The Field beckons...

Picture this.

Waiting at New Delhi station for a train that finally leaves at 1 a.m.
A small station called Meghnagar next morning, no sign of any clouds though.
16 kilometres away lies Jhabua, the most backward tribal district in Madhya Pradesh.
Or so the statistics say, on paper at least.

I check into a hotel called M2, meet foreigners in orange jumpsuits.
Working for a gas plant nearby - that explains the Indian Chinese on the menu.
Quick breakfast of 'poha' and 'jalebi' at the bus stand and we hit the road.
10 villages await.

The field team is from the local Bhil community. Animators, as they are called.
I sense them sizing me up, a strange mix of the hostile and the subservient.
The outsider in me has long ceased to be apologetic about the differences.
Even as the insider longs to claim space, be accepted, warts and all.

The topography is unfamiliar. The terrain is hilly.
l hear the women speak of how far they travel each day for water.
The hamlets are now separated by maize fields - the crops growing so high that you cannot see beyond.
We walk on, stopping occasionally to meet the groups - those that have been organised at short notice.

The women congregate wherever they can. Whenever they can.
In 'ghoongat', their voices ring loud and clear as they speak of their lives.
Working almost 16 hours a day - at home and on the field.
With no food security or assured means of employment, it seems such a sham to speak of literacy and rights.

So I talk instead of where I come from, what my dreams are.
I make my personal motives as clear as I can. Tell them that professionally, I'm here to stay awhile.
And that there are no promises I come bearing, no services that we offer.
The response is mixed and muted - these are early days yet.

We talk of livelihood options. Of livestock rearing and organic farming.
Of watershed management and vermicompost. There is much more to be known.
The team reminds me that we need to head back - the area is unsafe post 5.
I wonder what that means for the women living here as I speed back to Jhabua myself.

The next few days pass in a blur. There are lists to make, data to verify and systems to install.
Every now and then, we encounter a human face to the story. Won't use that as fodder for these posts.
They serve as powerful reminders for the why and wherefore.
And I know that I will be returning for more.