India

March 5 – 6, 2009 Chennai, India
Varnakkam! That greeting is in Tamil, the primary language of the Tamil Nadu state in India where we spent our time. Our first and last days we spent in Chennai. Matthew had a concert at SRM University, Engineering College, and there were 400 people in attendance. The rest of us took off with our guide, Bala, for a City Orientation Tour. It was geared for English tourists, so we went to two churches and former British buildings. A Tamil Hindu temple to Shiva was colorful – the religion is complex, and the architecture reflects this with multiple carvings of gods, animals, and stories in many pastel colors. We drove by a long beach where all the small pointed-bow fishing boats were resting. They go out fishing at night and come home to this beach littered with nets and trash. Laundry is also spread on the beach to dry. Their homes are small: some are concrete apartment rooms, and some are grass huts. The best part of the tour was visiting Bala’s home. Her husband and a small granddaughter welcomed us into their quiet, large concrete home shaded by a variety of trees. By then, Barrett was napping on the bus with Les in attendance.
Wendy and I attended a Welcome Reception at night. We were given jasmine necklaces, and our hands were decorated with henna. Some of our students formed friendships with the Indian students present. We sampled Indian food, bought skirts, and watch two enthralling dancers.
The ship’s crew had prepared extensively for the pollution and dirt of the Chennai port: cardboard clad the entrance halls, but carpet at the bottom of the gangway was soon black with grime and if you touched the handrail, your fingers came away black. The deck furniture was all wrapped in plastic. When we went out the second morning, the first thing Barrett did was step in a crack full of greasy tar! Still we walked to the port gate and rode a “tuk-tuk” (a motorcycle driven carriage) into a large shopping center. By then we were all wearing identical black footprint designs on our clothes as we wandered, bought some books, and had a cup of delicious Indian coffee. The “tuk-tuk” ride was the best, but among our swervings, we almost collided with a cow!


March 6 – 9, 2009 Night Train, Nagercoil, Night Train

Les and I left in the late afternoon with two girls and my writing professor for the train depot. We boarded a night train for Nagercoil. Our guide, Prem Kala, met us at the train station and got us situated in the air-cooled sleeper car. Les and I shared a curtained room with a young family: we were on the bottom bunks, and they, on the top. They got off in the middle of the night, and another family moved in.
We understood that Nagercoil was a farming village, but, Incredible India!, the village was 350,000 or more and the farmers were owners of a rubber plantation and cotton factory as well as founders of a K-12 school! Their home was inside a guarded wall with gardens, trees, potted herbs and flowers, and a collection of birds and animals. We all slept in a cool room with a bathroom attached, and we were treated to delicious Indian cooking, sometimes served on banana leaves. We tried to eat the Indian style with our right hand fingers.
Our host family was gracious, true ambassadors. Their elder son is in college in California, and Vikram was home studying for exams before his specialization in the last two years of high school. Kumar took us to visit his rubber plantation and the family cotton mill where they produce thread for fabric manufacturing. We also visited Sri Sarada Ayurvedic Hospital, clinic, herbal garden, and production pharmacy where they concoct healing oils and pills.
Kumar’s wife, Latha, arranged a visit to Pioneer School where the students sang, danced, and designed rangoli (pictured). These are circular designs done with rice flour and then filled in with brilliantly colored flour. We each gave a short introduction. I showed them my photos, and they asked for our autographs.
Latha took us to Kanyakumari at the southern tip of India. Three seas meet there, and you can see waves coming into the beach from all three directions – the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea. At Gandhi’s memorial there is a hole in the roof where the light shines directly down only on his birthday.
Our guide Prem Kala went with us to a coconut fiber mat factory. At a movie theatre owned by the family, we watched half of a Bollywood movie, “1977” (pictured). Colorful characters danced on the beach. Martial fighting was followed immediately by music video scenes with the stars dancing in multiple sexy costumes. We had three guides accompany us for shopping. Les was going for a shirt, and I smile when I think of him with the seven of us plus seven store employees all observing or fussing around “helping” him try on shirts. One of his “ultimate Indian experiences.” We traipsed around barefoot (all but Les who had another “ultimate Indian experience,”) in a Padmanabhapuram palace filled with intricate wood carvings and mirror-black floors , and a temple for snake worship where milk and turmeric were poured over stone snake heads. (Stink!)
Our hosts sat with us and talked about life in America and India. None of us were ready to get back on the night train because of their kind hospitality.


March 9, 2009 Chennai, India

Wendy and I went out alone on the last day in India. We had some struggles with our “tuk-tuk” drivers. One wanted to keep changing our agreed price, resulting in our having him let us off. The next one stopped on a busy off-ramp and climbed over a wall. His brother ran over and hopped in with him, and then our trouble began because Brother spoke English and wanted to take us places not on our agreed destination. We made it to the City Center mall in a round-about way, not stopping at any of his selected locations. Loaded with groceries, bangles and gifts, we engaged another “tuk-tuk.” At the port gate, we got a bicycle rickshaw with no motor. Laughing and talking, Wendy said, “Do you need some help?” No sooner did I say, “He doesn’t understand,” than he hopped off and offered his seat to Wendy. She pedaled us all the way back to the ship with him walking alongside. We had everyone smiling and waving at the scene that so crazily defied the illegal but lingering caste system.