Guava and marbles: Our visit to Chitra's

Chitra invited Dr. Pelkey and me over two days ago to see her home, so we gratefully agreed. It was my second real trip into Moratandi -- not just the drive-throughs we do about every other day to get off the farm and into town -- but rather walking through and visiting. Moratandi is the nearby village, made up of a scattering of small red-clay houses covered with thatched rooves, where some of the FERAL employees live.

We took the back route to the village, through ravines that are full of water by the end of the monsoon. It brought us out on the main village street, which we walked up a little ways and soon stepped off to arrive at Chitra's house. A modest home, for sure. The whole thing is about the size of my bedroom at home, but it's divided into two rooms. To enter, you must crouch below the hanging roof which comes down literally like three feet from the ground, to minimize the entrance of sun and rain into the house. You know that passage from the Bible, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven"? Dr. Pelkey mentioned that the "eye of a needle" in the verse actually refers to the entrance to this type of home, where one must stoop to enter. Interesting. The entrance leads to the main room, which is mostly an open space, but in the corner there are many pots, pans, plates and empty plastic bottles, and most importantly, there is an electric fan overhead. At night, Chitra, her husband, their three sons, and Chitra's mother-in-law sleep on the ground in this main room. There is a small opening in the wall that leads to another room, much smaller than the other, which holds a cabinet and a chair heaped with lots of clothing.

Pelkey and I were there for about an hour, during which Chitra served us orange Slice in plastic cups, sweet biscuits (cookies), and fresh guava. Her two younger sons (5 and 7) crawled and scurried around us as they played a game of marbles. The younger one was a dead-shot. Pelkey and I weren't blown away when he made the 6-inch shot, but our jaws dropped when he successfully hit the marble from five feet away (across the room). When the eldest brother (8 years) came in, he immediately spotted my camera and the digital exposé began. I have lots of pictures of half-faces and feet.

Chitra's family is Hindu, but the local Christian church recently offered that Chitra converts to Christianity, the church will build her a new house. Not a bad deal. She accepted. The house is currently being built behind her present one.