Uggampally, Warangal - NOUSed on 1st and 2nd June 2010
Its been an year since I started working on NOUS. Everything was set to go, except me. A lot of hurdles, a lot of personal issues and a LOT of time later, I'd still gotten nowhere out of paper. I think it was the date that triggered me off. I realized that it was the first of June and the initial plan of starting it new year 2010 was way overdue. So at 6 A.M. I decided NOUS could wait no more. I called Anil, who, thankfully, is almost always free for me. I just told him we had to go to a village and that it would be awesome if his hometown were the first place we went to. So, by 10 AM we hit the road to Uggampally, 80 kms from Warangal.
Beautiful roads, 45 degrees heat, scenic locations and lots of curses for not getting the camera along. This was the journey. 160 kms and just 2 hours later, we stopped at a small town for arguably the worst food ever!! :D ... By 12 30, we were on the road again, listening to Wherever I may roam and Turn the page by Metallica - THE best road songs ever. Another hour and a half of driving later, we were taking an exit off the highway onto a road that leads to Uggampally.
15 kms in and the road goes into a wide S - bend. The first thing I noticed was the huge water tank that they had and I remember thinking they must have had water storage enough for two small sized villages in that thing! Just as we exited the S - bend, Anil asked me to stop.
Before we go further, let me tell you about Anilnaik Rathod Dharmsoth. A very simple guy who comes from a modest agricultural background, his aim in life is to live a problem free life. His farm is on a 7 or 8 acre spread, which to the ignorant (me), sounds like a lot. But to the knowledgeable, it is but a small piece of land, especially in the harsh lands of Warangal. They have 4 cows, a buffalo, about 30 chicken and 2 goats.
Now, Anil asked me to stop cause his house was at the entrance of the village, right on the main road. A small single storeyed house, it still needed plastering and paint on it and I was too embarrassed to ask him why he hadn't gotten it done. I got off the car and immediately the smell of dung hit me in the face. It took me a while to get used to it but trust me it is atleast 5 degrees cooler in places whee they make the ground/ the ground is naturally cowered with dung. We went in and took rest for a while under a scary looking fan.
It was 5 30 by the time we woke up again. I was all set to go and nervous at the same time, cause I didn't know how or who I'd approach for the kind of information I needed. Turns out the best information comes from the places you'd least expect. Anyway, I walked around, talking to random people who Anil introduced to me and I realized something. We'll come back to that later.
First, we came out the house and I saw a huge bungalow that I had somehow missed while coming in. Apparntly, it was an ex-minister's house. So far so good. We spoke to a couple of people and I found out what problems they had. It made me sick to think people had such problems everyday and I live such a pointlessly royal life back in hyderabad.
More on this later.....
Also coming soon -
Photos
Modepalli, near Addanki, Prakasam District (june 8th and 9th) .... It happens to be my native place... My grandfather was born there....
Kuntala, Adilabad district - 3rd & 4th july....
Peace
Beautiful roads, 45 degrees heat, scenic locations and lots of curses for not getting the camera along. This was the journey. 160 kms and just 2 hours later, we stopped at a small town for arguably the worst food ever!! :D ... By 12 30, we were on the road again, listening to Wherever I may roam and Turn the page by Metallica - THE best road songs ever. Another hour and a half of driving later, we were taking an exit off the highway onto a road that leads to Uggampally.
15 kms in and the road goes into a wide S - bend. The first thing I noticed was the huge water tank that they had and I remember thinking they must have had water storage enough for two small sized villages in that thing! Just as we exited the S - bend, Anil asked me to stop.
Before we go further, let me tell you about Anilnaik Rathod Dharmsoth. A very simple guy who comes from a modest agricultural background, his aim in life is to live a problem free life. His farm is on a 7 or 8 acre spread, which to the ignorant (me), sounds like a lot. But to the knowledgeable, it is but a small piece of land, especially in the harsh lands of Warangal. They have 4 cows, a buffalo, about 30 chicken and 2 goats.
Now, Anil asked me to stop cause his house was at the entrance of the village, right on the main road. A small single storeyed house, it still needed plastering and paint on it and I was too embarrassed to ask him why he hadn't gotten it done. I got off the car and immediately the smell of dung hit me in the face. It took me a while to get used to it but trust me it is atleast 5 degrees cooler in places whee they make the ground/ the ground is naturally cowered with dung. We went in and took rest for a while under a scary looking fan.
It was 5 30 by the time we woke up again. I was all set to go and nervous at the same time, cause I didn't know how or who I'd approach for the kind of information I needed. Turns out the best information comes from the places you'd least expect. Anyway, I walked around, talking to random people who Anil introduced to me and I realized something. We'll come back to that later.
First, we came out the house and I saw a huge bungalow that I had somehow missed while coming in. Apparntly, it was an ex-minister's house. So far so good. We spoke to a couple of people and I found out what problems they had. It made me sick to think people had such problems everyday and I live such a pointlessly royal life back in hyderabad.
More on this later.....
Also coming soon -
Photos
Modepalli, near Addanki, Prakasam District (june 8th and 9th) .... It happens to be my native place... My grandfather was born there....
Kuntala, Adilabad district - 3rd & 4th july....
Peace
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