While others screamed with joy when the sun, condensed into eight-watt LED bulbs strung at irregular intervals from one end of Sarkhipara to the other, shone past dusk on September 10, 2021, Lebirung Reang just smiled. She recalled what Natuharia Reang had said before they got married six years ago — that he could bring the moon and the stars home for her. He had probably meant the sun, the nearest star, she thought.
There was another reason why Lebirung was less exuberant than the 85 other inhabitants of Sarkhipara, which means ‘hilltop hamlet’ in the local dialect. She was the only one who had had the experience of living with electricity at Ompi-Salkhapara, her native village, about 50 km west of Sarkhipara.
Natuharia, a school dropout like his wife and a jhum cultivator, fell for Lebirung after spotting her at her village’s periodic market in 2016. It wasn’t easy for him to change two public vehicles to meet her at Ompi-Salkhapara regularly. He did the next best thing: travel frequently to Chakmaghat 30 km away to charge his mobile battery for ₹10 until it was full, to be able to speak to Lebirung. He did not tell Lebirung that Sarkhipara went to sleep after sunset or used kerosene lamps for emergencies at night. Neither did she ask him if his village had electricity; she just presumed it did.
