent. The entire family was so welcoming that we were humbled at being treated with so much love and attention. This one is another promising prospect.

Nikhilesh has been another pleasant surprise. Young and bubbling with energy, he’s very intelligent and yet open to listening and giving due consideration to contrarian perspectives. We’d met incidentally at Hasmukh’s farm just once. But the interaction was sufficient for him to see value enough to travel and meet up.

There are more connections in the pipeline in days to come. The setting up of a broad band channel of communication free of the ego-related barriers is an encouraging development. Also the effort to connect individually rather than in a group is working wonderfully. The task on hand is to have sufficient content to flow through the channel.

The Winter Gathering

The rationale for hosting a winter gathering was a little vague when it was being planned. I must admit though that, like Shashi, I too had a longing to share our happiness of staying on the farm. I too had a longing to connect with people, who live the life I used to live. Perhaps this longing, rather than a rationale made us host the winter gathering.

Apart from Sandeep, all participants to the gathering were first time visitors to the farm and were strangers to us. Sandeep, apart from being Shashi’s friend since college, is connected with the place and us. First to arrive were Deepti, Vineet and Manavendra. They arrived on the eve prior to the gathering and planned to return on the day after the gathering. That made it possible for them to be on the farm for all 4 days scheduled. A girl in her late twenties, Deepti seemed at ease immediately. As was reinforced in the forthcoming days, Deepti is perhaps absolutely free of prejudices and is able to live the moment fully. The fresh law graduate Vineet was on an adventure trip and did not have any idea of what he should expect in the gathering. He was clearly ready for any surprise that could have sprung – a rare trait these days even in people of his age. Manavendra came all by himself. He’d refused to be picked-up, walked in the dark for 4 km from the highway, enquired with villagers on the way. The spirit of adventure was now abundant. That evening, as 6 of us sat around the fire – the three participants and three hosts (Priyamvada, Shashi and I), there was more energy than what we’d witnessed for some time – and it was to remain so for the next few days and weeks, perhaps.

Other participants arrived the subsequent morning. Binal – a young mother and homemaker from Mumbai, Ritika – Sandeep’s collegue at work and the youngest participant, Charanita and Ikrav – siblings from Delhi. Charanita, a well-being coach in the city, may have found no lack of motivation here and had the freedom to feel and connect with the place and the lifestyle. Ikrav, who was just accompanying his elder sister, might have wondered how people on the farm can be so different from those in the city.

Pradeep and Gulrez arrived on day 2. Gulrez wasn’t aware of the winter gathering, but had scheduled a visit to meet me and evaluate if the farm was appropriate for him to begin his farm life. Participating did not hinder his objective – so he too participated whole-heartedly. Pradeep, a veteran in rural development was a little concerned if he would be a misfit in the gathering of a younger lot, but the younger lot found his energy levels difficult to match after all.

They were fun-filled 4 days - good food, loads of conversations (mostly pokes and jokes), peak winter niceties and full moon nights. An impromptu dance in the morning, group cooking, sitting alone for hours, baring the chilly winds out in the open, uncontrollable laughter while discussing spiritual subjects, were a few highlights.

During the first 3 days, most conversations happened in a larger group. Humor works wonderfully in a group. I was one of the major contributors to it – not with harmless jokes but with nasty comments, cutting people mid-way. It wasn’t apparent that I offended anyone, but it was acknowledged that I was the bad guy. It worked well for me. I didn’t need restrain. At times, I felt sorry for being so harsh on the defenseless. But I did nothing about it.

I was watching myself as intently as I watched others. I found myself constantly measuring the proceedings against the objectives. I noted all points when it missed the mark. I could feel my scorn – scorn at these urban victims. Why do they continue to be in the mess when they realize that they are in it? How much more cushioning do they require to take their chances? When the solution is staring at them, why do they want to window-shop anymore? Then I realized – they don’t think of themselves as victims. They may not comprehend or even acknowledge that there is any mess. They may not even be looking at any solution. For all I know, they may be looking at us as people in need of some help. My scorn subsided. I participated in the conversations actively. Some conversations were serious but most were light.

