A Weekend Of Firsts

When you live in a place like India, you find that everyday you see something or experience something that you have never seen or experienced before. This weekend was definitely a weekend of firsts for me (Gareth), here's the list...

First first: I had a toddy.
In Scotland, to have a toddy is to have a whiskey. In India, it is something a little different. On Saturday I was heading to Ramoji Film City (a bit like Universal Studios in the USA) with some work colleagues and we had stopped to have some breakfast by the side of the road. As we were standing there a guy arrives on his motorbike dressed in his underwear and a unkempt shirt...and a rope around him (picture the Indian Indiana Jones). He proceeds to drive passed us to a nearby tree. At the top of the tree there were four or fives items hanging - which I thought were coconuts, but it turns out they were pots. The pots collect the dew from the palm trees, this guy climbs the tree to collect whatever dew has been caught in the pots overnight and he sells the juice either direct (which is diluted with water) or to a local toddy shop, who add some sort of chemical to the juice and make it into alcohol. Now, 8am is a little early for an alcoholic beverage, but we decided to buy some of the pure juice from him (literally just collected from the tree) and actually it was quite refreshing! See the video below where the guy is collecting the juice from the pots (sorry about the camera angle, I wasn't really thinking when I was filming!)



Second First: I ate a chilly
Indian food is spicy - of that there is no doubt. However, Andi and I have definitely begun to acclimatise to the local cuisine and can handle a great deal more spice than when we first arrived. During my visit to Ramoji on Saturday, we had a snack time. The snacks were the usual, samosa, french fries, sandwich. However, there was also a green chilly on each plate. I was holding it in my hand and told by my colleagues (who I thought were to be trusted) that this particular chilly was not actually that hot. After a few moments of quiet consideration, I decided to take a bite. I knew at once (partly due to the surprise and gleeful delight in the faces of those around me) that this indeed was a rather hot chilly. Stinging my mouth first, the sensation then worked it's way to my nose, then eyes, then throat. I coughed, spluttered, and began to cry (like a real man, of course) and water bottles were flung at me from all directions. That may be the last chilly I eat for a long time.


Third first: The Road-side Coconut
We have always been warned not to eat too much from the side of the streets - especially that which has already been cut or opened. However, I have often seen the vendors at the side of the road selling coconuts that they cut open, insert a straw and sell to drink the coconut milk directly. This is something I have been wanting to do, so on Saturday evening as I passed one vendor, I stopped and purchased my first coconut for Rs. 5. I took one sip and decided it may not be wise to use the straw they had given, so drove all the way home with one hand holding the coconut and the other holding the wheel (not easy reverse parking when holding a coconut, don't say I didn't warn you!). It turned out that once I had poured the juice into a glass and had a drink, I didn't really like it, but I am glad I tried it.