Dipping Our Toes In...
After a long and wonderful day in Kochi…mixed with a bumpy overnight on the train….we all woke up feeling a little short on sleep and pretty exhausted. We were also, honestly, just a little bit “talked out”. As lovely as everyone is on the train, you get to a point where you just simply don’t feel like talking. To anyone. Problem is: when you are on a train, it is also very hard to find a quiet place to escape, making the “not talking” a bit more challenging. So - we collectively decided to forego the morning tour to the temples of Trivandrum and take advantage of a (mostly) empty train for a few hours to get a little quiet.
PJ spent some time in the room catching up on some school work, my Dad took some time to do his crossword puzzle and catch up on his sleep. I was hoping to catch up on the blog, which had fallen behind due to technical issues (read: zero wifi connection), but was unsuccessful in connecting yet again. So, I sat for a few hours and just looked out the window.
Took in the beautiful sights along the rail and just thought about stuff. Some of it was important stuff - like what my life course is and what the future might bring. Where I’ve been and where I might be going. How much I missed home. How much I missed all the people back home that I love and care about so much. I also thought about some not so important stuff - like the first thing I would eat when I got back home (Taco Bell is currently the top contender). Whether I paid the ComEd bill before I left. If Lord Fluffy was, in fact, still alive. Similar to my experience on the train in Africa, I never really stop and take time to just think about things. Life is so busy back home. So much to do. So little time. No room to just stop and take a pause. Reflect.
When you’re captive on a train and you’ve got nowhere else to go and no other excuses…nowhere to busy your mind….it just kind of happens. This time around - like the last - there were some really honest thoughts. Some honest personal reflections. At its start - it’s uncomfortable. Maybe even sad through certain moments. But I always feel better when I let myself go through this. Perhaps just a bit more settled. A bit of a clearer mind and open heart. The trick is finding more time at home to stop and be totally alone and in my thoughts. No excuses. A work in progress, for sure.
PJ and I wavered for awhile on whether to venture out on the afternoon tour through Kanyakumari, or stay behind for a full day of rest. We finally settled on venturing out, which ended up being a wise decision. At the very least, it allowed us to get off the train and get some fresh air. Move our bodies a little bit. Plus - it had a really cool name so we had that going for us. My Dad opted to stay back and “hold down the fort”.
Kanyakumari, known as Cape Coromin while under the rule of the British, is India’s southernmost city. It is also one of the only places in the world where - between the months of October and March - it is possible to see the sun setting over three seas: the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Arabian Sea to the north and west, and the Indian Ocean (which eventually meets continental Africa to the west). Interestingly enough - even though these bodies of water come together, they don’t actually mix. This is due to their different salt and mineral levels…and when you look over the confluence point….you can actually notice that the three bodies of water each have their own distinguishing colors. PJ and I were able to dip our toes in here. A really cool experience.
Thought this water is not swimmable to due it’s intense currents, this appears to be a place of gathering for families and children bring to find some relief from the very hot days here in India. It was not unlike any other seaside or beachside town, with kid dipping their toes in a screaming when a larger wave washed over them as they sat in the shallowest part of the water just off the sand. This area is also filled with truly authentic Indian markets, just flooded with people. Another one of those total sensory experiences that seems to be a common thread throughout all of our stops along the rail.
The rest of our travels through Kanyakumari took us by some gorgeous temples more markets, a colonial seaside village and the Thiruvalluvar Statue from afar. The statue sits on a small island in the waters where the three seas meet and does not welcome many visitors. Luckily, it is so large and grandiose, that you can’t miss it from really any vantage point. Thiruvalluvar was a revered poet and philosopher in India and was the author of an ancient Tamil work on secular ethics and morality. Sitting 133 feet high, this statue honoring him is among the tallest in the entire country and took over 500 sculptors to construct.
We ended our afternoon adventure with another temple visit or two, and a beautiful sunset over the water as we waited to board the buses back to the train. Though he might have preferred to stay on the train and “just chill out”, I think PJ loved the entire experience this afternoon and I continue to be proud of him for pushing through and continuing to reach outside of his comfort zone.
And with that…I will throw it over to PJ. Take it away, buddy:
Hey, PJ here.
This day was great, having relaxed half a day, and then going on the trip to Kanyakumari. I’m having tremendous writer’s block, and my mom pretty much covered then rest. I do not have much to say about this day. It was non-eventful, and that’s what made it great. We woke up, and decided to opt out of a temple tour, as we were tired and worn out, and knew we would see many more temples throughout the trip, and we already had seen our fair share. We were each doing our own thing; Poppy was doing his crossword, Mom was looking out the window, and I was catching up with friends via text, playing Pokemon, and catching up on school work by reading Ancient Egypt textbook pages. I wasn’t doing all of those at the same time, of course, as I am not a great multitasker. Then, the time came for us to leave for Kanyakumari. We got off of the train, into the bus, and headed to the ocean. Having your feet in 3 oceans at once is cool-with the context. If it wasn’t explicitly stated, I would have just thought of it as a normal ocean. I looked in the tide pools and saw a little minnow swimming around in one. That was cool. Then, we walked down to the “sunset”, which is in quotes because there was no sun to watch set, courtesy of some really big clouds.
That’s all I have to say! Goodbye for now.
