Tag: Kerala

On my way from Varkala to the backwaters in the taxi I started crying. It was not because of the camera. It was more the disappointment about myself. I share no arenas to material things. I am good in loosing my stuff.

But anyway: Tear drops goodbye, Backwaters hello!

The tour through Mango Islands, near Kollam, was very beautiful. Just pure nature. Small channels, a kind of river which ended in a lake from there the water flows into the sea. Around 20.000 people live in this area. Most of them work in agriculture. Fishing and coconuts are one of the biggest exports here.

Did you know that a big coconut tree can produce up to 500 coconuts per year?!

After a chilly tour an adventures trip to local place Karnugappally as followed: First I took the local bus. I payed 6 rubies, which is not more than 1 cent. I wanted to take the train, but than I would of have to wait for more than 3 hours on a station ware everyone is staring at me all the time, because I am a stranger. So I took a rickshaw. But we had to cross the water by a ferry. At the ferry I had an amazing experience. During the time I was waiting in the rickshaw a group school kids came. Everybody was staring at me, whispering. I felt like a stranger. I WAS a stranger. Slightly sensitive this day, I startet to cry again. It was not because of me. Now I felt for the first time, how a foreigner or stranger must feel, in other countries or societies. I just felt compassion, for all those, who can’t really change something and have to live with it. The teacher of the pupils from a local school came to me and asked me friendly some things. His students sent him to speak with me. They had never spoken to a western and english speaking person. Everybody wanter to touch me, shake my hands. they smiled at me, wanted to talk with me. Just a small 3 year old girl was crying. She never saw a western person. For her I was something like an alien, she was so afraid of me. On the ferry we started to sing together. They never heard an English song and wanted me to sing for them. I sang „light of my soul“ from David Lurey for them. That was after “Let it be“, the song that came first to my mind. We took some pictures together, and in the end I gave my sunglasses as a gift to one of the kids, because he couldn’t take an eye off to it. Habit „make somebody smile“ for today successfully absolved! 🙂

Arrived in Karnugappally. Unspectacular city, without internet anywhere, I went to the only restaurant there. Second time I had to eat my whole meal with fingers. And again, I was the only western person and everyone was staring at me.

# Lessons Learned today:  Realize that life’s struggles create wisdom, there’s a reason why everyone has their own cross to bear.