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These were some of the most memorable incidents of my life. It happened some 3 years ago in India, Madras.
I was walking in the streets of Madras, place in the world where it is always hot. Yet, there are three seasons: Hot, Hotter, Hottest! Walking, I noticed how many cows and animals were on the street and was I amazed to see that this didn�t bother anybody or any traffic.
I kept walking on the road emerged footpath and as I was walking, I saw young guys from cars flirting or should I say, �Checking out� their generation girls. I was only 13 then and felt this to be the best way to handle such a situation. I kept walking and as usual, some guys from a car honked so I would see them and they would get a chance to check a young girl out. With fury and anger in my face, I picked up the nearest and biggest rock around me and threw it straight at them. It hit their very old, �dabba� car and broke a portion of their window. I was very lucky that no police saw me do that or I would probably be in jail now. But, as the rock hit their car, the jerked and came to a halt. I ran like crazy the other way and was laughing my head off! I couldn�t stop laughing and because I was running at the same time, I developed a stitch in my stomach (feels like a muscle has been ripped below your ribs).
I slowly stopped and started walking. A guy behind me yelled, �Ay! Nirthu di! Nirthu. Yen car a nasam pannitiye! Na yenna di pannen unna? Nirthu di pombla.� Translation: �Oi girl! Stop. Stop girl. You�ve ruined me car. What ever did I do to you? Stop woman.�
I started running and laughing again even though it was hard. I kept running till I reached home. I was completely puffed out and looked like I had just escaped a bull chase. I hesitated to tell anyone as I knew I would get a solid beating or scolding from someone. I just kept the funny incident to myself. Even though it was a really stupid thing to do, I was really somewhat proud that I stood up to my rights as a girl. It was amazing and I couldn�t believe for a while that I had actually done something like that.
Another incident was when I was walking with my athai and sister, going home from a temple in the morning. It was a really funny yet memorable moment. As we waked slowly, we were discussing the different temples we were very eager to visit such as the wonderful temples of Thirupathi and Kaancheepuram. Vidya and athai went inside a shop to see some shoes and I waited outside, looking at everything around the area. It was so completely dirty and the place I was standing on was so uneven and muddy. It was like snow, except, a disgusting type of snow which was always made of rubbish and dirt. Yet, it was my country and I loved every bit of it.
I was just taking a look around and I saw two people, a lady and an old man in a cart. They had a �thukutondi� or �kodam� (vessel to carry water) and they were both loudly arguing on who would take it to the temple a kilometre away. They both talked as if they were husband and wife. Well, maybe they were! The lady shouted, �Na thaan eduthundu povein. Enakku theriyun. Kudu . Na poren.�
He replied sternly, �illa venda, nee porthukulla, paadhi kottiduva. Vanadan di. Kudu.� Translation. Woman: Give it to me, I will take it. I know how to. Give it. I am going.� Man: �No, by the time you get to the temple, you would have spilt half the water. Give it to me woman.�
And this arguing turned into a fight. They started hitting each other. And giving each other some serious slapping that would have really hurt! She pushed him off the cart and he began to vigorously pull on her hair. She got seriously annoyed and scratched him which resulted in them both falling on the floor, in the dirt. People surrounded them and even though they were giggling to themselves, they pulled them apart. As this kept going on, I couldn�t stop laughing but it was sad that there was such a dispute where people could not agree on such a thing. They started shouting at each other again and the woman took the vessel and started to walk. The man came to her and kicked her on the back side where she fell with the water and got wet with the mud. She screamed and yelled, �ippo paaru nee yenna pannita. Sandoshama? Poruma? Yenda ? Aiyo! Poda. Kannu marava po da. Cha!�
Translation: �Oh. Now look what you�ve done. Are you happy? Is that enough now? Why man? Oh no, get lost. Get away from my sight. Go damn it!�
That was memorable to see how the people were affected by the shortage of water and arguments between people on the roads being so violent. We went on walking after Vidya and athai had looked at the shops. After we got home, we had some lunch and I went back to that place where the fight was. They were one. It was normal. I saw a stray dog harassing this lady and it was just so funny the way she was scolding the creature, I laughed quietly to myself. I also saw a small outlet, very popular in Madras called �Hot Chips� where you get all sort of Indian items such as Bhel and Pani Puri, samosa and other popular chaat items. A little boy was seated there and was eagerly looking a cup of coffee a person left there to come back and take. He was longing to drink it and run so he made a try for it. He was a poor little boy who looked like he hadn�t eaten in month and had nothing on him except a cloth covering him from his waist down to his knee. He quickly gulped it down and soon the owner of the coffee came and saw what the kid did. The man tried to catch him but he moved away. He hysterically laughed and was so happy that he had had some food for the day. He ran in circles as the man tried to catch him. He had a smile on his face I had never seen before in anyone.
I saw a kind of happiness in him that only a person of his experiences could feel. The man gave up and went away telling the kid off. Yet, he didn�t stop laughing hysterically. He skipped away, happily, waiting to tell someone about it. I smiled and before I knew it, I had tears trickling down my face. I had just realized some the difficulties that people faced in India and this wasn�t even one percent of it. It was amazing to see that such a small thing like drinking coffee from a shop made a kid like that so happy. It was amazing. It touched me in a really beautiful way.
Nitya
June 2004
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