Update - April 23, 2011

Hello.

It has been a while since I updated my blog. Not that I had nothing to say, on the contrary. I needed to take distance from this part of my life.

I also read the comments that people made and i would like to reply. I am currently writing about my seven plus years experience in Kerala and this time the focus will be on the stories of other people, other women, as they have told me. It will be about love lost, found and elusive.

Update

The simple update is that the case goes on in the Indian courts. More details of the fraud have been reveled and brought in front of the court. Will it matter? will justice prevail? this is difficult to say because this is India, and justice here operates in mysterious ways. I also want to make clear that the endemic corruption of the Indian system of life has played a great part in my story. Bala, his family and the whole society use corruption as a effective tool for obtaining all they want, regardless of the personal merits and often in spite of the law.

So from the legal standpoint, my battle goes on. I will see it through. 

To the reader that made the comment that she stayed at Asthamay and it was paradise... I would like to say that I understand her feelings. The beauty of the place moved me when I first saw it. I felt sure that I wanted to spend my life there, in paradise. This should give you the understanding of the depth of my anger, my pain at what Bala and his family did to me.

Greed is what motivated Bala to take what is rightfully mine and the methods he used are disgraceful. 

And Asthamay could not have been a paradise if it wasn't for me. Bala never cared for tourists, gardens, nice and cozy rooms, he just wanted money and used me to get there.

During this last season I went often to my room and I saw Asthamay's guests enjoying my garden. So many times I wanted to talk to them and help them see the truth behind Bala, his sister-in-law and the rest of the lot. 

But ... how do you tell someone that is on holiday and thinks they have discovered paradise that under the surface everything is decayed dirty and false. No chance, they would not have believe me. I have seen what Bala does to swoon tourists.

Additionally, Bala threatened me to have his sister-in-law smash my head if I'd go inside my kitchen. Therefore, i sat in my room and just watched outside. 

I saw the sheets and pillow cases that I stitched, the tables that I painted, the plates and the rest of the things that I selected being handled by the Bhats without any understanding of what those items mean. Bala's  sister-in-law (the public face of the family) has no appreciation for white curtains and handmade sheets, she never used them in her life, it is not her culture. That is my culture, that is my garden, I planted each of those plants. Will some tourist that is looking for romance understand that? I don't believe so. 

Yet, I am glad that someone noticed my windows shut. 

And I saw the posting on India Mike:  

http://www.indiamike.com/india/kerala-f39/problems-at-asthamay-in-varkala-t121751/new-post/

and the related comments. It seems that one of those is Bala's friend. I think I know who that person is... how sad that they never understood anything about the reality of Bala and Asthamay. But then again, they are tourists, they only see what they want to see.

I will be very happy to continue my updates as things develop.

Thanks for reading and for your comments.