Visiting Sheshi, little Loren and Jenny was on our “MUST DO” list for this trip. We have not seen them since right after Vasentha’s death. So off we went with Dr. Suresh and Nupi. He had said it was a mere one-hour drive. WELLLLL, it turned into two. The roads were horrible. I haven’t bounced that much in a long, long time.
Arriving at the railroad crossing just as the arms go down. It is hysterical how all the lorries, cars and motorcycles jam up at the gate on BOTH sides and when the arms go up there is absolutely no way to move. In fact it was so bad that a second train came and the arms went down again without any movement. ME FIRST is the attitude. Finally, the stationmaster had to come out and direct traffic. Sheshi called at least three times to make sure we had not changed our plans and were really coming. She was so excited to see us. Ultimately, we arrived at this Pardhi village and were welcomed with hugs from Sheshi and her family. Other villagers stood and stared.
(Sheshi, Loren and Loren)A welcome party of kids that Sheshi tutors and teaches DVBS materials was darling. They each had to stand in front of us and TRY and say their ABC’s. They also sang for us. Sheshi is trying to continue the work of her late husband.
(Sheshi and Jenny)The village makes some of their income by raising fighting cocks.
Afterwards, we walked around the village. You could really see the difference in cleanliness from Vasentha;’s village.
Noticing that there were so many of the women carrying water on their heads, I asked why so much now. I found out that they only get water for one hour a day. They Government put in a well with an electric pump, but only gives them electricity one hour a day.
I was shown the place where Vasentha and Sheshi were married. Loren had attended, BUT at 120 degrees I had opted to stay in Georgia.
Deciding that we would rather return to Prakash by a different route. (So glad we did.) We found shade but still had to stay in the car to have our picnic.
The countryside was very different and had several lakes and jungle. Also there was a huge Buddha statue.
I was curious about the funny looking hills with shrines on each. Turned out they were open craters of coal mining. Later we saw a long queue of lorries waiting for a load of coal… and the USA is worried about clean air.
There were multiple little stands selling jaggery. (like a pure brown sugar) The vendors travel three days from Tamil Nadu to sell their product. Finally, Nupi convinced Papi to stop and buy some. They will use it mostly in their morning very sweet tea.
When Vasentha was taken home to be with His Lord we were devastated, Especially Dr. Suresh. He had worked so hard to establish a ministry in that Pardhi village. Now we can see some reasons why. Sheshi would never gone back her village as a witness without this tragedy. God is in control and His plans are perfect.
Buy the book about his life at theycallmesirbook.com
