Bonfires in the City & Balancing Things on Your Head

Yesterday while traveling in the nearby city at sunset to witness another purchase of bamboo, I stumbled upon a scene of total anarchy. I walked into a crowd facing the street who were watching something that I could not make out, but what I assumed was the aftermath of a car wreck given the plumes of smoke coming from the street. Instead as I pushed forward I saw that a group of 40 men had made a bonfire in the middle of the main road in the city - and with huge sticks were beating it. While there were numerous television cameras filming the events there were no police about - even though a police station was no more than four blocks away. Men were waving red and black flags. Onlookers told me what it was all about: it's election time in Tamil Nadu. Members of the ruling party, the DMK, were burning an effigy of a leader of the main opposition party, the AIADMK. Evidently this happened all over Tamil Nadu yesterday. Here's an article and photo from another city: http://www.hindu.com/2011/02/10/stories/2011021062210900.htm The AIADMK leader had alleged corruption in the DMK's administration of public housing funds. Evidently the DMK's supporters (or cadres as an article endearingly calls them) disagree.

Much of my time is still spent at the school. All last week I attended classes with the kids to get a sense of what they were learning. This week I've transitioned entirely to play. This week the older boys set up some cricket "wickets" in the main field. I joined my first game on Monday after lunch. There was much lobbying for me to join each team. Little did they know that I had never before seen a game of cricket and did not understand the rules. My first day I inadvertently switched teams in the middle of play and began playing a wicket-keeper or "catcher" position against my own team. The second day was my first at bat. After we scored a succession of runs I succeeded in grounding out. In the outfield I hoped to redeem myself to my new 10 year old friends. A pop fly sailed directly to my position in the field. I looked up into the blue sky - and lost the ball in the sun. I caught site of it at the last moment and moved backward as it sailed through my hands onto the turf and I landed on my backside. Score one more run/wicket for the other team.

All over this village you see women carrying amazing things on their heads: bundles of logs, gigantic vessels of water, and bags of rice. How is one trained for that? Today after lunch I saw the coursework. A group of girls practicing running and then walking with their lunch plates on their heads (hair wrapped up and all). I joined in - and to much applause succeeded in running with a plate balanced on my head while carrying a 1st grader at the same time.

Respect at cricket lost. Respect at carrying a plate on my head gained.

I also saw my first Indian movie this last week: the movie Kavalan with the Tamil star Vijay (there is a poster of him in almost all the restaurants I go to. He, it should be noted, does have a mustache). My favorite part turned out to be the song and dance routines. One of which inexplicably moved Vijay and his love interest from a country manner to a circus. The movie itself featured dogs that chased grenades and returned them to owners, numerous gags involving men accidentally having to go into women's bathrooms and "little people". I question the plot but loved the music.

Also attended another meeting of the Rotary Club of Vellore where Ramu and I were the main speakers doing back to back speeches and then interview of each other on politics of America and India before taking questions. Again amazing for how controversial the discussion was. A lot of time was spent on the Naxalities - a Maoist insurgency that has taken over a swath of central India and is running a parallel government - and the social conditions that caused them to rise. 

This next weekend there will be a party at the school celebrating the completion of both the bamboo tree house and a bamboo meditation hall.

Ryan

P.S. Points to my parents/Catherine for correctly identifying the mysterious game with squares and skipping in my last blog as hopscotch.

P.P.S. Points to Gary Fuller for noting that the barber in the photo of my mustache being removed has wings. I didn't catch it at first but went back and yes - his head does have wings. (There is a rational explanation: there are lots of crows around here - they especially torment the chickens in cages at the adjacent butchers - one must have flown up right as my friend Rinjin took the shot. Perfect timing.)