Home is where the tongue fits ….

We were in Anantapur District for almost two years. Memories of bright and harshly sunny days come immediately to my mind.

The other pictures are of people bubbling with wit and a song on their lips.

People taking pride in their stoicism with respect to harsh living conditions and CHILLIES chillies and more chillies. I remember Rebecca sharp from Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. She thinks chillies are something which really taste how they sound ‘chilling to the mouth’… and eats a handful and sees the stars!!

One needs to go through an unwritten and an untold secret ritual before really establishing themselves as friends. You are served a highly spicy dish and your reactions are observed. The amount of ease and discomfort is evaluated. Did you shed a pint of tears or had half a liter of water running out of your nose, or did you disappear behind the cloud of smoke coming out of your ears or were you unperturbed and asked for more reveals your status with them. The initial reactions involving various organs going on RED ALERT will bring on a smirk and you will be cast as this eternal softie who lacks the strength and vigour to survive and if you ask for more, you are immediately one of the gang and you will get back thumping welcome to the inner society. You get to hear choicest cuss words, incredible stories about people who vanished from this earth after attempting to take the test and all the torrid details of everything you might not want to know….

I am writing this obviously because I belong to the exclusive inner society. I can never forget the day when I went with one of the fellows to document a Hill watchers committee meeting on one of the hills near Roddam. It was unlike any other meeting I had attended so far. There were seven scrawny windblown wiry men in their mid thirties reviewing their monthly activities. How many kilometers each was covering, how many saplings each had to water, status of each sapling – alive, dead and reasons, along with the animals harming the plants in the night. Strategies for reduction of damage caused by animals, and protection of saplings were discussed along with the new activity in preparation for summer – Firebreaks to protect the greenery from accidental fires was discussed. After the meeting, we stayed back to enjoy the view and the fellow ‘chiller’ takes me to see an incredibly shady tree and pulls out a pot kept well hidden in the shades. It was full of tender toddy turning alcoholic by the minute…. We sat there enjoying the fragrant and smooth elixir. .. Feeling each drop of toddy uniting us with the universal spirit and enlightening us about the meaning of life…

Now that the secret is out, if at all you pass by this region, you know why you were treated the way you were treated…

CHILL out and BELONG