That's my motto lately. But I'll get to that later. As I've said before, things have been getting better for me in the neighborhood. Panguni masam (the Tamil month we are currently in) is a super important one for lots of things, and it's a big month for Mariamman, as I've mentioned before. They've had the cone speakers blaring music for several days now, mostly in the evening. Every single day there seems to be a huge to-do going on the neighborhood because somebody is having a special function. So there's a lot going on. Next week I'm going to a couple of ear-boring ceremonies which should be interesting, especially for my research I hope.
Two nights ago I was walking to pick up some clothes from getting ironed and the kids were going nuts there at the temple, jumping up and down to the music and waving neem tree branches all around. Looks like they haven't had this much fun in a while. The old pujari was eyeing me as I walked past. I'd gotten wind that he was wondering why I haven't showed up at the temple yet. Fortunately I had tucked 10 rupees in my pants in the off chance that I was brave enough to battle the attention and make my way into the temple. I got lucky on the way back because this family I've made acquaintances with was on their way to the temple and I went with them. By "on their way" I mean they set foot out their front door and walk about 10 feet. It's a small temple, as you'll see from the photo.
It was nice to finally see inside. Mariamman inside is a sight to behold. The pujari was happy that I showed up, and I think the 10 rupees didn't hurt either. I prayed for divine intervention and help in getting me to "fit in" in this neighborhood. Though "fit in" isn't exactly the right term, seeing as how it is impossible, but you get what I mean. Then I went home happy. The neighbors were happy as well, to see that I had gone there.
Yesterday was a challenging day for me. So much harassment, kids and young men, even adult men, jumping in front of my face and screaming "HIIIIIIIIII!!!!!". I felt stupid getting irritated at kids, but I did get majorly irritated. At first I thought I just wasn't used to being here yet. But now after a month I've decided that things are different now. Just in two years men are behaving differently. They seem much more titillated at the sight of a foreign female and they aren't as afraid to show it. When they react to me, I just COMPLETELY ignore it. As if I were totally deaf and dumb. This seems to baffle them and I revel in this reaction. Yesterday afternoon I had pretty much had it. I decided that I needed to take up yoga, or perhaps tranquilizers, in order to deal with it all. But then on my way home, things were different somehow. Kids were waving at me nicely, and I waved back. Girls were smiling and I smiled back. Men left me alone. Then, I seemed to pass the Meenambalpuram test (at least a very small one), because once I got back to my neighborhood and the kids caught sight of me, they screamed "AKKAA!" (older sister) and waved. I was thrilled, let me tell you. It is so pleasant to be hearing this instead of vellaikkaari.
It's still proving challenging to fit in. Mostly because I am still feeling shy in the neighborhood. People don't really reach out to me, but they secretly criticize me for not coming up to them. Fact of the matter is, I really don't feel like reaching out right now because I still feel so marginalized. When walking down the street feels something like walking down a catwalk, it's hard to feel outgoing. This will change over time. Last night a throng of kids discovered me trying to hide and get a moment of peace on the roof. I ended up taking their pictures because this is something that kids really love here. This was my first positive interaction with the local kids, besides the mere sight of me serving as a constant source of amusement for them. But I ended up getting scolded by this lazy bones man across the street who didn't want the kids coming around. What he perhaps doesn't understand is that I am mauled like that every time I walk down the street. And he's irritated at a few kids screaming outside his house? Give me a break! Hence the subject line. You don't interact with folks enough and it's a problem. When you do try to get to know folks, you get chided. What to do? Just do what you want anyway and laugh it off, I guess.
Making peace with the neighboorhood kids, with the help of a digital camera.
Two nights ago I was walking to pick up some clothes from getting ironed and the kids were going nuts there at the temple, jumping up and down to the music and waving neem tree branches all around. Looks like they haven't had this much fun in a while. The old pujari was eyeing me as I walked past. I'd gotten wind that he was wondering why I haven't showed up at the temple yet. Fortunately I had tucked 10 rupees in my pants in the off chance that I was brave enough to battle the attention and make my way into the temple. I got lucky on the way back because this family I've made acquaintances with was on their way to the temple and I went with them. By "on their way" I mean they set foot out their front door and walk about 10 feet. It's a small temple, as you'll see from the photo.
It was nice to finally see inside. Mariamman inside is a sight to behold. The pujari was happy that I showed up, and I think the 10 rupees didn't hurt either. I prayed for divine intervention and help in getting me to "fit in" in this neighborhood. Though "fit in" isn't exactly the right term, seeing as how it is impossible, but you get what I mean. Then I went home happy. The neighbors were happy as well, to see that I had gone there.
Yesterday was a challenging day for me. So much harassment, kids and young men, even adult men, jumping in front of my face and screaming "HIIIIIIIIII!!!!!". I felt stupid getting irritated at kids, but I did get majorly irritated. At first I thought I just wasn't used to being here yet. But now after a month I've decided that things are different now. Just in two years men are behaving differently. They seem much more titillated at the sight of a foreign female and they aren't as afraid to show it. When they react to me, I just COMPLETELY ignore it. As if I were totally deaf and dumb. This seems to baffle them and I revel in this reaction. Yesterday afternoon I had pretty much had it. I decided that I needed to take up yoga, or perhaps tranquilizers, in order to deal with it all. But then on my way home, things were different somehow. Kids were waving at me nicely, and I waved back. Girls were smiling and I smiled back. Men left me alone. Then, I seemed to pass the Meenambalpuram test (at least a very small one), because once I got back to my neighborhood and the kids caught sight of me, they screamed "AKKAA!" (older sister) and waved. I was thrilled, let me tell you. It is so pleasant to be hearing this instead of vellaikkaari.
It's still proving challenging to fit in. Mostly because I am still feeling shy in the neighborhood. People don't really reach out to me, but they secretly criticize me for not coming up to them. Fact of the matter is, I really don't feel like reaching out right now because I still feel so marginalized. When walking down the street feels something like walking down a catwalk, it's hard to feel outgoing. This will change over time. Last night a throng of kids discovered me trying to hide and get a moment of peace on the roof. I ended up taking their pictures because this is something that kids really love here. This was my first positive interaction with the local kids, besides the mere sight of me serving as a constant source of amusement for them. But I ended up getting scolded by this lazy bones man across the street who didn't want the kids coming around. What he perhaps doesn't understand is that I am mauled like that every time I walk down the street. And he's irritated at a few kids screaming outside his house? Give me a break! Hence the subject line. You don't interact with folks enough and it's a problem. When you do try to get to know folks, you get chided. What to do? Just do what you want anyway and laugh it off, I guess.
Making peace with the neighboorhood kids, with the help of a digital camera.
Chellapandi and her daughter. We saw a great movie, but got mauled by bedbugs in the theatre and I ended up bringing them home with us. We managed to cram 9 people in this autorickshaw.
The roof is a nice place to go if you want to pretend it is possible to go unnoticed.
2 comments:
Mel,
Can you enlarge the text on this post? It's too small to read. I had to paste it in a Word doc. to read it.
Love you!
LL
Where's the photo of Mariamman temple?
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