Towards the end of a very quiet day, Raj took me on a drive around some of the local villages. People were out in the fields harvesting their rice crops and laying the cut plants on top of the stubble in neat squares to dry before milling. The next step will be spreading it out on clean ground and harnessing their cattle to walk over it and crush it so the grains are released. We saw plenty of children, some doing chores and others just playing. Many of them returned my waves shouting “Bye!”. One even shouted “Ta-ta” (I’ve not heard that in a long time). We passed nursery schools and primary schools, then a newly built secondary school with a small building attached where the girls can board.
The evening had a lovely warm glow about it as we arrived back in camp. But this was quickly replaced by cloud, followed by lightning and claps of thunder. We ate dinner in the house in a downpour.
I wonder how the drying rice fared?
One Anne and Her Dog 