Team Member, Rucha Deshpande, writes about her very first impression about her place of work, Ijeirong – a quaint little village hidden away in the lush green hills of Manipur.
I arrived in Manipur on the 1st of March, this time only intending to stay for 15 days. But naturally, my first instinct was to be scared of the unknown, because I had to make this place my home very soon. And it does take A LOT to call any place ‘home’.
Fast forward to today, 7 days later- I am sitting with my host sister, Tracy, in the kitchen by the fire, laughing over a funny picture I got of her as she nudges me playfully while calling me ‘Broooo’.
I am overwhelmed by how quickly she accepted me and let me be part of her life. No inhibitions, nothing holding her back, she happily calls out to me, ‘Rusha, bro, sit no for a while longer by the fire.’
She does not understand why I don’t eat meat or even chicken-flavoured noodles (‘but it has no meat pieces, bro! Only flavor, just taste it!’). I don’t try to explain either.
We both live our two separate lives, but at this moment, we are together, living this moment as one. Living through our differences, our cultural backgrounds not playing a role.
At this moment, we are just two girls sitting by the fire, in the very cold village of Ijeirong.
..and I find myself smiling and thinking, ‘Welcome home, you!’
Special moments of happiness!
Meet the beautiful Tracy and her little munchkin Riningba 🙂
