Panigram Resort Hosts Its First Guests

Lighting up the pavilion at night.

“Can we stay TONIGHT?” Chi Chi kept nagging me. For the past week she and the interns have been begging me to allow them to spend a night at the Pavilion. I was inclined to capitulate since they have worked really hard for the past several weeks to build it. It still amazes me how much they were able to accomplish in just three weeks!

Koli had some doubts. He insisted that we get permission from the local police before spending the night. We went down to the police station together. The Chief of Police was very friendly, but tried to convince me not to spend the night.  My interns worked hard, however, and I wanted to reward them, so I stuck to my guns and told the police officer that we really want to stay and that the interns were going back to America in a few days and would not have another chance. He agreed on the condition that he be allowed to send us four police escorts.

Chi Chi was ecstatic when I told her the news. We packed up hammocks, mosharis (mosquito nets), and bed rolls and took them to the site. The pavilion and bathroom were complete and Panigram was ready to receive her first guests.

We were a bit worried that all of the villagers would stay all night watching us as they do in the day, so we devised a plan to distract them. Musjid, one of the village leaders who has been very instrumental in garnering local support, invited us all to his house for dinner. We hoped the villagers would see us leave the project site and assume that we had gone home, as we did every day around that time. I came up with an elaborate plan to drive down to the next town, transfer to a boat, and come back to the pavilion on the river. I thought it was a brilliant idea, but Koli said that he didn’t know the pathway to the river and that it was too dark to find it. We compromised by taking our autorickshaw to the bridge that crosses over our river and taking a boat from there. At least this way we would avoid the ten minute walk to the project site in the dark; our headlamps are easily identifiable and I was sure they would attract curious onlookers.

Secret nighttime boat ride to the pavilion.

It was fantastic to take the boats to the site at night! The river was beautiful and quiet and we were completely surrounded by fireflies.

When we got to the pavilion, Chi Chi set up oil lamps which bathed the site in a beautiful, warm, orange glow. We set up our hammocks and settled in for the evening. A few locals tried to approach our pavilion in a boat, but the police chased them away.

We slept in hammocks on the pavilion that we built.

Somewhere, a villager was playing a flute and we drifted off to sleep to the sound of gentle music, surrounded by the glitter of fireflies…

My intern, Brian, sleeping in...