Round red mundu chillies, plump as cherries, are the crop people talk about around Abiramam, and farmers across Kamuthi taluk have grown them for about two centuries. Sacks of them travel the Kamuthi to Madurai road, past small shops, old schools and busy bus stops.
Beyond the main road the plain opens up. Near Kamuthi, millions of solar panels stretch toward the horizon, and toward Mudukulathur painted storks nest in the babul trees of Kanjirankulam. It stays hot and dry most of the year, until the October to December monsoon fills the village tanks. A Local Friend translates it all for you, from the menu at lunch to the turns on the map and the mood of the day.
