i scamper down the path in the morning, excited about my upcoming day with the girls. and keeping watch at the end of the driveway is the daytime guard, who greets me with a cheery, "good morning!" and wave as i head off to work.
after a long day teaching ukulele -- and counting c,2,3,4; g,2,3,4; c,2,3,4; a minor,2,3,4 about a million times! -- i sometimes head to the market to buy fruit. and while at the market, i often wet my whistle with some fresh coconut water. i always buy from this coconut pani wallah, who takes time to find me a great coconut. and then i watch him risk his fingers to get to the water.
after the coconut water is finished, the wallah takes it back, hacks it in half, scrapes all the coconut flesh together, and hands me a bowl of yummy fresh coconut.
and here's a 25 second video from inside the market. the man you see standing is the charmer i buy watermelon from, and the woman at the end is my guava lady.
[wpvideo 1PXqzV80]
if you're short on time, here's the watermelon wallah.
its great to share the cost of an auto-rickshaw home from the market. sort of like super shuttle and leaving lax airport, the auto drivers want to fill the van so to speak. as you can see, this auto already has eight women and children, and one more girl is about to squeeze on. yay, india!!
as i waited for my own shared auto to fill, a guru-type guy dressed in all white and sporting two flat dreadlocks that reached almost to his knees got into the auto right in front of me. all this happened before i could get my camera back out and snap a photo of him. i was chagrined.
and then, oh joy! my auto wallah talked him into switching rides. he got out of the auto in front and squeezed in beside me. quickly i got my camera out and without even asking permission, took a few snaps. could not help myself.
as the auto approaches my gate, i tap the driver on the shoulder and say in hindi, "bhai, bas," which means, "brother, enough," (-- i think!)
and here is the outside of the gate where i live. if you look carefully, you can see that by the small tree is an altar where people stop by and give small offerings such as coconut or flower petals.
the long crumbly gray wall doesn't look like much, but at the end of the day, i'm always glad to get home sweet home!!