44. Report - Understand nothing and yet so relaxed

 

In Kerala, a relatively large number of men were able to speak English because - currently or in the past - they were or are still working abroad as guest workers for several years. Kerala's direct location on the "Arabian Sea" and the relative proportion of Muslims in the population tempt many to be guest workers in an Arab country.

As a result, as long as I was in Kerala, communication with the locals was usually easier.

Here in Karnataka, however, only a few people speak English - almost none of the older people. So when I walk through the villages on narrow, quiet roads, communication is limited to simple questions and short answers that are hardly understood by the other party. And yet there are warm encounters. In some villages, in the late morning, when the midday heat sets in and the morning chores are done, old men can be seen standing together in the village square. There is always someone brave who speaks to me in the local language, Kannada. I have now learned the word: "Yātrika" (pilgrim). Most of the group find it sufficient if they moreover understand "German" and my first name as well as the starting point of the pilgrimage and the next larger stage destination. The faces warm up quickly and show a deep, pure smile.

I discover something new, something special in my stomach: the ambiguities and possible misunderstandings in such encounters no longer bother me as before. Or they don't appear at all anymore. I used to have more pressure of expectations: I would have to behave like this and impress people with this or that ... now: feel the calm in the own stomach, trust in the own relaxed charisma, openly perceive the faces of others , letting the moment happen. t's nice how little it takes to feel grateful and happy in new encounters.