Although he was born in Chandrapur, Vinay moved to Kerala to live with his grandmother when he was just 2 years old. He remained with Ammachi for 8 years before moving back in with his parents in Chandrapur. While we were driving through Kerala, Vinay shared with me how clearly he remembered growing up here. This is amazing to me because I can barely recall any event that happened to me before the age 10.
The first stop was the church Vinay served in as an altar boy for 2 years until he was 10s years old. To his surprise, we walked up to a church in dilapidated ruins. A guard keeping watch over the site informed Vinay that the church had been closed off to the public due to its dangerous state and no photographs could be taken. We believed him. A quick walk around the building revealed that essential structural pieces were missing. The roof was caving inwards and a small tree had somehow managed to sprout between the crevices. We discovered a small chapel to the right of the church that was being utilized as a substitute. We spent a minute in reflection inside the chapel. Afterwards, Vinay paused to reminisce for a few moments before we headed to our next destination.
Our second stop was Vinay’s elementary school. There were many children in matching plaid shirts and black pants huddled around the building as we pulled into the gravel driveway. I had barely stepped out of the vehicle when the children spotted me. They ran over in excitement and clamored around me for my attention. Here are a few pictures that Vinay took while looking on in amusement:
“Hi!” several of them said in loud unison. “How are you?”
I grinned. “I’m good! How are you all?”
The children laughed at my strange accent and a few responded, “Good!” Several repeated the original question, “How are you?” and again I replied with, “Great!” This banter continued for several minutes. Finally I broke the cycle.
“What is everyone studying?” I pointed at a notebook tightly grasped by a pretty girl standing in front of me. She looked down at it and then met my gaze.
“English!” the young girl answered with several more chiming in, eager to talk.
Suddenly, I heard the question, “What’s your name?” echoing around me.
“Amanda!” I pointed at a young boy, “What’s your name?” I asked him. I forget now what he said, but the children and I spent a few moments taking turns introducing ourselves to each other.
Eventually, Vinay stopped taking pictures and joined our huddle. He introduced himself and told the children that he used to attend this school a long time ago, before there were uniforms. The children were thrilled by this and carried on a conversation with Vinay for several minutes. Finally, we left the children and walked into the principal’s office.
The principal seemed pleased to meet our acquaintance. Vinay explained to him that he was a former student who often got into trouble. The principal smiled and pointed out a row of pictures of former principals above the chairs we were sitting in. Vinay pointed out his old principal and we were excited to hear that she was still alive. She had retired to the school nunnery, which was on this same property. Vinay, eager to meet her, shook hands with the principal and we headed down a pathway in the back of the school. We approach a long, simple building and rang the doorbell. A nun answered the door and inquired as to the reason for our visit. Vinay explained the situation and she smiled and went to fetch the old principal. After a few moments, Sister Zeta appeared and immediately recognized Vinay. They embraced and we sat and spoke for several minutes. Here was a picture of both of them, taken right before we left:
Before reaching our final destination, we stopped at a pilgrimage sight dedicated to the Catholic rosary. Vinay told me he faintly remembered visiting here several years ago. There were 15 tree trunks, inside of which were representations for each decade of the rosary. Here are a few pictures:
Mass was being offered at the church in the center of the site - there were so many people they were pouring out on the sidewalk!
The last stop was the house Vinay used to live in. It was now occupied by a new family, but the mother was quite friendly and had no problem with us walking around outside the home. She observed us from the porch with a baby in her hand. Unfortunately, we didn’t take any pictures here.
On the way back, Vinay decided to take me to meet an Aunt and Uncle who both worked at a local college. Here is a picture of the college:
They were both terribly excited to meet me, and his Uncle, who taught English, promptly asked me to speak to his class. I was quite unprepared and very nervous, but he insisted and led me down the school corridors. As I entered his classroom, the students rose and murmurs rustled through the room. His Uncle introduced me and handed me a microphone.
Shocked and incredibly nervous, I introduced myself and informed the students where I was from. The professor asked me to share with the men and women a little information about Oklahoma. Immediately, all knowledge of Oklahoma and Oklahoma History fled my mind. My brain was completely blank.
“Um, it’s hot there!” I said rather stupidly. “But its dry heat, not like here where the humidity is very high.”
I stared out at the room blankly for a few moments. “We have a lot of oil. And Native Americans.”
The students just gazed at me with open curiosity. One student dared to raise his hand. “Where have you visited in India so far and how do you like it?” Grateful for a topic, I launched into the list of towns I had visited. “Chandrapur, here, and Nagpur. We are going to visit the tea gardens tomorrow.”
The professor asked the students if they had any more questions for me. Thankfully, they did not. He looked at me. “Are you sure you don’t have anything else to say about Oklahoma? You know, as a graduate student, you should be able to give a presentation like this.”
I felt the red rushing to my cheeks. “This will be my first year sir; I haven’t even started classes yet!” I said defensively. I felt a bit ashamed that I was too nervous to share more about my home. A few minutes later, Vinay and I waved goodbye to Uncle and his students. Next time, I will make sure to have a small speech prepared on Oklahoma.
Much later that evening, Vinay took me to dinner at Port Cochin this where I finally saw all the tourists Kerala is known for. The food was quite good. Here are a few pictures of us:
After dinner, we took a boat ride in the backwaters of the Arabian Sea. It was a wonderful evening – and my first encounter with a live oil tanker. Here are a few pictures of us on the boat:
Here is actually a few from the boat:
Here is the best picture we could get in the moving boat of the massive oil tanker:
After the boat ride, we walked down the paved river walk following the coast:
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