India surprises. It really does. Take, for instance, the new law aimed at kerbing smoking that I made brief reference too in my 1st blog entry. Basically, the law is the most sweeping of its kind outside of Bhutan, which forbids even the sale of tobacco. No smoking in any workplace, including bars and cafes, and no smoking in public, which makes being a smoker highly annoying. when I heard about this new law, I was curious to see what effect it would have. Well, word on the ground from locals is that the law is not a joke, and it attacks smoking in the most effective way, by creating a stigma around it. There are still easy ways to flaunt the law, such a standing next to the small street stalls that sell ciggies and paan(tabbaco wrapped in betel leaf) but you can tell the there is a big shift in the way smoking is accepted. I'm acutely interested in it, because as a former smoker and nicotine addict, it's nice to see a developing country change for the better in ways that lots of western countries lag behind. Plus, it keeps me from wanting to take up the habit again, as it would be such a pain in the as to find a secret place to smoke by myself. Stigmatizing it works!
I'm in the temple town of Madurai now, located in the southern part of the state of Tamil Nadu. True to form, I've been everywhere but the main site, an enormous temple complex that draws up to 10,000 pilgrims daily. The town itself is not so terribly interesting, after having been through so many other Indian cities, but it is a nice place for me to pass a few days while waiting to start my yoga retreat about 15 km from the city. Madurai itself has a scruffy, worn feel to it, and the hotels here bear that out. The rule of thumb in India is that the larger the city, the drearier the lodgings. I ended up in a halfway clean place the 1st night here, but around 9 PM a foul odor starting rising from the alleyway that was flush with my room, probably from the sewage pipes that were snaking everywhere and could use a dab of sealant or a washer or two. Small missions can take up vast amounts of time here,and the next days mission was to find a better place. Easier said than done. All the places I checked out were in varying states of decrepitude and mildew growth, and I was seriously considering hitting up the luxury hotel circuit and throwing down $20, when i chanced one last spot, the "Hotel International" and found a pleasant airy room on the 4th floor, complete with cable, western toilet, very clean and comfy, all to the tune of $4 (Room #408). Landing a nice bed changed the complexion of my stay here, and I've been puttering around drinking fresh juice, taking pics and going to a couple of yoga classes at night. There are not many non-Indians floating about, and I haven't spoken with one since I left Pondicherry 5 days past. Which suits me fine for now, as I've had a greater chance to get to know a lot of the Indains here in Madurai. Let me say how glad I am to be in a country the favours the UK english to the US english, as was the case in Korea. From my vantage point, the subtle humor and painstaking politeness and nuance of imperial English is much more amusing. In India, you will run into men of a certain age who, though weathered, clad in a dirty dress (dhoti), and missing a few teeth, will spout out phrases you could see a master at Eton saying. A few nights ago, I was catching a city bus back from a dusty suburb of Madurai to the city center, and the man I just described came up to me and asked if I "required any guidance". I told him no, and we struck up small talk, he asking me what "province I hailed from" and in response to something about Bush, said "the less said, the better"! Oh, the propriety of the empire. Some of the people here just seem like relics of the Raj era by the enunciation and word choice. They're better equipped to speak passable isle English better than I, with my funny non-traceable, garbled, high-pitched whinge.
In general, I have to express the friendliness and and good humour of people in India. Really, a head wobble or cracking a smile will almost always be reciprocated and can defuse any potential misunderstanding, and there is always a solution to any problem you encounter here,and always someone who will go to extraordinary lengths to solve it. Once you are able to take the chaos of traffic and grime in stride, as Indians do, there is such a generous soul to this place and its people .
