We had envisioned a Jungle Book setting for the wildlife park, with our main goal being to see wild elephants. Unfortunately, we only saw monkeys, deer and the very exciting "giant" squirrel (nothing compared to the Calgarian squirrel!). Though we did see some elephant manure (sorry no pic:)). We will try again further down in Kerala at the Periyar Park.
Outside Kurrur, we saw a thyyam which is "ritualistic art form performed as an offering to the deities and to ward off poverty and illness. It is a local ritual, in which the performer loses his physical identity and speaks, moves and blesses the devotees as if he was the deity. It involves dancing and drumming and usually lasts from evening and goes until the next day" (LP). It was really crazy and intense!!
We are now in Kerala, which is the most poltically interesting state. It has the first freely elected communist government in the world (which had been in and out of power) and is also the most successful state development wise. It has a 90% literacy rate, low infant mortality and a more equitable distribution of land. While I had learned that in class, I wasn't expecting such a link with Cuba and Che, but there are signs everywhere! I even saw a billboard of the "Cuban 5" (US held political prisoners) which was a big deal in Cuba but I didn't expect it here.
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