Scooter! Scooter is the way to see rural India! TG and I rent one, and tear around the coast and countryside of this beautiful southern state. As we tutt along, down the dirt roads, and around the honking local traffic, we feel for a moment liberated. He is not worried about trying to save the world, and I am not concerned with money and time. We scoot by farms of rice and vegetables we do not know the names of, The streams are filled with water buffalo and above are ideal blue skies. The children and adults stare at us in wonder, and wave and smile hello.
We have been experiencing this rare phenomenon. The locals always want to take our picture! The children break out into large wide grins when they see TG and his long limbs trouncing down the street. The young men pose with us, while their friends take pictures with their Iphones. Everyone waves and smiles, and asks where we are from. It is a far cry from our experience in Delhi; different worlds altogether. I don't know if they think TG is some American baseball player or movie star, or if they find us particularly strange looking, or perhaps locals always take pictures with tourists, but we find it curious. We laugh, and always say yes. We are mostly glad that people seem happy to see us, instead of the angry stares that was so often our interaction with locals in Delhi.
People still want to sell us the moon, but there are fewer people here, so we are not hounded. Temples and ruins sit in surprising pockets, and remind us that there is more history here then we might ever understand. I long to know the stories, before the tourists, before the iphones, but they are as difficult to find as the small roads that lead to these intricate places of worship.
The wind rips through our hair, and the vibration of the street and small rickety vehicle hums though our bodies. Palm thatched roofs, barefoot children, tractors, and so many strange happy wayward cows (I now harbor a strange love for these large simple animals), brainwash us into thinking that maybe we haven't made a mistake after all. There is something here, waiting for us in the sometimes harsh simplicity. When I figure out what that is, exactly, I will let you know. Until then, we clumsily stumble in and out of the hard beauty of India. My advice: rent a scooter! The view is better.
We have been experiencing this rare phenomenon. The locals always want to take our picture! The children break out into large wide grins when they see TG and his long limbs trouncing down the street. The young men pose with us, while their friends take pictures with their Iphones. Everyone waves and smiles, and asks where we are from. It is a far cry from our experience in Delhi; different worlds altogether. I don't know if they think TG is some American baseball player or movie star, or if they find us particularly strange looking, or perhaps locals always take pictures with tourists, but we find it curious. We laugh, and always say yes. We are mostly glad that people seem happy to see us, instead of the angry stares that was so often our interaction with locals in Delhi.
People still want to sell us the moon, but there are fewer people here, so we are not hounded. Temples and ruins sit in surprising pockets, and remind us that there is more history here then we might ever understand. I long to know the stories, before the tourists, before the iphones, but they are as difficult to find as the small roads that lead to these intricate places of worship.
The wind rips through our hair, and the vibration of the street and small rickety vehicle hums though our bodies. Palm thatched roofs, barefoot children, tractors, and so many strange happy wayward cows (I now harbor a strange love for these large simple animals), brainwash us into thinking that maybe we haven't made a mistake after all. There is something here, waiting for us in the sometimes harsh simplicity. When I figure out what that is, exactly, I will let you know. Until then, we clumsily stumble in and out of the hard beauty of India. My advice: rent a scooter! The view is better.
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