10/01/2015

We were all set to usher in the New Year, after a hectic term. Our last end term exam ended on 31st afternoon post which our section was all set to have an EO quiz. We piled into the exam room at 1:10 p.m., only to be greeted with SM Quiz papers which were clearly intended for some other purpose. After about twenty minutes of confusion, the correct papers were arranged and most of us spent exactly 5 minutes filling in the paper and then rushing out, to head home, to head out or to go sleep.
We headed out for lunch and got back late in the evening and planned to head to the party being held on campus, courtesy the Cultural Committee. The theme for the evening was to be Black & White; it was supposed to be a masquerade party but I spotted exactly zero people with masks on including the Cultural Committee members themselves. The DJ continued playing until 3:30 a.m. and it was only after that that I finally left the dance floor. It was a great way to usher in the New Year, surrounded by friends, a great atmosphere and some music.
There were another two days to kill in Indore until we were to leave for our RIP on 3rd evening. Two new cafés – the popular chain Mocha and an independent coffee place called Café Square- had recently opened in Indore. We visited Mocha on 1st evening and Café Square the next day.
Later in the evening, we picked up medication, mosquito-repellent cream and some random snacks in preparation for our trip.
Our trip began at around 4 p.m. on the evening of 3rd January, when we left campus, headed for the railway station. We were to make our way to Dindori district, as part of our Rural Immersion Programme which is a compulsory part of the 1st year of the PGP Programme, here at IIM-Indore.
It’s a 12-hour train ride from Indore to Jabalpur and we got there at around 6:30 a.m. on 4th January.
We got ourselves (there were 9 of us) a large cab with an overhead carrier for all our luggage (which wasn’t much, everyone had packed light!) to Dindori. We got to Dindori close to mid-day, via pakodas, jalebis and parathas. Once there, we met the district coordinator for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a pleasant, talkative lady who seemed happy to have us there. We were to verify the ODF (Open Defecation Free) claim in Dindori district- 4 of 7 blocks had been declared ODF- a survey including physical verification was to be conducted over the span of a week. The same task was being carried out by other groups of students in other districts of Madhya Pradesh.
We headed to the nearby Government Rest House to freshen up before meeting the Collector of the district who was a much-loved lady- all the employees in the district had only good things to say about her. After, we met the CAO who was very cheerful, welcoming and advised us to get the work done efficiently and quickly, for if we had time left over, there was some wonderful sightseeing in store- they’d even prepared us an itinerary and everything!
Right after lunch at a close-by restaurant, we split into 2 groups of 4 and 5 people respectively and headed out to two separate GP’s (Gram Panchayats). MerMal- the GP we went to had two villages- Tipariya and Pipariya. We walked around the expanse of the villages, checking for toilets, asking questions about their usage and about hand-washing habits. All the households in both villages had toilets that had been constructed on an identical pattern- cemented walls and roof and trademark blue metal doors with a wash-basin on the outside. Nearly 90% of the toilets were being used on a regular basis, and hand-washing was a common practice after defecation- red Lifebuoy bars were everywhere. The harder part of the operation has been changing mind-sets- about indoor or closed toilets being unhygienic and the real need to eliminate open defecation. So far, at least in Dindori, the team has done a good job.
The schools in the GP- including the 2 Anganwadis, 2 Primary schools and a Middle school- all had indoor toilets, with separate washrooms for girls and boys.
Once we were done visiting the households, the head of the GP insisted that we stay for dinner. We got to eat cauliflower that had just been plucked from one of the household gardens, masoor dal which is grown in the region, hot puris and rice. I can still taste the food as I write this!
Right as we finished dinner, we walked out of the building and happened to glance skyward. And that single glance just morphed into an unending gaze. As far as the eye could see, there were countless stars- big, small, twinkling, smiling. The air was still, on a cloudless night. I have no recollection of how long we stood there, just looking, wanting to capture that sight into memory, forever. It was hauntingly beautiful- a sight that city life just does not allow.
From there we headed to the Government Rest House at Shahpura, another block in Dindori district- we’d been at the district headquarters and its surrounding villages in the day.
After a restful sleep on a chilly winter night, we awoke to a warm sun in the sky at around 9:30 a.m on Tuesday aka 5th January. We then left for the villages in the Shahpura area after a nice breakfast of piping hot parathas. We roamed the lanes of Ghughuwa and Bansa- one thing that I couldn’t help noticing about the whole area was the excellent condition of the roads. A lot of them had been constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Yojna (Prime Minister’s Scheme) - even the small lanes between the houses were paved, caked with cow dung and had not an inch of uncleanliness about them.
Here, at the Anganwadi, an immunization programme for new-borns was being held- expecting mothers were also called in for a talk on pre and post-natal care and were handed packets of nutritious food mix to feed young infants.
One of the households we visited had a colourful talking parrot in a cage, right at the entrance- it kept chanting ‘Mitthu’- presumably its name that it has heard repeatedly. The crops in the region include wheat, masoor dal, chana and seasonal vegetables that are mainly grown for personal consumption.
After visiting the households in both villages, we headed to Ghughuwa National Fossil Park, which we were told is the only of its kind in the country and one of the two in Asia. There was a Fossil Museum which had tree fossils on display. The area where Ghughuwa now lies used to be the coast by what is now the Arabian sea- a large excavation of tree fossils was undertaken here and the Fossil Park allows you to walk through a lightly forested area with mounds of different fossils on display at intervals. A lot of fossilized tree trunks and pieces still lie in or on the ground. Tree fossils are hard, almost like rock but differently textured. It was a very different experience, definitely not one that we’d anticipated (clearly, this Fossil Park is both under-rated and not popular enough!).
After this we had delicious lunch that was prepared in the Forest Canteen on the same campus. We then sat on some swings near the aforementioned Canteen, waiting on the other group to join us after their survey was done.

