Farewell Friends of Andhra Pradesh

Sunil asked me to come and stay in Chittoor for the weekend, and, since I had no plans to do anything in Vellore now, I thought sod it and left Katpadi a couple days earlier than planned to do so; the benefits of travelling independently.

So I checked out of the hotel and caught the bus to Chittoor bus stand where Sunil waited for me. As usual he got me a small cup of tea from a tea stall. He had some things he needed to quickly get done so I just sat and waited for him. I saw a shop opposite advertising toy guns and got lost in a train of thought: It is somewhat disturbing giving kids a chance to reenact violence and murder with toy gun, isn't it? What is bizarre is that they are not allowed to play violent video games or watch gory films, but they can pretend to kill eachother with toys - which I suppose could inadvertently lead to injury thinking about it. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think kids should be banned from imitating a solider in a war or whatever. I just saw this advert whilst sitting and sipping tea and thought the hypocrisy amusing is all.

Anyway, so I sat and thought about trivial shit waiting for Sunil to come back. Once he did, we set off to find a place to drink beer. He drove quite far from the town and stopped at a liqueur store and got me a bottle of Knock Out beer - aptly named seeing as it is 8%. We sat down by a table, chatted and I also had another beer called Kingfisher which is just as strong. I guess the people here in India don't do weak shit eh? I had about the equivalent of four pints before we set off back to Chittoor, feeling slightly tipsy of course.

Sunil took me along to a cricket game he and his friends played. As a non-sports person, frankly, I found my time at the playing field boring. I did try and keep myself entertained by playing my uke, but then people wouldn't leave me alone. Suffice to say people were more interested in me than their cricket match; can't say I blame them since cricket is so boring.

After about two hours of boredom, we finally left. We visited his aunties tailor shop and then drove to her house with her and her daughter to meet more of their family. They were very pleasant people. His aunt gave us some tasty milk ice-cream and told me about her time spent working in Saudi Arabia. She also showed me her daughters English school work which I must say is very good! She can spell and punctuate better than a lot of the illiterate people on my Facebook (ironic since a lot of them spout the old "you're in England so speak English" retort when being xenophobic pricks. They would do well to heed their own words!)and she's only 10 or 11 years old! After spending some time there conversing with his family, we headed off and I got booked in to the same hotel I stayed at last time I was in Chittoor. I had initially planned to attend Sunil's friend's function, but by time he came back to pick me up, unfortunately, I felt too tired and wanted to sleep instead. So he said he would come by in the morning and we would do something.

Sunil did indeed drop by in the morning (later than the time stated of course), but only to inform me that he was going to Tirupathi and wouldn't be back until the evening. So, left alone, I decided to go for a very long walk and explore Chittoor. I walked down some busy narrow streets where there were shops and stalls galore; street vendors trying to shift me their cheap wares, women selling a variety of fruits, and food stalls filling the air with a nice smell of different food being cooked. I also walked along a quieter main road where there were mountains in the backdrop, lakes and some temples. After some time, I decided to head back in to town and find myself a bar.

There was a bar just around the corner from my hotel, so I went in and got myself a big bottle of Knock Out. I stood alone for a little while when a friend of Sunil's came in - Vinoth(?). He said he had recognised me one time with Sunil, but I couldn't remember him; I have met many of his friends briefly, after all. He joined me for a drink and then more people started chatting with me.

A lady who worked as a glass collector/waitress took a liking to me and kept shaking my hand as she "wanted some of my white skin," as Vinoth put it; a lot of women in England think a more tanned skin is attractive and in India, a lot of women think a more pale complexion is attractive. Perhaps these women should swap countries! I recall Aruna saying to me that she wishes she had white skin as she feels ugly. Ugly?! I hate that there are people who feel that way about themselves. I think all skin colour is attractive and can't for the life of me understand why people obsess over how they look. Well, I suppose the media has a lot of input actually. In India, you'll see all beauty products being advertised by pale Indian women stating that other women can be beautiful too if they buy whatever miraculous product they are advertising - much like the brainwashing adverts in the UK then! So I just told this lady at the bar that the colour of our skin is not important; we are all beautiful and we are all equal. She's a damn hardworker and deserves respect too, so I kissed her hand and she smiled and done that head bop that Indian people do (it's common for people not familiar with this Indian gesture to mistaken them for nodding no, when actually they are agreeing).

We had another drink and shortly a clique of transgender females came in. They too took a liking to me and all wanted a picture taken with me. They were quite the laugh and livened the place up a bit but left after a short time. It was then that Vinoth wanted to take me to his village, so we got on his motorbike and rode off.

Once we got on to the quiet roads, he let me drive the bike. I've never driven a geared motorbike before but quickly got the hang of it and I loved it! I definitely want to get my own bike now sometime. It really is bliss driving one on the country roads. Eventually we stopped at a village I was familiar with; we were close to Malla Kunta so I thought I would use this opportunity to say a final farewell to Aruna. Sunil came and picked me up and we headed to his village.

