My cousin says that all of us here would have degenerated into dry-skinned old people if we had remained in the city. In Bombay we would be drinking Coke or 7 Up. In most Kerala villages, one can spot happy octogenarians chewing betel leaves and cracking jokes with the young women of the locality. The old still walk miles to worship at temples, avoiding the bus. They bathe only in the ponds.
People dress informally.
They do not have to sweat it out in terrycot trousers. Thin mulmuls are appropriate for the day. In the cities, people age fast. By 40, they lose their teeth. Their muscles sag.