The Factory and the Dairy

Being welcomed into homes is common place here. Even with HUGE language barriers. We point and laugh and eat the most delicious foods together. One man showed us his family pictures and treated us to delicious fresh mangoes and lychees. He even showed us his barn full of prized cows. Another man invited us for Mexican pizza, burritos, and the best ice cream I have ever eaten.

On Sunday afternoon we went on an outing to Mudhi, a nearby town to Bujipura. We were invited by one of the teachers from Mudhi High School. We went to the dairy where they make the most delightful milk. I thought I really loved strawberry milk, but the cardamom flavored milk is out of this world.

At the home of the teacher, her husband served us our milk on a tray and did everything in his power to make our stay enjoyable. He picked roses and fruits for us on several occasions throughout the afternoon.

We went into a factory that makes a rice product used in dishes here. It is rice that is made to be flattened. We walked into the factory and discovered that it is like being in a blizzard of dust. They also must heat the rice, so the temperature outside of 100 degrees now became about 130. We squint our eyes and cover our faces to prevent the dust from entering our lungs and from burning our eyes. The women factory workers live in this dust seven days a week, working 13 hour days. They don’t wear masks, they just simply put their sari or dupata over their hair and they let the dust fall on top of them. Their kids also sit in the dust watching and waiting for their moms to finish their shift. There were also men in this factory, but they did not seem to be taking part in the “dirty” jobs.

After witnessing the struggles of these workers we were off to see a rich guys mansion. This man keeps a second home in Mudhi complete with statues, 100s of mango trees, five watch dogs, at least three staff members, five cows, and beautiful porch swings, a staple in any Indian home. We sat in his lawn and were fed, by our gracious hosts, raw mango and guava slices with salt. This is quite delicious! We should not even eat mango in the states, it is a crime after eating mangoes here. They are INCREDIBLE.

At the end of the day we were sent back on our rickshaw, paid for by our hosts, to ponder the craziness of the weird dynamics of India. Poor and rich side by side is just simply common place.