Nellai to Srivalliputhur.

Left Nellai early in the morning by public transport...bus, gliding over the flyover ,on to the highways,towards Srivalliputhur ,100 kms away.

The bus was boarded at several stops by women in their 30's and 40's wearing colourful polyester Saree's decorated by shining zari embroidery , in tune with the current fad,neatly pinned at the shoulders ,carrying handbags,gathering their hair in coloured bands with a fancy clip or two.A gleaming gold chain ,a wrist watch and a single gold bangle were the only ornaments.Gold acquires a special sheen whilst adorning dusky complexions.

Some school [govt] girls in blue churidhar's and white kurta and duppata ...I didnt see a single half sari, boys in freshly laundered white shirts and young men in pink shirts---uniform of ITI's also boarded the bus.

15 kms on, huge Tamarind trees started bordering the road side and bushes of yellow flowers ,scattered riotously ,laughed daintily .Beyond them a km or 2 in the country side I saw huge wind turbines ,aligned in a semicircle. They dotted the landscape for several kms. Not , one of the blades rotated ,though! All were stationery.

The neatly clad women got off in pairs at various points,very near Govt schools. So I had guessed right. The bus was full of govt teachers on their way to schools to teach.

The boys, girls and youngsters alighted soon.The bus ride became boring without their constant chafing and laughter. Whilst the adolescent girls were prim and proper ,subdued and talking quietly amongst themselves,all the boys were in high spirits, full of energy cavorting around in the sheer joy of living. They seemed to be in a mad hurry to unlock the secrets of life and couldn't wait appropriately enough, to scale peaks!

A lot of seats went abegging within.Yet most of those boys were crowding on the foot board. They were enjoying the wind,and the thrill of the risky travel. All the while making wise cracks and
guffawing ,calling each other' machchi' [b.in law]' mappilai' [son in law] and so on. To them every thing and every minute of life is an adventure.Even the mundane travel in a bus to their schools and colleges was converted into a adventurous sport.

The bus soon filled up with others. Barring few old women, all women rural included, drape their polyester Saree's in several pleats and securing them with safety pins. A good market exists for these pins!

Private teacher training institutes and Engineering colleges at an interval of 10 kms is the norm. They line the roads along with the sentinels---tamarind trees with their quavering, brown ripe friuts.