22. Love and Care

It is second week of January. This is peak winter in this area. It is just 3.30 in the afternoon but the Sun has already decided to call it a day. The Sun is so pale that for a moment I mistook it for a moon. The bright yellow saraso flowers are silent. Are they meditating on a strategy of facing the chilly breeze? On the background of broken earthen walls, the scene is gloomy.

The breeze makes the winter cold more severe. The night temperature drops down to 1 to 3 degree Celsius and it is accompanied by fog. The Hindi word for fog is more beautiful – it is kohara. The Hindi word brings with it a flavor of mystery whereas fog just reminds me of pollution.

kohara starts encompassing the area as soon as the Sun sets, that is not later than 5.00 in the evening. It remains stationed till 9.00 or sometimes even till 11.00 in the morning.

I am in village Sarai Sultani in Pratapgarh district (Uttar Pradesh). We are a group of 30 people from 6 different states. Ten of us have come here to interact with Self Help Group (SHG) of women - other two groups are visiting two other villages. Actually, as always the organizers had told women to gather very early than the planned time. So, according to them we have reached late. The women waited for us and had gone back to their homes for work. Presently the days are too short to finish the tasks. The President of one of the SHG tells us that if women are late for meeting, they have to pay a fine. She half humorously and half seriously asks us to pay fine for our late arrival.

Within ten minutes, 20 women gather. I just see that the discussion is going on in the right way and desired direction. This is my fourth visit to this particular village. So, I am aware of the struggles of these women and I appreciate the change they have brought into their life and in the village. But I want others to find out the process for themselves. Apart from that, only I have a digital camera – so I am taking snaps.


Suddenly, by the side of the meeting I see this picture. A young man is covering a young buffalo with the help of a gunny bag. ‘What for it is?’ I ask. “Oh! It is very cold in the night outside, just to protect the young buffalo’, the young man answers. Looking at my bewilderment he patiently explains, “We use sweaters, shawls, blankets and jerkins to protect ourselves from cold weather, this animal can’t do it herself, so I am just helping.” It was a very interesting scene. The love and care expressed by the young man for his animal was worth watching, it touched my heart.

After the meeting, there were number of invitations to visit their homes. During the round in the village, I noticed all young animals were protected. See the goat here? She is wearing an old shirt. Some goats were wearing woolen sweaters. All young animals were covered with so colorful clothes, that it reminded me of a kindergarten. A number of children around us were smiling and laughing, I was capturing them in my digicam and showing those snaps to them ... which made them laugh loudly.......women were talking, men were discussing.... someone offered us amla laddu - sweets prepared by processing Indian gooseberry....


There was so much happiness and peace around. And Oh! Such a humane relationship these simple people have with their animals. Felt vary happy to see this love, care and concern and thousands of smiles.... Still carry the happiness with me...

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