Day 4, Election Day

Or rather, vote counting day. Today, India tallies up their 430 million votes to determine who has won what seats (sidenote: they've managed to computerize the entire process). I've only studied up a little bit on Indian politics, but it seems very interesting. First, there are many parties, most of whom are local to their region or state. The two large national parties are Congress and BJP, but they have to form coalitions with smaller parties in order to be in charge. Most of the local parties, of course, care about local issues. Add to that as well that the vast majority of voters are likely from lower income levels, and the amount to which the government subsidizes a kilo of rice becomes enormously important (one party says 3 rupee, the other says 2 rupee). Anyway, read away if you like.

http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a4wGrhWeLFHA&refer=home

In terms of my experience at Zamorins over the last 24 hours, it has continued to be a great experience. We were introduced to our herbal medicines yesterday. They are liquid shots of green and brown. I have to take two different concoctions 3x/day. They taste somewhere between worcerstershire sauce and vinegar. It's mind over matter to keep them down, but I'm going to take a leap of faith and assume they are doing my body good.

I did take an amazing walk this morning. I went a similar path as yesterday, but a bit further this time. The only thing that cut me off was two dogs on the path that I figured were in charge of that area and I should disperse. There is a video I captured (hopefully) of the religious ceremonies taking place, or at least the sound of them in the distance. Kerala has a diverse mix of religions, with significant percentages of Hindu, Christian, Muslim, and more. I could only harbor a guess, but I would say that it sounded like one was Hindu and the other Muslim.

Further along the walk, I came across a man on a scooter with a cart on the back. He was shouting out, and appeared to be letting the neighborhood know he was around. It turns out he was the fishman, kind of like a milkman except delivering fresh fish. Women approached and bought some of what he had, it looked like some sort of small codfish.

I also had a chance to meet some children on my way back to Zamorins. They were quite excited to show off some of their English, and we conversed briefly. They disappeared briefly, but then reappeared because they wanted to shake my hand. Not sure if that is an Indian custom, or a belief of Indians on an American custom, or they were just being friendly. But it was fun to meet someone local, if only a couple of 10 year old boys.

I also forgot to mention yesterday that I was a little too energetic in my yoga class. The instructor had us extend our legs to the side during warm up. Of course, I hear a giant ripping sound. I go the other direction, and another ripping sound. I pretty much destroyed my pants. But I stuck it out for another 30 minutes. Here's a photo of the result.