We arrived in Ludhiana and settled with my in-laws into a shared house located a few blocks from the hospital. The house was small, but comfortable. Similar to the roadhouse, the concrete building was divided into a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms and a shared bathroom. The three of us shared a small bedroom with two charpoys and a small bed for the baby. I had no idea regarding the length of our stay nor what I would be doing while here.
You may be aware that the Punjab was, predominately, an agricultural region. The area outside of town was made up of vast fields of grains which were irrigated by canals from 1 - 3 feet deep stretching down into the horizon with occasional bank dips where one could drive a tractor down and across through the water canal. In town, we could easily obtain fresh vegetables and grains at a local market, but not reliable or recognizable meat. In a modern version of hunters & gatherers, we would pile into the 1965 Plymouth each week and head out on a hunting trip to bring back fresh meat for our household. Our preferred prey was the Nilgai, or blue bull, which is the largest antelope in Asia (about the size of a horse) and could be found grazing in the farmer's fields.
Of course, farmers and helpers are working in the fields during the day. You can picture a hunt: Sitting astride my 1965 Plymouth mount, gazing across the 3 foot high fields of grain, rifle loaded and ready at my side, I spot our prey munching on grain 50 yard from our position. A young male Nilgai moves, slowly, to the left and I cock my rifle, take aim and.....a field worker stands up and stretches her back 30 yards out between us and our dinner.
Hunting the fields during the day had two considerations: 1) farmers and helpers were out working and could be hurt or killed, 2) spotting our prey would be too easy.
No daytime hunting. Only night hunting. Sitting astride the roof of our 1965 Plymouth, casting about with a spotlight......a big spotlight, waiting for an animal to look up at us so it could be identified by eye color, I would shoot....into the dark....at the eyes or the shadow beside the eyes. If there was a shadow. But the success of the hunt didn't depend upon availability of prey, but reliability of our trusty 1965 Plymouth station wagon.
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| Ranthambore Tiger Reserve - India (2014) |
"...Even walking to a nearby shop that you have been to countless times can be a small pilgrimage - noticing the particular light of the moment in time, inhaling the small of the day, getting a glimpse of life in other houses, pausing to admire how a building has suddenly been gilded by the late-afternoon light. "Been there, done that," is definitely not a pilgrim attitude. ...Walking a pilgrimage route, wearing a pilgrim's badge, and sleeping in pilgrim hotels are not what make a pilgrim. Pilgrimage is more an attitude than an act."
Road to Emmaus - Pilgrimage as a Way of Life
