A bus ride (11.30 am)
This morning was colder than usual. We avoided tea outside, opted for breakfast in the room, and snuggled in bed till it was time to leave. Where?
You remember Shankar Dev, the folk singer who was filming here? They had invited us to their house and we decided to take them up on it. We would visit them from 12.00-1.00 pm. That was the plan.
So we were up on the road, slowly walking uphill towards Pahnalla village which was 3 kms away. We were sure that some bus would pass us, and sure enough, very soon a rickety private bus did.
The house (12.15 pm)
As we descended from the bus, we found one of the daughters waving to us. A few rustic steps up, and we were standing in front of an unexpectedly well-built pukka house.
Ramdei, Shankar's wife, welcomed us effusively. The daughters milled about. The grandfather gave us a gap-toothed smile. We were inside the building that had a central hall, two bedrooms and two sitting rooms, majlis style. While we relaxed with some lemon tea, Ramdei started persuading us to stay for lunch. "Aap logo ke liye siddu banaya, ji. Khana to parega", she said. Siddu? We looked at each other, and Panna called up the resort to cancel our lunch order.
When the music video was being shot at the resort, Panna had already become friendly with Ramdei. But at her own home, she was another level altogether - a warm, no-nonsense woman who genuinely wanted to make us happy.
Two marriages
Shankar joined us soon. He had been working on their mustard plantation but had broken off because there were guests in the house (viz us). He was also very warm and very simple, thinking of the smallest things for our comfort - a fatter cushion here, an extra slipper there. The daughters were getting a continuous series of tasks from both parents. They were even helping out in the siddu preparation, both having learnt to cook when they were 12 years of age.
I don't know how, maybe while discussing cultural similarities, we started comparing marriage rituals. While Shankar went to get his marriage album, I pulled out ours on our phone. Ramdei, bless her, introduced us to each and every member of their household. She and Panna were like besties, giggling over their young avatars.
We also learnt that the bride wears a pattu, which is a drape around the body (see Panna's pic later) and a toka around her wrist, which is a wide flat silver bangle. Married women also wear a thippu, a scarf, on her head.
Shankar roasts some corn
While the ladies repaired to the kitchen to prepare the siddu, we three men sat in the front yard in the sun, contemplating the infinite. Additionally, Shankar was roasting some makai for us. He had just taken up the post of the secretary to the village panchayat, and hoped that their combined income (Ramdei also worked) would enable them to build another floor. I felt Ramdei's clear-headedness was the greater strength in the slow but steady advances they were making in life, from the mud-and-wood house that his father had built, visible up the hill, to this modern house, spacious and decorated in very good taste.
People here are generally decent farmers, including Shankar. They mostly grow their own vegetables. Additionally, his father was an accomplished carpenter and mason, and had single handedly built their earlier house.
The Kullu Dussehra festival
While we sat in the front yard, a little higher than the road, we could hear drums and bugles approaching. "The devatas are going to Kullu", said Shankar.
We came to know of the Kullu festival just a few days ago. Kullu does not celebrate navratri, but celebrates Dussehra for a week, in this case from 21-27 October. By 21st Oct, village deities from all around Kullu are carried on foot to the Dussehra grounds. On 21st, the chariot of Raghunathji will be pulled in the field, declaring Dussehra open. After one week, the deities are returned to their villages. We plan to be there tomorrow, let's see.
So, in front of us, four devatas passed on the way to Kullu - Saptarishi, Rupanpal, Than and Bir. Many people who would not be going to Kullu, donated some money to the people carrying the devatas
The siddu meal (2.30 pm)
We had had siddu earlier at Nirvana AirBnB and had given the item 5/10 - we did not want to try again really. But this home-made siddu drew 10/10. Whereas the earlier one had been pasty, this one was fluffy and light, and the accompanying walnut chutney, japani pickle, eggplant pickle and ghee made for a superb meal. I had two of them, can you believe it? On top of that, Ramdei was bemoaning the fact that she could not feed us bhalla (something like mehdu vada). Thank God she couldn't.
The cold descends (4.00 pm)
Pahnalla happens to be a deeper valley. Sunlight pops in at 10.00 am and pops out by 4.00 pm, and immediately the temperature drops by 3-4°C. And if you are not in woollens (like we were not, expecting to have left three hours ago), you might start to vibrate gently. While Ramdei was trying to drape Panna in a pattu, I wistfully watched buses come, turn around and start back. After she had pushed us to a 4.30 pm slot, Ramdei happily placed a foot warmer near us, fed us hot lemon tea, gifted Panna a thippu while Shankar crowned me with a topi. Then, wrapped in a warm farewell, we boarded the bus back.
What do we love in the hills? Nature of course. But in this slow travel, we discovered that the nature of the pahadi people is equally lovable, if not more. Ramdei and Shankar had opened their home and hearts to us, and we spent an otherwise cold day in their incredible warmth. I hope they remember us with as much affection as we will remember them with.
The last fire (7.00 pm)
Anandgram had offered us a bonfire, and we took them up this evening. The weather was pleasantly cold, village lights on the hillside opposite were twinkling, and the bonfire had been set up just opposite our room. We spent a pleasant hour in its warmth. Somehow, flickering flames have as much mesmerizing power as waves breaking on the beach. Passing time just staring at flames is perhaps an evening activity inherited from cavemen.
Till tomorrow, cheerio!
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