We are on our way to our 16th location as I write
this. We are aboard a very dirty and unkempt Puri – Guwahati Express. Our
previous seat-holders have left their peanut-shells on the floor for us to admire.
They have also clogged the washbasin with a certain brown coloured liquid. We hope
it is nothing but pan spittle. There is an electric panel on top that does not
have a lid. We have pictures to prove all of this if anyone is interested in
suing the railways.
Apart from this, we have absolutely nothing to complain of. We
left Mumbai on the tenth of last month and have since successfully planted –
a) Saplings in schools in 15 locations.
b) Ideas in the minds of over 1510 students.
In fact, we’ve got the last two remaining seats on the train
from Agra to Patna. We’ve found complete strangers helping us, giving us lifts,
sharing their food with us. We have people being nice to us everywhere.
Maybe it is because of what we are doing. It could also be
because people remember us in their prayers.
We know our friends in Pune do. Our parents do. The principal of the school
we visited in Manali prayed for us in the school assembly, with attachments
from over 250 of their students.
When young Nepalis meet their elders, they do a mini bow
such that the top of their head is right in front of the elder. The elder then
taps lightly on the head as a form of blessing. The entire sight is amusing to
an outsider but most of them follow this tradition with respectful camaraderie.
We had just finished planting in the school in Gangtok. As is
routine, I cleaned Matters (our digging tool) and was wrapping it when our
hostess (who is also the English teacher in the school) Mrs. Pradhan quietly
walked up to the two saplings and tapped them on their topmost branches,
silently saying, “Grow well, grow well.”
I’m sure those kids will do well in class.
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