Saturday, November 23, 2013

My Last Few Months in India

I was sitting down to write this blog and became very disappointed in myself for not keeping up. Now I have too much to say. I will give you the summary of my last few months in India.

After leaving HPSS, I went Mukteshwar in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand is divided into two sides - the Western Garhwal and the Eastern Kumaon. My research has been focused on Garhwal, and up to this point, I had not ventured into Kumaon. I got the perfect chance though. A professor friend in Delhi invited me to come stay at his house in the Himalayas and work on writing up my research where his friend and author wrote her two books on Garhwal and Kumaon. I thought it would be a good opportunity to take advantage of the positive writing vibes and get myself to focus on writing up my research rather than collecting never-ending data and stories.

I arrived in Mukteshwar by train and then bus. I took the overnight train which meant that I slept most of the way. However, I was awake for the 2.5 hour bus ride. I got a window seat and enjoyed looking out the window; the Himalayan terrain was surprisingly different than the Garhwal side. People say that the life in Garhwal is much more difficult than that of Kumaon. Driving through Garhwal, there are mostly steep mountains and rivers below. Kumaon, on the other hand, is more rolling. Within an hour and  a half from the train station, I could already see the snow peaks of the Himalayas in the distance. I could not get over how quickly the landscape had changed. The roads here are also much better than those in Garhwal. Because there are fewer rivers here, this side was not as badly affected by the flooding in June.

I spent about 5 days in Mukteshwar which is becoming quite a tourist destination. There are a lot of hotels which have already been built and are under construction. Apparently, many locals are taking advantage of the increasing real estate prices by selling their land. This year, the tourism has taken a huge hit. After the flood in June, the governor of Uttarakhand advised anyone and everyone to avoid the entire state. He must have forgotten that some places will still be easy to access and that tourism is a major part of the state's economy.

My time in Mukteshwar was very relaxing and very productive. The house I stayed in was beautiful! It was more of a Western than Indian construction. I almost forgot which country I was in. I would wake up in the morning to do yoga and write for a few hours. Then, I would go for a walk and have lunch. The afternoons were filled with conversation and discussion about my research. The professor with whom I stayed was a huge help in framing my research and describing my research process. He helped me understand many of the issues I have been confused about related to my research. Being an archaeologist, anthropologist, and of course a philosopher, we had very interesting conversations about the meaning of life, rebirth, and Indian culture. We shared meals with some of his local friends in Mukteshwar as well as two professors who were visiting from the US at the same time. Needless to say, I was not ready to leave this productive place!

The neighborhood in Mukeshwar

The rolling hills of Kumaon

Fields in Mukteshwar

The pine forest in Mukteshwar
After Mukteshwar, I headed to Khaadi village to celebrate Diwali with some new and old friends. I met Manoj, who I have known since my first visit to India in 2010. We went around to villages nearby with his friend Ranjan who runs a nonprofit organization in Khaadi. They had been involved in successful movements in this area to protect the forests and to reduce alcoholism in villages. I learned a lot by visiting the surrounding villages and talking to some of the strong women who led these important movements.

Making vada
Because it was Diwali time, we ate a lot of food. At every house we visited, we were offered chai, a snack, and sometimes a meal. The food of this time is mostly vada and puri. Vada is like pakora - made by grinding black lentils by hand, mixed with spices, and fried in mustard oil. Puri is like a small tortilla made of wheat flour which is again deep fried. It is often served with vegetables. It can also be stuffed with either spiced black lentils or spicy potatoes. Both of these versions are absolutely delicious and probably one of my favorite special dishes. We ate so much food traveling from house to house that I would get back to where we were staying and not be able to eat dinner! It was worth it though! Plus, I always got cooking lessons at all the houses we visited.

My turn making vada
Manoj, Me, and Didi (leader of anti-alcohol movement)
We had lunch of hard-boiled eggs and samosas one day. I posed with the staff at the shop.