It was good to see Aruna and her home one last time. I asked her how marriage life felt and she replied nothing has changed; she still lives at her parent's home and Sunil his. I then asked her if she was going to look for a job in the city (as she wanted to do), now that she didn't need to have her fathers permission, but she said Suman doesn't want her to. Well, I guess she will always have a leash around her neck, tied by Indian traditions and held tight by the man who supposedly loves her. I don't think much more was said. She told me to take care and be careful and I just said goodbye and hopped on the back of Vinoth's bike and, sadly, didn't look back.

Eventually we arrived at Vinoth's village. I was feeling a bit too melancholic to be chatty with anyone so called Sunil so he could take me back to Chittoor with him so I could have a drink. Once we arrived, he took me to a bar where we sat, ate and drunk for about an hour. He took me to my hotel and we said our goodbyes and I soon passed out. I will miss Sunil. Sure, it's hard to converse with him due to the language barrier, but he is a generous, kind and caring man. If you ever read this mate, you're a good man. Thank you.
And that was it. Sadly, it was time to leave familiar surroundings and my good friends. Next stop: Bangalore.

An Indian Marriage

Because I was intrigued by what an Indian wedding entails, I messaged Aruna asking if it was still OK for me to attend hers. She said it was fine and told me to get a hotel in Chittoor as her marriage would commence at 5am the following morning. Why so early? Damned if I know.

So I quickly packed some overnight clothes and got on the bus to Chittoor. Aruna had informed me that her friend, and the man she is going to marry - Suman, would come and meet me and help book me in to a hotel. Now punctuality does not seem to be a trait of anybody here in India; in fact, we volunteers last year often joked about "Indian time" referring to how notoriously unpunctual our friends were. So I wasn't too surprised that after half an hour of waiting for Suman to come and meet me, he still hadn't arrived, living up to the expectations of Indian punctuality. By then I was getting very impatient though, so decided to go off and look for a hotel myself.

After some walking down narrow and busy streets, I finally found a hotel. It was only 350  rupees a night, so I asked to see the room first knowing full well it was probably going to be a shithole. But suprisingly, it wasn't too bad. I was fairly happy with it anyway so said I would take it for the night. Suman managed to get a hold of me so I informed him of where I was staying and he soon came to meet me. Finally.

By this time, it was early afternoon so I agreed to come to Suman's shop for sometime. It was a nice chilled afternoon really. Didn't do anything other than ate some of Suman's packed lunch (chicken curry and rice) and drawed a manga girl. Since I was in a clothes shop, I decided to buy Aruna a saree as a gift. I got her a pretty looking orange one as I remembered her saying that orange is her favourite colour. By about 7pm, Suman dropped me off at my hotel room and I decided to have an early night.

Well, that was what I intended to happen. It took me for what seemed like many hours to fall asleep, and I woke up at 2am. Great. A very cold bucket wash soon woke me and freshened me up though and then I just patiently waited for Suman to come and get me.
Coincidently, my hotel was just opposite the small temple they were getting married, so it only took 5 seconds to get there, where Aruna was sitting and waiting; she was wearing a very nice saree and looked beautiful in it. She had said that it was only going to be a small wedding, but I had least expected her immediate family to be there - especially her father! But no, only her brother Sunil came. None of Suman's family attended either.
We waited for a little while whilst the hindu preist made some preparations. When everything was ready, some drums started to bang and bells began to ring. What happened next was amazing but also confusing and bizarre for me at the same time; I didn't have any idea what was going on and why. I just got my camera out and snapped away at the rather elaborate ceremony; they put flowers over one another several times, prayed, bowed down to the priest and prayed, prayed to some bananas and rupee notes that they handed to the priest, we put our hands over a flame and some red powder (kumkuma) on our foreheads and prayed, and we also poured some seeds(?) over their heads. They then walked around the shrine a few times holding hands. So yeah, it was very confusing for me, but none the less I had enjoyed my experience of witnessing a marriage, even if I don't agree with the reasons for it.

After the ceremony finished, we said our goodbyes and I walked off pondering Indian marriage; I've noticed that on the billboards with wedding photos on them, seldom do I see the bride and groom smile and I wonder if it is because they have married somebody they don't love? Aruna didn't smile much at all and I know she doesn't love Suman. I'm probably wrong about the reasons for people not smiling in their wedding photos (supposedly the happiest day of anybodys life), but it was just a thought that occured to me. Very sad if I'm correct though.

