curtain of rays, hopes for snow and italian pancakes...

started recording in a school, at basantpur, approximately 50 km from shimla. 201 children divided in 5 classes from 6th to 10th.

basantpur is as it sounds... overlooking valleys and mountains... (well, what does not but still) classes are held in old school style under trees and in the open... everybody sees everybody... this is perhaps for few months of winter, when they want to make the most of the "thandi thandi dhoop" and anyways, the classrooms are too cold for anybody's comfort...

simriti and i recorded interviews of the principal, a physical education teacher and a sanskrit teacher. (i will not elaborate about his super pure sanskrit laden hindi, i had the least number of questions for him, but of course, he was also the most articulte and sweet sounding... long live use of one pure language in normal speech!). then we spoke to the kids, some shy some could just replace the best anchors! (do they exist? wink, wink)

there had been a mock drill in this school couple of months back and it was a good idea to meet these kids. they knew their stuff, also it was a good brushing of memory session.

himanshu, seemed the head boy type, helped all the younger kids as well as shy shy girls..

basic pointers :

there hasn't been snow in shimla for more than two years.
temperatures are rising and people are not liking it.
earthquake training is required in schools
illegal congested construction should stop but will not
children not only pick up duck, cover, hold but an attitude of preventing and minimising the damages...

last but not the least, at tattapani, religious place of sulphur springs, there is an italian restaurant (owners or cooks or managers wife is an italian, i believe) which gave us much needed banana pan cakes... a bit weird, women, men, kids dipping for getting plus points with the man above and an italian menu... hmmm... an old old man smoking bidi...

on our way back as we came through the turn turn and turn more (man, my tummy goes through samudra manthan, mythical churning of the sea, all the time), i saw curtain of sunrays. curtain, coz it is so clearly divided - one half of the mountain is cold, in the shadow and the pine trees look like green balls of cotton... the other is warm, bright, in the sun and the pine trees shine, spike and look sharp...

remembered himanshu's plan of future... he wants to become an engineer and that too from bangalore... stepping from this side of curtain to the other, may be?