She submitted the digital census data from the collector's office in Raipur, where the connectivity was reliable and the upload process for field enumeration was straightforward. She had cleaned the data the previous evening at the hotel where Sukhram had driven her — corrected the formatting for the database fields, checked the entry codes, standardised the occupation classifications. It was meticulous work and she did it meticulously. Then she had slept for ten hours, which was not normal for her but was apparently what she needed, and she had not dreamed or if she had dreamed she did not remember it.
The data upload took forty minutes. Two hundred and forty-seven individual records, fifty-three household records, all the associated metadata — GPS coordinates, enumeration date, enumerator ID, all the digital fields that the new system required. She uploaded the forms as scanned documents. She uploaded the photographs — all one hundred and sixteen of them — flagged with a note: Camera malfunction during field visit — human subjects not registering in images. All data verified verbally and in written form. Please note technical issue for equipment review.
The upload confirmation came back immediately: Field data received. Under review. Reference number: CG-2024-NDV-0847.
Standard. She noted the reference number in her file and went to get lunch.