Showing off my threshing skills in Guja.
This is where the forest department harvested turpentine from the trees. The Chipko movement responded by bandaging the trees with mud and cloth bandages.
Grinding urud dal for vada by hand in Rampur village.
A spread of snacks.
Some friends in Rampur.
Making vada on Diwali in Khaadi
For Diwali itself, we made a feast. We pulled the gas burner on the floor and got to work making vada, potato-stuffed puri, cauliflower and potatoes, chickpeas, and spiced buttermilk. It was delicious. We lit candles and lined the windows of the house to invite Luxmi, the goddess of wealth, into the home. Outside, we lit firecrackers. I watched from a distance the Garhwali tradition/version of fireworks. Someone lights a small bundle of sticks on fire and swings them around.

After Diwali, I headed to Kimsar/Mala Banas village for a last visit before I left. I met Asha and Ashish at the house where I had lunch. Then, I went with Asha and Nisha to the field to harvest the black lentils from which the vada are made. We cut down the stalks in a beautiful setting and caught up on our lives. Asha's mother joined us in the field. The women in the adjacent fields joined the conversations about the latest drama on TV.

Bisht-ji and Nisha

The very cute goat

Bisht-ji's house
When it got dark, we headed back to the house for chai. I made them another batch of no-bake cookies, which I spoiled them on during my last visit. Then, they spoiled me by making me the delicious puri filled with aloo. It was made with wheat, potatoes, and oil from their farm. We sat around the fire outside the kitchen making this food because the weather was good. Some of the neighborhood boys came to visit. Everyone who has moved outside was back at this time celebrating Diwali. Unfortunately, I had to leave the next morning after breakfast. Again, they spoiled me with my favorite Garhwali dishes - potatoes and manduwa roti (bread made from a buckwheat-type flour). The ingredients were again grown on their farm.

From Mala Banas, I met my friend Sara in Rishikesh. I helped her with her shopping, and we took a cab up to Mussoorie for the Writers' Festival. In Mussoorie, we stopped in to see our previous landlord Mrs. Bhatty. Her husband - 88 years old - died this month from prostate cancer. Her daughters and grandchildren all came to Mussoorie to bury him (he was Christian). Mr. Bhatty was quite a special man. He is the reason I received an affiliation with the economics research institute in Delhi. He was not just an economist, but also an Urdu poet and very trusting man! Mrs. Bhatty misses him very much!

My first full day in Mussoorie, I went around meeting many of my old friends and catching up with my former teachers at the Language School. I had a very nice meeting with the Language School Principal who has been very helpful and supportive of my research! The next day, I made a hike to a village nearby to finish up some of my research questions. I took some friends along, and we really enjoyed the day. I had a productive trip! We did, however, get a little wet on the walk back. (The hike is about 2-2.5 hours each way.)

The next days were packed with incredible events as a part of the Mussoorie Writers' Festival. There were poets, documentary filmmakers, mountaineers, and so many other talented people. I had some great networking opportunities here! It is amazing the diversity of people who came to Mussoorie to share ideas about mountains from all different disciplines! We also enjoyed some rock-n-roll music/Elvis impersonators from Shillong in Northeast India. I can now boast of seeing a small, old Indian man with a voice and hip thrust just like Elvis!

After the Writers' Festival, I made a trip to Happy Valley and the George Everest House, which I have mentioned in previous blogs.

Happy Valley

Hathi Paon next to the George Everest House
That afternoon, I also got to attend a Garhwali drama. There was a production from one of the stories of the Mahabharata performed in the main bazaar.

Maze at Drama
The next day, I ran around to some different meetings and took a bus back to Dehradun. From Dehradun, I went to Lata for one last time before I left. I had some research to wrap up, some friends to see, and some weddings to attend. It was weird being in Lata at this time because more than half of the village had migrated down to the winter housing, while I was staying with a family in the summer village. The village seemed almost empty at this time. It was also much less green as it is becoming winter. Lata got its first dusting of snow a couple days before I arrived.

My companions who rode with me to Joshimath
[My first stop before Lata was Raji's village. We went to a pooja for her father and nephew who died. Her mother and niece were put into a trance where the spirits of their deceased relatives came through them. - No this was not my first experience like this.]

