that twinkle on the sea...

phew! our first narrow casting session... we had around 30 people... some came an hour before and some came good two hours late... we started after 330 pm instead of 230 pm... after gulping a few hiccups (like people turning up in fewer numbers and late, like pradhan wanting to join after lunching at 330, like tiny setting up glitches), we began...

we had a bonus programme about settlers... remember miracles?

for a long time i wondered if anyone was absorbing anything at all... there was a cricket match going on in the school ground next to the panchayat community hall...

after programmes on women's unemployment and fishing i spotted few nods at the right places... then pradhan said women should try on their own and not wait for external help... does it mean somewhere it pinched him?

pradhan was reeking of alcohol... it was funny to hear him talk about efforts to stop "sharaab ki problem" in the radio programme... however, every alternate programme kept his attention and hence the interest of samiti members... he laughed out loud and clapped couple of times...

bengali songs, written or composed or sung by the community members were loved... bhalo lagchi... mormontic gaan achhi...

panchayat secretary was warm and said he loved the programmes... later he promised he will make sure the project goes on because it is important and because so much energy has been invested... touche...

however, people were hesitant to react in front of the panchayat presence... mostly only the members spoke...

430 pm... sun starts setting... women who had come at 1 pm start worrying about walking back home and were fidgety... i stared hard at the sky trying to tell that dog up there to stay a little longer... you can will rain into showers but not sun into over time... hmmm... you can also will people into staying...

one guy spoke about how people drink because of lack of recreation options... alright, but beat up women and children because of lack of diversion???

couple of women came to me after the programme was over, spoke to me about how women - no matter how strong willed and determined they are - do need external support... that stiff behaviour of men - as husbands, fathers, society does not help their case at all... girls here are married off very early...

some came to me with more ideas... pollution, environment, education etc... philip and sadhana asked me if we could give them some kind of identity letter if they wanted to interview the DC... savita, who lost her father last month and has to look after her bedridden mom, said she loved the programmes and will keep in touch... she said she cant participate because of her family problems but will keep calling me...

this counts more than their promise of completing 10 episodes and getting a certificate...

end of the day, i spoke for 5 min... explained the same orientation day stuff... medium, tool in their hands, empowerment et al... was shit scared before we started...

but somehow things are much simpler when you have given that one honest shot...

impossible is nothing...

we recorded some interviews on the subject of settlers... which means i must put out that programme in tomorrow's narrowcasting session... am trying to achieve the impossible... any minute spent elsewhere including on this blog, will not be the best thing to do... so...

i'll be back... in a bit... after miracles happen...

candle light editing and sound of rain...

winding through turns and twists to wandoor, trees and leaves quivered under the happy wet rain-filled clouds... in a bit... it rained like mad and i felt mad happy... we did some work, which is, recording the rain... and we were en route again... this time the trees and leaves were squeaky chirpy... and the wind was beautiful... i forgot my tension of editing the other three programmes... anyway... am back and back to listening to the rain... some branch fell over something and now there is no electricity... it may not come back for a while... nazia and i found candles in 2 min... eureka! (when was the last time u found candles or torch in 5 min of current conking, tell me tell me!)

so its candle light editing till the back up lasts and then am going to go to bed with sounds of drip drip, rim jhim rim jhim, dhad dhad, jhir jhir, shir shir... nothing more beautiful than raindrops on the sea...

he loves me, he loves me not...

HE is the god, the allah, the force, of radio lighthouse...

just finished editing our first programme on alcohol related issues... will freeze it with the team tomorrow... HE loves me...

this was the easiest as the team had done lots of work on editing... the other four may be a lot tougher... scripts ready but everything else remains, chopping, linking, rearranging... and I'll have to do it on my own... HE loves me not...

sukhada, the bijli is a big ray of hope (she is bijli, the lightening, right?) today she edited one interview snap snap snap in 15 min and it was purrrrfect! HE loves me...

i wish the team members had done this editing but since computer connections have not happened so far, i am slightly worried about their training in editing software... amit and rachel have stopped accompanying me because of some other deadline... HE loves me not...

i found the "khol daro" song on 194th track on one MD after two days of frantic quest... you have no idea how much HE loves me...

we are hiring some good speaker guy... am thinking of asking groups to prepare some note, some poster for their programme... electricity connection finally happened today with some tiny short circuit (sceaaarrryyy) interruption... things aren't perfect but narrow casting session should be... HE surely will love me by Saturday evening...

buzzing... busyyyying... zzzzziiing...

story of mental...

this is not so much about the project or the programmes... this is about one woman in wandoor who everyone calls mental...

she is a bit squint eyed... she comes to panchayat almost everyday... she complains that the money that she was supposed to get is never given to her... an ngo is helping her, somebody is building a house for her... currently she is found cribbing and crying in panchayat or asking for food in some known houses or in the corner of a half-destroyed-in-earthquake house...

bits that i gathered... she was married long time back when she was a child... then her husband died... she went mad... but she was always slightly mental... she landed in wandoor... she got pregnant by no-one-knows-who... her children are looked after by her parents and some other relatives in some other place... no one really looks after her... there have been attempts to leave her far off... in boat, in bus... but she finds her way back to wandoor... she was beaten up few times... coz she is a nuisance you see...

people talk about her, talk to her, feed her, humour her, shout at her, some say she is not mental, many insist she is... wandoor is used to mental and her swings... they react accordingly...

she wept and sobbed and told her story all over again in panchayat yesterday... some tch tch... some sympathy smiles... some left feeling uncomfortable around her loud wailing... some offered her water... but no one actually handed a glass to her... she stood sobbing saying nothing... she walked away... she came an hour later feeling better... she reminded some of us about what we have to do to get her the money she is supposed to get and needs...eyes still empty full... looking in different directions... still hoping she may see and live a better day... she said something about gaps in her teeth...

and you will find this "mental" in each and every village, and many more, in each and every city...

possible electricity connections...

i have been waiting for this electricity connection to happen in wandoor village knowledge centre... and now we have the material, the computer, the willing electrician...
now it just has to happen...

i have been waiting for this radio lighthouse to start talking in wandoor panchayat community hall and beyond... and now we have the teams, the recordings, the scripts...
now it just has to happen...

tomorrow i resume my hyper breathless mumbai self... i have to edit, mix, teach, edit more, mix more, teach more...

and absorb and soak in the place, breathe and live each moment, whisper and shout out the voices of the people...

and then electricity will happen to tomorrow... and radio lighthouse on Saturday...