Peter-Pottering

I've been away. Chasing elusive tigers. Rafting on bamboos. Playing Mynah. Chilling on ferries and consorting with the light waves on the Malabar Coast. Pondering over the questions of life. Questions of the Smartness of Man. Questions on Animal Behaviour and Animal Chilling. Eating Death-by-Chocolate. Peters and Marys. Old Peters and Old Marys. Mad Peters and Mad Marys. Bark Collectors and poachers. Madras' contribution to English Grammar - how it de-Peterised the Peters in us.

I also had six hours to kill at the Cochin Airport last afternoon. These are some reflections, and short incidents on the trip that I wrote about at the airport.



Smartness of Man
"Finally... Oh, damn."
"What happened?"
"For a second, I thought I could see nothing man-made in my view, and then I realised that the bamboo raft was visible."
"Look the other way, maybe you can..."
"No. The guides are there. Their clothes are man-made. Man has this tendency to disturb everything around him. Right?"
"Yeah."
"Wait. I have a new theory - all animals disturb. When an elephant walks through a thicket, it disturbs the plants and stuff. But there aren't enough elephants to cause permanent damage."
"No. The damage caused by the elephant is ordained by Nature. Otherwise, there'd be too many trees and so on. Thing is, man is too smart, and so he looks to beat nature. He's too smart for his own good."
"Maybe he's not smart enough."
Pregnant pause.
"Profound!"

(I love the way this conversation progressed as if it was between two aliens looking down on earth.)

Peter and Mary
The most useful word on the trip was 'Peter'. The word has its origins in Madras Tamil.

Although Akanksha did raise concerns over the anti-feminist sentiments of the term, which made us occasionally use 'Mary' as an alternative, 'Peter' was what we usually stuck to.

pe·ter /ˈpē'tər/ n. a generic term to describe anyone who is, or wants to be a foreigner, usually from the US, UK or EU. Specifically used to describe foreign tourists. Usually carries a large camera, backpack, wears a pouch and has turned pink in the heat. e.g. Many Peters hang out in Kerala.

pe·ter adj. refers to things that peters do. e.g. We did some Peter stuff like watch Kathakali and Kalaripayattu, or You'll get stuck with Peter prices if you don't bargain properly.

pe·ter, pe·tered, pe·ter·ing, pe·ters intr. v. to do things that Peters do. The Peters Petered around the Peter part of Cochin on Saturday.

Mar·y / mâr'ē/ the female of a Peter. "Dude, hot Mary. 11 o' clock."
Note: Mary is rarely used as a verb or an adjective.

On Purpose
Travel gets you thinking. Especially trekking through the jungles. As dried leaves crackle under each footstep, you are drawn into a world of your own. The magnificence of creation renders your daily pressures of deadlines and entangled love-lives irrelevant, and you're able to ask yourself the larger questions. A good trip isn't one that gives you answers - it is one that asks more questions.

As I saw elephants, boar, bison, and deer - all chilling in the jungle - spending most of their day either sleeping, eating, drinking water or releasing the remains of their eating, I couldn't help thinking of the larger purpose of life. We do so many things - we are lawyers, doctors, engineers, janitors or sportsmen. And we condemn those who chill - those who only eat and sleep. Humans are meant for larger things, we say. We aren't animals. Movies are made on people getting lakshya in their life. Calling someone a monkey is even considered racist.

Why? Why cant you and I spend the rest of our lives chilling? Find food. Eat. Sleep. Get up. Find food. Eat. Why does this sound monotonous to you and me, and not to the rest of the animal world?

Oldness of Peters and Marys
A trend that Akanksha pointed out during the trip - most Peters are fairly old. There were hardly any young, strapping Peters in Thekkady. After much thought, she came to the conclusion that young Peters hang out at the more expensive places like the Taj at Kumily, backwaters of Kumarakom, Delhi, whereas younger Peters and Marys are usually around places like Fort Kochi, Goa, McLeodganj, Pondicherry that are all much cheaper.

The Crazy Peters are usually the younger sort. The older are more racist, and less Indophilic. The younger do the whole 'exotic India' routine - peacock feather mantras, Yoga course in the Himalayas for six months, Indian music with real Indian instruments like the tabla, Maharishis and Swamis, Kamasutra. The older hang out at the open air coffee shop at the Taj and complain about the heat and dust.

The Big Sleep
Walking along the coast in Fort Kochi, we saw a board pointing towards a Dutch Cemetery. A question of deep philosophical significance was asked, "How does it matter if the Cemetery is Dutch or not?"

Reminds me of this paragraph from the last page of The Big Sleep:

"What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that. Oil and water were the same as wind and air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about the nastiness of how you died or where you fell..."

***
As you can see, it was a fun trip. We went on what is called the Tiger Trail, run by the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Their website is more than useful, and their guides are real pally - especially if you can speak a smattering of a South Indian language. Even Akanksha's Tamil will do! And just for trip value, here's another snap from the trip - one that somehow signifies the meaning of the whole tour...