Once we got under way we still had some way to go and passed many villages each a hub of activity, children coming out of school smartly dressed, hundreds of small shops busy with trade with everything from food to car parts, automobile shops, tea shops, almost every type of shop you can think off.
Eventually we came to Ranigunj and boy was it busy, there were auto - rickshaws every where all painted a bright yellow with their little meter boxes ticking away, flanked by scooters and mopeds often with whole families crammed together, and cows just wondering around the street.
We had to battle against some very narrow streets but eventually through alk the people we found the railway station. Much bigger than you would have thought with half a dozen lines coming into the platforms.
Our Driver took our pictures and showed it to a small group of men, who looked and then started waving further up the street. Munna said they think it is up the road, so we all walked up to where they said it was but on closer inspection it was not the same building.
We returned to the car and Munna went back to the men to ask again. A bigger crowd started to form and it became a big debate as to why we wanted to know and where the building might be.
One of the men said he thought it was a railway cottage, and that we should make our way to the other side of the railway and and ask again.
We drove round the road and across the bridge to bring us to the other side, and the next group of men, and out came the pictures again with more directions and pointing, and we went down a small Lane and there was the house!
We got out and it was instantly recognisable from the pictures, albeit a little more faded and worn.
As we stood looking children started coming out off the house along with a young man who spoke very good English. He asked us why we were there and we explained and showed the pictures. He called his family out and they all came over. Once they understood they invited us into their house and made us very welcome. What was a huge house occupied by one family now held 10 families. All the rooms had been sub divided into smaller units, so a large bedroom became a bedroom plus kitchen, but every thing was so clean and well kept.
The families asked us in and sat us down bringing out Water and sweets. The sweets were rusagohlas which is like a ball of dough soaked in a sweet syrup and they tasted really nice. Our worry was just how well our tummies would cope with local food, but we were fine and probably worried over nothing.
The house was probably at its peak in 1935 and the picture we had showed a car and very well dressed visitors, with shutters on the windows and a large garden. The house now in front of us had probably not had any maintenance for the last 50 years and whilst the structure looked the same the exterior was dilapidated and shutters broken. Inside the families had kept them as clean as they could with brightly coloured walls and clean floors and walls.
The outside wall had collapsed in places and no attempt had been made at repairs.
We were treated brilliantly and made very welcome by families that were pleased we had come and that we had some link. The lady of the house gave Heather a big hug and said welcome home, and I think there were a few years shed, and all the work to drive and find the house were worth it in that one second!
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