A visit to my grandfather’s village .
Once a year my grandfather visits the village he grew up in. This year I accompanied him on his annual visit to his village. It is a village in one of the Southern districts of Tamil Nadu. The river Tamraparani flows through this village. This year the rains had been good. So the river was in spate. My grandfather warned me not to take a bath in the river, because | might get swept away by the force of the water.
The house in which my grandfather grew up is still there. It is a tiled house, with huge wooden doors, that have brass knobs. My grandfather took me to see the fields. The rice was ready to be harvested. The rice stalks were bent with the weight of the grain. On the sides of the fields there were palm trees. A couple of villagers climbed up the trees and treated me to the fruit of the tree. It was juicy and cool. The villagers told me about the various crops they raised in different seasons.
In the evenings the village gathered on the banks of the river. They talked about many things. They
discussed politics. They discussed the weather. They also talked about the people from their, village, who were now living in other cities in the country.
At night some villagers stayed watch over the crops. | noticed that in the fields they had pots with white spots painted on them. They said that owls perched on these at night, and ate the rats that destroyed the grain. The owl was a friend of the farmer, according to them.
The old ladies in the village cooked special dishes for me. The village with its lush green fields, its river and swaying palm trees was beautiful. The village was very quiet, a welcome change from the noisy city in which | lived. When it was time to leave | was very sad. The villagers gave me lots of gifts. One of them gave me groundnuts, another gave me a local sweet. Yet another gave me some palm fruits. | enjoyed the trip to my grandfather’s village, and | have decided that ! will accompany him every year.
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