The night of day 3 was the last night everyone was together. Charanita and Ikrav decided to skip the conversation. The next day most of them were to leave. I again made some nasty observations – this time, they were not humorous. They’d come here to experience farm life, but most of them eagerly went on a visit to the river and a trek, spending almost entire 2 days. If this was to be a regular vacation, why would we host it? Though what I said was very polite, complete with rationale and blameless, I could sense I’d caused them to feel guilty. Again I felt sorry. But not unjustified! So again I did nothing about it.   

The night of day 4, when most of them had left, Shashi and I were at the same question – should we have a winter gathering next year? This time, even Shashi did not find a good enough rationale. But both of us continue to long to share our happiness, we long to meet these strangers, but loved ones. We long to feel good about what we’re doing. The big outcome was that Priyamvada enjoyed herself during the gathering. She witnessed people who respected her husband’s decision to lead this way of life. She would have felt pride for Shashi. That alone is good enough a reason to host the next winter gathering. Or is it?

If all goes as we anticipate, Gulrez might come more often. He may move to the farm sooner than later. But that is not because we had a winter gathering.

Both Shashi and I are convinced that Deepti should move to the farm. It makes perfect sense for her and for us. Both of us are convinced that Sandeep should move to the farm. If not, at least come more often. He needs it as much as we do. The law is, “If it’s logical and likely to happen, it won’t happen.”  This is logical, but not likely to happen – at least not very soon. They’re unwilling to commit, to even talk about it. They aren’t sure we’ll understand their compulsions and variables in the equation. They may not even trust our competency to evaluate their situation. They may not like an invasion in their space. They may want to defer till they’re compelled to.

Whatever be their reason, why am I getting so impacted? I know that whatever has to happen will happen. I have to let go of the illusion of control. I must focus on doing what I should for those who ask me for. I’m eager to share my joy, to get others to also experience the joy. But if that is not to happen, should my joy get replaced by sorrow?

Day 1 post gathering – let me get back to my fulfilling, blissfull daily schedule, remember the fun I had during the winter gathering, continue to love those who were strangers once and remind myself that hope lives on, whatever happens. 

What Next?

This question has been on my mind much before the house was built. In fact, those around me had started asking me this question then. There are multiple possibilities. Therefore, there is a need to do deep thinking.

1. Our attempt to live sustainably and be as self-sufficient as possible can be furthered by taking on the next logical step – farming. This will require sustained and substantial efforts for at least a few years. To move towards the objective of self-sufficiency may be a full-time engagement.
2. Is self-sufficiency of material needs of the family all? Is there no ‘larger’ objective? Many people are tracking our story. Will it not be an anti-climax if all the effort is just to satisfy the same needs, which we were doing in our urban life? There is no denying the fact that there is a need to send out a message, latent as it might be, but there is. Even if that need doesn’t exist, a message still goes out. People do look at us, talk about us. Instead of letting them talk and think whatever comes to their mind, shouldn’t we communicate? Shouldn’t we reach out to a much wider audience and tell them our story and our thoughts?
3. What message gets communicated apart, “is there a need to work for a larger cause?” Sustainable lifestyle, natural farming, traditional construction, alternative education, conservation of the ecology – there are facets of our lives, which adhere partly or fully to these philosophies and ideologies. Should we endeavor to take up one or more of these philosophies and work to propagate them, encourage people to walk the path, help those who’d like to walk?
4. I should stop flattering myself about any larger cause or larger message and just live for the day with no lofty objectives of self sufficiency or social impact. I should try to earn all the money required to take desired vacations and make life on the farm comfortable and safe.

Strange as it may sound, the fact is that I’m attracted to all of them, though prima facie, they may seem different directions. It seems improbable that we can actually walk on all of them or even two of them. What if between the four of us, we want to walk different ways

Of course, there is also the fifth option:

Do nothing. Make do with whatever money is available. Don’t bother about any larger cause. Ignore what people think or talk about us...Grow whatever is possible, without being stressed about self-sufficiency. 

First Major Milestone

What a relief! After 3 years, we’re finally out of the fire-fighting zone – or that is the way it appears.

The roof work is completed. We now have about 500 sq ft of walled and covered area (inside of the house), 720 sq ft of one side walled covered area (the veranda), little more than 500 sq ft of covered un-walled area (first floor) and another 200 sq ft of open usable area (Aangan).

