One LOUD town

Our neighbor Komala and her neice Ambily continue to take care of us. Komala just simply cooks for us now. She keeps asking us if we cook. In fact, she asked if we had servants that cook for us, trying to figure out why it is that we are so miserable at making food here. I don't think she understands that we honestly cannot even ID half of the vegetables at the market.
Anyhow, everday now she wants to come and modify my Sari and dress me up in it. I haven't been dressed by someone else since I was four, but Komala is taking great joy from it so I just stand there and take it.
This particular evening, I refused to get into a Sari, so she settled for putting a bindi on me. Bindis are worn by everyone here in a variety of locations and colors. They are considered a thing of beauty and I was complimented profusely by the neighbors once they had adorned me. They explained that the traditionally bindi between the eyes is symbolizing ones self. Then there is sometimes a horizontal line just above that which symbolizies God. If a woman or man also have a vertical line right at their hairline on the forehead this means that he/she is married. Lastly, a mark at the base of your neck in front means that you have children. So Leigh just had a single Bindi, but I was also marked at my forehead because I am married.
Since we keep getting put into the Indian mold. We suggested that Ambily try on some Western clothing. She looked great! She said it felt uncomfortable and we discussed that it would be impossible to wear in Rajakkad because of all the men and cat calls etc. THEN, Komala imitates a man walking with an umbrella, we think this is funny. Except that it turns out she is imitating Leigh and I and saying that we walk like men and it is funny. She also thinks it is amusing all of the attention that we attract in town.
We hit upon the subject of Feminism with Ambily because Leigh was reading some feminist theology. We have both decided we feel really bad for Ambily becasue she knows enough about the world outside of Rajakkad to know what she could be and what she is missing. But, she also knows what her life will be. She is 26, and as of yet unmarried because her family cannot afford a dowry. She is hoping to be able to marry in just two years, but they are not sure. Hopefully she will be able to marry, and then she will have a domestic life and bear 1-3 children and serve her husband. She will no longer work as a financial worker as she does now. She will not have much opportunity to ideas like "feminism". She has a lot of spunk and an independent mind and we can tell she is fairly unhappy where she is, but there are not a lot of options outside of what she has.

Then, this morning we start working when suddenly there is ear-splitting music and a sound system. Turns out there is a protest not only coming up our street, but stopping at the entrance to our building! There are three policemen at the bottom of our stairs and there is no way we are going to get out of the building. For the next three hours Leigh and I resort to wearing ear plugs because the event is so loud. There is chanting and there is yelling into a microphone. Then there is a very long speech by some man, in which people sit down and become quite subdued. He goes on and on. We have no idea what he was saying. We went down our hall to the Spice Board office which shares our building and asked what it was about. They said it was the communist party protesting the treatment of tea plantation workers. Sort of ironic since that is the population that HPWDS serves and we know all about their difficulties and conditions. Whey the protest was in front of our building is still very unclear.