The pooja
Raji and Her Mom
  
Raji and Me
The weddings in Lata were especially fun. They last for three days, so I only had the chance to attend one and a half. Both were of young men from Lata, so I did not get to experience the female side. (There were two more weddings happening the few days after I left.)

The first day is the henna ceremony. The women sit in a room singing and dancing. For the last song, the groom comes in. His sister puts henna on his hand, and they take a couple of photos. The women sing a special song about henna. Afterwards, there are sweets and then dinner and dancing.

The women's sangeet at the henna ceremony
The second day, the groom gets ready to go pick up his bride. All his close relatives come and give him gifts. A priest is also there to perform important ceremonies. All the males from the village go with the groom to pick up the bride and bring her back. The groom rides down from the village to the street on a horse. (We had a fun time rounding up the horses for this occasion. The horses were pretty stubborn.)



The women singing as the men leave Lata
[In the meantime, there are a lot of guests to feed in the village. All the women from Lata gathered in a central location, set a quick fire, and served everyone namkeen chai and spicy potatoes. It was delicious and efficient. If only the women of Garhwal ran India...]

The next day, the bride and groom come back to the groom's village. (There is celebrating in the bride's village too.) The bride is carried up to the village on a palanquin, and the groom again rides a horse. Then, they sit with everyone who are fed snacks and chai. Everyone takes pictures with the bride and groom, and then we are served dinner and dance some more. It was quite a fun event!

I came back from Lata with another researcher and his friend from Germany. Unfortunately, their car broke down on the way back. We found a mechanic, but fixing the timing belt took longer than expected. We spent the night in the town in the last available hotel room. All the hotels were booked for weddings. Then, I parted ways with them in the morning by getting on the bus back to Dehradun.

I wrapped up my work in Dehradun quickly and said my goodbyes.

My friends in Dehradun
Then, I took a train to Delhi for a couple more meetings and to catch my flight back home. I will stop for a few days in Amsterdam before reaching the US. Delhi was quite a shock after spending so much time in the mountains. The extreme pollution and crowds always make me ready to go home, but I would be just as happy to go back to the mountains. I am looking forward to seeing all my family and friends soon! I have lots more to share than I have time to write in my blog, and I cannot wait to hear what you have been doing too!

Lots of love and see you soon!

Margaret

Monday, October 21, 2013

August 2013

August 2013
My way back from Lata was quite an adventure. I considered going straight back because I was spending so much time waiting along the way. There were two landslides which I did not hear about until I had left Joshimath. The biggest one was near Karinprayag, and it added about four hours to my trip. Luckily, I had planned to spend the night in Srinagar in order to meet two of my Fulbright friends. Therefore, I made it before dark. It was nice to have them show me the town and take me to dinner at their favorite restaurant. The next morning, I woke up early and caught the bus to Dehradun. I reached just in time for lunch.


The road block coming from Lata. An audience always helps the process move quicker.
I spent the next few days in Dehradun catching up on what I had learned in Lata. It was fun because some of my friends from Lakamandal were in Dehradun for their annual teacher training. My friend Sharmila is my favorite. We went shopping one day in the bazaar and always had our meals together. She is so sweet and fun to be with. I cannot describe it, but we click.


Sharmila and me. Sharmila is dressed up as Pi for the teachers' skit based on the movie The Life of Pi.
Here is where I sit in the office at RLEK doing my work. The chai helps keep me going!
Besides catching up on my research, I also made a scouting trip to Matli to plan where we would be installing the water chlorinators with WaterStep and also went to see my adviser in Gujarat. It was a bit scary to see Matli at this time because the monsoon was not quite over. I came with a man sent by WaterStep from Bihar. I think that he was totally unprepared for mountain living. It is much different and more difficult than living in the plains. Besides the steep hills, the roads were not in good shape at all. After bringing him here, we both made the recommendation to WaterStep that we wait until the monsoon is over before sending anyone to install chlorinators. We did not want to create anymore problems by bringing outsiders into this disaster-prone area.
Visiting a potential water tank location in Dilsoar village.