One last thing before I go. The legendary trains of India. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of boarding one, allow me a moment to extol the virtues of India rail. I had my first train journey this trip a few days ago, and getting back on board left me amazed at what a singular joy riding the rails in India is. The trains are a microcosm of India society at large, though with the advent of domestic air the very posh classes are sitting their powdered bottoms down on Jet Air rather than 1st class AC Rajput Express Jaipur to Bombay. The trains are marvels of ingenuity, cheap as chips, and a great way to watch all of India pass before your eyes. I always travel sleeper, non-AC, 2nd class, which gives you a padded cot to call your own, a breezy barred window (to prevent dacoits, or thieves, from reaching in and plucking your goods out at stops) and an Indian family across from you to speak to at intervals. Not to mention the tea sellers, food sellers, chain sellers, beggars, sweepers, dubious policemen, and other assorted folks that brush past you down the train. It is also a great way to see the Indian countryside pass before your eyes as you sit at the doors at the end of each car, legs dangling over the side, watching brightly sari-clad women heave jugs of water around on their hips and turbaned pruney men bicycle amongst coconut groves.
The internet appears to be on its last legs here, so I'm going t sign off for now. Next blog i'll tell you the inside story of life on the inside of a yoga ashram. Jai guruuuuu deja
Friday, November 14, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
A week of superlatives
It's all still here, the jasmine-scented air, the sun-baked red earth, the delightful melange of spices in food that can be bought for a song, the tugs at your elbow accompannied by "coin money". I'm back in India, and I did kiss the ground for you, Yael and Effie!
My flight over went very smoothly. I had a great send off at the Incheon airport in Seoul, having breakfast with a friend who was also flying out that day and taking advantage of the free internet cafes to get in a belated skype call to another mischievious friend. My 3 hour layover at the Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia was a revelation. It is truly the nicest airport I've been in. Reclining chairs! Penang curry soup! NFL games on TV! Landing in Chennai, I had to convince the immigration officials that it was really me on my passport, as I've porked up a bit during my sedentary year in Seoul, but after posing for 3 of them they gave me the head wobble and off I went into the Indian night.
I had arranged to to stay someone I had met on couchsurfing.com. For those of you not in the know, couchsurfing is a way of staying with people, or letting people stay with you, for free! This was the first time I'd stayed with anyone else, though I have had several couchsurfers stay at my place in Seoul over the last couple of months. What an amazing concept, and I must say my landing in India was so much softer than my first time here because of it. My couchsurfing friend is Avi, a 30-something Chennai native who, I can't emphasize enough, got my journey here off to a great start.
I spent 2 leisurely days wandering around Chennai, reaquainting myself with South Indian food, and trying to chart out places worth checking out in the state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai struck me as the most hassle free big city in India, such a departure from my first Indian city I'd ever experienced, Varanasi, which had left me reeling and gasping and befuddled and puzzled. Big cities are such difficult places to get to know on your own in any case, and unless you have a tremendous reservoir of energy, you'lll never get to deeper than the surface without the help of someone who's lived there for some time, so couchsurfing really really put me at an advantage most people don't have going into India.
Mamallapuram, a small beachside town that is very backpacker friendly, was next on the agenda, and a couple of bus rides later I was in my nicely appointed 4$ a night hotel thinjing this is all too easy! I quickly got down to the business at hand, which was ambling along the beach and buying cups of chai from the roving beach chai wallah, trying out as many foods as I could, and plowing through some of the books I'd dragged with me. About the South Indian food; in the US most Indian food is from the north, so it takes some time to become comfortable with ordering it. It is all served on a palm leaf, and the general idea is you get something breadlike to soak up something sauce-like. So far I've had idli, ottapam, parotta and vada. Can anyone out there tell me what poori is? I see it everywhere on the menus but have yet to order it. I also had several ayurvedic massages(6$) while there. This is an experience you'd be hard pressed to have in lots of places. You strip off your clothes (knickers too) and lay face down on a marble slab of a table while a man rubs ayurvedic oils all over you. You can wear a tiny loin cloth, but the point seems moot after you've had one massage. I had 3 from a pleasant guy named Winston
who is from the state of Kerala and is studying the ayurvedic arts there and working in Tamil Nadu in his off time. He actually did a great job, more massaging than just slathering oil everywhere, and I didn't nearly slide off the the marble table as I had during my first massage a year ago.
