Silla and I
went to a factory that makes silk. I’m
not entirely sure why. It was a government
run factory and I was surprised to see how clean and tidy it was (relatively
speaking). The noise inside was
deafening. This doesn’t seem to dampen
the spirits of the workers though. They
seem to be as happy as you like. Even
tourists coming along to watch them work doesn’t seem to piss them off. I’d be less than overjoyed with people watching
over my shoulder when I work (that’s when I actually did any work).
It later
became apparent why they were so pleased.
We spoke to one bloke (well shouted at him) and he explained that he got
about a tenner a day. This doesn’t seem
like a lot but earlier in the day we had met a poor old biddy who knocked out
between 6000 and 8000 incense sticks a day for just over a pound. Factory boy thought he was in the league of Branson
or Gates.
We went for
lunch and by way of a surprise it was a vegetarian meal (they love a bit of vegetarian
cuisine in the South of India), of yet more carbs. Every meal is either rice or bread. I am now the size of a small family car. So much for losing weight in India , I look
like I’ve eaten my old self. I’m going
to have to start licking toilet seats before I come home to get a bout of dysentery,
just to shift it all.
After lunch
we got out swimming stuff and headed off to meet Saveed to go to the waterfall. Saveed is local bloke we met the previous
night. I have a feeling that he might be
some kind of male prostitute. Everything
that he owns seems to have been a gift from various different western
women. He must pull out some bad arse
moves, as to look at you can’t imagine wanting to buy him a packet of fags, let
alone a vehicle.
What Saveed
failed to mention was that to get to this beauty spot we had to travel over a
river (a really fucking big one). I didn’t
realise how scared of heights I am. It soon
became very apparent. We had to
negotiate our way across the water by walking on concrete posts, each one no
wider than a foot across. I was shaking
like a shitting dog. I was utterly
terrified. I ended up having to be
guided across by Saveed. I think the
imprints of my fingertips are still visible on his hands. I was also worried that by holding his hand I
might have to buy him at least a push bike.
After what
seemed like the most torturous 10 minutes of my life we reached dry land on the
other side. I could have wept. Not only because I was no longer on the sodding
bridge but also because what waited for us was quite possibly the most
spectacular sight I have ever seen. I
felt like I was on the island in Lost (the name escapes me). The water was the cleanest I have ever seen
(and that includes the water I wash in).
There was a beautiful waterfall and not another person in sight. It was without question the most beautiful
thing I have ever seen.
It is
moments like this that make this whole trip worthwhile. There are times in India when I could cry from pure
frustration. There are times when I hate
the place with every bone of me, but being at the waterfall I realised how lucky
I am and how there was no where else in the world I would rather be, at that
moment in time. It’s true that
everything you want is on the other side of fear.
Stick with it all. In a year's time you won't remember the lonely, shitty bits. But you will remember that waterfall until the day you die. AP x
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