Thursday 6 February 2014

Mumbai/Belgaum: On the Road

We had a distribution today outside Belgaum, and left our accommodations by 8a.m. and boarded our repaired van which we had last seen,broken,on one of the mountain roads as we were heading from Goa,to our new distribution centre, Belgaum.

It is a tidy little vehicle and we were happy to see it back at our disposal.

We were not too far into the countryside when our driver, Manju, pulled to the side of the road with one of the rear tires punctured!  We stayed on board as he repaired the tire.

We had stopped in front of a farm house that was beautifully built of hewn stone -and various family members appeared on the lane way as we waited.  First was a young girl who did her ablutions with no ado near our van. Then appeared the 2year old,walking on his own, with no apparent parental hovering.  It is winter here in India (only 27degrees today), and he had the ubiquitous pointy wool hat with earflaps.  And the earflaps were in position to keep the ears cozy warm, and maybe to prevent the youngster's ears from hanging too loosely from his head.  He was a delight to watch as he wandered the lane in his own little world.

Meanwhile, passing to the side of our delayed vehicle was a series of possibly 25 women, in saris, carrying huge bundles of grasses -hay?- on their heads,all walking at a sedate pace, in flip flops or barefoot.  No chit chatting.  No lagging.  Seemingly in no special hurry.

And in the farmyard was a lively number of chickens with their chicks and they too were going about their daily routine.  A number of variously abled  dogs and one old cat made an appearance.

Once repaired, the van,about an hour late, took us to the distribution where the youngsters delighted us with their enthusiasm over their new 'slumber' kits.

Another good day, on the road!

Mary-Jo Lang for Team Mumbai/Belgaum 2014
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