More drivel fell off my fingers because it was too dark to work in the fields. Typos in my Nedumkandam blogs can be blamed on the mozzies which hassled my feet. I should have worn socks. By the way, tales of niceness here should not be taken to mean that people in other places aren't nice too. Over the years I've run into people from all over the place (Scots, Australians, Indonesians, South Africans, Americans and English folk spring immediately to mind) who give with both hands.
Ajeesh returned this morning. After a lot of family discussion about a cousin who's wasting his time and leaving his immediate family's land unfarmed, we went to town.
I had a quick blog while Ajeesh visited an office in town. Then we drove to his bank. I appear to have slagged the wrong bank - the bank whose directors were demanding a bribe appears to be Nedumkandam Service Co-operative Bank. So I unreservedly apologise to the Idukki Co-operative Bank. However, this was a small branch - the nasties were being played out in the head office.
We had lunch at the café I've blogged about before. The owner is called Mini and her daughters are Raji and Remia. I was happy to eat and drink there but I horrified by the ants that infested her sugar. Aarrgghh!
We then went to the local plant-nursery to pick up some plants: apprently wild strawberries although they they looked nothing like the strawberries I know. (I think they're cherries.) When the nursery owner was told they were for the local public/government school, he gave them for free. DS, Ajeesh and I then went to the school and chatted with the headmistress while waiting for classes to end.
The children (at least the lower classes) were assembled into the one of the school's main buildings. (There were no partitions between the various classrooms in this building.) Ajeesh, the headmistress and I were sat in front of them and the headmistress introduced Ajeesh and I. I felt a bit uncomfortable at being referred to as 'doctor' because I don't like people to think I'm full of pride (except when this is true) or particularly special* but if this could help them aim high, then I guess it was ok.
*I'm just Random Bozo who gets it wrong a lot of the time.
I was then invited to speak to the children - I started by thanking them and their parents for the wonderful welcome I've had here. I then asked them about their ambitions. All of this had to be translated by Ajeesh because very few of the pupils had enough english to understand me. We finished with Ajeesh leading the children in a repetitive song/clapping rhyme.
I can't tell you how un-nerving it was to have 100 or so bright, young faces staring at me while I attempted to fill up the silence with useful and non-patronising words. Aarrgghh! I offered the headmistress my services as a very temporary english tutor!
We then went to the school fields to plant out the unknown-fruit trees. I have some good photos (thanks DS) of me wielding a mambati tambar. We also got Ajeesh's former teacher and two of the children to plant out other plants and I tried to push the idea of not dropping the plastic waste that had been their wrappers.
I then blogged while Ajeesh went at a meeting to organise Jaya's wedding. I think this is when I took the photos of a demonstration - I think it was against the petrol price-rises. As I recall, there was animosity between state and central governments. The centre called some state governments hypocrites for denouncing the price rises while welcoming the extra purchase tax that would go into their treasuries.
Today was the cybercafé/architect & design studio owners' 19th wedding anniversary. Someone brought in some large fry-cakes and they gave me one. Thanks to this unknown donor and congratulations to Mr and Mrs Ozhathil!
I had no idea what would happen tomorrow but I was looking forward to finding out.
© (except the blatantly ripped-off bits) Random Bozo 2006