Araria was the next stop for the Greenpeace yatris. Tired from the long and bumpy bus journey we decided to take a small break at Purnia before we reached Araria. The sort of welcome that was given to us at Purnia showed the kindness that the villages of India wear as their proud heritage. The tiredness of the yatra was gently lifted away by the cool and green surroundings of Purnia.
One of the yatri’s friends, Rajesh, invited us to freshen up at his place. All of us storming his place didn’t seem like a very good idea, so we decided that the women would go to his place. As for the men, they decided to make use of the Kosi river, not too far away from where we had stopped.
Once we were done with our morning rituals at Rajesh’s place, Amma ji offered us delicious food. The meal finished with Amma ji's home made “paan,” and there is just one word to describe it- awesome. After this deliciously refreshing break, the yatra bus left for Araria.
A little chill in the air added to the fun of travelling and within no time we reached our destination, the Desi Power Pvt premises. There was no electricity so when the sun set we still had its power in the form of a lamp which we used for the rest of the night. We pitched our tents to add to the adventure as it was a first experience for most of the yatris.
The event for the next day had spectators from the surrounding as well as little far off places. The innocent faces of the children lit up with a smile, as soon as our theatre yatris came to perform. The chief guests of the event expressed their opinion about how renewable energy is important and how it can help in the development of the state.
Meera Devi, one of the homemakers, who was also a part of the audience, spoke about the adverse affect the power shortage had on the condition of her farm. She also complained about the lack of infrastructure for the education of her children. Ms. Anamika, the young Panchayat Sachiv (panchayat secretary) of Sauntha also expressed the same difficulties that people in villages face because of power shortage. All the women present at the event pledged to spread this awareness of renewable energy from one household to another so that their children could study whenever they wanted to, their farm lands would not have to suffer and their households could run in complete peace and harmony.
Like all the other villages we visited, Araria also gave us a good response. The people here also saw the hope of electricity which renewable energy brings with itself. Now we move on to take this hope to our next stop- Bhagalpur.