The road (or lack of road) back from Uttarkashi.
I did not do anything exciting in Gujarat. I spent lots of time working on my research and searching the good databases at the Institute of Rural Management Anand. It is a nice campus although all the buildings look alike. We had pretty good weather - it was not too hot being the monsoon. Anand is the milk capital of India because India's biggest milk company is based here. This meant that the chai is especially good, and we had the option of eating ice cream at every meal. Gujarati food is the same type of vegetables and dal which I see throughout the rest of India. However, there is one important difference. They add sugar to every dish. I am not a fan! We did have a very nice dinner of all different kinds of Gujarati food at a restaurant in Ahmedabad. Still, I think I had way too much sugar in this one meal!





After Gujarat, I came back to Dehradun for more work and then went to Sabli for a few days to see some of my friends there. It was nice to catch up with them. I also got to visit some surrounding villages and get more information about the World Bank's SWAJAL project through which many household and community water taps were installed.





From Sabli, I went to Mussoorie to celebrate the first anniversary of the Landour Lecture Series. It was a huge success. Surbhi invited a group of three Garhwali muscians - including a bagpiper. I danced the nice away!

The next day, Surbhi and I took the bus to Lakamandal to wrap up some of my research, do some of her work, and visit some of my friends - including Sharmila, pictured above. We had a great time, and I completed many interviews!



Surbhi and me at the Lakamandal temple.
On the way back to Mussoorie, we made two stops. First, we went to Virod to see the Masu Devta festival. The god was carried up to Virod village by car and on a palanquin. During the day, we went to a ceremony in which both a local man and woman went into a trance - dancing for the god. It was like nothing I have ever experienced. Our friends got us to the front of the crowd by telling everyone we were with the media. (Surbhi had a big camera, so I guess this excuse worked.) That night we attended a dance performed by both the women and men. They danced in a circle and sang. Then everyone went to enjoy dinner. You could eat at anyone's house that you wanted.





Virod temple
The funny thing about going to Virod was that I knew that I had been near there before back in December. When I arrived, I had deja vu. It turned out I went to one of the neighboring villages. One of the young girls - who also knew Surbhi - recognized me. Also, RLEK has one of its schools in the village next door. I was standing outside and ran into one of RLEK's teachers (I stay with RLEK in Dehradun). It is becoming unbelievable how small of a world it is. He came up and said hi to me. I looked at him and said - "I recognize you." However, I could not place him until he told me that he was a teacher at RLEK's school. Surbhi and I ate at his beautiful wooden house for dinner. We had at least three offers, but I am so happy we took him up on his offer. Every house in the village made excessive quantities of food. His was especially good! It was obvious that he gave us something special because we ate last and had way more food than everyone else. I could also taste a hint of ghee in the dal which meant they dropped in there for us as a special treat. (The food in these villages in incredible because it is all local!)
Unfortunately, Virod has an enormous water scarcity problem. Therefore, Surbhi and I felt we should leave as soon as possible. The only water sourc is a handpump on the road (a ten minute walk) which dries up in the summer. (The hillside has been totally deforested.) In the summer, the government sends in tanker trucks of water twice a day. People wait in line until their number comes, and then they can collect their water (which is not clean). People explain what a big problem the water supply is here because of deforestation. It is clear that their crops are not producing as they could be because water is such a problem. Many people are migrating out of Virod as result of the water problem.
Surbhi and my second stop was at SIDH - near Kempty falls in Mussoorie. We enjoyed some nice walks at night. We also visited the home of a Canadian who moved to India, married a Garhwali, and started a school. It was strange being in India and having this taste of Western culture in an Indian home. However, she was very nice, and I really enjoyed learning about what she is doing there. 

