Google Lost Me

Last Friday, my attempts to educate were thwarted. As I boarded the bus I asked the money-collector to take me to Narikudi (where the school is), in Tamil, and he charged me 2.50 rupees. However, crowded next to bustling exits entrances of men women children, I didn’t notice the critical turn. I eventually noticed how the foliage passing by was completely unrecognizable and the terrain around me was different than the terrain near my school. Instead of rice paddies I saw edgy cliffs of shrubs and trees, with the road cutting inside hard red clay. About 20 minutes into the ride I got suspicious and asked the same money-collector again if the bus goes to Narikudi. He looked at me, shook his head, and absurdly gesticulated his shock at my question and said in Tamil, “no no, it goes that way” and pointed in the direction we had just come. This scoundrel charged me earlier to go to a place he knew he wasn't going to take me! I got off and sat at the return bus stop in a "town" called Sedhupuram. The town consisted of a bus stop, a temple, a goatherd with his goats, and a huge cell phone tower- so my coverage was awesome!

Later I went online to look up Sedhupuram's actual location, but to no avail. Even Google Maps didn’t know where I was! This IS roughin’ it! I realized that I've never been in such a remote place all my life, and that this remoteness was a bit intimidating to me. I'm used to having a city-mentality where I expect the worst or best from people here, but seemingly here the intentions and mindsets in a rural space is different... a little less sinister or hospitable than I expect them to be; in truth a lot more indifferent than I'd like to them to be! Nonetheless, after a half hour of watching goats, the wind, and an occasional bicycle pass by, the returning bus came and I boarded it back to Tiruchuli.

When I returned to Tiruchuli, I was whisked away to help plant tree seedlings in the ODAM farm. The organic farm is basically a test nursery for different native plants that could be turned into some sort of entrepreneurial activity for people in the area. We planted teak so that ODAM can nourish these into small trees, sell them at a discounted rate to poor farmers, who can use it for teak wood (which is excellent for making furniture). Other crops include tomatoes, chilies, pulses, pomegranate, lady fingers, neem, jatropha, tamarind, and a ton of other random/experimental plants growing there (even a sad dried-out coffee shrub!) I planted teak saplings alongside some hired hands and was impressed at how long these women (note: they were women) could sit crouched and working. They were undoubtedly puzzled as to why whiteys like us (all four of us ODAM international volunteers were present) would want to do their work, which they were of course happy to share. I’ll write about the experience as an international volunteer and my theories on that when I can wrap my head around it a bit better. In the meantime, I’ll share amusing details and interesting stories too, which is definitely part of this experience. In addition to stumbling on bold new definitions of “progress” and “culture” (yikes!), this experience is much more than these highfalutin musings. Since living in Tiruchuli, I have decided that my favorite animal is really the goat, and that's enlightening enough.