Male Prostitution

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. 

It’s just a shame that I don’t have my friends and family with me to share it all.  I did take lots of pictures (not that they do it justice) to bore you all with.  I just have to find some wifi to upload them to facebook