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Madras, India, May 5, 2003.
Hot...Hot and even Hotter! This was my first impression of the subcontinent of India. Why the folks picked the months of May and June to be here beats me. These are two of the hottest months to visit and we were in temperatures of 35's to 40's. Oh well, I guess I shall stick it out, after all we shall soon be back in the cooler climates of summer in Toronto. We arrived in Chennai (formally know as Madras) in the late morning of April 24..... We breezed through immigration and customs without a problem. Mummy was a bit disappointed at this, as she was itching to ruffle a few feathers. She figured that after all the hassle it took in getting the 'stupid' visa they could have at least given it a second glance! The only formality we had, was filling out in detail, the 2-page form relating to SARS. These forms were standard issues on entering all countries at that point. Without their trusty bible (Lonely Planet guide) the folks had absolutely no idea where they were going. They checked at the airport hotel reservations and booked a hotel sight unseen. Then we jumped into an old looking Ambassador. These actually need a step stool to climb in. They are new though and much like the revival of the Chrysler PT Cruiser and are everywhere to be seen here - especially as taxis. Our trip through the hot city is worth a mention, as halfway though our one hour trip we were pulled over by a police officer. Since our driver was doing the limit and didn't seem intoxicated we couldn't understand just why we were stopped. My guess is on seeing my father's foreign face Mr. Officer decided to try and fine the driver hoping we would pay the 'baksheesh' (bribe). His reason was that we had one of our backpacks on the back seat instead of in the trunk! You have to give him credit for thinking up such a ridiculous scheme to extruding bribes. What did he think? that we were foreign bumpkins just off the plane?? After a few choice words emitting from our taxi he eventually realized his palms were not going to be greased and waved us on... Welcome to India! |
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India is a strange place, so many people. My folks had been here before on their previous journey and ended up spending 4 months altogether. Mostly in the west, north and south. This time they were here to see the east and of course as usual I had no say in the matter. The fact that I was not going to visit the famous Taj Mahal, or the beaches of Goa didn't matter to them..... I'm only along for the ride! But my take on India is as follows.... It is Hot, Smelly and Crowded! We arrived at our hotel, which turned out to be quite nice, clean and cool. But it was situated in a very crowded and filthy part of town� However it was quite central and near the main rail station. We had a long list of things to do here. Only one of which was mailing off some souvenirs and other stuff we had collected. But it was first time to replenish ourselves and take in some of the wonderful lunchtime meals we could smell emitting from the hotel restaurant. And good it was. I have discovered that yogurt mixed with sugar and fresh fruit usually mango) makes a very nice cooling and refreshing drink. McDonalds should market this cause I personally think a MacLassi could be a great hit! After lunch we went in search of a number of different items: the #1 on the list was to |
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purchase a guidebook. An auto rickshaw (India's version of the Tuk-tuk but smaller) ride across the city gave me a better view of the new country. I could see people everywhere... sitting, washing and sleeping in the streets, people selling everything you could think of on the sidewalks and corners. There was a lot of traffic, large and small modes of transport, and amongst all this were the cows - yes you read it right. There were cows in abundance everywhere - roaming free and often eating garbage (which is piled up here and there on the sidewalks�). You see cows are a sacred part of the Hindu religion and are revered - therefore no one would dare hurt them. I saw them lulling about and even lying in the middle of the road just defying anyone to hit them. This only added to the congestion. We found a large air-con bookstore and spent a few hours there. I too had to replenish my supply of reading and school material (although French books were a bit harder to come by). I have also discovered that the Indians love their sweets and around every corner you will find countless stores selling tasty soft treats. Most are of a fudge-like consistency and are called 'burfi', cut in small squares they are attractively stacked in pyramid layers behind glass cases. These multi-coloured displays make it very tempting and they indeed are. Some of these delicacies are just dripping in syrup. I like gulabjamn, orange ladoo and a white pistachio burfi. Someone could have at least told me that the silver leaf on them is edible, for I was painstakingly trying to remove this and it was not a pleasant task! Most of our lunches were spent in the a/c section of popular south-Indian vegetarian restaurants. There one typically gets a Thali: a bunch of different curries served with chapatti or rice on a banana leave and to be eaten with the right hand. Later that afternoon we returned to the hotel where we all took a nap as we were exhausted from the heat and the lack of sleep the night before. We woke to discover it was evening already and decided to order room service. |
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Day 2 in India was spent exploring our surroundings on foot. Papa went to the railway station to purchase tickets for our trip north. He found this to be quite easy not only because almost everyone speaks English but because there is something called a 'foreigner quota' which makes it much easier to secure sleeper tickets on short notice. But before our train-ride north there would be a bus trip south to Pondicherry, the former French colonial town on the coast. We had also arranged an a/c taxi trip to the historic town of Mahabalipuram, an hour south along the coast. There, in the blistering heat, we visited a few old temples and rock carvings, accompanied by a guide. Since it was low season there was hardly anybody around. What I enjoyed much more was the outdoor museum on the way back to Madras. We could visit all sorts of furnished homes from the various states of South India and I got to do some handicrafts too. |
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