Epiblogue

My last 9 days in India were a whirlwind of activity which began on July 22, when I boarded the night bus going from Tirunelveli to Coimbatore in order to meet with the people at Super Spinning Mills. The organic cotton that is produced here is some of the finest and best documented that I have seen. I can't wait to spin some of the samples they sent me and there will be some on offer in the future, so if you are interested, please get in touch.

Although I was told at the travel office that I found in Coimbatore that the Nilgiri Blue Mountain Railway was out of service due to a washout and therefore took a bus to Coonoor, I was later able to ride the famous narrow gauge railway from Coonoor to Udhagamandalam (Ooty) and from there down to Mettupalayam, thereby covering the entire route of the railway.

Coonoor is billed as a sleepy tea growing hamlet, but is actually heavily populated and full of lots of hustle and bustle. I visited a tea plantation, as well as the Tranquilitea tea room, walked in the rain in Sim's Park where I saw the famous map of the world created out of vegetation and met some Indian tourists, visited with and tried to avoid monkeys, walked around town, tried to see Dolphin Nose, Lamb's Rock and Lady Canning's Seat, but was thwarted by fog. Saw Cathryn's Falls right before it was once again swallowed by the mists.


Back in Coonoor proper, I was pleasantly surprised to find a workshop where tribal women are trained to create handicrafts by sewing, knitting and spinning to help them make a decent living. I was also happy to hear that women road laborers had negotiated a raise from Rs. 80 to Rs. 90 per day, which may be only $2.25 but it is at least a start.
















































The train ride to Ooty was beautiful and fun, with all the bridges and tunnels zipping by and grabbing my attention and begging for more photos to be shot.


Ooty gave me the fountain in the upper market, more street scenes, the botanic garden featuring a map of India, had the unique experience of staying in a railway station retiring room due to the combination of heavy downpour coupled with a laptop in a backpack and no umbrella.



































After Ooty, I boarded the tiny train back down the mountain to end up at Mettupalayam, where I learned not to board a train in India on which you don't have a reserved seat unless you particularly enjoy spending 9 hours sitting on a duffle bag outside the restroom of the "ladies only" car ( if you are lucky).

I made it to Bangalore in time to clean up at my hotel and get ready to meet up with the great guys at Mint Fabrics who showed me some of the lovely silk fibers that they produce in the area outside Coimbatore. These items also are available if you want to do some spinning, dying and/or knitting of this delectable fiber. Again, just get in touch and I will hook you up.

I flew on a Kingfisher flight that night (Sunday) to Chennai, where I spent my last night in India. In Chennai, after doing a fair amount of detective work, I was able to locate the Royal Enfield factory, which I had wanted to tour. The guide book gave a phone number that was out of service and listed the tours as free and the hours as 9:30am to 5:00pm, neglecting to mention the 2 and a half hour lunch break that interrupts the middle of the day for the entire factory, but not to be discouraged, I went ahead and waited an hour in the waiting room to take the tour, where I was warned not to take any photos of the actual machines which turn out the leaky but mystical creatures which are the Enfield Bullets and Thunderbirds. Instead, I photographed the parts and the finished cycles. The guy doing the pinstriping is working entirely freehand and does an amazing job.The tour was interesting in presenting the modern practices used on the assembly line to improve both safety and yield. No doubt these will help to improve the quality of the bike itself as time goes by. Now if they only had a model with a drive shaft...




















































I wrapped up my Indian Oddysey at the Chennai International Airport, where, despite all my misgivings, I was able to drag all of my baggage through security and baggage checks and boarded the plane that would take me out of the country.

Later on that day, I landed in the US and began to resume what I know as real life. I am already looking forward to taking another trip to India someday. The friends I made, the places I fell in love with and the singular environment that is India will stay with me until that becomes possible. Until then I have tons of memories as well as electronic and snail mail connections to keep me in touch with everyone back in Tamil Nadu and especially at Annai Vellankanni Health Center.

