Window of my house

The story is of those rain drops, which became one of the most beautiful days of Gwalior city for me. The memory is fresh – when I was enjoying the rain with a cup of tea in my hand, looking out the window. I had been in Gwalior city for only a few days, and for me these drops were like a welcome.

This was in September and some time has now passed. But my mind is still embracing the raindrops. I have seen the rain of Delhi, in which there is nothing like freshness. The rains of Gwalior were like nectar for me, from the sweet fragrance to the buildings full of old artwork – their courtyards filled with birds meeting, everything was so beautiful… only for me…

Rati

For Rati, neither was the rain beautiful, nor were its memories. Rati, who lives in a village in Dabra district of Madhya Pradesh, is only 12 years old and belongs to the Sahariya tribal community. I met Rati in those days when the rainy season was about to end. When I saw Rati for the first time, she was doing something with clay, I thought maybe she was making toys. She carries the clay into the pan – on her head, to a distance, and then brings the empty pan back, repeating the process.

After some time I also walk in the same direction. I saw that Rati was building a wall with a woman, she was Rati's mother. I had read about the village to which Rati belonged in the city newspapers, along with the incident of a tragedy. Rati's village was destroyed due to rain that lasted for a few days. Both Rati's home and childhood were badly affected by the rain drops.

When I talked to Rati, I came to know that she no longer went to school. Rati was a class 5 student studying in the government school of her village. His going to school also stopped after the rain. The reason was the reconstruction of Rati's house, Rati was busy completing this work with her mother.

Buried in the debris are countless stories

Rati said, "When it rained, I was sleeping in the madaiya (mud house) with my brother and sister. Then there was the noise earlier in the night. When we ran outside, as soon as we placed our feet under the cot, our feet went into the water. The ground had become soft with water, due to which our feet were sinking into the ground. We came out of the house, and before we knew it - the roof of our house collapsed in the darkness of the night. Outside the madaiya, the village with us was There were other people too, and the other houses in the village also started falling down one by one. All night long, I was searching for my school bag in the debris, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

The names of 42 children are written in the register in the government school of the village, even school attendance had stopped after the rain. The children had not received their regular meal from school for a few weeks. Due to lack of food, Rati had stomach ache for a long time, the reason was hunger and similarly, other children too were in the same condition. Because of this hunger, perhaps he was no longer interested in finding his bag. The construction of Rati's house was taking a long time, almost a month. Rati is building the wall every day along with her mother.

He explained to me the construction of the house in great detail. Rati first soaks the clay in water, then kneads it with her feet, then exposes it to sunlight, after which she prepares a big round ball of clay from which the wall is built. Then she leaves it for sunlight, and all this has to be done before the coming winter, this was Rati's aim. Now Rati is not thinking about school.

Rati’s school

If Rati did not go to school, she would never have known that her family was living an environment-friendly life. Construction of houses from mud, wood collected from the forest, necessary clothes, the environment which is talked about by the whole world from newspapers and big platforms.

Rati’s village

But one day these questions will come to Rati's mind, why only her house and village were destroyed in the heavy rains? Why and for how long will climate change directly impact their lives?

After a month of rain

Condition of a house made with months of sweat

Other homes in the village

Floor of the house

Rati’s madaiya getting ready

Just like Rati lost her bag in that rain, similarly everyone has lost some of their valuables. And this is why Rati doesn't like rain anymore.