ReMindful : A flower market at the bottom of India (and more)

Traveled over the weekend to Kanyakumari, the district where India gives way to the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. I came with Alphonse and wife Alice to visit his sister, Josephine; her husband Ramesh, and their daughters Senega and Tamilarasi.

The girls can sing and dance to all of the current Tamil hits. Here on the terrace of their home, Snegena and Tamil Isara blended Bharatanatyam with Bollywood, plus a bit of physical sibling rivalry.

When I last visited Josephine's home two years ago, it was basically one room with a roof of thatched palm leaves. It has since gained a roof, a kitchen, bedroom, full bathroom and this glorious terrace, shaded by palm, coconut and neem trees.

Josephine's new kitchen is well equipped. Every other day or so, she makes a huge vat of idli batter and sells it to neighbors for 30 rupees a kilo. The batter, made of creamy, tangy fermented rice, is steamed into little round pillows and eaten with sambar and coconut chutney. Jo charges a bit more because she uses a kind of rice cultivated especially for idlis.

One of two motorized rice grinders in Jo's kitchen. The black disk is attached to an impressive grinding stone. And here are bags of idli batter ready to go.

Idlis, freshly steamed. (Internet image)

This is puttu, steamed ground rice and coconut molded in a cylinder. Not sure why, because then you mix it all up with bananas and dal.

Alice and Jo preparing puttu.

Jo chatting with neighbors through her kitchen window.

The neighbors

Spot the monkey?

Home is a step away from Thovalai, a humming flower market where vendors keep records in large ledgers next to mountains of marigolds, jasmine, roses, tulsi (a kind of decorative basil) and lotus blossoms. From here, flowers fly all over the world. (Wrote about this market earlier, but it's too lovely not to share again.)