Goodbye Kerala, Hello to Tamil Nadu

Day 10 - 29th March 2006

A new day, a new state. We left at a civilised time in the morning (7.45) and left lush Kerala for the STEEP and windy journey down the other side of the Ghats to reach the traditional south - Tamil Nadu. At the moment we're on a four hour bus journey to Madurai, which is one of the oldest worship and trading places in South Asia. It's history stretches back over 2,000 years. James, who suffers from vertigo, coped extremely well with the trip down the mountainside which I thought would definitely freak him out. He missed the crowd (?) of idle monkeys we had to slow down for on the descent, though.

It's disappointing to leave Kerala, where we had so little time to look at the fabric of the place - just the larger tapestry. We met some remarkable people in three shorts days. The most notable experience was visiting the Emmanuel Orphanage in Kumily, the next village along from our 'jungle retreat'. At this orphanage 22 children live with their surrogate family; two are the couple's own, but you'd never guess which individuals they were. To describe how they live I should start with the family. They are close knit and seemingly happy. Having 21 other brothers and sisters (aged from 7 months to 14 years) is certainly unusual. They squabble and fight, some are timid, others are bullish but they are seem to understand the principle of sharing all right.
Well they might considering the space they have to live in. 20 girls sleep in four beds in a single room; the lucky 2 boys have a room to themselves. The orphanage itself is a typical working class Indian home: one storey, basic, small yard around it for the children to play in and to keep chickens. The children - strange though it may seem, were thrilled to see a bunch of westerners turn up. Some kids ran up to meet, then hug and kiss us. Some of the girls smiled shyly and kept their distance. We were invited into the sitting room where we were introduced to their mother. We found out that she was the only woman who would marry the childrens father - it was not from lack of interest, but that he was an orphan himself and his life's dream was to open this orphanage and unofficially adopt the children. Whatever age the children reach he will not make them leave the home. In the kitchen, the children sang some hymns for us, and we in turn sang for them. We went outside in the yard and played frisbee, skipping and catch ball with them. We made sure to encourage the timid ones out and had a fantastic time with them all. An afternoon with some white people, won't do much for them sadly. Previous groups that had visited donated beds, fridges etc. These gestures were kind enough, but how many millions are there like this across the country? As we left we donated what we could, but it seemed hollow.
Better than this James met Robin a young local man who teaches the children songs. Earlier James and I were disappointed that a guiar they had on the wall was broken beyond repair as we'd at least hoped to play the children a song. James used his initiative and asked Robin if there was a music shop locally, and we all trooped off to buy guitars. Sadly the only instruments they had in the shop when we arrived didn't tune properly, and we decided there was no point in buying somethng they wouldn't use. We decided we'd buy them in Hong Kong or Japan and ship them on. Instead we got a small tambourine to accompany them when they sing hymns (they are devout Christians).
I came back rattling it in the air and they looked genuinely pleased. I gave them a short demonstration but I needed have bothered, they certainly knew what to do with it. I just hope it doesn't annoy their mother too much. 22 children is enough to cope with, especially when you're husband is away for a few days in Chennai! James showed them photos of his family that he had with him.
We took some photos of all the children and hugged goodbye.
The saddest moment, just before we left, was looking at a picture of child we hadn't seen. We asked their Mother, apparently she was another child in their care who had run out into the road in front of a truck and been killed instantly.
Needless to say the whole visit was humbling and hard to stomach. James and I are aleady plotting some schemes beyond simply sending them instruments.

More about Madurai at a later date, so far we've only established that: 1. India got their revenge over England in the one day international, 2. It's hot and crowded & 3. Good directions to an ATM are hard to come by.