The Boatman

Yesterday afternoon I took a tuk tuk to meet The Boatman. This was how he introduced himself and unsurprisingly, it is one of the few names I can remember. I plan to do better with names and I really am working on it. I have a few stored, like Haziz from Kashmir. He has the shop on the corner and he waves and smiles to make sure I know where to turn left to get back to the bungalows. I got lost going home in the dark on my first evening in Varkala as I had been chatting on the way out so not paid proper attention. And also because I have zero sense of direction. He said he won’t let that happen again. And Krishna, who sits beside his clothes stall in the Tibetan Market and pulls up a chair every time I pass so I can sit and chat a while. He’s 22 with a degree in economics and a boss who shouts at him. His English is beautiful and I have ruined it by teaching him filthy swearwords to use on his boss. He wants to find another job but says it’s not that simple. And then there is Lakshmi, who is perhaps my favourite of all. She is young but looks like she has lived a long time. She has a husband and two daughters who sit beside her on the wall outside her shop. She is really quite fierce and maybe fiercer still because I won’t buy anything from her. But I stop and say hello when I pass and eventually she has accepted that I’m not shopping. There is something about her spirit and her honesty, although I am sure she would say just about anything in order to clinch a sale, that has got under my skin. India will break your heart if you let it.

So the three of us, myself, The Boatman and the tuk tuk driver took a slow punt across Akathumuri Lake to Ponnumthruthu (Golden Island). It was beautiful and there was not a single other person there. And I was glad.

This afternoon I arrived at the Sivananda Ashram in Neyyar Dam. It’s quite something. At the moment it’s completely festooned, and I mean festooned, with colourful lights for Onam and looks very jolly. I plan to be here for two weeks. I’ve already eaten supper in silence using only my right hand and no cutlery, I’ve had an initial meeting with an Ayurvedic doctor, and am about to go for evening Satsang. No, I don’t know either.