For the first time in 3 years, there is a feeling of being settled, anchored. We were very close to this stage in Barkheda. But it wasn’t to be then.

What also pleases me is that we reached this stage with reasonable austerity and efficiency. We have a living area of a little less than an acre including the house on about 2500 sq ft, a 700W solar electricity, and continuous water supply through a handpump. We ended up spending much lesser than most estimates and were able to stick to our plan of traditional building material for most parts. We did use cement and asbestos sheets, but only in places, where it seemed to be an optimum solution. 

I’m extremely grateful to God, who has been present and instrumental during this time – present and instrumental through my friends and family. Who says God doesn’t exist?

Back Home!!!

After spending over 3 months in Mumbai, we reached home couple of weeks back - ironically, from a slow life in Mumbai to a hectic one back home! Loads of plans are to be executed. But first, the home has to be made fit to live in. But more than executing plans, we (at least Rekha and I) were longing to return. We were just waiting for the rains to retreat. That had already happened by the end of Sep. We were required to stay back for a few days more because Rekha’s passport was to be delivered, but we finally decided to return before that. We just had to get back asap.

Back home was such a good feeling. I’ll just recap the status of house construction. The walls were done. We’d done the roofing with stones – placed on iron girders. So, the inside of the house was protected from sun and wind, but not from rain. We hadn’t found a workman to do the asbestos sheet roofing. So, before the rains, we’d placed the asbestos sheets on top of the stone roof, so that the water can slide down. The mud walls also required protection from the outside. Two layers of polythene were wrapped around the entire house. It looked like a gift box from a distance. The flooring inside the house was yet to be done. I’d visited a couple of times to check on the status. From outside, it seemed alright. However, when we came back, we found that there were 5 places from where water had leaked from the sheets – mainly because sheets had cracked. Four spots were minor, but one, inside the store-room was a big leak. There was water in the buckets and utensils. One wall was wet from top to bottom and perhaps taking advantage of the loosened mud, some animal had burrowed through the all in 3-4 places, eaten into some bags and boxes inside. I haven’t seen the animal yet, but looking at the hole, a perfect round, people around said it was a mongoose like longish animal – not a rat. The wall though stood strong, though it had swelled at a few places. It took us the first two days to just clear up. I’d got the flooring of the guest room done during my last visit. So, we put our luggage there and cooked in the 4 ft by 3.5 ft entrance lobby for 2-3 days.

Roofing was the most important and urgent jobs to be taken up. But flooring had to be done immediately. So, we took up that job first. The help I’d hired to do the flooring in the guest room hadn’t done a good job. So, we decided to do the flooring ourselves, with the help of one labour. It took us almost a week, but the flooring of the inside of the house is now done. Quite a good job done, though we did it for the first time! I learnt a lot of basics of mud flooring on the job. While we did this, daily activities of cooking, washing clothes, utensils, etc were on. Water and electricity are available.

As it stands today, the house is quite comfortable to live in. In fact, both Rekha and I are very pleased with the way the house has come up so far. We're back to a schedule of 8.30 pm bed time, 5.30 am wake up, loads of physical activity, sleeping under the stars, increased appetite, more family time. Missing people in Mumbai, not the place really.

We have begun the roof work two days back. We’ve decided to do a two level roof. We’ll use the stone roofing as first floor and do a tiled roofing at a very low height. The second level of roofing will be outside the walls on all 4 sides, which will also create a veranda – where we will spend most of the time. The total carpet area of the veranda will be about 900 sq ft, while that of the inside house is approx 400 sq ft.

Completion of the roof work will be a major milestone. The house will then be fit for all seasons. Looking forward to that milestone!

Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai!!!

I’ve often been critical and, on many occasions, a cynical person. I also tend to avoid communicating my views where I don’t see a point. While on one hand it avoids unpleasant interactions and controversies, on the other hand it supresses the feeling, denying them a vent. Perhaps due to this, during the last few months, my behaviour, communication and even thoughts have become bitter. The delay in house construction (against the estimated time) and a few more factors have intensified this bitterness. I’ve tried to understand and express this feeling in a couple of blog posts. This one is another attempt at understanding this state and also communicating with all those to whom, my behaviour might have appeared rude, arrogant, uncaring, critical or cynical.

