Chapter 4, A dramatic day!
Spending time on the mountain for my project...the mountain in return did give me some moments of strangeness and amusement. One of the days as I was packing my bag to go to the mountain, my roommate, Linh just came in and gave me a corn chapati prepared by her wrapped in a newspaper. This gesture surprised me in a much pleasant manner and I immediately took the bread from her and packed it in my bag (she knew I was packing some leftover breakfast sometimes when I go to the mountain early). Linh would usually talk less and apart from being a brilliant artist, her observation of people was much mature for her age. I was always glad to have her as my roommate and this association felt much like a divine plan. There’s much people absorb from each other in the silent knowledge of their conscious and just by being there observing and reflecting together…
As I went
to the mountain and started doing my work, I knew the kids will come after a
couple of hours and till then I am alone to work on the mountain. Kept my bag
on a rock, my things spread out- got indulged in the work till I noticed some
movements on the mountain. A usually deserted mountain was visited by a troop
of monkeys! not so unusual for the place like Badanga, but quite unexpected for
me. It all felt so strange and scary now as soon as I realized my bag (with
mobile and money in it) is lying away from me, and what about the spread- out
things? Not that I hate monkeys, but I am definitely aware of their mischievous
behavior and their presence is the last thing I expected at that moment. I knew
for sure if these mischievous creatures stayed for some time on the mountain,
they might play around with the spread-out things or might even take away my
bag! Till the time I could figure out a plan to scare them away, I noticed a
pack of dogs came running and barking towards the monkey gang. Seeing them I
knew I don’t have to worry a bit anymore about these mischievous simians anymore.
What a sight of relief and how thankful I was at that moment for these godsend
canines who in no time got me rid of these monkeys! Being a dog- lover I am
never scared of approaching a dog and so, I did notice the leader of the pack
and called him towards me. Strangely the dogs of Badanga were kind of scared of
humans…probably because of general mistreatment by the people of the village. I
took some time to approach and pat the dog and make a bond of trust with him. I
remember the corn chapati made by Linh and immediately took it out, broke it
into two pieces- gave half to the dog as a treat and as a thanksgiving gesture, and ate the other half myself as it was already lunchtime.
The villagers in a few days noticed me painting the mountain…a sight of amusement for them for sure! I could see late in the afternoon some villagers as they come back from the hills collecting wood for the fuel to cook food, would sit near the riverbed at the bottom of the mountain, probably wondering why a stranger is painting a random mountain of the village? Sometimes a few women would sit -watching me, eventually as the project came near completion, the number of villagers kept on increasing, who would come with their cows, wood stacked on their head, would come and sit for some time and then go. Almost all the animals of the village including cows knew how to climb these steep mountains and seeing them going up and down the mountain was an amusing sight to watch. In a way, I was never bored working alone half the time as these activities kept me entertained in a way and made my time more enjoyable.
Beautiful and wonderous as always . While going through your expressions, it does not feel like a mere reading . The description comes alive and one can not only visualize it but infact experience it's reality , tangibly ,as if one were with you in person, during each day of your stay in this remote and enchanting village .
ReplyDeleteThankyou for your nice words :)
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