Sujata Village Fan Club -Indian Life-

I’m experiencing first Indian summer.  In April and May,  I thought it was better than I thought  and I could bare days of over 40℃! But monsoon season has begun  and now humidity is mixed with high temperature,  it’s very hard to stand… June is rainy season and also the hottest season  in Sujata village in India. It’s so hot that even Indians say,  “Its’ hot!!!” time to time. But field work never waits  whatever you say it’s too hot. The other day,  I thought something would happen soon  to see this field. An elder man is mixing soils by his hands. The following day,  water was added more  and the man was plowing with a hoe. In the afternoon of the same day,  the water level raised more. I thought transplanting rice seedlings  would be carried out like in Japan,  but I was wrong. Because transplanting rice seedlings in Japa...

Wanna eat this? Is this…acorn??? A young nice guy Anand from Sujata village  offered me this and I tried cautiously. Oh, it’s sweet! And it’s similar to dried fruit dates which I love. It was not acorn.   Then, shall we go, Meera-san? To where? There! He pointed a palm tree  in the backyard of a guest house in Sujata village, "SACHI HOME-Sujata Yoga Resort". I and other two young Indians followed him. One of them climbed the palm tree with a long stick. Two of them opened a wide cloth and we were ready. The man on the tree drops fruit of the tree  by the stick and others collect them under the tree. They pick the fruit  which dropped on the ground  by hand and eat directly also. The fruit is called “ khajur ” in Hindi  and actually, it is dates. On the other hand,  fruit of toddy palm is called koa. Few weeks ago,  you could...

Ramadan is finished 16 th June 2018 in India. During Ramadan,  Muslims refrain from eating, drinking  and smoking from dawn to sunset. This fasting is intended to bring  the faithful closer to God  and to remind them  of the suffering of those less fortunate. Muslims celebrate the last date of Ramadan called Eid.  They prepare feast and invite relatives and friends. Amjad -ji, the manager of the guest house in Sujata village, "SACHI HOME-Sujata Yoga Resort" invited us to Eid at his house.   Whole family is in new dresses to celebrate the Eid. And these are the dishes of Eid! Having meat is not allowed during Ramadan,  but chicken is served today  for the first time in a month.   Chicken tikka(chicken saute) Chicken biryani(Chicken rice dish)   Curry of chick pea Salad… I forgot to take a picture,  but sweet milk rice was also served.  For me, it...

From Sujata village, Bihar, India. This is quite sudden,  but have you ever seen a man  herding cows or buffalos? For the people living in developed countries like Japan,  cowherd only remind old tales… You never see them  on the street or your neighborhood. But here in Sujata village,  you can see men  who are accompanied by cows or buffs anywhere. One of their jobs is to lead  cows or buffs to the asked field  and make them eat only weed.  They keep away cows from crops. Cows and buffs are used as weeding machine here. I saw one of them on the field  next to the guest house,  “SACHI HOME -Sujata Yoga Resort". He watches buffs with a stick on his hand. For the next crops, buffs are here for weeding. But the field is surrounded by  the mung bean field which are going to be harvested. That’s why the cowherd is here  not to make buffs eat mung...

Amjad -ji, the manager of the guest house  in Sujata village,  "SACHI HOME-Sujata Yoga Resort"  invited us to his house. His house is on one of an alley in Bodhgaya,  across the river from the village. He is welcoming us at the entrance! You live here! Amjad-ji is a Muslim living in India  and this is a month of Ramadan for Muslims. (Last article about him click here ) During Ramadan,  Muslims don’t eat nor drink in the day time  but after sunset at certain time,  they enjoy their meal.   He invited us to such special meal. Many plates were already prepared  when we entered the room. Wow! Looks so nice! It was about 6:30 PM  when w e arrived his house. Amjad-ji said, “Please wait. Today’s meal starts at 6:45 PM”.   It is amazing that  all the Muslims start eating  at same time after one day fasting. Watch is a must f...

It seems like  Hindu wedding ceremony is awesome. In Japan, in the not so distant past  during the period of high economic growth,  wedding ceremony was also luxurious. But there's a world of difference in between. It is said that even Maharaja would go bankrupt  if he had three daughters. Ceremony takes one week at least. If you carry out full ceremony,  it takes one month or more. I’ve heared villagers saying with a sigh,  “There’s no other choice.  It’s an Indian tradition.” Today, a family group of one bride  from Gaya city gathered to a house  of the bridegroom in Sujata village.  Gaya is about 13km from the village  and the group consists of  only male relatives of the bride. The purpose of the visit is  to bring gifts and cash as a dowry. Although Indian laws against dowries  have been in effect for decades,  this traditi...