Let me begin from the time we moved out of Mumbai. At this time, there was none of this bitterness, as far as I can recollect.

During these first few months, we met many people, who belonged to the self-proclaimed ‘alternate’ sphere. If not their actions, at least their thoughts were alternate. We were applauded for our clarity of thought and courage to act. Many of them genuinely respected us, many loved and cared for us. It was during these months, that a I acquired a sense of moral high-ground. From this high ground, I started looking down upon people who could not act on their convictions, people who kept making excuses for their inaction, who were caged in their insecurities, who did not care enough for their own and their loved ones’ health, education of children, environment, social justice and the like. What could be more, many of them reinforced these notions by admitting it themselves. I even told a few friends that I find myself uninterested in discussing their petty problems; that if they were really wanted to solve their problems, then and only then should they engagge into discussing them. All my communication stemmed from this sense of superiority. My decision to move into an untrodden path had already alienated me. This sense of superiority increased the distance even more.

I was perhaps too busy to notice this then. We shifted to Barkheda, lived through testing times, got ourselves used to cooking on chulha, working and interacting with village labourers, giving our children the environment we wanted to. I engaged in physical hard work, lost the flab I’d accumulated during my elite urban lifestyle. I could notice that not many could actually do or even think of doing what we had already done. The sense of superiority hightened further. From this higher plane, I began despising all those alternate thinkers, who could not bring themselves to do what I was doing. I became critical of many of their actions and characteristics. For some reason, I felt that they agreed with me and accepted their inferiority.

Then came in the first glimpse of ground reality. There was a confrontation and we were told that all our courage, morality, ability to adapt to wilderness and such characteristics notwithstanding, we will have to live by the prevailing rules of the game. I cried foul, “But you said you were alternate and you will abide by principles.” They said, “Yes, but who said that we will abide to ‘your’ principles?” Despite all efforts, they stuck to their stand. We had to move out of Barkheda and write off all work we’d done. This event shook me at a very fundamental level. This was a big blow to my sense of superiority. This currency of superiority did not have much value.

In the next few months, my sense of superiority kept on getting beaten. We got appreciation but no more. I dug deeper into this anger at the Barkheda group, at a few others, who were unappreciative or indifferent. The realisation dawned that it was incorrect of me to view myself at a moral high ground. All events and behaviours are program-run and there is no credit or guilt that one can take for his actions or decisions. What we do, rather, whatever happens is simply the result of the interaction of numerous variables. My characteristics are participants in this reaction and my characteristics in turn are the result of reaction between some other variables. So what am I, but an illusion. Whatever happened in Barkheda was exactly as it was supposed to happen.

I grew out of my sense of superiority – at least intellectually. At a much deeper level, the acceptance of this realisation did not happen. Even now, this realisation hasn’t reached the sub-conscious level. Even today, the sponteneous response to an event or communication follows the same pattern. But when I become conscious of the response, I need to remind myself.

We’ve reached an interesting point here. During the last few months, I’ve been struggling to get the thoughts together, but was constantly getting driven off-track by the emotions. This is probably the benefit of writing.

Let me briefly elaborate the realisation before I get to the interesting point. The realisation is that whatever happens is a function of a complex equation involving multiple variables and cannot be attributed to personal characteristics alone. Also, that personal characteristics like courage, patience, etc are themselves a result of some other complex equation involving multiple variables. Therefore the ‘I’ is an illusion, whereas the reality is that I am nothing but a means or machinery of execution.

The interesting point is that there is a gestation for this realisation to get accepted in the sub-conscious. The deeper level acceptance is yet to happen.

Now, while the sense superiority has been beaten down and the realisation is yet to enter a deeper level, my social needs started surfacing. I realised that I don’t belong anywhere. People around me, in the villages have no clue about me. They still haven’t figured out who I am, why am I here, what is it that I’m doing or attempting. Sometimes they look at me with suspicion, sometimes with wonder, sometimes with greed, sometimes with need. My friends and colleagues in the city don’t know what to talk to me. I’ve probably offended many of them and haven’t even said sorry. The new ‘alternate’ social circle doesn’t include me. I’m yet unable to comprehend the reasons, but the fact is that I don’t belong there too.