To everyone who has been following along: thanks for travelling with me!

Aaacckkk! Running out of Time!

This past week or 2 have gone by in a real blurr. I have been going to surgeries, catching babies, running off to see places that I've seen and places I haven't seen, meeting more new people, reconnecting with people whose babies I've caught or whom I've met elsewhere along the way, and trying to arrange my exit journey from India.

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I will be stopping at Coimbatore to tour the organic cotton mill and catch the bus or train to Mettupalayam. There I catch the Blue Mountain Railway to Coonoor. I'll stop there and make a side trek to Kotagiri (okay, maybe bus there and walk back) where I will visit a Women's Cooperative where they teach handicrafts. Then I'll get back on the Blue Mountain Rails to get to Ooty (Oodagamandalam), the famous hill station. From there the BMR takes me back to Mettupalayam, where I take a train or bus to Bangalore. In Bangalore, I will check out some cashmere for spinning and maybe some silk to bring home. I'll take a flight from there to Chennai. In Chennai, I will get to meet Jeremy's friend Rekha and visit the Enfield motorcycle factory before catching my flight home on the 31st.

It has been great being here, but I am really looking forward to getting home and cooking some good old fashioned American food (okay, good old fashioned American hippie food), seeing my family, playing with the dogs, playing with my grandbabies, playing with my spinning wheel and getting cold while camping out at the Folks Festival.

This has been an amazing three months. The things I've learned about people and life and the friendships I've begun will affect my outlook forever. I am already looking forward to a return trip so that I can continue exploring this place and see my friends again. Who knows when that will be, but when I leave, a piece of me will stay behind, pulling me back.

Waterfalls, Weddings and a Wild Weekend

Hi All! Sorry for the long silence! I have been too lax in posting and not because I have been lazy, just trying to do everything I can in the last 4 weeks I have here in Tirunelveli. I went to 2 weddings in one day, the first was my first Hindu wedding, for which we had to walk barefoot to the temple. The second was another wedding of a family member of the doctors at our hospital. Of course, both involved copious amounts of wonderful food. In fact, at the Hindu wedding they insisted on feeding me before and after the ceremony!

Mirko, Justin and I went shopping one day last week and inadvertently got lost before we actually arrived at our intended destination. Instead, we bought lunghi's at a different store and having become further lost, were rescued by 2 sisters who turned out to be teachers at a local secondary school who were dying to ask us in for tea and snacks. They then guided us back to the bus stop from which we made our way back into charted territory.

On Sunday, June 24, we went for a day trip to Courtallam(Kuttrallam) to see the waterfalls. You have to hike a fair distance to get to all fo them but the views and the water itself was worth the effort. At the main, lower falls, women and men go into opposite sides of the falls, but in the upper falls the situation is slightly less formal. Still, all the women go into the water fully dressed and the men go in bathing trunks. It was still quite refreshing to just stand there and let the water pour over you. The monkeys were also entertaining. We saw the biggest jackfruit in the world and ate adventurous stand food...

On the weekend just past I accompanied a few volunteers to Pondicherry, a former French colony. There we experienced some culture shock in not eating Indian food for a solid 2 days! Wild! Hot Breads is everything they are cracked up to be! Great fresh croissants, omelettes and REAL COFFEE!!! Found some workshops that are connected with the Sri Aurobindo Society which incorporates spiritual training with training for the solid world in the form of handmade paper, incense, fabric printing and book publication. We saw the ocean but I did not swim in it as the "beach" was mainly comprised of large rocks and there was a very strong "side current" which was moving people swiftly down the beach when they tried to walk in the water...

Saw the Ghandi memorial and some lovely neighborhoods and the Botanical Garden. Unfortunately, the great distance between Pondicherry and Tirunelveli made it a quick trip despite having taken the whole weekend.

I have been told there is a party planned in my honor in the final days of my visit. I will be sure to get some photos.