The School Near Babiyar - 1

But two people would come when I was there, and they would come around 7:00 p.m.! One was a lad about 12 to 13 years old and the other was his father. They would bring me dinner, which consisted of four or five chappathis made with mustard oil and sometimes I would get a leafy vegetable to go with it, but many times I remember having eaten the chappathis with salt and onions or with chillies. Once those two returned, I would spend the rest of the night alone.

When I came on a camp shift away from Okhalkhanda, I actually intended to stay at some house in Pokri Pher. But on arriving there around 6:30 p.m., I was told that there was no suitable accommodation in anyone’s house. I was shown a small dingy room but it was so poorly ventilated and full of rat turd that I just did not feel like staying in that room. The villagers informed me that there was a small two-roomed primary school at the crest of the hill-slope where I could stay if I chose to, as the school was closed for vacations. They said I would need the permission of the headmaster who stayed at Babiyar, about one kilometer from the school in a WNW direction. They however cautioned that the place is very solitary and that just behind the school the villagers had attempted to build a panchayat ghar, which was abandoned as the place was haunted.

I preferred to consider the school as a place where I may put up for about two weeks stay. Accompanied by two or three villagers, as it was already dark by then, I passed by the school, which had two rooms – one of which had a door that was locked with an iron chain and the other room had no door as the room was quite empty. The place looked quite clean and I decided to camp in the school. We sought the permission of the head-master, who gave it rather willingly and I received the keys to the room with the door that was locked.

On entering the room and on lighting up a candle, I found a blackboard, one or two shelves with various books and charts, an old wooden table, a very heavy wooden chair and many other sundry items among which there was a broom. I thanked the other villagers who had come there with me and wished them goodnight after informing them that I would need a young boy who was familiar with various villages in the vicinity and lead me along various known routes and paths. Promising to send me a boy the next morning, the villagers left.

I swept the room clean with the broom and unpacked my rucksack and sleeping bag. Unfortunately the door did not have a bolt from inside and there was no way to securely latch it from inside. I hence decided to close the door and place the heavy wooden chair against it after loading it further with my rucksack and other items. I do not remember if I ate that night or not, but having felt quite exhausted, I spread a durrie and my sleeping bag over it and tried to sleep.

(To be continued …)