As I view myself today, I am not able to justify why I’ve got myself and my family in the situation where we’re facing challenges and facing them alone. Of course, the change in lifestyle has resulted in tremendous benefits. The benefits are so large that we cannot decide to return to the earlier lifestyle.

I know that I’m not going through a very enthusiastic phase. But I also know that this phase has arrived after a forward movement in my journey. I must go through this. There  is no other way...

Status Update

I haven’t been writing much for the last 7-8 months. I was completely engrossed in construction of the house. It was hard work. I lost more weight (I weigh 60 kg now) and feel much fitter. Mentally though, I am drained. The house is yet not ready to move in. The rains have arrived. We did our best to adequately cover the mud walls so as to protect them from rain and moved to Mumbai. Hope that rains and thunderstorms will not cause any major damage.

So much delay in getting the house ready was unexpected. After almost 7 months, I haven’t been able to build a place suitable enough to stay. I’m unable to describe how I feel about it. Just not able to find the words. It is important that I articulate this feeling, more so for my own understanding, but it is not happening right now. May be, I’ll try some other time.

The process of house construction was quite interesting. I played the roles of an architect, a contractor, helper mason and manual labourer. Of course, I was also the client too. The location of the house had to be close to the water source. The first step therefore was to call the water diviner to identify the spot, where I can bore a well. A hand pump appeared an appropriate option for water as compared to an open well. Having identified the spot, any further work could begin only after drilling the borewell, so that we’re sure we’ve struck sufficient water. Drilling a borewell is a 3-4 hour job, but finding the vendor was not quick.

In a rural setting, one should get that work done, for which the vendor is available. The borewell vendor was not available immediately. The next step was to create an elevation on which the house would be built. The borewell spot having identified, I knew where the elevation could be created. Rocky earth was to be dug and moved from nearby (approx 0.5 km away)to this location. The JCB was available for a couple of days. In two days, 113 trolleys loads of earth was moved creating an elevation of about 4.5’ in a 30’ X 40’ area. This was based on a tentative layout of the house. Rekha was in staying Mumbai with the kids then. We could not decide where we would stay till the house is ready enough. The layout was still being discussed and the elevation was done. Not the right sequence. Discussion about the layout was happening over phone. Simulteneously I was trying to find someone, who will make the sun dried bricks, the mason, manual labours and vendor for the borewell. There was a phase, when nothing at all seemed to be moving. Days would pass without any hint of progress. The experience of house building in Barkheda had taught me that there is no point in forcing pace. Progress will happen only when the time is ripe. So, I waited. Meanwhile, the layout plans kept getting modified. At one stage, we felt that the elevation was created at the wrong place. But what the heck; there was no option of relocating that much earth.

After one month, restlessness started creeping in. I was staying away from my family in the hope that in about a month or 45 days, there will be some place to start living – at least a small room. Now, this seemed unlikely. Besides, city living was not doing the kids any good. We began exploring options for living in some rented place.  Nothing worthwhile was available in the village. Devri, the nearest large village (7 km away) had options, but I was not convinced about us staying in Devri and commuting to the farm to work on the house construction. Rekha did not see any other option. Staying in Devri was, from one perspective, better than staying in Mumbai.

Shashi had built a small mud house when he’d just shifted to the land. This is a single room of approx 120 sq ft. During the last rains, water had seeped through its floor. In October, it was impossible to live there. The roof was also not water-proof. But we were in December. The room had sufficiently dried. I felt that this option was not convenient, but better than staying in Devri. Rekha was not convinced. The room had window and door frames fitted, but no doors and windows. There was no toilet, no wash area or bathroom, no water and electricity. I promised her that I’ll make it as livable enough. We discussed the details and she agreed to consider, but only after making one visit to inspect the place. For the door and windows, I got plywood cut to the required size and fixed them in the frame with hinges. Doors and windows done. One stone of 3’X2’ served as the washing area. One 100 litre tank for water storage was our water source. Water was to be filled from Shashi’s open well. If there is solar batteries are sufficiently charged, water can be pumped, else carried in buckets for about 100 – 150 metres. We’d learnt to live without electricity. We have a solar light (a very thoughtful gift from a friend), which was good enough for the evening. Mobile and laptop could be charged in Shashi’s house, also the occasional use of mixer or grinder. Toilet was still a question mark. I did not need a toilet, because I used the fields. The children could also be trained. Shashi had a conventional toilet in his house, just in case we were not able to make any provision close by.