While there, like the rest of the world, I was able to witness Barack's victory. At 11 am Wednesday morning, I was crowded into an internet shoppe, watching live coverage of the official word the he is #44! Everyone broke out in cheers, fireworks were set off, and more than a few people were dabbing their eyes, myself included. The feeling in the air, in at this remote place, was that a powerful historic cause for hope and positive change had begun.
I set off for Pondicherry, and on the bus met an Israeli girl heading to Auroville, so followed her there. Auroville is an intentional community of people from all over the world who move permanently and work to create a community of peace. I'd always been curious to see this place and thought this would be as good of a chance as any. The first impression you get is that Aurovile is big. You can't "see" Auroville, it is a community of tracts of land spread out over 1000's of acres. However, we went to the main info center, and Koram, the Israeli, got on the phone with someone she had a contact with, and a rickshaw drive later we were at the home of one of the Aurovillian families. Their place is along a stretch of the coast, and it's hard to put into words what a sedate, peaceful place they've built up for themselves on their land. I stayed in my own house, a hobbit-like cottage
made of thatched hut roof, and got to know the family a bit in between rousing myelf to get down to the beach, which was essentially like having a private beach with great swimming, a rarity in India. The family is originally from Israel and the Netherlands, and they moved to Auroville 22 years ago and have lived there since. I didn't get into all the details of what they do, though the idea behind Aurovilee is to maintain self sufficiency, but I can say they were very hospitable and welcoming, and seemed very down to earth, not some sort of fringe utopian, off-their-rocker survivalist type you might expect. After a few very tranquil days shooting the shit with Koram and generally lazing, I packed it up to Pondicherry and have been here the last couple of days. Pondicherry is a former French colony and the city itself has been spruced up a bit for middle class Indians and Westerners seeking a break from rugged India. It's been nice to walk down very un-Indian wide avenues and admire the colonial homesteads, and eat some deliciously wicked food. I'm still getting used to how cheap the food is. I went to eat at a restaurant in a hotel last night and had and all u can eat veg meal, followed up with a yummy banana split, and the total was $1. Incredible. Well, I should be making my way south in an hour or 2. I'm due at a yoga ashram on the 15th of this month, which I've been looking forward to for a long time. Before that I'll be in the temple town of Madurai, which sounds a bit mad, which will be a nice change from my mellow India thus far. A boymust have his hair-raising adventures!
My flight over went very smoothly. I had a great send off at the Incheon airport in Seoul, having breakfast with a friend who was also flying out that day and taking advantage of the free internet cafes to get in a belated skype call to another mischievious friend. My 3 hour layover at the Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia was a revelation. It is truly the nicest airport I've been in. Reclining chairs! Penang curry soup! NFL games on TV! Landing in Chennai, I had to convince the immigration officials that it was really me on my passport, as I've porked up a bit during my sedentary year in Seoul, but after posing for 3 of them they gave me the head wobble and off I went into the Indian night.
I had arranged to to stay someone I had met on couchsurfing.com. For those of you not in the know, couchsurfing is a way of staying with people, or letting people stay with you, for free! This was the first time I'd stayed with anyone else, though I have had several couchsurfers stay at my place in Seoul over the last couple of months. What an amazing concept, and I must say my landing in India was so much softer than my first time here because of it. My couchsurfing friend is Avi, a 30-something Chennai native who, I can't emphasize enough, got my journey here off to a great start.
