– ODO- 8118 – 8260km
– Location- Nachimuthu Natrayan Thirukovil Temple, India
– Weather- 22-35 Hazy in the morning but very hot in the afternoon
Yesterday was the festival of Pongal in Tamil Nadu. Outside each house the women paint with coloured sand. Flowers and spirals in intricate patterns. Fast high pitched music, driven by frantic polyrhythms pounded out from the square outside of each temple. Kids danced and played. Parents and grandparents sat around watching. Along one highway hundreds of people dressed in their most colourful green and orange walked barefoot to – I assume – the festivities. Or perhaps they were heading home.
This side of the tea hills the climate is totally different. The heat is dryer. As is the land. From lush rainforests in Kerala, the land opens up to flat dry fields. The rivers and open-air wells sit mostly dry. I wonder how deep the water must be pumped from. I am now in the state of Tamil Nadu and the people have changed somewhat. Where I am now is markedly poorer. The restaurants are replaced with sweet shops and tea houses. The smiles are the same. As are
The signs of confusion as I pass.
Most people will never understand what I’m doing with my life.