All this took almost a week, while efforts on other areas were on. Rekha made a two day inspection visit. We had to choose the least out of two or three inconvenient options. We chose to stay in the one room mud house. Both of us made a Mumbai visit and returned with the kids.

The ordeal on the house construction front continued like a thriller movie. There was no end in sight. The ‘to do’ list kept on increasing but the ‘done’ list was almost blank. There were just too many vendors to be found. Slowly, but surely, we found someone to make the sun-dried bricks, the borewell vendor, the mason and labourers as well. After the borewell was done, we had to recall the JCB for a day. 56 more trolleys of earth was moved to create additional elevation around the proposed hand pump and additional width to support the revised layout. My estimate of expense was quite ok, but estimate of time turned out to be grossly wrong.

One factor, which posed unsurmountable challenge was ‘unseasonal rain’. It rained in every month since we shifted there. The ‘chaukas’ (sun-dried briks) were laid out to dry in the sun. Approx 2000 chaukas were made when the first bout of rain came in. The morning it became very overcast, the labour were yet to come in. All 4 of us rushed to the work site and began gathering the chaukas at one place and stack them together. Each chauka is nothing less than 5 kg. It was back-breaking task. It rained for about 2-3 days and we were happy we protected the chaukas. After the rains, I realised that a few of them, which were exposed to rain, did not wither away. Infact, they dried and were still fit to be used. Afterall, it didn’t rain too much.  When the rain stopped and the sunlight was back, the chaukas in stacks had to be again spread out to dry – another back breaking job.

Rain caused multiple damage. Firstly, there was no work on the rainy day. Secondly, once the chaukas were wet, they had to be given at least a week or 10 days of good sunlight to dry. The amount of hardwork involved in stacking and un-stacking the chaukas led me to decide not to stack them even when it rained. They could withstand minor showers for a couple of days. So, the next bout of showers, I decided not to do anything. By this time, 5k were made, of which 2k were stacked. They chaukas braved another bout of rain. It caused delay because they had to be left for drying again, but at least the effort to stack and unstack was saved. Anyway I hadn’t found any regular labourers. Work continued in bits and starts. Sometimes there was no work because people were unavailable, sometimes rain.

But then it rained again, and again and once again. We’d used up just about 1000 – 1500 chaukas out of 5000, when we realised that the ones spread out have been quite badly damaged. Three bouts of rain proved to be more than what they could bear. We were already in the beginning of March by this time. Thoughts about the effort of re-doing and the amount of more time required resulted in considerable depression.

Holi is a big festival in these areas. Our house was supposed to be ready for occupancy by this time. But it was now clear that we’ll have to restart much of the work. We took a break and visited a friend in Kota.

Work began after we came back, but soon stopped, because it was harvesting time. Labour was in demand and became scarce. Wages shot up. The threat of rain was looming and even the farmers were concerned. I thought it unfair and inappropriate that I should pay more as a reaction. I waited for about a week. Harvesting was almost done but my boys were not to be seen. I gave a re-thought to the wage issue. An increase in rate from 150 to 200 for those working well seemed quite fair. I did so. From then on, there were a few new boys on the scene. Work caught some pace and there was some respite from rain.

The subsequent phase was quite also eventful. By early June, pre-monsoon showers began. The mud house we were staying will become unhabitable and the house is not fully ready. We were not able to find a vendor to complete the roof work. The mud walls need to be protected from rain. We’ve done a temperory roof and covered the walls with two layers of plastic sheets.

We’re back to Mumbai. It seems quite unlikely that we’ll be able to finish any of the construction work during monsoon. Hope and pray that there is no major damage to the work done so far. Rains apart, thunder storms are an everyday affair in that area. Being in an open field, storms can cause damage.