Village Mela -- 4 days of filming at Khass Kudoan

(my neighbor, taken by Sanjeev)

Why did I stick this picture here? Well, I thought it was more interesting and eye catching than some mountains. So, six students and I were graciously allowed the day off (thank you, high school principal!!!) to go to the village mela which occurred on Friday April 18. Only the young and physically fit attended the mela due to the strenous hike. In these 2 weeks, there are melas everywhere, but this mela at the top of the hill is the biggest for our villages, because of its central location. Boys and girls can meet here and see if they like each other.

(migration up towards the mela)
(people hiking up)

(95% there, it's at the top of the peak)

It took us maybe 2-3 hours to hike up. The students were real troopers and took turns carrying the camera up, until Sanjeev's brother took over. I wish I had taken a picture, but K and I joke about her "racing against" an old hunchbacked lady with a cane. The latter won.

At melas, you bring lots of money to buy jewelry, toys, and snacks. My students knew exactly what to do, and began shopping immediately. The great thing about Sanjeev is that whenever he is present, he becomes the director and cinematographer. He gave me the bag and took the video camera, and said, "See you later!" Cool!

(man selling bangles)
(students shopping)

("Ha ha, we like spending money!")

This is the first time in my life that I've received blantant and prolonged stares because of my skin color and/or my clothes. A small crowd would form just to watch me say hi to someone. I can say, I didn't like that kind of attention, even though it was just fascination. People may have also been confused about what country I am from too -- USA or China??? hmm... Now I know how my caucasian friends sort of feel here. But even my Indian Woodstock students were getting some curious stares, because what kind of non-local would hike all the way up here?

(the tourist)

(Sanjeev filming -- red sweater holding camera above his head)

Luckily, some of my pals from Sarab Talla came and rescued us, and took us around.

(our buddies from Sarab Talla)

And then we rested. K and A had purchased some nail polish and gave some manicures to our friends. Some other students napped.

(Rupali getting her nails done)
(a bystander)

(kids watching N and W sleep)

The Woodstock gang got too tired and headed back to Khass Kudoan where we were staying. Meanwhile, Sanjeev hung out and socialized at the mela. Here are some pictures he took:

(Sanjeev's blood and non-blood brothers chillin')

(Sanjeev's family and friends)

(some drumming dudes)

The women in the family farm for hours each day, and return to cook meals for everyone. I don't know how they do it! Guests eat first, and then the woman eats after everyone has finished.

(yummy! -- rice, dal, sub-z)

The next day Saturday, we had a complete day of filming. The activity of the day was wheat harvesting -- plowing, cutting, "stomping", sifting, and separating.

(filming the stages of wheat harvesting)

(cows stomping down the wheat)

(herding in style)

(using wind and gravity to separate)

And while we hung around, with just filming and relaxing to do, everyone else continued with their daily lives.

(us drinking chai)
(Sanjeev's sister cooking)(Sanjeev's uncle making rope from tree bark)

(Sanjeev's maybe Grandpa's brother smoking huka)

During all this time, we interviewed as many people as possible: two children, an old man, a person who works with the forest department, a villager who had moved to Delhi, an old woman, a farmer man, etc. The general theme was that people had no choice but to move out of the village because of economic reasons. Ideally, they would send one brother to the city and have one stay in the village to farm and keep the house. People really liked village life and hoped that once they moved to the city, they would be able to move back to the village when financially possible.

Our last filming of the day consisted of stable scenes, where Sanjeev's Aunt milked a buffalo.

(everyone behind the camera, listening to sounds of milking)
(K is cool.)

(Auntie braiding Neha's curly hair.)
(Uncle and Auntie)
(Everyone is acting cool. Like totally.)