the train journey

tender coconuts. the best thing about india! the vendor hacks off the top, and you get a straw to drink the water with. some members of my family dont let me get them because the knives they use to hack off the tops are usually dirty and probably unhygenic, but i was not traveling with them :)



my cousin that i traveled with. he's a sharp kid in the 9th grade (10th grade is a huge deal in india, i'll write about that later) and likes to chat. he apparently is a food enthusiast, so we talked a lot about regional differences in food. i missed his cheerful company when he was back in mumbai. the picture was taken when the train had stopped, in front of some rice fields. my uncle said that the people working the land probably make about 8,000 rupees (133 euro/160 dollars). :-/ i was reminded of a speaker i saw at the tana conference who had a microfinance firm and suggested that india should abandon the romantic notion of the farmer that works hard for his country because there's really just no good option for these people in the upcoming years. hmm...