Village Life

I happened to spend 30 days in my native,Chiramadam, a small village of ~200 families,nestled in the tier-2 town of Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu.

It is also after a long while i got to spend time there, without being anxious of missing standups or slack huddles due to patchy network. Perks of a sabbatical i guess.

Some observations that no one asked

• Was surprised i was able to wake up consistenly before 8 am not most days and even go for walks, weather permitting. For someone who is used to snoozing the alarm even at 11 am, this was a welcome change.

Maybe it’s the light and the sounds filtering through or just the fact that everyone else is already up and moving. The environment has its own momentum, and you kind of fall into it.

• Most people here are insanely fit and shredded. There is obviously no Cultfit here, but just leading an active lifestyle with physically intense farm work is more than sufficient i guess. Diet and food habits are also major factor, since there is very limited access to processed foods or sweet delicasies at the click of swiggy/zomato app.

No surprise that there are two centenarions in the village, who are still fairly active for their age.

• Most evenings you could spot my mom in the portico of our house chatting with a group of 50 something women from the village. No agenda, just unfiltered download of their respective day. Meals cooked, plan for dinner mixed with some gossip. Had me thinking, this little ecosystem of conversation that’s probably been happening in some form for generations and latest mode being “day in the life of” style vlogs

We as humans inherently need a peek into other peoples life,and village offer it more naturally. And the unlucky city dwellers resort to vlogs on Youtube instead. No wonder, the views are exploding

• Its amazing to observe how people who moved out from here years ago for better jobs, lifestyle to cities and towns are inclined to move back here post retirement. They are investing in buying land, renovating ancestral homes, tethering themselves back to where they started.

• Groceries have their own narrative here. No convenience of quick commerce. Vegetable vendors, fish sellers all operate on a schedule not according to our convenience. But somehow it still works, people plan, adjust and sometimes borrow but they make it work with not much inconvenience.

• In Nagercoil, the closest town, one can spot BYDs and Athers. Kind of odd to see these modern, sleek and quiet EVs navigating the same road I used to travel in an old ambassador with my grand dad. But yeah capitalism and consumerism finds its way and elated to see people moving up the economic ladder