I spent the afternoon with some wonderful people who taught me how to de-husk a coconut. They have their own coconut tree in the yard, which is around 30 years old. Every so many months, they have a gentleman come by to pick the coconuts from the tree. He climbs the tree for around 70 rupees, less than $1.50. If he picks 1 coconut, it is 70 rupees. If he picks 40 coconuts... 70 rupees.
Growing up in a temperate zone, I'm not accustomed to coconuts. I've seen the ones we get in the grocery store in the USA, brown with three dark spots not unlike a bowling ball. Here in India, I've seen big green ones from which you can drink coconut water, and simply assumed they were a different type of coconut that the ones to which I was accustomed.
As it turns out, the big green coconuts and the small brown coconuts are the same. When they are green and large, they are unripe. Once they ripen, they turn brown like the one in the video. They can then be pulled apart, revealing the bowling-ball-like center... the part of the coconut of which I am familiar.
Now, I am sure there are other types of coconuts, but it is remarkable how many little thing there are to learn about the world
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