best three rupees I ever spent

The very merry Chittirai Festival just ended (sadly) a couple of days ago, and now things in Madurai are returning to their normal state. Normal state being "absolutely nothing going on". Of course yesterday we had a bandh (strike), which was different from the usual but certainly not the least bit enjoyable for anyone. I had already made my way to the bus stand and was on my way to a function when suddenly all the shops starting downing their shutters, there wasn't a bus in sight, and all the autos were missing as well. I managed to get to my destination by joining forces with a couple of random ladies at the bus stand. We managed to find a city bus (that escaped attack by the mobs) to BB Kulam and then found a lone auto to take us to Putur. For the rest of the day we couldn't go anywhere or buy anything whatsoever. Fortunately I had food in my house. A few days ago someone had the brilliant idea to smear cow dung on the face of a statue of a very important caste leader down in Goripalayam -- the biggest intersection in Madurai. Well, people didn't take this lying down. They took it sitting down, in the middle of the Goripalayam intersection. People blocked traffic while others attacked buses and stoned them. A bandh was called yesterday in protest of the dung-smearing incident. Those buses that dared to ply were punished with mob attacks, and a number of drivers were injured. A witch hunt is underway to find the culprit who desecrated the statue, though the Chief Minister has urged calm over an incident that was surely perpetrated by a "mentally unstable individual." A few years back a lorry filled with people sped past the statue and someone threw a shoe on it, and unrest erupted then as well. This time fire trucks were called to spray water on the statue, and then purifying milk was poured over it and a garland put around its neck.

Ever since the Chittirai festival started a couple of weeks ago, we've been plagued with daily power cuts at the absolute worst times of the day. Every day we go without power for at least 3 hours, sometimes more. Needless to say, business across the state is being crippled and industries are begging for something to be done. There simply isn't enough power to go around. And in this heat, these power cuts are simply too much to bear. At the fair the other night I bought a homemade fan for a whopping Rs. 3!!! I don't know how on earth they can sell such a wonder for so cheap, and I have been marveling at it for the past few days. It produces wonderful air currents with minimal effort.

I've found, inexplicably, that the night hours are the absolute WORST in terms of the heat. I cannot imagine why this is the case, when the evil sun has actually gone away for the night. Nevertheless, there isn't a time more oppressive than nighttime in terms of sweating. So last night I discovered than instead of struggling (in vain) to find ways to cool one's environment, it is better to attempt to cool one's insides. To that end I took two bananas, sugar, some leftover curd, and an entire tray of ice cubes and threw them into the blender. I then drank the super cold concoction and I'll be damned if I didn't stay cool for at least an hour after consumption.

It's 1:12 PM and I am shocked and amazed that the power hasn't gone out. Perhaps the power company was satisfied with the three hours they stole from us today starting at 6am.

I've got lots of Chittirai pics to post, but blogger isn't cooperating at the moment. Tune in tomorrow for some virtual darshan!

hand powered A/C:
more refreshing than you might imagine...