Anyway, my morning in Chittoor wasn't quite over as Sunil found me and said I could ride with him and I'll catch the bus to Katpadi later on. It was very pleasant riding down the country roads on the back of his scooter at 7am. This is the first time I've seen morning mist and also the first time I have been shivering cold here! He took me far out in the sticks to where his aunty lives where we walked around some fields. We didn't stop there for too long and soon hit the road. Once again, he said I could drive so I did much to my enjoyment. We just spent the remainder of the morning driving around Chittoor and having chai (tea). Eventually, I said my farewells to him and got on a bus back to Katpadi.

Driving to and Staying at Malla Kunta

After spending a few days alone in Chennai, I was happy to receive a text from Aruna inviting me to come and stay at her home again on Saturday.

I had an unpleasant sleep during the night thanks to bed bugs. I was generally pleased with my hotel room until I had to kill the bloody blood sucking parasites. Oh well. There was no use in asking for another room as I would be only spending one more night there. Perhaps I'll write a negative review on trip adviser to be amongst the other negative reviews on there. Anyway, I was up, ready and itching to go by half 6 in the morning.

I got the usual 7:50 train to Katpadi Junction, then the bus to Chittoor. This time, Aruna's brother Sunil met me at the bus stand. He took me to a tea stall and then some small restaurant for a milk-like-beverage. God knows what is was and what was in it, but it sure was nice! He then took me to meet a friend of his. I'll be damned if I can remember his name or what he looked like now. I know it sounds a bit callous of me, but people here are always wanting to show me off/introduce me to their friends and family, that I have had to digest so many names and personal information in such short time, it's impossible for my brain to retain it all.

So after meeting another friend of his, we finally started to head to his village - Malla Kunta. Once we reached the more quiet roads, he pulled over and said I could drive the scooter for the remainder of the journey. I was well up for it and since I had a moped when I was 16, I was already familiar with driving one. Well, it doesn't take a genius to drive a twist and go anyway.

But these were Indian roads and as I have mentioned before, they are extremely chaotic compared to the roads that I'm used to driving on. Oh, and health and safety does not exist here which I think is great! It's nice to ride a two wheeler without having to wear a helmet. Hell, it was just an exciting experience driving on seemingly lawless roads. I even passed by a police station; whoops, I do not have an Indian licence. But fuck it, who cares? No one does here. It's a breath of fresh free air since I come from a country that seems to becoming more authoritative by the year. 

So yeah, I was lapping up the fact that I was the one beeping the horn, rather than the one being beeped at. In India, horns are going off all the time; when they overtake, when they turn, when they're about to run you over if you don't move the fuck out of their way.
It was a fairly long journey; must've taken nearly an hour to finally get to Malla Kunta. We did stop for a quick cup of tea though. Once we arrived, I met Aruna and her cousin at her aunt and uncle's home. I went with them, quite far out in the sticks, to get some fruit from trees (no idea what they're called). I didn't like them myself as found them to taste a bit too bitter for my liking. There's also a massive, deep well there which they used to swim in as kids, but due to there not being enough rainfall now, it has all dried up and nature has claimed it. Possibly the effects of global warming?

Afterwards, we headed back to Aruna's home and I met her family once again. Although I can't understand Telugu (the official language of Andhra Pradesh. Every state in India has a different language in case you didn't know), and they can't speak English, her mother and grandmother often speak to me anyway, often using hand gestures to help convey what they are saying. They seem like really nice people and regardless of the language barrier, I still felt really welcome at their home. It's a wonderful cultural experience spending time with a rural Indian family, I must say.

Sunil took me to their plot of land out in the fields where they have some mango and coconut trees. He bashed down some coconuts from the tree and used his sickle to cut open the shell of the coconuts to get to the milk, of which we then drank. I genuinely love eating and drinking from the land, which I had never experienced before. It just feels...right. And very tasty too!

When we returned back to their home, I met more of Aruna's friends and family. I went with a few lads back to their home where their mother made me some hot milk. I chilled there only for a little while before meeting his father - who is the local tailor, and a few more family members. By time I returned back to Aruna's home, she had pretty much cooked dinner, so it wasn't too long before I starting tucking in to some chicken curry. Not long after I finished, I turned in for the night.

The following morning, Aruna made me some tea and also cooked some sambar rice for breakfast. I then got on Sunil's scooter with him and Aruna and they took me to chittoor where I then made my way back to Chennai. All in all, another lovely time spent in Malla Kunta. It may just be a small rural village, but I do enjoy it there and find the people to be very friendly and pleasant.

It's good to just get away from the modern era and away from people fixated to their technology; people in England are so dependent on it that on the rare occurrence a power cut happens, people start to panic and melodromatically whine how bored they are. Oh boohoo. No television to keep them lobotomised for a whole half hour or so. It's an everyday occurrence here and people just get on with work, or sip some tea, or cook; perhaps they will socialise with one another! Anyway, you get the gist. So yeah, it's just good to get away from the trivial melodrama of first world problems.