Saas-bahu ka live episode

There are many memorable incidents one gets to see during field visits, and government meetings. Last week, I toured 350 km in one day visiting 14 villages. And let me tell you, in the morning, after breakfast, your heart might still beat for rural India and the poor beneficiaries. You might listen to them complain endlessly about the government not providing this and not providing that, but by the end of the day when your legs are tired from all the walking and your back hurts from sitting in a vehicle the entire day, you do not feel like listening to any more BS. And that’s what happens with me. By the time I reached the last village, I had stopped listening to all the begging and complaining. My mind started going off to my nice place. And that’s when it happened…..

An old woman was bitching about all the promises made by the government and still not delivering them, when, I guess her bahu, stepped in and took over the conversation. The old woman was aghast by at being cut off by her bahu like this. So she stepped behind her, and with her stick made mocking gestures as if she was going to hit her on the head. The bahu took no notice of this and continued her rambling, but the other villagers were enjoying this saas-bahu episode unfolding in front of them. The saas, encouraged by the attention she was getting, swung her stick back and this time with unimaginable speed swung it towards her bahu’s butt. But at the last moment she could not hold it back and the stick hit its mark with the magnificent force. The bahu was speechless and so were the saas and others. It looked as if the saas would have a stroke at that moment. Although, some of the villagers stood speechless, some others, having the sensitivity of a log of wood, burst out laughing. I could not laugh out loud because I am the Project Manager, but my drowsiness had completely vanished. I love these field visits…

Oh, and in the governing body meeting last week, an MLA advised a forest official that if the Forest Deptt has permission to build roads of only 2.5 km, and if a 10 km road is needed, then why doesn’t the Deptt build 4 such roads.

I love such moments (however chhote chhote they may be)…………but I hate my life……

Madam is coming.....

Tuesday came and tuesday went. All that was left with me was this stinging neck ache caused due to sleeping on the couch in the field office the previous night. "Madam is coming!! Madam is coming", was all I got to hear the entire last week. And it wasnt the good kind of coming.... It meant that she was going to come to our field office in Mannanur, District Mahbubnagar, Andhra Pradesh.

So, as expected, everyone was excited, right from the wage seeker to the press to the Project Officer. And because she was coming for a special review of NREGS, that meant that the burden of welcoming her and making arrangements for her visit would invariably land on my shoulders.

After reaching the field office, I made my way to the school meeting hall where the meeting would be conducted the next day. The hall was actually the dormitory of thirty 5th standard students who were made to sleep outside in the night because "Madam was coming...".

As for me, my accomodation for the night was the field office with a couch that killed my back during the night and a toilet worse than the ones in our prisons.

I was also told to arrange a chhota PA system. What turned out the next day morning were these humongous speakers which could blow apart the entire school building if set at the proper volume. The VIP meals for 'Madam', Project officer, and other important people (like myself) were worse than the meals arranged by the school cooks for the regular staff who seemed more content than the important people after lunch.

Finally, news came that THE Madam is not coming, some other Madam is coming. And everybody heaved a sigh of relief (some am sure, broke some pent up wind too). The meeting went off as usual with the people from Hyderabad accusing the field staff of working irresponsibly, while the field staff complaining to me that the people in Hyderabad do not perform their functions at time. Caught in the middle was me, the lonely Project Manager (who had not signed up for all this crap) only thinking about the night when I would get to sleep on my loving bed in Sundipenta..........