I spent 2 leisurely days wandering around Chennai, reaquainting myself with South Indian food, and trying to chart out places worth checking out in the state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai struck me as the most hassle free big city in India, such a departure from my first Indian city I'd ever experienced, Varanasi, which had left me reeling and gasping and befuddled and puzzled. Big cities are such difficult places to get to know on your own in any case, and unless you have a tremendous reservoir of energy, you'lll never get to deeper than the surface without the help of someone who's lived there for some time, so couchsurfing really really put me at an advantage most people don't have going into India.Mamallapuram, a small beachside town that is very backpacker friendly, was next on the agenda, and a couple of bus rides later I was in my nicely appointed 4$ a night hotel thinjing this is all too easy! I quickly got down to the business at hand, which was ambling along the beach and buying cups of chai from the roving beach chai wallah, trying out as many foods as I could, and plowing through some of the books I'd dragged with me. About the South Indian food; in the US most Indian food is from the north, so it takes some time to become comfortable with ordering it. It is all served on a palm leaf, and the general idea is you get something breadlike to soak up something sauce-like. So far I've had idli, ottapam, parotta and vada. Can anyone out there tell me what poori is? I see it everywhere on the menus but have yet to order it. I also had several ayurvedic massages(6$) while there. This is an experience you'd be hard pressed to have in lots of places. You strip off your clothes (knickers too) and lay face down on a marble slab of a table while a man rubs ayurvedic oils all over you. You can wear a tiny loin cloth, but the point seems moot after you've had one massage. I had 3 from a pleasant guy named Winston
who is from the state of Kerala and is studying the ayurvedic arts there and working in Tamil Nadu in his off time. He actually did a great job, more massaging than just slathering oil everywhere, and I didn't nearly slide off the the marble table as I had during my first massage a year ago.While there, like the rest of the world, I was able to witness Barack's victory. At 11 am Wednesday morning, I was crowded into an internet shoppe, watching live coverage of the official word the he is #44! Everyone broke out in cheers, fireworks were set off, and more than a few people were dabbing their eyes, myself included. The feeling in the air, in at this remote place, was that a powerful historic cause for hope and positive change had begun.
I set off for Pondicherry, and on the bus met an Israeli girl heading to Auroville, so followed her there. Auroville is an intentional community of people from all over the world who move permanently and work to create a community of peace. I'd always been curious to see this place and thought this would be as good of a chance as any. The first impression you get is that Aurovile is big. You can't "see" Auroville, it is a community of tracts of land spread out over 1000's of acres. However, we went to the main info center, and Koram, the Israeli, got on the phone with someone she had a contact with, and a rickshaw drive later we were at the home of one of the Aurovillian families. Their place is along a stretch of the coast, and it's hard to put into words what a sedate, peaceful place they've built up for themselves on their land. I stayed in my own house, a hobbit-like cottage
made of thatched hut roof, and got to know the family a bit in between rousing myelf to get down to the beach, which was essentially like having a private beach with great swimming, a rarity in India. The family is originally from Israel and the Netherlands, and they moved to Auroville 22 years ago and have lived there since. I didn't get into all the details of what they do, though the idea behind Aurovilee is to maintain self sufficiency, but I can say they were very hospitable and welcoming, and seemed very down to earth, not some sort of fringe utopian, off-their-rocker survivalist type you might expect. After a few very tranquil days shooting the shit with Koram and generally lazing, I packed it up to Pondicherry and have been here the last couple of days. Pondicherry is a former French colony and the city itself has been spruced up a bit for middle class Indians and Westerners seeking a break from rugged India. It's been nice to walk down very un-Indian wide avenues and admire the colonial homesteads, and eat some deliciously wicked food. I'm still getting used to how cheap the food is. I went to eat at a restaurant in a hotel last night and had and all u can eat veg meal, followed up with a yummy banana split, and the total was $1. Incredible. Well, I should be making my way south in an hour or 2. I'm due at a yoga ashram on the 15th of this month, which I've been looking forward to for a long time. Before that I'll be in the temple town of Madurai, which sounds a bit mad, which will be a nice change from my mellow India thus far. A boymust have his hair-raising adventures!
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