Anniversaries and Kerala

Time has sped up again, come in from its cosmic cigarette break. Back to business. I have been in India for two months today. And hey...wait a minute...this blog is a year old this month! **clapping** It all began with fancy broccoli burgers. Never fear, I have plenty more nonsensical, irrelevant chatter I want to share with the anonymous cyber public...

Diwali just came and went in our part of the world. I went to Kerala for a long weekend, and it was lovely. That lushness that sweeps the horizon, dipping and dancing. Air that breathes. For a few days, she stopped raining, kept the electricity generators running, and tried hard not to smother me in her sticky, moist embrace.

Kerala always manages to rearrange me in some way that I can never fully define. As if she has grabbed my soul and firmed it up for me. She stays with me even when I forget her.

Also I must give major props to Sanju, my cousin, who was wonderful and helped me navigate terrain that is more strange than familiar. Thanks, da':) My Malayalam has dramatically improved, I can now string together entire sentences. Entire sentences! The only catch is you can slip away from marriage questions far more easily if you can pretend not to understand anything. Or become suddenly fascinated by the smirking family goat, chewing on his lunch, looking distinctly smart-alecky.