Kanyakumari

A few days ago, I went to Kanyakumari, the Southernmost tip of India, with my two friends from Chile. It was not totally amazing or anything, a bit touristy, but now I can say that I've been there. A funny story: when I reached the water's edge, I had my pinch of tobacco out and ready to make a prayer to the goddess of the sea, where the waters of three oceans meet. While I had my eyes closed, one man approached me and asked, "Where are you from?" I said, "I'm from the U.S. But I want to be left alone now. Could you please go away?" He continued talking to me, "Ah, you are from Obama!" "No, I'm not from Obama, I'm from the U.S., and I'M PRAYING, so please leave me ALONE!!!" "Okay, okay!" He said, and walked away. A couple seconds later another man approached me with one of the local, wild green parrots inside a small cage, its wings clipped. "Parrot, madam?" He said, with a slight head wobble. "NO!!! I don't want PARROT!" I snapped. "I'm praying! GO AWAY!" He slouched off, and I was left with a feeling of discomfort and annoyance that would not go away.

I no longer felt the sense of awe and majesty of staring at the waters of Kanyakumari, I felt pissed off. I wandered around the bend to a small beach where boys and girls were playing in the water, getting their matching uniforms all wet. I waded in up to my knees. Fortunately I had given my camera and wallet to my friends in case I wanted to go swimming, because I got into the biggest splashing fit of my life with the school girls. One of them playfully splashed me, and I splashed her back. When the group of them (probably around 30) saw what we were doing, many of them joined in. I found myself laughing and screaming under big splooshes of water with these girls, then holding hands with a few and dunking under the water to the count of three. It was great. The tension eased, laughter flowing, I was able to taste the real goddess of the sea, the playful nature of the feminine. I'm glad that I was not so serious as to abstain from a little good-hearted fun.