Thursday, February 19, 2009

Kerela Trip

I was a little stuck in my native this time around. Constant powercuts and painful relatives were the order of the day. It is so damn hard when the only sleep you get is at 2-3 AM in the morning, and you can sleep because there is a powercut and the mosquitos are not as small as the ones you find in Chennai. The mosquitos in kerela are huge. I let one go post catching it, without killing it, just to see how these birds fly with that kind of body weight. You squash them and you can donate blood. It is hilarious. I used to work with a company which used to sell repellents and I should say, I am awestruck as to how the company still manages to make profits.

Relatives are a source of agony. They are everywhere in Kerela. I wish i could squash them too, but sadly I have to potray a goody goody image. They are after your life most of the time. The last time I went to my native, they were after me to get married. This time they want a kid, which is very wierd. I meet them once in 2 years on an average. How would it matter to them if I had a kid. And how am i expected to have a kid. My wife lives in Mumbai. I am based out of Chennai. If she gets pregnant it better be immaculate. A hand of God, If you know what I mean.

But there were other things which kind of made up for all the downsides. Like, the food. Awesome. Like the lake and the water. The women, so raw and so damn hot.

Kerela teaches you to cool off, to do nothing the entire day which was very nice. The day passes slowly. There is nothing to do. You can sit and read the new paper for 2 hours, the head for the lake and bathe for 2-3 hours. Nobody cares. It is more like if u dont take 3 hours to swim around you are going to be bored sitting idle and looking at passerby's.

After a long time, I did trek into the wilderness that is th village where my father was born and i should say it was far better than the 130 year old rain forests of Malaysia. At some point i was also lost and ended up in some small town, full of people with shocked faces, which is wierd. Can you imagine a small village of people who collectively look shocked through out their lifetimes. I bought a huge jack fruit home dragging it about 6-7 kilometers. I think I stole it, I dont know. But in Kerela nobody steals. Like for example I saw a cashew tree which extended into the middle of the road, full of cashew, and nobody would touch it , If it was Chennai or Mumbai it would have dissapeared in an hour. There are mangoes everywhere, ripe, green, different shapes all at a arms distance, but nobody seems to want it. Nobody in the village earns more than 4-5 K a month, which is quite suprising. They just dont need the money. If you offer a easier lifestyle for lesser salary, they are all ready to take it.

Such was my travel to my holy land, Kerela.