Coming from a defence background, I have often found it easy to move to new places, interact with people from different regions with ease, and call any place my home for the next year or so. But the key ingredient to this easier said than done transition includes people. Always. I am some three thousand kilometres away from my family. I have never cooked for myself before, let alone other people. The first unplanned rains of Bhuj in the month of October decided to bless my new house with flooded water (the next step was to panic and call the local police for help, obviously). The climate here has already troubled… and I am yet to experience summers here.
Early Days
While some of my co-fellows in Bhuj were struggling to find an accommodation at the earliest, I was ordering pizzas from the comfort of SETU Abhiyan’s office, where I was put up. I found a support system in SETU even before I joined the organization as a fellow. The constant communication and assurance from the team was a huge relief – something I came to appreciate even more later on, especially in the presence of bajra rotlas in the office.
I arrived here with five of my other co-fellows. As our train journey ended, I was about to embark on a wonderful, new journey with these people. With a collective sense of nervousness and excitement, all of us bid farewell to each at the train station, deciding to meet again in a short while for breakfast.
While I was extremely grateful to be picked up in a car sent by SETU , when the rest had to opt for other modes of transportation, the road from the railway station to the interiors of Bhuj can make one question their decision to opt for a fellowship here. But I was not alone in my car ride. I had Jagriti with me – my co-fellow placed in Rapar with Gram Swaraj Sangh (GSS). You may make assumptions about how sweet and calming her presence would have felt to me through this picture.
First Impressions And Assumptions
There is a café like place close to my office called Tea & Talk. That is where the plan for breakfast was finalized. And barring one fellow, whom I will come to later, we all met. As someone who has travelled quite a bit in my life, I was hesitant to complaint on my first day here. I felt like I hadn’t earned the right to form opinions about the place when I hadn’t even given it a chance. But my co-fellows weren’t hesitating.
Oof, what a sigh of relief! We all felt the same way, together! We began by complaining about the weather, until we reached a point to criticize the cost of the tea we were having. What a wonderful Tea & Talk session it was! I went back into my office feeling slightly better about myself and more grateful about the organization I was placed in. The next few days were spent in rooms full of people with a lot of experience, none of which I could fully comprehend.
The next couple of weeks were all about finding accommodation for ourselves, learning how to say “I do not know/speak Gujarati” in Gujarati (you say “Manne Gujarati nathi avarthi”), and in making ourselves comfortable with Gujarati people and Gujarati cows. An interesting thing about non profits in Bhuj is that all of them often collaborate with each other across various themes of work. You may think of all the organizations as members of a family tree.
Consequently, it was easy for us co-fellows to make associations and vent out all that we were struggling with, given that we were all placed in one family-like setup. The waters of Hamirsar lake are witness to all the lovely evenings we spent there appreciating and almost-gossiping about the many, many nuances that Bhuj offers to an outsider.
As I was beginning to get used to the place, Bhuj struck me with a weird kind of warm weather that, being accustomed to the weather of Shillong, I was not used to. And I fell sick. Before coming to Gujarat, I looked to attending Navratris here. I imagined myself playing garba in all the colourful ghagras that I could find. But the timing of my sickness coincided with my plans of having my first Navratri here. I surely couldn’t go out to play garba when I was struggling to eat and sleep na?
The Beginning Of The Beginning
I am a Bengali. And I have celebrated more Durga Pujas in my life than any Navratri season. It was the eighth day of a festival about to end in the next two days. By then, I had started feeling a bit better but was still unsure if I could go anywhere to experience either version of the same festival. Then called Shounak, the other co-fellow placed in Hunnarshala, who couldn’t make it to our breakfast plan on our first day here.
Shounak, too, is a Bengali. He called me up and asked if I would like to join him for bhog at the Puja pandal. And I joined him. And I would like to believe that saying yes to his kind invitation really changed the course of my experience I was to have in Bhuj in the coming months.
I reached the Puja pandal and felt super grateful upon seeing a familiar face after days of being stuck in my house. As part of our Puja-festivities-experience, we then went for a bad movie. I was happy.
Do you know who else is a Bengali? And who else fell sick around the same time? Sananda. So, I called her in the evening to the Puja pandal. What’s funny about my friendship with Sananda is that throughout our induction period, I do not remember talking to her. She was simply my dance partner. Ever since Bhuj though, she has become my safe space.
Sananda works at Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS). At the Puja pandal itself, I met other KMVS employees. Over time, two of these employees in particular, who happen to share a house with Shounak, were to become one of my closest companions in Bhuj. As I sat there, watching young girls doing garba on Bengali music, I finally felt at ease. I was home.
Since Then …
A lot of things have changed since then. My other co-fellows, Sushangi and Siddhant, are no longer placed in Bhuj. They were the first ones I invited over to see my house when I first rented the place. We then went on to eat at a dosa place that seemed to not arrive. Upon reaching, Sushangi said that she won’t be eating much … she devoured the dosas. The three of us then went on to talk about so many things that we lost track of time.
Before Siddhant left, Sushangi and I went to see him off at the railway station. Sushangi happened to live with Sananda before she left. I appreciated Sushangi’s happy face while having dahi, and Sananda’s cooking a bit more each time I went to their place. Renting out a house was fine, but calling them over to see the place is what truly excited me. I wonder if I would’ve felt the same if I didn’t have people like them to share my excitement them.
Since then, Sananda and I also have claimed stake at Shounak’s place. And what a delight! The memory of Shounak teaching me how to cut vegetables using a blunt knife is still fresh in my mind. We even celebrated Diwali at his house! The other two KMVS employees have also made peace with our existence. With so many people in the house, what a sweet fun it has been to cook meals together. As I walk around the house, I hear Shounak’s singing from corner, and Sananda’s laughter in another.
Enjoying The Journey
But there is an important person I am yet to mention; the one who makes SETU fun for me. Udhisha, now an India Fellow alumni, has made working in SETU so much easier for me. In fact, I don’t even feel like it’s work anymore. She took me to Noorani for the first time. Since the, she has become my Food Buddy. By the way, did you know that the Domino’s joint here has only “Pure-Veg” options? BLASPHEMOUS! Anyway, we have often found ourselves trying out different kinds of snacks and (non-alcoholic) drinks here.
We have shared our anxieties with each other. And we have also discussed about all that is happening in the world. She will be leaving soon. But we have taken up a lot of space in each other’s phone gallery, and also in our hearts.
I now live in a very pretty house. And I received a lot of help while setting up the place I now call my home. I am learning how to cook, and to effectively manage my time here, amongst other things. Despite the tiny challenges, I have grown to like the place. And all of the credit goes to the people here. We are nearing the six-month mark. And it fills me with joy when I say that I never felt lonely in Bhuj. There’s an abundance of love and laughter.
This transition would have been much more difficult if I didn’t have these people by my side. I always have someone, and I hope it stays that way. Not a table for one, but a table for … many, please?
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