RSS was explained to me as
'a (caste-based?) social service
organisation'. The wikipedia
description is here.
... seemed to be my recurring themes in India. Yet again I had been through three days of 'Mughal's other revenge' and was feeling almost amused by it. (The original style of revenge would have been far worse.) Also I had been invited by yet another total stranger to her wedding. I couldn't believe this - it was a totally genuine invitation (fancy card and all!). So how did this happen?
Well, in the morning Ajeesh took me to a small school in Nedumkandom to give an impromptu spoken-english session to some senior students. This was even more terrifying than yesterday's auto-ride: my spoken English can be patchy at the best of times. I talked a little about my history and situation (answering yet again the usual questions about spouse and children - aarrgghh!) and then tried to get them to speak back to me - after all, I wasn't the one trying to learn English. I asked them to talk about their career- and life-ambitions and voice their opinions on the 'reservation' issue.* That had some effect and helped me learn too.
*Students and doctors were currently striking over the central government's decision to reserve 27% of medical school places for 'other backward castes', etc
After this, the teacher took me to lunch and then Ajeesh took me by motorbike to Ramakkalmedu, a mountain that overlooks the drop down into Tamil Nadu. It's breath-taking, purely amazing and on its own has made this trip worthwhile. Ajeesh commeneted unhappily about the plastic litter his country-folk leave about. He and his friends regularly come here to clean up but it seems a thankless task. He'd really appreciate other eco-tourists coming to join this struggle.
The other pollution he finds objectionable is a ridiculously huge sculpture on a nearby hill. It's pointless and almost obscene to plonk a lump of tacky concrete in the midst of such natural beauty.
We then journeyed in the dark through more scary roads to where Ajeesh's friend Sindhu lives. She was getting married the day after next day (i.e. Saturday) with the festivities starting tonight. She invited me to the ceremony and yet I was just a random western bozo. I don't understand it but am hugely grateful.
© (except the blatantly ripped-off bits) Random Bozo 2006