We spent an afternoon in the Harijan village of Kachhpura located near the Baby Taj. The visit was sponsored by a local NGO that is bringing commercial work to the village, providing schooling for village children and helping villagers improve their infrastructure and sanitation; all while preserving the Harijan culture.
Kachhpura is an agricultural community – people own livestock primarily for milk and grow vegetables and grains. Cow dung is dried into patties and is the primary source of fuel for cooking and heating.
A local man whose family had lived in Kachhpura for generations guided us through the streets. As we entered the village, we were greeted by groups of inquisitive children.
Our guide pointed out the well that had been installed in the village providing a source of clean water for drinking and cooking. The NGO was installing plumbing in the village with the objective of having a toilet for every household.
A recent economic opportunity for the village was contract work making shoe uppers for companies like Nike and Adidas. Villagers cut and stitch the uppers and then send them to another village to be soled. This has become an important source of jobs and income for the village.
We visited the school to meet the teacher and students. A new sign outlining expectations for school was being painted in Hindi.
Students were crammed together on benches, three to four abreast in a small dim room. They were doing simple arithmetic; because we did not speak Hindi and they did not speak English, we could only communicate with smiles and gestures.
We had school supplies to distribute to each child – the cost of the village tour enables the NGO to buy supplies for us to distribute; this delighted the students in class but also caused the children not in school at the time to crowd around the gate looking for a supply kit.
Fortunately, we had enough for all the kids. It’s humbling to see how appreciative these kids were to receive paper, pencils, crayons and a plastic ruler.
We thanked our guide and left the village. It was encouraging to see the work being done by the NGO to help improve the standard of living in Kachhpura but saddened us to see so many other people living in such wretched conditions. Nonetheless, the streets of Agra were vibrant and chaotic and a photographer’s delight.
Back at the hotel that evening, we heard a lecture from a local expert on the current political and economic climate in India. The reception after the lecture was very fun – it was a Mughal inspired evening with a Kathak dance performance, henna hand painting and lessons on how to wear Indian scarves (women) and turbans (men). We finished the evening with another lovely dinner in the Esphahan restaurant with a sampling menu of different local foods.
