Rural Life

Of course, there are many little things that remind me that I am
entirely in an all together different kind of world.

Waking up in the middle of the night after the moon has set and
waiting for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Waiting. Waiting.
Waiting. Physically checking my face to see if I've opened my eyes.
I'm staring into pitch black, because the nights are ... pitch black.

Bucket baths with water from, get this, an LPG powered geyser. Your in
your birthday suit, in the bathroom, and you first turn on the
cylinder, then fire up the geyser, and run the water, and its HOT -
thank god!

Playing "Whose the Bigger Monkey" with real monkeys. I have to worry a
bit about leaving my windows with bars open when there's fruit in
the room even if I'm IN the room. A troupe of monkeys tend to head
over the guest house roof around 8.15 in the morning each day. One of
these monkeys decided that coming into my room and taking my fruit was
perfectly fine. After threatening sounds and large gestures involving
me flapping my arms under my bedsheets to make me look bigger were
exchanged by us, I am proud to say, I AM the bigger monkey. I have
been advised by one urban friend over the phone that splashing water
at them gets them to run away no matter how many threatning sounds
they make.

"Umm... you've done this right?"
"Sure plenty of times!"
I'm not so sure I want to piss off growly monkeys any more than they would be.
Have a mug of water next to bed just in case. Why though, I have no
idea, the windows are now shut tight.

Home remedies from your village chemist. You have to love that. Who in
very fluent english asked me what was the problem, - I've got a mild
fever - gave me crocin, vitamin B with C in it, and while I'd gone to
him for listrine for my throat and teeth, he said, I don't have it,
and you don't need it, salt water will disinfect just as easily.

The fact that the KSRTC bus conductor who does the overnight Bangalore
- Heggodu drive, parks his bus outside - literally - my door, and
sleeps on my verandah every day. Different conductors sleep thier on
alternate days. (I felt tremendously out of sorts yesterday when they
parked the bus in front of another building yesterday and not in its
usual spot). I think I am begginning to get the sense of a need for
routine and expecting things to be a certain way. Today morning when
the bus showed up at 8.30 instead of 7.30 - again to my consternation,
thankfully he parked where he was supposed to - i tapped the wrist
where my watch should be. He smiled and explained how he had to stop
in sagara to change the oil filter, and we both commiserated with each
other over the maintainence needs that cause minor delay as this one.