Thus far, I've met two Indians who will forever leave an impression in my mind. One was Karan, the leech from Hampi. And the second was Parvathy, the manipulator from Trivandrum. So, I just arrived at the zoo, still trying to keep from puking up all my food (read Trivandrum 1). I'm looking at a vulture in a cage when a couple walks by me. The girl notices my camera, and tells me that I need to take a picture of the beautiful bird. She didn't suggest, she ordered. Later, they walk by me as I'm going to take a picture of a White-Bellied Kite, a bird I think of as beautiful. She believed differently, saying that it wasn't worth it for me to spend time on such an ugly bird. I immediately liked this girl, because I was pleasantly surprised at her tone with a complete stranger. So, later, when I came across the couple resting, I stopped to say hello. Her name was Parvathy, and she did almost all the talking. His name was Srijith, a genuinely nice guy who was basically a lapdog.
Let me tell you about these two before I continue. Both are 19 years old, and they've been lifelong friends, probably because Parvathy needs and Srijith gives. No, they aren't a couple. In fact, Parvathy married (a love marriage, supposedly) when she was 16, and had her daughter that same year. Her husband is currently in Singapore, and her daughter is at her parent's place (where she goes only once a week). Next year, both Srijith and Parvathy are getting stationed in Dubai for their work. And they maintain a far too close relationship that both agreed gets disapproving looks. But, Parvathy doesn't care, and Srijith does whatever she wants.
I hung out with them during the rest of our time at the zoo. It turns out that they were supposed to be working, but they skipped out for the day since their boss wasn't there. They worked at a branch of Capella, an advertising company that made tourism brochures for the government of Kerala. They were also both 19 years old, thus adding a level of immaturity to everything they did. Actually, Srijith was the mature one. The whole while, Parvathy (who goes by Nisha) kept telling me "Come come" when I'd slow down to see an animal more closely. As a tourist, apparently, if I didn't follow them, I'd get lost in the zoo. I was that clueless. During our time there, she had me repeat silly and apparently obscene things in Malayalam. Thankfully, Srijith would yell for me to stop before I really said anything bad. She also had me repeat the words of some songs she liked; I said firmly that I wouldn't sing. She was also receiving phone calls continuously. Sometimes, she handed the phone to me to talk with her friends and to tell them these same obscene things. Yes, this was an Indian girl! Crazy, right?
After the zoo, the true Parvathy came out. She desperately wanted a Pepsi, and she asked if I'd buy it. No, she didn't ask. She told. And I said fine. I needed a water anyway. What started as one Pepsi because a Pepsi, a water, and a bag of chips (54 rupees). Okay...
Parvathy really wanted me to see their office, so we trucked over there. We hopped on a bus, and I noticed that their office was only about two minutes away from my hotel. We stayed at the office for a bit...she showed me some brochures and such. She said that I NEEDED to come with her and Srijith to Kovalam the next day. This beach town wasn't on my list, because it was too commercialized, and I was actually leaving for Varkala the next day anyway. Plus, by this point, I was getting a little sick of Parvathy anyway. So, after much pushing, I convinced her that I couldn't go. By this point, she needed to get home, and Srijith typically dropped her off (poor fool...she could easily take care of herself), so Parvathy said that I should accompany them. But first, she hadn't eaten all day, and was very "Huuuuungry." And unfortunately, her wallet had been stolen from her purse earlier that day. She showed me the tear in her purse, which really could have happened at any point. This of course meant that she couldn't pay for anything. And of course her next payday was in a week. Obviously, I was suspicious, but perhaps India had made me too paranoid. She noticed my hesitancy, and said that I came back in a week, she treat me all day. Uh huh. So, of course I paid for coffee (12 Rs) for both her and Srijith (who gets paid by Parvathy, apparently). Then, the riksha (25 Rs) ride to her cousin's place, where she stays during the work week. At that point, I brought out my camera, which caused a riotous flurry of primping and dressing up that made them look exactly the same as before. This part was fun. Their immaturities definitely came out during this time, though. Then, Parvathy ruined it by insisting on having copies. She said that we should go to a photo place and print out some pictures, which would ONLY cost me about 200 Rs. I firmly said no, and I told her that I'd e-mail them to her. She didn't like this, but she really had no choice. Finally, Srijith and I left. Beforehand, though, he bought her some food, even though she was going to eat in an hour anyway. Yeah, he was whipped. And the riksha ride cost me another 25 Rs.
The next morning, at around 11am, I walked to their office. I braved this because I knew that they were leaving for Kovalam at noon, and that they were going to the Sri Padmanabaswamy Temple (where I was going to go that afternoon) in the evening. Srijith was at the office. Parvathy was an hour late. I met the other employees. When she arrived, it seemed like she had done nothing wrong by being late. She was that manipulating. Even more so, much to my chagrin, she convinced their boss to give them the afternoon off (they'd go to Kovalam in the evening) so they could hang out with me. Gawd! What had I done! The plan was to go to the bank (so I could get money for my travels), then to the Temple. Before going to the Temple, Parvathy would need to go home to put on a sari, and Srijith and I would need to rent dhotis. The Temple has a strict dress policy. The idea of spending another 50 Rupees and who knows how long on this trip to her place forced me to say no to the Temple. She really wanted to dress up. Too bad. However, along the way, we ended up at a restaurant. One vadai (for me, apparently) also meant two dahi vadai, one chai, and two coffees (35 Rs). After much discussion, she finally said fine...no Temple. At least not the inside. We would still go there, but just to see the outside. Fine. But no walking. Another riksha (15 Rs). The temple was okay...nothing special. Then, she wanted a gift to remember me by. A bawdy Krishna statue. We went to some shops, but I finally said no. The pictures would be the remembrance. I needed the money for my trip. "But they're ONLY 50 Rs!" No. Okay, she had to break down. But, she got me another way. She asked if I was thirst, and I said sure. So, I took a Pepsi. She had a Pista Milk. He had a Badam Milk. Fine. What I didn't see was that she had told Srijith to buy another Pepsi and a bunch of snacks for their trip to Kovalam. The bill for my Pepsi was 150 Rs!!! I could have said no, but lots of people were watching us, and this would have created an issue with the cashier. I paid, and then needed to end it.
Excuse: A checkout time coming soon (I lied; it wasn't for three more hours).
So, back at my hotel, I said goodbye to them and slowly choked on the 318 Rupees I had spent for them during the past two days. By this point, I wanted to get the hell out of Trivandrum and reach the beaches of Varkala. So, I checked out early, and got to the bus station. I left Trivandrum and didn't look back. Actually, I left Parvathy (who wants me to invite Srijith and her to my wedding) and didn't look back.
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