Water Splashing and a Day in the Village

I got up before dawn this morning to witness the water splashing ritual at the temple I entered through a back gate rather than through the main entrance with all of the pilgrims and by doing so avoided huge queues and the annoying hassles of locals waiting to scam me out of a few hundred rupees to walk me through the temple. The temple itself has 22 wells, each containing holy water. Every morning, thousands of people push and shove their way to each of the wells to be soaked by its water. A similar scene was taking place just down the road at a local beach, which too is considered holy. Hundreds of men, women, children, and even a few cows bathed in the sea, praying, chanting, and singing. The festival is observed in honor of the Lord Siva. It is believed that Lord Siva married Pavartha today. Happy Anniversary Siva! Lord Siva is the most esteemed deity among Hindus, as he is the God of immense large heartedness. That's according to the local paper. I guess that means he's generous and loving. It is believed that people who utter the names of Siva during Maha Sivaratri with perfect devotion and concentration will be freed from all sins.

By 9am the heat had set in and by 10am the flurry of commotion witnessed this morning had all but dissipated. I took refuge in my hotel room, drenched myself with the cool water from the shower head, turned on the fan, laid soaking wet on my bed, and read about Hillary's latest victory in The Hindu, the National paper of India.

After a few hours of holing up in my room avoiding the heat, I couldn't bear to sit still any longer, so decided I'd go rent a bike and explore the area. I headed south out of town on the main road, and before long the life of the town gave way to open endless expanses of ocean, sand, shrubs. I was passed occasionally by auto rickshaws who waved and honked, and every now and then by a motorbike loaded with at least 3 people, all staring, bewildered to see a white girl on a bike headed seemingly nowhere, before erupting into laughter and cheers. I eventually came to a temple where I was able to sit in the shade of a palm tree to cool off while sipping on fresh coconut juice, all under the perplexed gaze of locals. I always wonder what they're thinking when they stare at me. Having already covered close to 10km, I figured it'd be best to head back towards town. It had been a long time since I had some good, hard exercise and I didn't want my legs to give out on me in the middle of nowhere!

As I approached town, I saw a small, but well worn dirt road off of the main road and decided I'd check it out. I ungracefully bumped and jolted my way down the road trying to avoid the thorny twigs that were scattered along the road (I'd already returned one bike to the rental shop with a flat tire and really didn't want to turn up with another punctured tire!). Eventually the road narrowed into a sandy footpath, so I parked the bike and continued on foot. After passing through a grassy meadow and a heap of garbage, I reached a small village. Sitting on the stoop of the village temple were two women. They called me over. We exchanged pleasantries and they offered me dates and coconuts. I happily accepted. After snacks, lots of smiling, and very little understood conversation, they invited me to go to a nearby temple, which they claimed was much more powerful. Having nothing else to do but go back to the hotel, I nodded my acceptance. As we walked to the temple we were joined by Karuppiah who spokea tiny bit of English, at least a little more than Mari or Southaya. We went through the standard questions; What is your good name? Where are you from? How old are you? How long in India? etc...But after that, the conversation was pretty difficult to understand.

We reached the temple where a group of young boys were swimming in the pond, blessed ourselves with the water, removed our shoes, and went into the temple. Mari and Southaya went through the standard motions of Hindu temple etiquette; bow, utter a prayer, offer blessings, smear your forehead with white, yellow, and red paste, kneel and place forehead on the ground as a sign of respect, utter another prayer, repeat. I followed their lead and completed this ritual for all 3 of the deities at the temple. Afterwards, I was instructed to sit down. The women pulled 2 large newspaper-wrapped packages from their bags. After removing the string that was holding them together, they revealed rice and all of the various sauces needed for thali wrapped up perfectly in banana leaves. Spreading out the banana leaves in front of us, they uished for me to dig in. Having not eaten anything but fruit all day, I was really excited to see all of that food! Using my fingers I mixed in a few of the sauces (many are similar to curries) to the pile of rice and enjoyed my banana leaf thali.

The curiosity of the young boys form the pond had them milling around me, looking, examining, smiling. So to indulge their interest in me, I took out my camera and became an instant hit. The belly laughs that ensued from seeing their faces on the LCD screen were priceless.

The women invited me back to their home for coffee and again I happily accepted. We gathered up our things and headed back to the village. I was paraded through that village like an icon; children running up to me, jumping and screaming, waving exuberantly. Women smiling and throwing out Hello! like ----. Karuppiah stopped when he spotted his buddies to introduce me. This is Dona. She is from California. She is 25 years old. Her father is a doctor, her mother is a nurse. She has a 16 year old sister, and she isn't married. I'd just smile and nod, shaking countless hands, feeling like a patient who's vital signs were being shared with medical professionals eager to diagnose. With each stop I was handed water, sodas, sweets, and other snacks. They were insistent that I eat every last crumb, but after a few stops I wanted to throw up. I couldn't eat anymore, but when I tried to refuse the food I was simply given a sympathetic smile and told to finish it. I obliged. After close to 2 hours of being serenaded through the village we made it back to town where I dropped off my bike (Yes, I did get another flat tire. Those damn thorny twigs are everywhere!), and Karuppiah motioned me to follow. Where are we going? I questioned, tired and in need of a shower, I really just wanted to go back to my hotel room. Yes, yes, come. Southaya's house. Oh great, I thought to myself. This means more food.

We wound our way through rows of thatched houses and makeshift chai stalls until we reached Southaya's home. Inside Southaya and Mari were waiting for us, dressed in their finest. I was brought to the back room to wash up while the growing entourage of neighborhood kids waiting anxiously for my return.

I spent the next few hours sitting in Southaya's one-room thatched home, sipping coffee, and taking pictures of everyone, while they all jabbered away in Tamil, passing glances and smiles in my direction. I played with the kids and taught them a few basic English words. Soon Southaya presented me with dinner, an egg dosa which was delicious, even though the thought of food at that point was pretty repulsive. I was the only one who ate, everyone else just sat around and watched. I guess I'm getting pretty comfortable doing everyday, normal things under the scrutiny of others, as eating alone didn't even phase me. And that was it. Karuppiah walked me back to my hotel, we said our goodbyes, and I took that much needed shower.

Today I was blessed by the generosity of strangers and reminded of the true, sincere kindness that we all hold inside of us...some are just better at showing it than others. And sadly, it tends to be those who have very little to give. Why is it that the more we have the more we horde our wealth and shut others out?