Village life in India

That evening we headed to the village of Murogudy where the festival was held. This is where I would spend the next two days. The entire village would participate in the festival but I mostly interacted with 40 – 50 members of Manohar’s extended family which covered homes on two entire blocks. One thing to keep in mind is that everyone in the village speaks Telugu so I need Manohar around to be my interpreter. The minute we arrived and I sat down on a patio at his Uncle’s home I was offered authentic Indian food as made in a remote village with plenty of rice, spice and curds. Everything is fresh and in the case of the curds right from the cow living with us in a special portion of the house. All the relatives gathered around to watch the “westerner” eat and converse with the elders. I didn’t realize I was the main attraction at this comedy club but all of the adults and especially the children had laughs at my expense. As I began eating the food with my fingers as a “true” Indian would I noticed that after about the first 4 or 5 bites there was a small fire brewing in my mouth and I needed a shot from my new best friend on the trip called “Cold bottled water”. After the laughter died down I approached each bite a little more gingerly and made sure the water was always nearby. The adults all had questions about living in the U.S. and the children were more interested in pictures of my family on the Iphone. After the meal, I was served a very hot cup of Chi Tea and quickly learned how to hold the small metal cup with no handles by the lip – not by the sides … I repeat … not by the sides. Again, I love providing so much entertainment.

The two days included sleeping outdoors on cots with mosquito nets. The nights were hot and humid. The days were hot in the upper 90’s with no A/C available anywhere. Your only relief was to be had sitting under ceiling fans on covered porches. My first few days of the vacation being pampered in Hyderabad were officially over. I was now in an Indian village with no refrigeration and no A/C. I was sharing space with cows, dogs and chickens on dirt roads while battling mosquitos. Sleeping was difficult. As if the heat and humidity wasn’t bad enough, half the town continued celebrating until 4:00am each night. When I use the word celebrate here I’m not talking about a few people listening to music with lively conversation around a small campfire, I’m talking 20 hand drums … 10 fully lighted torches, huge booming fireworks and maybe 50 people chanting loudly in unison as they parade through the town. As the parade faded in the distance and I started dozing off, a loud BOOM would occur seemingly right over our house giving me a startle. Frustrated, I look over to my left at the cot next to mine where Manohar was still snoring like bear in hibernation! Man, he was sawing down some major trees. I believe that guy could sleep through a gun battle. The roosters also appear to be different here in India where they begin crowing at 4:30 am as opposed to waiting for sunrise as roosters in the US. I could have used an extra hour.