We spent the night under open sky in Kusumkhet. They gave me a string cot. There were many more cots around. We were still waiting for the rain in May end that year. You will remember the bus stand was 3.5 km away. Villagers had informed us that night, the only bus for the town leaves at 8 am. Shivaji bhau, my colleague and I hence woke up by 6 am and were ready to go after our morning cup of black tea. Most tribals in India do not take milk from animals and hence a cup of tea with milk is almost non-existent. We started by 7 am, well in time for our bus.
The path was full of ups and downs both literally and figuratively. On our way, we discussed tribals and their relations to the forest. Forest department and their role figured into our discussion and the nice discussion soon turned into hot debate with facts and figures and global trends. It was Shivaji bhau's turn to present his set of arguments as we reached the top of a small hillock and that caused an end to all our debates. Not because we accepted unconditionally whatever he said but because we saw our much coveted and only bus for the day in the stand. Already?? It was about 7.30 am. Were we imagining the bus? But then it soon disappeared too in front of our very own eyes! Three of us could not have the same nightmare, could we? But as it turned out, we could definitely live the same one.
We ran huffing and puffing the rest of the way although we already knew the bad news. It was just confirmed after reaching the bus stop. The bus was not to leave at 8 am, it was to leave at 7.30 am, like everyday. We were misinformed by villagers who seldom use watches. So there we were at the bus stand, with the only bus gone and no food stall in the vicinity. We were advised to try again the next day. Did we have something that important in the town? Dis we have to go to town? Well! Then the next option then was to walk another 6.5 Km to the nearest "main road" where we could get buses or trucks to take us to a bus stand which is serviced more than once by the Maharashtra State Transport Corporation buses.
We took the second option. My colleague had some dry roasted black gram in his bag. This was our only fuel to walk those miles. As the sun started rising we hardly had the energy to go back to our original debate. And mostly remained silent to conserve energy. We reached the main road and found a truck to carry us to the bus stand 2 hours later. We hardly saved any bit of that day!
Walking through fields and roads, I thought about my last night's discussion with the villagers about health support systems available. What chance will a seriously ill person have in this area when he misses the proverbial last bus!
The path was full of ups and downs both literally and figuratively. On our way, we discussed tribals and their relations to the forest. Forest department and their role figured into our discussion and the nice discussion soon turned into hot debate with facts and figures and global trends. It was Shivaji bhau's turn to present his set of arguments as we reached the top of a small hillock and that caused an end to all our debates. Not because we accepted unconditionally whatever he said but because we saw our much coveted and only bus for the day in the stand. Already?? It was about 7.30 am. Were we imagining the bus? But then it soon disappeared too in front of our very own eyes! Three of us could not have the same nightmare, could we? But as it turned out, we could definitely live the same one.
We ran huffing and puffing the rest of the way although we already knew the bad news. It was just confirmed after reaching the bus stop. The bus was not to leave at 8 am, it was to leave at 7.30 am, like everyday. We were misinformed by villagers who seldom use watches. So there we were at the bus stand, with the only bus gone and no food stall in the vicinity. We were advised to try again the next day. Did we have something that important in the town? Dis we have to go to town? Well! Then the next option then was to walk another 6.5 Km to the nearest "main road" where we could get buses or trucks to take us to a bus stand which is serviced more than once by the Maharashtra State Transport Corporation buses.
We took the second option. My colleague had some dry roasted black gram in his bag. This was our only fuel to walk those miles. As the sun started rising we hardly had the energy to go back to our original debate. And mostly remained silent to conserve energy. We reached the main road and found a truck to carry us to the bus stand 2 hours later. We hardly saved any bit of that day!
Walking through fields and roads, I thought about my last night's discussion with the villagers about health support systems available. What chance will a seriously ill person have in this area when he misses the proverbial last bus!
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