Go with the flow

The river was muddy. And flowing quite rapidly. And almost overflowing the banks.

Yes, it rains a lot here, but it rains a lot more in the part of the old country where I spent my first twenty-three years. A good rain year here would mean about 40 inches of rain, while that amount would be a severe rain deficit in Chennai, and more so in grandmas’ villages. One can, would, expect at least 80 inches of rain over the year in Sengottai.

This valley’s reputation that it rains a lot here cannot be backed up by facts. It is a feeling that it rains a lot. We experience a lot of rainy days that don’t accumulate to a lot of rain because often it is a drip-drip-drip rain.

The river, coming down from the mountains, had gathered enough to be the fast flowing Big Muddy.

I walked at my usual speed. A speed that does not work when I walk with most others, and I slow down in order to enjoy their company. When my sister and I walk from her home to my aunt’s, for instance, it takes us 22 minutes. When I walk alone, it takes me only 15 minutes—I clocked it to make sure that I was not merely feeling it. Even in such mundane situations, I like data, evidence. You can imagine then how difficult a challenge it is for me to live in a political environment in which “alternative facts”, also known as bullshit, govern our lives!

A few months ago, a friend who had seen me walk past said I seemed to walk with a purpose. What purpose did I have in walking by the river, other than to take in the sights and the sounds, and to lose myself in thoughts? To share solitude, with the river and the birds and the trees, and smiling—and the rare unsmiling—humans.

I do wonder whether this view of life is a male perspective. It seems that the stereotypical male is more comfortable with the solitude in many, ahem, walks of life than women who seem to make a social event out of even going to the restroom. I suspect that the behavior has been perfected over thousands of years. Girls, and women of any age, know enough about testosterone-filled men that they have a buddy whether it is walking for pleasure or to go to a public bathroom.

It is not that all men feel safe by themselves. Need I remind you of the fate of a solo jogger, and a solo birder in another situation, who both were young black men? In the current political environment, a brown man like me is also a target. If I suddenly stop blogging for a couple of weeks, it will mostly likely be because I am in a congested prison in El Salvador after immigration agents hauled me into an unmarked van by the river. The fact that I am a citizen will not matter to them because they don’t worry about pesky facts.

Some day, before I die, I hope that I will feel as safe as a white man feels in this country.

So, there I was lost in thoughts when I wondered if a woman who was walking on the other side of the path and coming towards me was waving her arms. And, she was.

I know enough from years of experience that when a woman waves her arms, there is either a woman coming behind me whose attention she is trying to catch. Or, there is a good looking man behind.

But, she continued to wave out even as we neared each other. Well, what if I am the intended target of all the waving?

I was.

“I am so glad you waved out quite a bit and caught my attention,” I told her.

We chatted for a couple of minutes, and then we went out respective ways.

Yet again, I was reminded that I have acclimated to the cooler temperatures here. It was barely about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 Celsius) with a light breeze blowing. But it was partially sunny, which is infinitely better than when it is overcast. It is such a pleasure when the sun comes out, especially in the spring. Almost spring. And I was beginning to sweat under my puffy jacket.

I shuddered thinking about the 90 degree heat with humidity in Chennai. We get used to new normals very easily. But, does it work the other way too? Will an Oregonian adapt to the Chennai temperature as much as I have to Eugene’s? I suppose we will find out soon when global warming transforms Eugene into a Chennai, when the new normal will be an America that has ceased to be a democracy!