* vishnu’s place
Posted on April 12th, 2007 by Alex. Filed under IISc.
After Tirupati we went to Vishnu’s home which was nearby. Unfortunately a few already left, so altogether 8 people went. Due to the small size of his village, no proper bus service was available in the night. So we took a taxi (model: Ambassador). It was a very tight experience. 8 people plus driver in one small car.
Vishnu’s place is very peacefully. We slept on the roof and the night was very pleasant. Next morning a rickshaw driver came by the country road. I was on the roof looking around and enjoying the view. Apparently the driver had never seen a guy with a white skin before. While continuing on the road he turned the head towards me and stared at me till he could not see me any more. That day the only 4-wheeler I saw was a tractor.
A big problem in India is the ground water whose level is going down in many regions. Just a few years back there was a lake nearby. Now the lake has less water than a desert. So they drilled a well with a hand driven pump, which is 30ft (around 10m) deep. But currently also that is not sufficient. The depth of the new well is around 300ft deep and has an electrical pump, but there are also wells which are around 1000ft deep. Slowly everything dries up. And it will take 2 more months till the raining season will start.
Vishnu’s mom prepared a lot of really tasty food. Since I am not used to sit on the floor for a long time, I got a proper chair to eat from. The plates consisted of leaves which were tied together. It was the best food, I had eaten so far and the Indian hospitality made me to eat even more. Toooo gooood….