Lata Village, Visit 3, Part 2

Lata Village, Visit 3, Part 2
Here is the catch up blog which covers July, August, and September. 
When I arrived back to Lata from Jalum, it was just in time for a small festival. I am not sure, but it seems to me like there is a small festival of some sort or the other at least once a month in Lata. Sometimes it is more frequent, and sometimes the festivals continue on for at least a week. For this occasion, the purpose seemed like a nice break from farm work. Everyone had been very busy weeding their fields and taking care of their animals. Although you cannot take a day off from feeding your cows and goats, you can take a day off from weeding. Many family members who live nearby came to Lata to celebrate. Bijju’s sister, brother-in-law, and nephew came to celebrate with the family. The focus of this festival was food. The night everyone arrived, we had a huge meal which included chicken, vegetables, puri, pakora, and rice. We made large amounts of puri and pakora. The next morning we enjoyed a big meal which included homemade yogurt (which is kind of special), pakora, puri, roti, and potatoes. This was of course served with chai. After having a big meal, I was told we were invited to go to the neighbor’s house for another meal. I had been warned there would be a lot visiting neighbors and family and eating food, but I was not prepared for the extent of it. (I should have skipped breakfast.) We visited 6-8 houses and ate a variety of different puri and pakora. Some of them were sweet, but mostly they were savory. People in Lata are not big on sweets, which I think is a result of two things: sugar is not grown in Lata (and used to be very expensive to buy) and all the sweets in the market being made only of sugar. I was stuffed from breakfast but managed to at least eat one pakora at each house. Then, we came back to Bijju’s, and I had to eat lunch. Somehow, I managed to get down a little rice and dal but very little.

Getting ready for the festival.
 After lunch, I went on a short walk with Bijju to graze the goats. It was very nice to be away from the food for once. However, when we got back, I got fed by 2-3 more households. I was also given the local beer. Some families make it from barley or jhangora (millet), but I drank the one made of wheat. The first time I had jan (beer) in Lata back in October, I was disgusted and frightened. Now, I actually like the taste. They also make dharu (local wine) which to me takes like vodka. I avoid this one as much as possible. For everyone who is concerned, do not worry. I only ever drink a little bit of each type at a time. The problem is that you do not know how strong the alcohol will be because it is made at home. One of the reasons that alcohol is part of the culture here is that it is a very cold climate. I was there in July, which is one of the hottest months of the year. It would be very warm from the strong sun during the day. However, it cooled off at night, and I had to sleep with the warm blankets made of goats’ wool. (This is also part of the reason for the large servings of ghee (clarified butter), which I am now managing to avoid. If I am not careful though, I will end up with an enormous chunk of it in my food!) [I recently learned that ghee used to be sold. Families would make buttermilk and keep that at home for consumption. The ghee (clarified butter), however, was sold.]



Much of my time in Lata was spent doing the day-to-day stuff with Bijju’s family. I especially enjoyed talking with his sister-in-law. She is twenty-six years old and a lot of fun. I learned a lot about her life, and it sparked a lot of areas in which I want to do more research. I would babysit for her three-year old daughter, Munshi (not my favorite responsibility) and help weed the fields. One of our projects while I was there was harvesting ladum which is basically a wild onion which is made into an incredible spice. They cut ladum 3-4 times a year, dry it, smash it, dry it again, and use it in just about every dal and vegetable dish. All you have to do is fry up ladum in a little bit of oil and add it to your dal right before serving. It adds a lot of flavor. I got to be a part of the ladum harvesting this process, and they gave me some ladum to take home with me when I left.


Munshi


The entire month that I was in Lata, there was something special happening. I do not really know all the background. All I know is that there was a fast for the women on Mondays, and people would make pilgrimages to temples in surrounding villages. Each week was a different village. What I found out later is that this practice is not limited to the area around Lata. It also takes place near Uttarkashi and maybe beyond. Anyway, I participated on the first Monday of this time. We walked to a nearby village which everyone warned me was very steep. Apparently, we were not supposed to eat breakfast that morning. I however was not informed before leaving, so I had a nice breakfast. On the way down from Lata, we saw off in the distance a landslide as it was happening. This meant that we would not be catching a car for any part of the trip. We would have to walk the entire way.


The road to the temple.

Walking up to the village.

