... and they would be laughing for twenty minutes! (February 6, Part 2)

Part Two - February 6, 2010

Following the wonderful meal served at Sanjiv's farm, our team rode the bus a short distance down to the village of Chahalka, where the three previous teams had worked since 2007. The first team had raised funds and constructed two washing platforms in the village of about two thousand, in order to restore the water quality of the community water supply to safe for drinking. Heretofore, the women and girl children of the village had customarily dipped into the well and pulled up buckets of water for household use. However, before leaving the well, they would wash their clothes, household linens, pots and pans, dishes and yes, even their water buffaloes. As a result of this first project, the quality of water did, in fact, return to safe for drinking within one year.

The second year, we funded and renovated a vacant government building in the village to a Computer Training Center and a Day Care Center. Not only did we transform this derelict building into something for which the villagers could be proud, but also a safe place for mothers to bring their children to leave them while they work in the surrounding areas. At the computer training center, we have graduated some sixty young men through the basic courses of Digital Operating Systems (DOS), Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and several other programs. The end result of this means these young men will be able to enter the job market with skills and potentially earn a decent wage to bring home to their families for support. Additionally, that year's DREAM TEAM raised sufficient funds to pay for some thirty computers, desks, chairs, a diesel generator (since consistent power is uncertain, at best), and hire and pay the salary for an instructor for a minimum of three years.

The third year, we worked on the construction of a sanitation enhancement facility, where women and girl children will be able to toilet in a safe and clean facility. The building will house some twenty-five toilets and twenty-five showers. Our monies raised will also create a fund whereby a watchman will be employed, as well as someone to clean the facility on a regular basis, both for a period of three years.

The purpose today for our visit was to visit the computer training center and to confer certificates of completion for nine young men. It was wonderful for me to revisit the center, and for a few of the this years DREAM TEAM who had been with me two years ago and had worked on this project. Each of us was invited to shake the hand of each graduate, and congratulate him on his accomplishments. We were also pleased to learn that as of this coming school term, young women in the village will also be allowed and yes, encouraged to take advantage of the classes offered - however, being smaller and single gender classes.

From here, we left on our bus ride to the Hill Fort at Kesroli - in Alwar, a rather remote region of Rajasthan. From what I have read, the Hill Fort is a fourteenth century fort and now is operated as a Heritage Hotel. Since jet lag was beginning to catch up with some of us, several slept on the bus and others chatted or read books, etc. We were told this would be a ride of about two-and-half hours. Along the way, we stopped - once for fuel and once for a "loo stop". While traveling in this manner in India, a "loo stop" can mean stopping at a hotel or a restaurant and using their toilet facilities, or merely stopping the bus on the side of the road, where determined safe, and having all of those who need to do so, disembark from the bus and walk a short distance to a more private area behind trees or a wall. At one gas station, the loo was unusable and so we were forced to use the great out of doors, behind the station.

Roads on this journey were horrible, due to a massive road construction project. Truly, not one section of road was without huge ruts, potholes or boulders in the road to mark boundaries. Therefore, not only due to road conditions was the two-and-a-half hours extended considerably, but also that old adage in America, that "guys don't stop and ask for directions". We drove on and on and according to our conductor, who rides in the front of the bus with the driver, we should reach Kesroli in a matter of minutes.

A few of us, namely Jim and Susan Wischhusen, Arnie and Rose Quaranta and I, seemed to have a running comedic commentary on the progress we were (or were not) making. Snappy one-liners, the occasional (?) side remark, (or is it SNIDE remark?), and basically a three-man Comedy Central routine, which lasted for over an hour. Duble entendre was the practice that evening, and comments were flying around the front half of the bus and the hilarity was contagious. Perhaps the best lines came from Jim, and a great deal may be lost in the "translation" but I will give it a try. First, however, one must close one's eyes and try to recall any Indian movie or the conversational patterns of many people from India, and then imagine you are listening to our bus driver and his conductor.

Can you believe it? You and I would be stopping the bus on the side of the road, where there would be no street
lights, and we would be leaving the bus parked there. We would be walking away from the bus, leaving all passengers
on board, and then we would be watching from the woods while they sat there for more than twenty minutes and all
they would be doing would be laughing! Can you believe it!

This is basically what happened not once but twice, as our trusty and very skilled, I might add, driver and conductor attempted to gather directions to Hill Fort. We nearly became a part of a wedding procession, since while turning a corner in a village, while the timid-looking groom and his best man, road ramrod straight atop two ornately adorned white horses, as their mates cheered them along down the street. Unfortunately, nobody warned them that a rather sizeable tourist bus would be attempting to maneuver a left-hand turn, right in the middle of their procession! As it turned out, that turn was an error and once more we found ourselves in the "middle of bloody nowhere" as Valerie Philips commented. We actually sat in amazement as our driver articulated a three-point turn in reverse, and did it magnificently. Although we returned to the same street corner, the wedding party had long since disappeared and we then made a different turn, and headed to the entrance road of the Hill Fort in Kesroli. Although it was by now about 9:30 p.m. when we arrived at the gate, the staff was awaiting our arrival with a welcoming drink of fruit juice, a distribution lottery of room keys and finally, a buffet dinner.

Yes, we HAD arrived, but little did we know that we would have to enter the fortress in much the same manner marauders of times of yore would - on foot, climbing a virtual Everest, while lugging, carrying or dragging bags, carry-ons, etc. Gavin Bryant, who shared my room, and I had chosen our room key, and learned that it was on the very top floor of the fortress, and we felt sorry for the porter(s) who would be forced to carry our bags to the top of the ramparts! Actually, our room was fantastic - sitting area, two beds, a bath with door to a side balcony and then the piece-de-resistance - our very own turret entered from the bedroom, which had no rood, but provided spectacular views of the starry heavens above. Sleep could not come too soon to our weary bodies, which we were told had to be awake and ready to have breakfast at 5:30 and depart Kesroli no later than 6:00 a.m.