Where the Wild Things Are

I spent this past weekend camping in a town about an hour and a half away from home base. You know, sleeping in a tent, roasting marshmallows, and going on midnight hikes and so forth. This little relaxing adventure took place in the little region of Pundi, an agricultural community teaming with women carrying bundles on their heads, men guiding cattle and water buffalo, and children running up to you and asking, “pen Miss?” On the way there, since our jeep kept blowing up in smoke, I got the opportunity to take a look around as we waited for the vehicle to cool down.

In this area of Tamil Nadu, India I saw, for the first time ever actually, the incredibly innovative style of land cultivation known as roof terracing. This concept is also used in other areas of the world for tea planting because the steppe-like effect on the hills keeps the soil (and thus the crops) from sliding down. Here in Pundi, however, they grow onions, garlic, and potatoes. Sprinkled into the mix of these vast hills of fertile hills are a number of very small towns which may be one of the few places in India where you can by a chai and a snack for just 3 rupees (that’s 6 cents in America dollars). Getting back in the jeep and rumbling along the one-lane stone dead-end road, who knows, you may even be stopped by an unusual roadblock in the form of a bison slowly grazing. No matter though, something stirs within, a combination of fright, curiosity, and awe. Out here, nothing stands in the way of you and nature, leaving you in a bewildered state of bliss.