10 days at #ChaitanyaKul Arrival... Travelling 8 km east from Mau city towards Baliya you will stumble upon Adari village , and upon entering notice immediately the minarets of its many mosques sticking out in green and white into the cloud of dust that carelessly hugs the narrow dry streets. We , my dear friend Manoj and I, arrived late in the night at the village, with our simple sack like luggages testing us in the lonely but walk from the bypass road to the campus. Delhi to Varanasi was covered by the train in which we sat huddled close together on the floor finding no room to unfold and sleep. The Holi festival was 2 days away and the crowd that filled in at every platform was a testimony to the local love for the festival in UP and Bihar. Arriving at Varanasi we decided against the cramped train travel and walked across to the bus stand, the already crowded last bus to Mau vanquished our cozy dream of covering the last stretch of the journey comfortably reclined in our seats and staring out the window at the rapidly passing landscape. We weren't going back to the choker train no matter what , so we took the only wise choice left us and boarded a bus to Ghazipur city , halfway between Varanasi and Mau. The story of the bus journey to Ghazipur is vividly about hitting my head against the low roof and Manoj finding a seat which he repeatedly kept offering to me as the sky outside got darker. That Ghazipur bus stand and Mau bypass is a long distance apart is what we realized in our baggage burdened walk between the two. Fortunately a crowd was already waiting for transport to Mau and we joined the group. No bus showed up for the half and hour that we waited there before pouncing on an empty tempo ( large autorickshaw ) that was passing by. 10 people filled in immediately almost jumping over one another in their haste and the opportunistic driver hiked the price to triple the fare per passenger. The 40 kms of bumpy ride to Mau late in the night in a tempo with the cold air blowing in through the large front openings is one of the unforgettable incidents of the colourful journey. Adari village being but 8 km from Mau we were contemplating covering the distance on foot. Thanks to an already waiting tempo our potentially dangerous plan of night walk in an unknown corner of east UP was cancelled. Satyam and Ritik (another dear friend who is an active and much loved participant at Chaitanya Kul) were sitting on a yellow canvas sheet in the center of the long stretch of brick flooring that covered the 8 to 9 metres between the junk covered gates and the living rooms. Our arrival surprised them as they expected us later in the night , the children surrounding the two chachas were happy with us newcomers and greeted us with excitement filled fumbling.
March 11, 2018
By the pen of Sawan Suhana
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