sometimes in a fractured but eager language, they will ask directly and other times, all it takes is eye contact and an expectant glance. this time,
it was a lot of yelling, pointing and wrangling of school friends but i was more than happy to oblige. and despite the exchanges being invariably
met with disappointment as soon as they realize there’s no LCD screen, it’s refreshing to witness a warm and excited response to being photographed.

i’ve got a wobble on the front wheel and stopped at a service centre in kumbakonam to have it looked at.

funeral procession

the sun began to set as i neared mannargudi.

it was dark when i pulled into the middle of town. i found a place to pull over, shut the bike off and looked back to the street to find nearly every
set of eyes on me. i got off nervously and started to walk, looking for a place to stay but a small crowd of people started following me. they were
pointing and shouting things excitedly and the kids were pointing at my camera and saying “selfie.” i started jogging and was immediately cut off
by this car with children in the back who instantly started calling at me to take their picture.

i jogged for half a block and tucked into the first sit down restaurant i saw. thankfully, nobody followed me in and the guy behind the register
offered to rent me a room upstairs.