Sweet, sweet South

Ah... back to the south. I have been here now for two days, and what a full two days its been, full of activities, and full of amazing, belly warming food. My hosts are extremely hospitable, and boy do they know how to dine and feed a guest! For breakfast: masala dosas (delicious crepe-like pancakes served with coconut paste, and dal with vegetables) idly (cute little fermented rice patties) rice, chapaties, yogurt ("curd"), fresh papayas, and delicious coffee! After a very warm reception and with a very full belly, we visited some interesting places... But first let me tell you about my hosts- they have a family-run cotton ginning business, as well as grow organic cotton here (they are part of a group of small to mid-scale farmers who have joined together to become certified- which makes the expensive certification process more attainable for smaller farms.) Their family has also set up a school in the village in which they live that sponsors poor village children so they are able to attend school.

We visited a couple of weaving factories with powerlooms, as well as a few village handloom weavers. What a contrast between the two! I was also shown the cotton ginning process (the process of removing the seed from the cotton, which happens after the harvest in the fall.)

Also, I have been learning more about organic cotton, and I can see now how widespread the issue of organic cotton is here in India. With textiles being a major industry here, cotton itself being the majority of it- cotton permeates everyday life here in a huge way. Now more than ever I see the importance of promoting organic cotton, as it affects so many people here, upstream, downstream, and everywhere in between. From the issue of farmer suicides (which relates directly to the harm of pesticide use on their soil and land,) genetically modified cotton (which is designed to kill the bollworm- a major pest of cotton, but is said also to make bees sterile)- cotton is a loaded subject, and I am really only scratching the surface- so much more to learn. Huge mono-cropping of cotton is also taking its toll on the land in a major way, destroying the soil and sucking it dry of water, not to mention destroying the fragile balance of bio-diversity- all of the birds, insects, and beneficial "weeds" that cannot exist on conventional cotton farms. There is so much more to write on this subject- it should be a blog all of its own. For now, let me just say that I feel that change is very necessary, and that education is the first step towards change. First to educate myself more, and then more on this topic soon...

Paul will now be meeting me here in Coimbatore (instead of Bombay) and then we will travel together from here to Ahmedabad. Also, the Karnataka stage of my trip has been cancelled due to political unrest between Tamil Nadu and its neighboring state (Karnataka) over water issues. There will be a strike which will stop all bus travel between the states on the date that I was planning on returning from there. (Last time there was a strike apparantly they lit a bus on fire!) Better to steer clear of political unrest. Now I am in safe, sweet Coimbatore, and I will be here until Paul arrives. More soon...