Those were rainy days. Me with my 5-6 friends went for a trek on small village in the rugged mountains of Sahyadri in India. It's height from sea level is near about 2690-2710 feet. We started very early in the morning. Trek was going on very enjoying. But we missed the road (for some time) to reach at the peak of that hill and 'the one day trek' became of two days trek. We had to stay on that peak for the whole night. There was a very small village which was made up of near about 20 houses, (we can say them huts.)
We finished all our food during
the whole day and we all got hungry by the night. We heard, those villagers
used to arrange dinner for trekkers in very low charges. But we have to give
such idea to them when we start the trek. Yaah! at the bottom of that hill
there was a small 'Tapari of Tea', with owner of that we can send our message
to the villagers. But we were staying accidently, so even we didn't know about
our dinner.
Two of among us, knocked a door
of a hut, the door was open by a person, we saw four children badly crying for
food, their mother was about to start serving the prepared food. We told our
problem of dinner. The man fixed the cost of dinner, then he mumbled something
to that lady & he took those children out forcefully. We were told to sit
in front yard which was covered by the roof made up of joined pieces of quite
hard plastic bags. The lady served the food to us. That food was quite less,
but we managed that, because that was our mistake, we were unexpected guests
for them.
We were too tired so we slept on
the same place. All of us were sleeping, that man also slept in the same yard, but
I was thinking about that family. We came unexpectedly; they give their whole
dinner to us. When the door was getting opened, those children were just crying
for the food, and now those were also sleeping like us. What did that man gave
them to eat? Is there any another shop of readymade food? Or what else? I was
restless to get the answer of this. I was unable to sleep. Finally I got up
& I disturbed that man in his sleep unknowingly. I ask about chaos in my
mind. After getting answer I couldn't sleep for the rest of night.
That man told "I gave 'wild
banana' to my children. We believe that it kills the hunger. I didn't have any
option, If I didn't do this, we had to prepare more food & we didn't have
that much ingredients in home, and not money too, to buy those, also not shop
nearer for that. We can earn a bit little from you, by doing this. There are very
few earning sources for us while living in such isolated rural place."
Today I kept my children hungry but tomorrow I can give them at least a new chalk
for their study, Or buy some fuel for stove, or buy some medicines, or some
food, or,…or…!"
(In this picture images around
the circle means our group is taking dinner in yard (top view), and that is the family
with their house. The whole group of images is surrounded by the shape of misty
eye, which shows the same feeling of their minds.)
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