The day was
packed with visits to Govt. Offices and interviews with the Govt. officials.
However, a eleventh hour surprise, we got to know that all the officials were
in a meeting with the Dist. Collector. So, to kill some time, the Naandi team
arranged for some sight-seeing. It started with visiting a ‘BABA’ who has
rooted himself to the same place for the last 10-15 years (without any food or
water as said by the Naandi coordinator). Skeptical we were until we reached
that place, imagining how someone could stay without any diet. The surroundings
soothed us though, and we also saw people worshipping him and offering him some
food, fruits, etc. and we later came to know that he eats those offerings
whenever he feels like.
Later, we went
to a beautiful temple of Lord Shiva, atop a hill. But for Janani, the most
fragile of us, it reminded all of us that it’s time for us to get in touch with
some physical exercises. The view exuded serenity and awesomeness in every
direction. The beauty of nature reminded us of the life we are missing in the
urbanized concrete jungles. We are now-a-days getting so engrossed in the world
of virtuality that we hardly seem to find time to enjoy the nature around. All
along the journey, I was lost in my own enchanting world of music with Saradha
pulling out my earphones now and then for some good songs. While I was humming
like a bumble bee on one hand, Janani on the other hand, was singing songs at a
0.5X tempo making even the best of the peppy tracks seem like boring lullabies.
There was her biggest fan, Mr. Nilesh Kumar Mahana adding fuel to the fire. Sitting
in the front seat and waving in ecstasy he was showering praises on her once in
every few minutes. Beyond a point it sounded more of sarcasm than genuine
praise. Or probably did he really intend to, God only knows. However, this did
not influence Janani even a little bit. The more Saradha and I started getting
frustrated, the more she started dragging the tempo. Finally we gave up hoping
that our vehicle would reach the office soon.
Finally amidst
all this mental turmoil, we see the District Educational Office in front of us.
We were already given a flavor of all the tactics that we could adopt to
extract information from the Govt. officials. Mr. Kapat judiciously taught us
those tactics the way Vishwamitra taught Ram and Lakshman the mantras before
taking them to the forest. With all the astras in our quiver, we all set out to
face the Marichas and Subahus (or probably we felt so until we met them) of the
Chhattisgarh Government.
The first person
we got to meet was the Mid-day Meal Officer. Three of us went in with the remaining
four of us waiting outside to meet the District Education Officer. We were
desperately waiting for our chance to pounce on the DEO with questions and in
front of us, we saw the other three fellas deeply engrossed in a conversation
with the MDM officer. What was a mere fifteen minute appointment with him went
on and on and on until all of us almost got fed up. We got a call in between
from the DEO and we spent some time with him getting some relevant information.
However, even after that, this saga never ended. Ironically, we were happy for
this going on so long but we were also exasperated sitting idle outside under a
tree, like nomads waiting for shelter. Finally when we were almost about to
droop, we were also invited by the MDM officer and served some tea. The
discussion went on for some more time and finally we were given leave. We then
went for lunch and all our eagerness came gushing out like a torrential current
onto the three poor souls about the three long hours they spent inside.
To them, we were
a bunch of polite, well-mannered, sincere college students eager to study the
state of affairs of the Mid-day meal program. So, whichever Govt. office we
went, we received a warm welcome, a tea, and more than expected information.
They even took us to some schools and showed us how things were actually
getting implemented there. The Naandi team was really impressed with the
outcome and in fact surprised at the way things were happening. We were also
very happy with what had happened. The next day when we went to the block level
and the Mandal level offices, the response was the same. Having got all the
information we needed, we were all set for the next phase of the project, our
next stop, the villages.
Well, while our
days were very tiring with long hours of talk with breaks of bumpy rides
between offices, our evenings were a polar opposite. I used to bug Vishal and
we both went to play Snooker at the hotel where we stayed. Janani got very busy
with the treadmill, so much so that she ran until the treadmill got tired and
dead. Saradha just used to visit each one of us in turns. The remaining
threesome Abhineet, Ghanshyam and Rahul generally joined us for Snooker or
Table Tennis. After an hour or two of this game, we used to go for a grand
dinner.
Our dinner
typically started with what we called our ‘Nasha’ (Fresh Lime Soda) and Masala
papad. Then we went on to starters and the main course. Every meal ended with a
dessert, typically a ‘Fruit salad with ice cream’. The icing on the cake was
that we never paid the bills. The hotel staff was so enthralled by Abhineet’s
grace and radiance that they just asked him to give his autograph on the bill
every time we ate there. Between so many foodies, there was an anomaly. Janani,
our master blaster, was on a strict diet. After tiring the treadmill, she
usually came down with us and ordered a fruit salad every day. She literally
lived on one fruit salad each for every square meal. Fruit salad in the
morning, Fruit salad in the afternoon, and fruit salad in the evening; we just
wondered where all her stamina came from.
Finally, the
third day, we slept early with a lot of questions in mind. What was in store
for us in the villages? Is everything hunky-dory? Let’s wait until next morning
and see what would happen. For now, Sweet Dreams.
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