A Day in Chhaygaon

Days are going by fast and I’m almost at the halfway mark of this stint. So what do my days consist of? I thought of doing “One Day in Chhaygaon” post to share what a typical day is like for me here.

6 am: Almost everyday, I involuntarily open my eyes at this hour and wonder why I woke up. The cock crows again and I realize that it’s this natural alarm clock that has woken me up.

7 am: My first real attempt at getting out of bed begins. It cold in the mornings, and so cozy in bed (like any other location in winter!) – it requires a lot of willpower every morning to push those blankets away.

7:30-9:15 am: Time for all the morning chores! I usually start with washing utensils from the previous night’s dinner. Some days I also have to wash clothes. In the midst of these two activities, I draw water from the hand-pump into a couple of utensils and put it to boil, so that it is ready for my bath. It’s amazing how I finish bathing in barely 3 minutes here (at home, I rarely spend less than 15 minutes in the shower!). After getting ready, it’s time to get some breakfast ready. I have been rather lazy about this till now actually. In Chennai, I used to simply have cereal every morning for breakfast. But I don’t have a fridge here so I can’t store milk. Some days I have black tea with biscuits. Other days I just postpone having tea at the office!

9:15/9:30 am: The walk to the NGO office – one of my favourite activities in the day! It feels so good to go out in the mild sun, stroll through the quiet, green lanes. If only I had such a lovely commute to work all my life… I think I would look forward to work everyday then!

9:30-2:00 pm: The activities at the NGO vary from day to day. Some days Raman and I sit in office, and work on our deliverables. A few times we have been out in the field with the others in the NGO. I love doing that. We travel into the villages on bikes for the field visits. Most times the people in the village do not understand or speak Hindi so Raman acts as translator. However, once one of the women did speak Hindi, and I really enjoyed talking to her about life in the village. She candidly told me several things, especially about how proud she feels when she earns extra money for herself and her children with the NGO’s help.

2 pm: Lunch time! Lunch is always rice-dal with some vegetable. I have noticed that in Assam they almost always eat rice for every meal. I feel like I have been eating rice forever now (before this I was in Chennai for 3 months :-/). Everyday, after lunch, we go for a stroll in the lanes near the office. This is again one of my favourite things in the day – I think I just can’t get enough of walking around here!

3:00-5:30 pm: Some more work and then time to go home. It gets dark very early – so if we leave at 5:30, we are usually walking home in the dark.

5:30-9:30 pm: This part of the day is very random. Raman usually comes over after work, I make something to eat and we chat for an hour or so. After that I just potter around my room, doing small things. Some days I read, sometimes I try writing. Once in a while I join the family I live with if they have made a bonfire. If I’m inspired enough (and there is electricity), I make myself a proper meal. I also spend a lot more time than usual in thinking and reflecting - it's sometimes useful to have so much time to yourself. Only sometimes :)

9:30/10:00 pm: I sleep very early here… and since I don’t wake up early, I sleep a lot! It’s a quiet place, people sleep fairly early compared to the city and I follow suit.

And then, once again… It’s a new day J

Grameen Sahara, the NGO I work with

Tokradhya village, which I visited on a field trip

Chatting with the women in Tokradhya

During one of our after-lunch strolls

For some reason, I quite like this small temple near our office