Yesterday was the last day I spent in the small city of Trivandrum. I didn't really know what to do with myself so i walked to the sea wall to sit and draw for a bit. Down the wall a ways two fisherman were standing on the rocks fishing. Well, the man with his shirt off was fishing and the other with his stomach poking through his shirt was drinking. They waved me over to them. "We always see you writing things in your book. What do you write." They flipped through my notebook and saw my sketches. The man who had been fishing excitedly pointed to the market and in my sketch book to where I had drawn it. After talking for a bit they offered me some pickled mango. After eating mango and chatting for a bit longer they offered me rum. They had one small cup they would pour some rum into and then cut it with water. I poured my self some rum before I knew they were cutting it in the cup and started to sip on it. They seemed laughed that people would drink liquor straight. When they learned I was twenty two they laughed even more. They were in their mid to late thirties. They each had wives and kids and we spoke for a while on the subject of families. After a while that same question that is almost always the third question popped up. The one that follows "Name? Where are you from?" and the fisherman weren't about to let it slip. "Are you married?" "Nope." "Why?" It is almost like being at a family reunion I imagine. They started telling me all the wonderful things the women of Kerala have going for them. I changed the subject. All the while one of the men kept fishing. He didn't have a pole, just string, weights, hooks and small fish for bait. He'd cast his line out and feel it move through the current, guiding it with one hand. If he felt a small pluck on the line he would give it a tug and hope to hook whatever was nibbling. Time and time again he would cast out above our heads. Each time he was coming back empty handed with a bit smaller piece of bait.
When are stomachs were empty and the bottle of rum was as well they offered to cook lunch. They would try to catch fish a while longer before turing to the market. I thought that sounded like a fine plan so after a while of no luck with the fish we all chipped in. One of the men ran off while I talked to the other. He was a snorkeling and boating guide at one of the resorts during tourist season. In his three months with out a job he just likes to fish each day. He had a permanent ring around his finger where he had looped fishing line around it each day. When the one man returned from the market he had four fish, tinfoil, green chilies, lemons and more rum. One man gutted the fish with hand while the other cut the chilies and lemons. They wrapped the fish in tin foil with some sliced peppers. One foil pack of the fish from the market, another of the would be bait. I was wondering how we would cook our lunch when they hopped off the rock and started breaking up palm branches that had fallen. In five minutes there was a make shift fire roaring with the foil packs placed in the center. I had always wondered why there was a continuous smoky smell in India. I wonder if it's all from cook fires of people just wanting to eat a decent meal. After a few minutes on the fire the man grabbed the packets and placed them on the discarded lid of a styrofoam cooler that laid on the ground near by. He tapped the foam and said "Plate." We hopped back on the rocks and opened up our meal. We squeezed the lemons over the fish and chowed down on what was one of the best meals I've had in a long time.
Today I left Trivandrum to head to Alappuzha, a town on the backwaters up the coast a little ways. When I got up here, I dropped my things in my room and took off to explore the town. I stayed in a small residential area about a mile from my hotel. I walked for six hours and barely covered all the streets. There are two main roads that run parallel to each other in this community. They are set about a half mile apart and in between the two is a maze of smaller roads that don't show up on maps. Roads of dirt, grass, tile, pavement, water. They span the half mile distance at all sorts of angles and cut throughs. I walked in a few circles but the people were always there to direct me around. This was small town India. Coming from a small town, this is the type of India I like best. I was walking around just as school let out so I could barely walk a few blocks before I would hear "Hello!" in a high pitched voice. I'd look around and see a small child in a blue or green uniform each time. They would all be so excited to practice their English. I made the mistake of walking by one school yard before they had been released and girls ran up to the gate to wave me down. Two boys came over and chased them all off by throwing an empty water bottle at them before turning around and stealing their place at the gate. It always feel so nice to go somewhere and just walk around meeting people. I enjoy going to tourist sites and doing the things you go to these areas to do. But the people are what really make a trip for me. Especially when they are as friendly as everyone here has been.