Amutha's built another toilet, because why not

For the first half an hour since I met Amutha, she acted as my local guide. The town of Santharapatti isn't nearly big enough to get lost in, but a festival procession sort of made the streets crowded. For some odd reason, the town was centered around an ATM. As I reached the town, I walk a little forward from the ATM and immediately find myself in front of a tea stall. There, right in front of it, Amutha stood, sipping tea in her own time. "The tea at that stall is the best in town. So, no, the ATM is not the centre of this town. That tea stall is." Amutha laughs. Standing corrected, I chuckle about it and walk with her. Then, she led me through the streets and showed me the processions. A long line of men and women came swarming, leady by a band of musicians. They played on a Tavil, a Thalam and a Nadaswaram, all authentically Carnatic in its origin. A few fireworks startled me as I took pictures. All of this simply amused Amutha. "Oh, I have seen this for over 20 years. Every year, it's the same thing. Except, we never had a strange boy taking pictures of it." Amuthu laughs again. Either it's a particularly good day for Amutha or she is always this jovial. I'm betting it's the latter. When we arrive at her home, all the noises of the town celebrations seemed far away. It looked to me like a home that has seen life that is worth decades. "My husband and I moved here from the neighboring village over 20 years ago. Back then, this was the finest house. It's still fine, but back then it was something else." It still seemed like something to me. A whitewashed concrete structure that showed no sign of what you could expect it. A certain sense of mystery does make anything quite fine. "Now my kids are all working, but they still stay here. Don't feel like moving away, they say." Amutha looked proud and content then. "I mean, it's not like it's all been the same here. This house was the only one with a toilet in the entire neighborhood back in the day. But still, we built another one with a sanitation loan." Amutha smirked. "Everyone's got a toilet these days. Well, they don't have two." Amutha is thankful to her lenders.