21 april- around the village

Upon rising early, we discovered our bed had attracted quite a few ants, and we were covered in bites. Yikes! Dadi had woken up at 3 AM to prepare more treats for us (quite unnecessarily!!) and breakfast included dhokla. It is possibly my favourite Indian snack, a steamed lentil dish with a sourish state. Dadi learned to make it in a cooking class she took while in Bangalore and she is a stunning cook. Jo wasn't a big fan, but I just gobbled them down.

After breakfast Joanna, Nani and I went out for a walk around Kankavli. The entire ride over, Dadi and Sunil had been telling me how far the village has come. A few years ago Kankavli was secluded from the bigger world. There wasn't much available, but now one can find anything of necessity. It is hovering between 'village' and 'city', and is far more accessible. The village certainly looks much more advanced than the last time I visited, with busier main roads, much more transportation and less traditional clothing (I spotted a girl in jeans!). We still stuck out like sore thumbs though. 

I like Jo's description of the apartment's surroundings, paraphrased: "a mix of houses and apartments, slow-moving construction sites, sparkling clean new buildings that stick out like sore thumbs, and a couple of shacks built of corrugated metal and palm fronds". On one stretch of road there was a field with water buffalos and white birds on our right, and a sort of palm tree farm on our left (for coconuts or betel nuts, I couldn't tell). We saw a lot of these water buffalo/bird pairings, the bird often perched on the buffalo's back, and it always made me think of the idea of symbiosis although I'm not sure these animals get anything from one another. 

We passed the hospital in Kankavli, a brightly coloured very clean and modern looking building. 

Nearby, many buildings seemed under construction or expansion. Up against one of the rickety looking wooden construction structures was an image of what the completed building would look like. It seemed like a pipe dream, but one must not underestimate the secretly competent Indian construction methods. 

Outside of many houses, the stoops were wet and white rangoli designs were drawn with rice powder. 

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/simple-rangoli.jpg

First thing in the morning, each family will wash the stoop outside of their house and make such a design. It is a pleasing, fresh morning ritual that appeals to me greatly...

Because of the heat, we could not leave the house until 4 pm. Dadi learned that Joanna loves sweets, and made gulab jamun- indian milk balls in rosewater-scented sugar syrup. 

http://southernspicecuisine.com/images/desserts/gulabjamun.jpg

Jo and I played cards for ages. We started Rummy 5000, a super-charged super-long invented spinoff of Rummy 500. Between cards, bananagrams, reading and television we passed the hot midday. At 4, Sunil arrived to take us exploring in his auto rickshaw. He is very proud of his auto, with its light purple top (note the 'S' for Sunil decal on top) and wildly upholstered interior. I asked him why the top was purple, and he informed me the drivers of Kankavli had chosen the colours themselves. Thus the many purple auto tops around. 

We passed a large grassless expanse of land, and Dadi and Sunil told me it served many important purposes for the village. It was sometimes grounds for a large and fancy marriage, and on other occasions served as a heli-pad. For all the helicopters that I imagine would choose to land in Kankavli, of course. 

Our first adventure was climbing endless steps up to a temple on top of a hill. 

Jo and I were panting like anything when we reached the top, but when Nani emerged she hadn't even broken a sweat. The temple was peaceful and the 360 view was incredible. 

We spotted the college from a distance (Kankavli has an engineering college- this is no antiquated village!) 

and a smattering of houses and shops among the lush rainforest foliage. Sunil told me the temple was a place to come when one got bored in Kankavli, and thus a popular chill-out spot for the college students. It didn't seem particularly thrilling to me to come hang out at a temple spot when bored, but who knows. It was quite pretty. 

Heading down, we passed a small building that advertised engineering classes with a sign that said "Best Engineering Classes!!! Really!!!" with yes, that many exclamation marks. We next took the auto to the Engineering College, where we saw the younger side of Kankavli. Kids looked basically just as they did in Bangalore, and they were all speeding off either on foot or bike or scooter to return home as the day had just ended. 

Our next stop was a high school very close to the village. My relatives helped establish the school, and Dadi attended. It looks remarkable, especially given how long it has been around. School was empty for summer vacation, so we peeked into classrooms where I decided I am happy in the United States to have my own desk. I feel so spoiled. 

After one more temple stop by a well, where Sunil taught me to drive his auto...

we drove to a riverbank where we were warned not to go into the water because of the dirtiness and mosquitos. We watched a man take his water buffaloes in for a bath, and admired the natural beauty. 

Joanna and I have been looking for Indian-patterned bedspreads, having admired them both at Nani's place, Dadi's place and Shruthi's house. Sunil took us to a fabric store in Kankavli, but when we asked to see bedspreads the majority were tacky looking Western ones featuring outdated or obscure cartoon characters. Every time we asked to see a more traditional looking bedspread, the salespeople would encourage us to choose the 'better', more 'Western' ones. 

I was so bothered by this. With this whole drive towards modernization and advancement, it's amazing how little pride there often is for the amazing cultural beauty of Indian things. Instead of valuing our own country's work, these small villages aching to make it to the big time are selling cheap-looking Western designs that no one in the US would ever willingly buy. Roadside sellers offer plastic buckets in neon colours, hairclips and large plush pink bears with bead eyes when I would be much more drawn to carvings, wooden items and embroidered cloths. 

Back at home, we spent the night with cards and books and television once more. Sporadically, people would enter the apartment to see me, knowing I was visiting. I felt great that they wanted to see me but they never introduced themselves and I had no idea who I was chatting with. That too, they often spoke to me in Konkani or Marathi and as I don't understand either, conversation was pretty one-sided. 

We watched a violent Quentin Tarantino movie featuring Antonio Banderas called Desperado. Kankavli doesn't have the best selection of English television, but at least there was something. It is funny though, to see the choice of Western shows featured. Saturated with cowboy themes, it is no surprise there are some odd perceptions of life in the West.