The Whirlwind Tour Pt. 4

Day 4 

Homebound

The alarm went off at 4:30 in the morning and I got up and brushed my teeth. After I came out, Nanna told me that it was raining. The nyctophile in me was secretly glad for a few seconds; but then I was disappointed that we’d come so far, only to be thwarted by Nature. But by 5:45, it had stopped raining, and there were a few people near the place where the sun was supposed to rise. We made our way downstairs and got in the car and went to the seashore. There was a makeshift wall made of rocks, and quite a number of people were sitting or standing on it, waiting for Mr. Sun to make his appearance. 

The sunrise in Kanyakumari

Most of the people sitting around were Northies, which made sense, because the people down south would be pretty much used to watching the sun rise from the Ocean, and set on the other side. It was past 6 when things started to get interesting. 

The sky started to lighten up and the tiny little crown of the sun was visible. The clouds that had brought rain soon started to part and the sky was clearing up. It was a pretty good stroke of luck that the sky was clear enough for us to see a good sunrise. 

Nanna made a video call toAmma and sis, to show them the sunrise. But mom, being mom proceeded to take the whole point of the exercise away, and my sis was too sleepy to appreciate the little miracle. We took tons of pictures and the people around us were also video calling their relatives and some were chanting mantras praising the Sun God. There was general commotion around me and yet I felt peaceful, and that, I think is the essence of India. 

Its crowded, messy and loud. But if you can find it in you to focus on The things that matter, the din around you subsides. Life in the west is a bit too quiet if you’re thrust into it after spending 18 years in india. Sure, no one bothers you or gets in your personal space, but its too quiet, and a bit mechanic, with no interesting commotions or sounds in the air. Throngs of people just bowing their heads and going to their offices, or home from work. The only time they let up is in bars and clubs, which is pretty uncomfortable when you don't drink and are just not used to that kind of culture. And the only festival they have is Christmas, and its in winter, where your fingers cease to feel anything and your nose stings from the cold. 

The fragrance of crumpets and floral scents do little to compensate for the absence of the smell of incense sticks and that of ghee being poured over hot steaming pongal, and the strong, penetrative filter coffee at 7 in the morning. Of course, we have our fair share of problems, with the political dramas, casteism and religious rifts, but in the end we’re all a very big dysfunctional family, who gets together during Diwali and Eid and celebrates no matter what. We’re the full family package. 

After this little bit of retrospection, we headed back to our hotel and had some breakfast, got ready and checked out of the hotel. We had a car ride to Thiruvananthapuram, where we had to board a flight which takes us to Bangalore, and then another connecting flight to Vijayawada. Needless to say, I was NOT looking forward to it.  

The car ride was pleasant, and once we crossed over to Kerala, it was ridden with greenery in every nook and corner, and I mean EVERY nook and corner. It was also very neat and clean. But the one problem we had was the food. The food here was a different concept from the kind in Andhra or Tamil Nadu. We didnt have to struggle a lot for lunch because we found a small restaurant with pretty good food. After that, it was a few hours’ drive to our destination. We stopped at koovam beach for a while, and continued. 

There was a bit of confusion with the terminals that we were supposed to go to, but we straightened it out in the nick of time, and were soon on the flight to Bangalore. It was pretty smooth, and the connecting flight took a bit longer because of the security check and I almost lost my temper because no one was stacking those trays at the end of the conveyor belt and all the luggage was just piling up on everything when they came towards the end. 

The flight to Vijayawada was a bit smaller and pretty rocky, because it was cloudy and it was July. God I hate flights. Why didn't we just build lots of bridges over the oceans and went on bullet trains? The landing was agony, because it seemed like we were right above the city, but he kept tilting and rotating around like a confused pug. We finally got home and the first thing that mom said when she saw us was that we smelled like the ocean. Thanks Amma!