MP Trip Phase I: Gunaga

After the initial 25 hr train ride to Bhopal, the first leg of our trip brought us to the village of Gunaga. We arrived at one of the Bhopal bus stands to find the only bus going to Gunaga was currently being repaired, but no worries, will be ready to go in 15 min. We had tea and took pics and GAPP bet me a beer that the bus wouldn't make it to Gunaga without breaking down again. Thankfully, I won the bet.

Getting off the bus at Gunaga, I felt very out of place. I think even Sathish and GAPP felt out of place as tourists with backpacks, Indian or otherwise, don't really visit such places. Following Sathish's advice, we made a bee line for a tea shop, unloaded our bags and ordered a cuppa. Quickly, this tea shop became THE most popular tea shop in the village! Both Sathish and GAPP speak Hindi, so they were able to chit chat with the men at the shop, while I just sipped and smiled. The scene was best described by a poem, written on the spot by one of the men who says I was his inspiration.

Sathish making friends at tea shop

After a while, we were invited to come to the house of one of the villagers, Prem BanshiLal. As we were leaving the tea shop, the owner would not let us pay, saying that we were his guests. Prem's family welcomed us into their house, gave us cool water and fed us chana nuts and local sun-dried vear berries. We were introduced to Prem's kids, Sachin and Manoj, and his friend, Nazeem Khan. We relaxed for a while and learned about Prem's family history and how he makes his living farming wheat. The kids were very shy, as they had never seen a foreigner before, but a crowd quickly formed at the house. Sathish began to play marbles with the kids, which they loved. Turns out Sathish is not as good as he remembers!

Sathish being schooled in marbles

Then we went over to Nazeem Khan's house and met his family. They also served us snacks, including Loda, a sweet dish made with the dried vear berries that was delicious. Nazeem Khan's father is a retired truck driver who has been all over India. When I asked his favorite place that he's seen, he answered that of all the places, he loves his home village the most, which was just the answer I was looking for!

Prem, Sachin, Manoj and NK's father

Prem offered to take us to his wheat fields to see the land and meet the rest of his family (the women and some of the other children). We rode in the back of a truck for about 5 min to reach the field. Here we met his wife, his brother's wife and some other women, as well as his daughter, Saloni. Again, since I dont speak hindi, I did a lot of sitting and smiling. But I noticed Saloni and the other kids were having a blast tackling and tickling each other, so I went to join them. This girl had the most amazing laugh and we spent a while playing, tickling each other, sticking our tongues out at each other and taking pics. This was by far my most favorite part of the day.

Sathish showed Prem's son, Sachin, how to use the camera and he took some lovely pics of us and his family. Also, Sathish made friends with a baby calf. We rode back to Prem's house in the truck again, this time I rode shotgun with Saloni next to me and Sachin on my lap. Prem's oldest daughter, Nidhi, served us some roti and sabji and then we said goodbye to the kids and walked back to the tea shop. Again we had tea, served by the tea shop owner's brother, then headed out. As we were walking, the tea shop owner rode up on his motorbike to say goodbye to us. He offered his house for us to stay the night (as did Prem and Nazeem Khan) but we thought it was best to keep moving.

Despite the packs on our backs and the blazing heat during our 4km walk to the main road, nothing could take away the happy warm feelings we got from the hospitality of the people of Gunaga. We all agreed that even though this as only the first whole day of our trip, our expectations had already been met no matter what else happened in the coming week.

Pics from the entire MP trip