The passerby, known as a neighbor by now, aka something like “perambulating portrait person,” senses a few patterns: one youngster, perhaps four years old, is a gigglebox at all times; another, same age, is the village notification siren (SAIPE!); and a few always mix their moves like karate chop Bollywood extras. Continue reading
Our Gang
Our Gang, Thevara (Sunday Shuttle)
The friendliest fellows to be found. Any passerby will get a smile. Any passerby who tries to click a snapshot will get the royal treatment: a split second shift from the middle of a game (which was the point of the snapshot) to the most spectacular improvised pose that could be mustered. Continue reading
Evolved Cooperation
Any given morning in the neighborhood called Thevara, where we have some wonderful friends, the fishermen do their thing a few meters from the riverfront walkway. To call that cooperation is like calling the kettle black. But just as we found this explanation of man-animal cooperation fascinating, this morning’s mobile phone snapshots got interesting.
Our Gang, Thevara (#10)
Two brothers and their neighbor buddy. Thevara is one of our communities, part of Cochin (aka Kochi) and situated on the backwaters between the modern part of town and the older harbor sections of town called Fort Cochin and Mattancherry. Continue reading
Our Gang, Thevara (#9)
These youngsters are often to be found on a warm afternoon sitting in this exact spot, discussing something important in Malayalam; but ever polite, when a passerby of foreign appearance says hello, they break into English. Continue reading
Our Gang, Thevara (#7)
Our Gang, Thevara (#4)
Sometimes they are roaming on bikes, other times sifting through the nets of the neighborhood fishermen at dusk, the boys in our ‘hood are always looking for a portrait. Continue reading
Our Gang, Thevara (#3)
In more than one earlier post, we might have given the impression that every young person in our neighborhood seems to smile all the time. Not necessarily so, though most do. But for certain when they see someone they do not recognize, they will definitely say hello.
Our Gang, Thevara (#2)
In more than one earlier post, we might have given the impression that only fellows are out and about for snapshots in the neighborhoods we visit. Not so.
Kolbert, Kerala & Clouds
Reading this post from Elizabeth Kolbert, a familiar cloud of doom came over me. Read almost anything she writes, and you will know what I mean. She writes most frequently about seemingly intractable environmental problems, and those about climate change have the most intense effect on me. But ignorance is not an option, so I read. The cloud lasted about seven hours, and parted just now in a most interesting manner. As if my head were just lifted out of the sand. First, the portion that stuck with me:
Since we can’t know the future, it is possible to imagine that, either through better technology or more creativity or sheer necessity, our children will be able to find a solution that currently eludes us. Somehow or other, they will figure out a way to avoid “a 4°C world.” But to suppose that an answer to global warming can be found by waiting is to misunderstand the nature of the problem.
Our Gang, Thevara
Our Gang, Cochin
Our Gang, Feynan
Juggling stones, racing barefoot, learning English, playing with rope swings on the desert trees…
5,000 kilometers away from Our Gang in Thekkady, but the spirit of fun and dance and play is the same.
Mismatched and scruffy, there’s a history here, a story, something fundamental to childhood…being pals, chums, buddies, one of the gang.
Our Gang, Thekkady
Behind Cardamom County there is a hill leading up to a ranger’s entrance to the Periyar Reserve. On that hill, there is a group of boys. If they encounter you, and you appear to have music (telltale earbuds), they will want to know what you are listening to. If they like the music, they will invite you to dance to it. It is an invitation you cannot, or at least should not, refuse. When you dance, they will dance with you, copying your moves but teaching you new ones at the same time. Practice those moves before your next visit to the hill. This little gang will invite the entire neighborhood to watch. There will be laughter. But it will be with you, not at you.
Organikos 