Some of my companions on the journey. 
I actually preferred walking to the temple. The walk along the road was absolutely incredible. I travel around to other places throughout the Himalayas, but I do not think there is anything more beautiful than the high Himalayas. It is much less developed. You can walk on the road for an hour and only see one or two cars. However, in places much closer to the road (or especially in cities), it is almost impossible to walk safely along the road because of the crazy traffic. The walk remained pretty easy until we reached the village. We stopped for a quick break - water - at Sangeeta's sister's house. Sangeeta is one of the young girls who also joined on the pilgrimage. After that, we continued the very steep walk up the mountain to the temple. The flowers were absolutely gorgeous because of the monsoon rains. We were lucky because it was not too hot or rainy on this hike. If you ask me, the journey to the temple was better than reaching it (except for the delicious prasad/food). The path was incredible - the mountains, the rocks, and the flowers. The village was also very nice. The temple is still very special for Hindus. We went inside and the priest told us the temple's history. He was pointing at different rocks and identifying them as different Hindu gods. I could not tell the difference. However, I was later told that what was so interesting was that the rocks formed on their own. The different rocks which were sticking out were not always like that. In Christianity, we would call it a miracle that the rocks formed on their own as a representation of the different gods.


The whole group.
Before leaving the temple, we enjoyed some delicious prasad - kheer and puri/pakora. The puri/pakora was so good! It was made with chickpea flour, red chilli powder, and salt. Then it was deep fried! Yum! I was already full from this snack, but we continued our walk back to the village for lunch. We enjoyed a home cooked meal of rice and yellow dal in Sangeeta's sister's house. Then, we were given chai. The family's cow was not giving milk at this time, so the chai was made with Nestle's condensed milk. [I found this both ironic and very rich!!] I was not the only one who was stuffed! Even though I had walked so much, I felt like I would not be able to eat for days!


A waterfall along the way.
We were lucky enough to catch a jeep to take us back to Lata. Then, we just had to climb the 1-2 kilometers uphill to the summer village. After the very steep hike to the temple, the climb to Lata felt like a nothing. We were not at all short of breath. At this point, our group parted ways, and I went back to Bijju's house. His two cousins came over for dinner that night (including one who joined us for the hike - Gangotri). They are two very sweet girls. Both are married. One lives in Lata/Joshimath, and the other was just visiting for about a month. Although they are about 2 years apart, they could be twins. We sat around the fire chatting. I got extremely tired and started to fall asleep after our long day of hiking. This got me relief from the socialization so that I could get some sleep.


Gangotri with her daugther.
My other day trek from Lata took me to Lata Kharak. This is a very special hike which takes you up to 14,000 feet and offers a spectacular view of Nanda Devi on a clear day. Bijju and I planned a trip to Lata Kharak the Monday after the pilgrimage. Because it was the monsoon, the weather became unreliable after 12:00pm; it always started to cloud up. Therefore, we decided it was best to leave early in the morning. The plan was to arrive by 9:00 or 10:00am in order to get the clearest view of the mountains. In order to do this, we woke up at 4:00am and left the house by 4:30am. We had a quick chai to wake up and were out the door while it was still very dark. It stayed dark until about 6:00am. Then, the sun started to come out. However, we were unsure if the sky would clear off so we could see the mountains. At about 8:00am or 8:30, we knew the sky would be clear. We reached the Forest Department's Darshan (rest house) on the way to Lata Kharak at about 8:30am. As we were wringing out our socks to dry (they were soaked from the morning dew), we decided to look on the other side of the Darshan. I got my first glimpse of Nanda Devi here - although it was a little obscured. [Interesting note about the Darshan is that I am told it is built out of trees which were cut down from the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. This place is off limits in the sake of preservation. However, the Forest Department elected to cut down very old devdar trees to build this rest house. - a little contradictory?]


The walk to Lata Kharak
We had about another hour of walking to get to go up, wind the mountain around Lata Kharak, and reach the beautiful open viewing point. Climbing over rocks and through all kinds of gorgeous monsoon flowers, we finally reached the clear look-out point. It was incredible. Along the way as well as after reaching, we enjoyed roti, cumin-potatoes, and aloo parantha. It was pretty delicious if you ask me. Plus, the view could not be beat! I really did not want to leave. However, it took us about five hours to reach, so it would take us at least four to get back. The weather remained good for our descent. I will leave it to the pictures to describe the beauty of this place!







That is Nanda Devi in the back left.



