Junglecast Update #6

NB: Katie is not being crazy and calling me her father; "papa" is what people say in Kannada when they feel sorry for someone (in this case, Katie feels sorry for herself, how selfish).

Sorry about the late posts -- we've just gotten internet and we're working on updating this blog ASAP!

In the next few days, look out for:
- Sweet pictures
- Awesome reflections
- Our finished biodiversity videos

A Discussion of Indian Manliness...

Today, we watched as a dead tree by Pam and Anil’s house was cut down. Sounds like it would be boring, but it was actually the manliest thing I have ever seen. Now in America, this would not necessarily be something that I would watch—it’s the fairly simple use of a chain saw chopping down branches from a large crane. But here in India, it is a totally different story. All of the male servants congregated by the tree and watched as one particularly brave soul shimmied up the 50 foot tree trunk—with a MACHETE hanging out of his pants. Once he was up there, he (his name was Jimmy I later found out) tied a rope to large tree branches and used the machete to cut them down one by one. Not only was he 45 feet from the ground with no safety rope, but he was chopping the very tree he was standing on from under him. Very intense. Then, when the tree was completely naked, he shimmied back down and they started using the ax to cut down the whole tree. Karan, Sandeep and I even got to chop a little. When the tree finally started to fall, it looked promising for a split second and then got stuck on another tree. So of course, they sent Jimmy back up, machete in tow, to chop down the branches that it was caught on. This would be the climax of the movie: Jimmy at the top of a waving tree, chopping as the men continue to pull the dead tree down. Danger zone. But, all was well in India, the tree fell, Jimmy shimmied, and they all went to lunch. And I went to write this blog.
Anyway, this was just one more time where the true differences between America and India showed themselves. Here, a worker is not only expected to tuck a machete into his pants and climb up a 5 story tree, but he is also expected to do it without any sort of protection device. Next time you talk to your Dad, you should ask him if he would do that. My guess is that he would laugh, and MAYBE pull out his cell phone to call a maintenance man to do the job. The crazy thing is that these actions aren’t even considered machisimo—it’s everyday. But it will never feel everyday to me-- I remain as wide eyed as ever.