Imagine this situation: you are traveling to a completely new place and do not know much about it. Then, you take a shared taxi to another place, which is also unfamiliar, in search of a hotel for the night. The weather is not in your favor. Finally, you reach this second new place, but it turns out to be a zero-network zone. You do not have cash, only Paytm, which is now useless due to no network. So, you decide to return to the place where you took the shared taxi.
On the way back, the taxi driver offers you a place to stay with his family instead of going to a hotel. He is a stranger. Will you say yes or no?
Well, I said yes. Of course, it was not an immediate yes; there were multiple rounds of him offering and multiple rounds of me refusing. But eventually, I found myself at his home that night with his family.
He called his wife on the way, who was out with the goats. His house was about 10 meters down the road. Before I could even open the car door, two kids came up to me, took my bags, and led me into the house: “Didi, chalo hum lekar chalte hain… is taraf… aaram se aana, barish hai, fisal jaoge.” They were his children, Sweety (a 10-year-old daughter) and Veer (a 6-year-old son).
Pic 2: Sweety and Veer with their pet dog (Sorry I forgot the name of the Pet)
Although I was almost convinced by his plan, there was still a trace of doubt and fear in my mind. But seeing Sweety and Veer welcoming me with such enthusiasm gave me a sense of comfort and safety.
It was a humble, all-in-one room house with brick walls, a mud floor, and a tin roof. There were two beds, one larger than the other. A small kitchen was set up in the same room, with a table serving as a platform, large utensil holders, many utensils, two plastic chairs, and a double LPG gas stove with a half-broken switchboard.
Adjacent to the room was a small thatched-roof space for their cattle. In front of the house were some interesting trees, apricot, kiwi, and almond, though none were ripe yet.
Suresh Bhaiya (the driver) went back to work after dropping me off and instructed his family to take care of me. As soon as I entered, his wife began cleaning the room, saying, “Ye log sab kuch faila ke rakhte hain, aap aao baitho.”
It was a small village (Devivagar) with around 7 to 8 households, located just 50 meters from the Gori Ganga River, which has a famous hot spring on its bank. As it was monsoon, the river looked beautiful from a distance but quite intimidating up close. The water was muddy, the current strong, almost like boiling water, and it felt as if different streams were competing with each other.
There was a small playground between the river and Suresh Bhaiya’s house. Soon, Sweety and Veer brought their friends to meet me. We played group games, but had to stop when it started raining again. We all ran back to the house, where Geeta Di (Suresh Bhaiya’s wife) was busy with evening chores.
I asked the kids if anyone had ever stayed like this before. In unison, they replied, “Haan didi, bahut log aate hain… wo garam paani ka naula hai na, use dekhne aate hain, phir hamare yahan rukte hain.”
It felt surprising that despite having such an attraction, which even drew foreigners, there were no eateries, not even a tea stall, within a 5 km radius. Only these 7 to 8 households existed there.
Pic 1: Gori Ganga River
Even though everything seemed fine and nothing appeared suspicious, I still felt uneasy. Questions kept running through my mind: Am I in the right place? Should I look for a hotel? Should I inform someone about my location? And so on.
The evening passed with tea and conversations with the kids. Around 7 PM, Suresh Bhaiya returned with snacks. We had another round of tea together. Later, they prepared egg curry and rice for dinner (he had asked about my food preference earlier, and I had told him I am an egg-eater). I saw him cooking alongside his wife.
The food was delicious, not just because of the taste, but because when you live away from your family, you truly understand the value of a home-cooked meal.
That night, I realized something about myself that no amount of kindness can make me feel completely comfortable if things do not go according to plan. They were incredibly warm and hospitable, repeatedly asking, “Aapko bura toh nahi lag raha? Aap theek ho? Kuch chahiye?” Yet, my mind wasn’t ready to let go of the thought that I was staying with strangers I had met only a few hours ago.
Well, if I write everything here, I might miss many important details that deserve to be shared. So, I will continue this in the second part of the blog with the same title.
iVolunteer Blog - everything about volunteering 