Because I was in Lata during the monsoon, it would often rain (though luckily at night for the most part). One morning I woke up and was going to brush my teeth. I got to the tap, and Bijju's mother that the water pipe broke the night before. Apparently two huge rocks fell, and the pipe did not stand a chance! This meant that their water tap would be out of service until someone went to fix it. Luckily, there is a big tank (with tap and water storage) in the center of the village, which everyone without a tap uses to collect their water. Because my research is related to drinking water distribution and collection, I took this opportunity to collect water for the household. It also gave me a chance to talk with the others who were going to collect water. They all explained that huge rocks fell on the water pipe, and it would be fixed in a few days. No one seemed to be giving me a straight answer. My American upbringing made me think that this was crazy. The water pipe broke, the tank at the temple would be running out soon, and no one seemed that concerned. If I was at home, everyone would have called the water department complaining that the pipe was not fixed immediately. Plus, collecting water from the temple meant that there was a line. The first time I went, I probably had to wait about a half hour to fill up my two five-liter vessels.


This is where the pipe for the village broke.
For the next day or two, we were still able to collect water from the temple source. Then, the tank ran dry, and we had to switch to collecting from the source itself. Luckily, it was not too far away, and I am always up for a little walk. I also enjoyed the social activity of it. I never went to the water source alone. I always went with Bijju's sister-in-law or his neighbor. We had some nice conversations along the way. Plus, we always met someone else to talk to at the source. I even got to stop at this nice woman's house for chai too. She told me that she would teach me Hindi anytime I wanted. I just had to stop by. (She has her Masters' degree in Hindi. We had a nice time talking about living in college dorms and having no responsibility.) Going to the source for water did a few things for me. First, it got me out of the house and meeting more people in the community. Secondly, it got women who may not interact everyday talking more. I did not understand everything they were saying because it was mostly in Garhwali, but I did understand that they could talk about things that were bothering them or gossip. It made me realize that having water tapped directly to your house means that you interact less with your neighbors. You may see them on the way to working in your farm, but it becomes very easy to isolate yourself. If you have to collect your water from the source, you have no choice but to interact with your neighbors because they have to go too. Although most people probably do not think about it, individual water taps have a real impact on the social aspect of village life.
The pipe did get fixed after only a few days. Bijju and about 11 other boys (I am not sure this large number was required) took a pipe over to make the repair. They had to hike about a half hour uphill, replace the pipe, and then come back. It surprisingly took only about 3 hours. I also had found out that the reason the pipe was not fixed immediately was that people were afraid another rock would fall on the pipe and break it again. Therefore, it was best wait a few days and make sure the weather remained clear before making the repair.
Another interesting thing that happened in Lata on my last day was that the people from Delhi who are working as engineers on the nearby hydropower project came to visit. They are trying to do some corporate social responsibility projects in Lata because they are destroying the nearby ecosystem and drowning some of the fields. Do I sound too critical? The way I met them was very funny. I was just sitting at Bijju's aunt's house with his cousins and niece. Then, these two or three men were walking up to see the ancient temple. They saw me on the way and started asking Bijju's cousin Rithu all these questions about me - where is she from? what is she doing? etc. After she kept asking me for the answers, I decided I should come out and talk to them myself. It turned out that they all spoke very good English. This meant that I got to have a real discussion with them to find out exactly what was happening on their Dhauliganga river project and get more information about what they were doing in Lata. They invited me to come to the meeting they would be hosting in the village. I went, and they invited me to come to the front while everyone was off working in groups. This meant that I got to talk to all the representatives from this company and find out exactly what they are doing. The short version is that they are building a tunnel on the river to create 181 MW of electricity. They are chopping down about 1,000 devdar and oak trees and will be building a reservoir about 599 square meters. Only a few people in Lata are supportive of the project - the ones who will be making money off of it. The others are all concerned what it will do to this fragile ecosystem and their livelihoods. Do not worry though - this company will be giving the people solar water heaters in return for chopping down these very old trees and changing the surrounding environment.


Munshi after her bath.

Munshi with her grandmother.

The potato field.
Munshi driving Jatin around on the scooter.

The view of the Dhauliganga from the house.  
Raji and Leela singing at a birthday party in Lata.
Eating birthday snacks on the roof in Lata.