Anecdotes from more village visits:

1. So the second village we surveyed we went by ourselves to, which is a HUGE step. The person who was supposed to take us didn’t and put us in a bus. He told us that the village contact would meet us at the bus stop and take us on his bike for 3 kilometers to his village.
The Bus Ride: Let me tell you. I prefer motorcycles. We got on a completely full bus where people made room for the “Madams” to sit. We sat and immediately were completely surrounded by random people who got on after us. I have never been that crowded or that close to random people. There was no personal space. And of course by the end of the journey everyone around us knew everything about us, even that we weren’t married and how many siblings we had. After finding out that we were from Srijan, ladies next to us were like please start microfinance groups in our village as well, we really need them. Others gave their opinions on what they think of girls who live alone, with people who aren’t related to them, and work outside the house. After the judgment was passed on us and the work we’re doing, we finally got to our stop. So we got to the bus stop to find our village contact was not there. His “uncle” (although we later found out he was really his uncle, but in villages everyone is everyone else’s uncle) told us that he’d take us to the contact’s house. I was worried he was somewhere nearby and would be worried if he didn’t find us. So I tried calling him and he didn’t pick up. His uncle found us a tractor that was going towards the village, so yes we sat next to the tractor driver and rode along for 3 kilometers. I had urges to sing songs like in the Indian movies, with the fields around us. When we got to his house he was surprised to see us and told us that we should have called him. Regardless, it was a fun and new experience.
Now the first house he took us to was a very memorable experience. The lady was of a different caste and he refused to go in. We were unsure of whether to go in or not and so he reluctantly took us in. Immediately we realized that he had just violated something because she looked so frightened to see him. She didn’t say a word and refused to speak to even us. It was clear that she was from a poorer community. I’ve never had someone look at me with complete terror. I will never forget her face. We apologized for intruding and told her that she didn’t have to answer our questions and then quietly left.
The other surveys in Akodia went well once we were able to talk to the women alone, with our informant there, since they were hesitant to answer the questions when he was present.
2. We went back to the first night stay village for a couple more surveys. It was so nice to go see women who we’d seen before. They were also thrilled to see us again and more or less hugged us. I really am in love with this village (its called Toda ka Gothra). So we did a couple more surveys and were walking when we saw this older women standing outside a house. She had a baby in her hands and was motioning us to come near. When we did, she called us into the house. It was very creepy and the first thing I said was that we were not doctors and we couldn’t treat anyone, nor were we bringing anything to the village. She was upset because all the outsiders who come to the village talk only to women who are part of the microfinance self help groups (SHGs) and no one wants to talk to her daughter-in-laws. She had a lot of negative feelings towards the microfinance group because her daughter-in-laws were not qualified to be in them because the family is well off and the women are educated. But she was thrilled that we were surveying women who aren’t in the SHGs and sat and had tea in her house. It was our first experience with someone who did not appreciate the work Srijan was doing in the village. Nevertheless, she was happy we talked to her.
3. In another village (Chaknanpura), we were going from house to house surveying the women. We usually don’t acknowledge the men more than greeting them. We’ve never had to ask permission of them to talk to the women. Now here we were sitting, talking to a woman (with her mother-in-law and sister-in-laws sitting around her, with the usual 15 children from nearby houses) in a house that was pretty well off. Suddenly this tall man, with a giant mustache, a walking stick, a turban and huge gold earrings walks in. He immediately asks us what we are doing here. He is the village head. I explain while trying not to scream and run. He then asks us about our families, where we are from and what we are studying. His next question is whether we are married. I said no. He then goes on a rant about how unmarried girls do NOT roam around like we are and we should lie and say we are married from now on if we know what is good for us. I freak out and say that ok, fine we are married. He then says that Rajasthan is not safe right now because of all the Gujjar (caste related) violence going on. He happened to belong to that caste. I am so terrified at this point that I just agree. I would have been willing to join the Gujjar strikes if he had asked me at that point. I very formally asked for his permission to interview his family as well as any woman in the village, to which he really formally says that is fine. He left and I started to breathe again. Immediately the women burst out LAUGHING!!! I am confused. They tell me he likes to scare every new person in the village and that he is really caring and was completely kidding around. I am so relieved, embarrassed, about to start laughing myself. He totally could pull that off and he completely got away with it. The women all said, you should have seen your face!!!! Tall scary man: that was NOT funny!!!
In the same village later in the evening we are interviewing when suddenly we see that the sky is turning red in the distance. There is a huge sand storm coming towards us. The wind started blowing a lot and we were told to take shelter in the house. As soon as we did the storm was on top of us and it went really dark. I wasn’t sure who all was in the room but it was a bunch of kids and young adults. In the middle I felt a small hand that had found my hand. It was this small boy who was terrified and thought I was one of his relatives in the house. I held on to his hand and comforted him in the dark until he realized I was not a relative at which point he let go and just sat next to me. It was the sweetest thing ever. Not to mention I was frightened as well and was glad to hold on to someone else. We sat there with our cell phones as our only light. Our ride back home was stuck in other village where there was a fire, which they were helping put out. So we weren’t sure they would make it back to us. At the end, there was sand in our hair, in our eyelashes and in our teeth. We were glad to hear our motorcycles come back and rode back once the storm had decreased. Once again, a totally new experience!