Three things that made me smile today

I wasn't in the best mood today- the electricity has been going off at 3am each night so I wake up boiling hot and move outside to the day bed at 3 in the morning and start the day exhausted, it didn't come on today until the afternoon so the pump wasn't working and therefore no water and to top it off I'm not feeling well, with a sore throat and ironically a cold.

There were a few things that made me smile today though. One of my coping strategies is to think of a day as a success if I achieve one thing, have one good conversation or experience one interesting/enlightening/amusing situation. The great thing is that days are often filled with many of these moments.

So here's what happened today:

1) This morning one of our buffalos gave birth. I saw the baby when it was a couple of hours old, exhausted, curled up and being licked by its mother who still had the water bag hanging out of her. Raju, who looks after the animals, and his co-workers were worried. It was a hot day and they needed to keep the calf cool, as well as show it how to take milk. They even gave it a hemp grain bag to lie on in the shade. They also milked the mother, apparently the first milking after giving birth is very strong milk, presumably full of goodness for the baby. No one drinks it straight but instead make nourishing lassis from it (making curd from the milk, then mixing with cool water and sugar for a refreshing drink). I'm told buffalo milk is strong anyway, and I look forward to trying it. Mama said she will teach her daughter Ganoo and I how to milk the buffalo, something I'm keen on doing as I can't do it regulary in England!

2) We were running dangerously low on water because of the pump situation, even the two huge water storage tanks we kept for emergencies were almost empty and we weren't sure when the power would come back on. All us children took every bucket, mudkey (clay water pot) and bottle we could find down to the village hand pump just outside the boundary of our house, much to the amusement of the villagers. You see, we have an electric pump, but in times like this they were the winners and could still draw water without the need for electricity. After waiting our turn, I filled my mudkey, working my biceps and attempted to carry it home resting on my shoulder. Unfortunatley I haven't quite mastered the art of carrying it and at this comparitively long distance lost about a litre down my kurta, causing much giggling from the village women who were encouraging me to put it on my head like they did. Well I made it home carrying the pot in my arms and feeling like I'd had my hand pump initiation.

3) I would have to rate Battleships as one of my top 5 games and coincidentally have it with me in India, although being the only foreigner in a family who can't speak much english I haven't had a chance to play many of the games I brought with me. With no power we were all sat in Grandma's cool bedroom with its two foot thick walls, and I thought I'd teach my cousin and brother how to play. After much explanation we were almost playing to the actual rules although i suspected some peeking over or some very lucky guesses! Then the power came on and they rushed to the TV.

Photos: Raju pushing his daughter Sumi next to the calf for our photo shoot; Practising how to carry the mudkey on my head later on in the evening; Pratap and Kanoo concentrating on their next battleship moves.

20 things you didn't know about my new life in Laporiya village

1. Laxman Singh's grandfather used to be King of Laporiya and a few other villages. I'm living with him and his extended family. They see themselves as members of the Rajput caste, one of the major Hindu warrior groups in India.
2. There are 150 different species of birds. Some are very rare, and it's because of GVNML's conservation programme these birds thrive here.
3. It's very hot in Rajasthan this time of year. In the nights I usually sleep on a day bed outside because my room is too hot. There's not much light pollution here so you can see all the stars.
4. My bedroom is just off a big courtyard and used to be a communal bathroom. It's completley tiled and still has lots of taps in it.
5. Indian toilets are not like the ones back home in England. I'm gradually getting the hang of them and have given up using toilet paper.
6. If I want a shower in the evening it's best to fill a bucket early in the morning, otherwise the water in the tank on the roof gets so hot during the day it's almost boiling.
7. Everyone who lives in Laporiya loves roti, they eat it three times a day normally with one or two vegetable dishes. There is no rice here and wheat is definitely the staple food.
8. My NGO, GVNML is working with a UK development agency called Wells for India. Through their funding GVNML have built lots of new wells in the surrounding villages and spread their innovative chouka system, changing the livelihoods of hundreds of local people. The parents of the girl in the photo can now afford to send her to school, thanks to the crops (field behind) they are now growing on land irrigated by a new water system.
9. My new boss, Jagveer (Laxman's brother), is big on badminton and usually starts the day playing it on a court drawn in the dust in the car park. He's a lot better than me and said my serve was poor- must try harder!
10. Laporiya runs on hot, milky, sweet Chai. I normally get woken up with a cup of chai at 6.45am, prepared by the office cook, who is a sweet lady called Sanju but we have trouble communicating with my limited Hindi and her limited English.
11. Sanju does a mean cold coffee, but only in the afternoon once the freezer has been on for a few hours. I'd say it's better than Cafe Coffee Day.
12. Laxman's father, Ragunate, has a 'mistake in the head' I'm told. He's physically fit but I think he has alzheimers and sometimes shouts or thinks it's dinner time when it's morning, or forgets he has eaten.
13. Laxman has adopted me as his daughter, and says it's now his responsibility to find me a husband. He has joked that when Rob visits in August we will have a big Rajasthani wedding. I wonder whether it would be legally binding!
    
14. Ratan (my new sister) is getting married in November or December- she has only met her husband to be once but seems pretty smitten with him. They tell me that at Rajpoot parties there is drink and non veg (ie. Meat!). My new mother has promised I can wear one of her party dresses too.
15. Spare time in the day is usually spent hiding from the 100 degree heat, inside a dark room with the desert cooler on and perhaps an Indian soap on sky tv (every family in the house has their own box).
    
16. One of our dogs, Jacqui seems to be fighting a losing battle with his fleas. If you give him any attention he nuzzles and leans against you and won't leave you alone. People often have to rescue me from him. I have to be careful not to get bitten.
    
17. You soon get used to the electricity cuts here. It's on from 7pm to 6am, then 11am to 4pm. It becomes an event when the lights and fans work again.
18. Laxman's wife, Anand, is basically in charge of cooking. She doesn't buy 'market food' like bread or biscuits, here they mill their own wheat flour and make their own butter from milk from their own cows. Much of her day is focused on preparing food.
19. In India, what your name means is very important. Anand (Mum) means very fine; Pratab (younger brother) means king; Akshay (cousin) means always win and Laxmi (younger sister) means god of money. When they asked me what my name meant, unfortunately I couldn't remember.
20. My new mum gave me a Rajasthani dress of hers and my sister and cousin had great fun dressing me up in it and getting the scarf just so. See the picture for the final result.