By late evening, we were on our way back where we stopped for dinner at a Dhaba- the same one we ate breakfast at, earlier the same morning- this dhaba was to be our regular haunt for the remainder of the week for both breakfast en route to our destination for the day and again for dinner on our way back to the rest house.

A mid-week break from surveying toilets was in order on Wednesday. A trip had been arranged to a nearby waterfall. We were at the waterfall a little after mid-day and spent a few hours dipping our feet in the river and watching the fall. Heck, I even jumped across the river to the other side and had more than my fair share of water for the day. A few hours later, we headed to a house in a nearby village- this was entirely a tribal area and the other group had stopped by a group of the Bastar tribes on their way. The house was large and presumably belonged to some affluent individuals. We were served spicy chicken curry with rice and rotis for lunch. The sole vegetarian in our group watched us slurp away as she picked on some dal-rice.
We got back to the rest-house via our dhaba by late evening.
Early on Thursday morning, we made our way to the district headquarters i.e. Zila Panchayat ,Dindori. We met both the district coordinator and the CAO and updated them about our findings. We then settled around a large table at the Dindori Rest House and got all of the paperwork in order. All registration numbers and data were provided to us by the administration.
By late evening, we were finally done and headed back post a dinner stop.
Since our work was almost entirely complete, we got to go out sightseeing on Friday. Narmada river originates close by, at Amarkantak. It was a short drive to Amarkantak where we first visited Kapil Dhara- a small flow of water off a high cliff that counts as a waterfall. Apparently it is a large gush during the rainy season. Here, we got a nice group picture clicked and printed in hard copy for keepsake! Post this, there were two temples to visit- one at the spot where River Son originates and another where Ma Narmada originates. We were able to spot River Son flowing down the hill but the structure at the Narmada origin was too elaborate to allow for a viewing of the river in its raw form. Finally, we made a stop at a series of large, elaborate Jain temples which were still under construction.
After a brief meeting with the officials, we left for Jabalpur around mid-day on 9th morning. We headed straight to Bhedaghat which is about 25 k.m. from Jabalpur. Bedhaghat is famous for having the Narmada flow through, cutting a gorgeous valley into the marble rock. We walked through a strategically located market that was selling mostly local handicrafts and munchies to the spot where the Dhuaadhaar Falls were. The falls are aptly named, for a large amount of water, crashes hard against the underlying flow over a large rocky cliff, hard enough to emanate in splashes that resemble a cloud of smoke. We took another picture (printed in hard-copy of course!) to add to more memories.
After that, we gazed at the handicrafts once more, taking in the delicately shaped marble-ware, everything from agarbati stands and earring to large statues and household decoration.
We then headed to the boating area where marble rocks in varied colour stand tall against calm-flowing water. We got ourselves on a boat- large row boats- and enjoyed an hour on the water, with the company of our very entertaining guide who made up stories about everything from the colour of the marble to their shape- the best part was that they all rhymed, and fit in perfect sync with our mood and the surroundings. The marble varied in colour from milky white to pink, creamy white and even black! We were informed that on full moon nights, boating is made available late into the night! The marble must look mesmerizing under the cooling warmth of the milky moon light.
We then headed to Jablapur city where we had a nice dinner at a ‘must-visit’ predominantly non-vegetarian restaurant. We then got on our train, our bodies tired, our minds full of memories and our hearts filled with a deep resonating peace that seeks to remain unparalleled for a time to come.