I am finally back online! With a regular internet line. It feels good.
Here is the picture I wanted to post awhile ago. This is the dance I got to see before the community meeting. The dance is specific to the Ho tribe in Jharkhand. I was made to walk in between the two lines of women. Felt v. embarrassed! It helped that there were others who were asked to do the same. Then came the play itself. This was planned and executed entirely by the women from the village with no monetary support. They had to potray the various problems pregnant women got through before , during and after childbirth.
Here you see the lady who is in prolonged labour, the husband who is walking off to call the local traditional medicine doctor ( who will suggest various useless things like sacrificing a chicken etc for the woman's health) and the mother-in-law who is standing to the left ( and who pretty much dictates what course of action to take).
Here is a look of the audience! These boys were very curious. It was the first time the villagers had come together to discuss issues related to maternal and child health. And this region has numbers of women dying due to pregnancy related causes very similar to some of the regions in Afghanisthan. Very sad. Also notice the brown hair of these children. That is a clear indication that they are malnourished and therefore more prone to infections and disease.
Some of the audience was curious but decided to see the 'backside' of the play!
While the others were happy sitting down for the whole play. All this under a blazing hot sun. Temperature on that day was 42 degs!! As always, I learnt a lot from the people and I cane away feeling they taught me more than what I had to give them.

Thank you to all who have left their comments in my earlier posts. I will respond to them very soon.