We arrived at Parijat around 9.15am (late as our useless driver never turned up) in order to meet up with Uttam who had organised a 'trekker' for the trip. For the uninformed, a 'trekker' is a Tata Jeep that normally spends its life ploughing up and down the main bypass from the airport to major locations around Guwahati. The objective in these services is not only to get you from one destination to another, but also to try and break the Guinness world record for most people in a four wheel drive vehicle. As uncomfortable as it may sound these vehicles are the Rolls-Royce of the roads here, being a vastly superior alternative to clapped out buses, dusty autos or the heat stroke inducing walk.
It seemed that these jeep contraptions must not work without at least 10 people in them, as Uttam had invited two teachers, a couple local interested people, a reporter from the Calcutta Telegraph and us. The full complement being made up by the compulsory three workers that every public service vehicle in India needs a complement of three workers -
a 'pilot' (their term, not ours) – though given the suspension was knackered we did technically spend much time in the air
an engineer, trained it appears at the ‘Dan Scott’ school of motor mechanics (he walks around the jeep kicking the tyres and hitting stuff with a wrench)
and finally a signalman, he actually spent most of his time putting his hand out of the window and waved other vehicles out the way – though I think normally he also collects the 5 or 10 rupee fair when these vehicles make their airport run
And so we were off - onto the jungle road which was quite frankly not a road, but a pitiful dirt and stone track which wound its way around the hills. Ironically rather like an anaconda or python this snake like road crushes the hills and the communities that live upon them as its condition prevents anybody from holding down a regular job in the city or taking up a place at a school. It is a horrible thought, but people die because funds to hard top these roads find their way into government ministers and workers pockets. There is no chance an ambulance could get to the tribes that live in the forest should they need one - nor could emergency services mount an effective response in a natural disaster (an earthquake destroyed much of this area around a hundred years ago). The Assam state government sleeps soundly at night though as with (i) no electricity and (ii) no communications (there is no mobile coverage), they can claim that nobody ever seems to call upon their services.
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| Garghanga Forest highway |
About 10 minutes in, Uttam pointed out the old ammunitions dump that the Indian army kept a little way into the forest - the road up to here used to be hard topped but the whole place blew up 30 years ago and since then the road has been left to fend for itself against the continual onslaughts of annual monsoons followed by immense heat and herds of wild elephants rampaging through the forests.
It took about an hour and half of being slung from side to side of the cramped Tata to get to the first village. En-route we passed through cool, shady jungles and beautiful scenic valleys packed with fertile rice fields that attracted and keep the tribes living here. This is the land also belongs to the Elephant with signs of their presence everywhere - footprints, large piles of dung and wooden watchtowers placed high in the treetops. The locals here have good relations with the animals – elephants are treated with respect and are largely herded harmlessly away from the crop rather than being feared and attacked.
Parijat has setup three small schools in this area and the first is at Garbhanga - which is the largest village in the area, seemingly because it is the closest to the city and therefore, is a trade hub. The school here is placed opposite the government primary school and caters for the children who come out of class 4 at said institution. The closest alternative for these children is back 17km down that tortuous road where we left Guwahati’s highway and joined the jungle track. It’s three to four hours by foot and impassable by vehicle for much of the year (not that the families around here could afford the 4WD needed). So before Parijat, the kids just didn’t go to school after class 4.
Not that the schooling up to class 4 is up to much. Government schools in India are renowned for not doing the job they ought - this school has over 70 children and just one teacher - when they come to Parijat they have go back to the 'ABC's' they should have learnt in class 1. Parijat's class (5, 6 & 7) have about 20 students and one teacher. The building (hmm check the definition of building as this place is missing three of four walls) is a sad looking bamboo wall, tin roof construction. As we drove away the goats, cows and chickens were inspecting the premises for food.
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| Garbanga's facilities for Class 5 - 7 |
The next village was Pahamjila. The bamboo walls and tin roof here was much more substantial and we got to meet many of the children and families who came out to receive charity clothes that Uttam had received from supporters. The families here might not have been starving, but life looked tough. Clothes were dirty, sanitation basic and many older residents use rice beer to hide from the depression. India’s 8-9% economic growth and the glitz and glamour of Bollywood are far removed from these communities.
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| Children who attend Parijat's centre in Pahamjila |
Onto the next village and an even better maintained school - this time with a smart log bridge and bamboo constructed steps made by the students under the management of the school's teacher. This school attracts 50 children from the 0 to 3 km around. Here we witnessed how the government is failing these people - there is a small building in the middle of the village entitled school and post office, built in 1998. However, nobody has seen a schoolteacher or postmaster since the day it was built - it is very possible that somebody, somewhere is getting paid for this job that they are not doing - but the locals, often illiterate have no knowledge of the Freedom of Information acts or other tools to help hem assert their civil rights.
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| Parijat's centre at Natun (New) Garbhanga |
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| The Government School / Post Office has not seen a teacher in many years |
It was time to head home - on the journey back we saw how the locals do their shopping here. They all travel by foot, motorbike or crammed into the back of a pick up to the market 16kms away near the Pahomi school. We may all be complaining about the omnipresence of supermarkets in the west, but a Tesco metro here would go down a storm.
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