With our wonderful OAT guide, Jaisingh, leading our group of
14 on the first morning of our Southern India tour, I began to gain a much
fuller understanding of life in Chennai.
It was already promising to be another steamy summer-like December day
when we set out to explore the city.
Fortunately, we were traveling in a huge, modern air-conditioned motor
coach, which would be our “home away from home” for the next couple of weeks. This was a pleasant surprise, as I’d expected
that we’d be traveling in something more like the local commuter buses. In fact, I’d brought along an inflatable seat
cushion in anticipation of hard wooden slats for seats. From my elevated perch above the road, I
could look down calmly on the swarm of traffic (including the occasional cow),
knowing that I didn’t have to cross any streets for a while.
Soon, we were away from the immediate vicinity of the hotel,
traveling to the west side of the city.
While our eyes were glued to the sights just outside the windows of the
bus (photo op after photo op), we listened as Jaisingh provided background
information on Chennai, capital of the state of Tamil Nadu. The city is famous for its cotton fabric and
for film production, which rivals that of Mumbai, aka Bollywood.
The state of Tamil Nadu is known for its 75,000 temples, which
range in size from simple sidewalk structures to sprawling complexes with
ornately decorated towers. Our first
stop of the day was at a 19th century Hindu shrine, the Muneeswarar
“Bodyguard” Temple. This modest temple
attracts people from the middle and upper classes, who come to perform pujas, or prayer ceremonies. It was a pretty chaotic scene in the street
in front of the shrine, with several pujas
going on simultaneously.
I learned that pujas
are often done when someone purchases a new vehicle. On the street outside the shrine, we witnessed
a puja being performed over a new
motor scooter. The vehicle was draped with
garlands of marigolds, and the owners of the motor scooter watched while a chanting
priest smashed coconuts, waved fire, and squeezed limes over everything.
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| Puja at the Bodyguard Temple |
We also learned about a special puja that is performed when a girl gets her ears pierced for the
first time. This usually takes place at
the age of 1, 3, 5 or 8. On the
momentous day, the parents dress the girl in her finest clothes and adorn her
hair with flowers before they bring her to the shrine. A priest performs a ceremonial head shaving,
giving the girl’s hair as a sacrificial offering. The little girls we saw at the temple that
morning looked rather stunned and confused by the whole procedure.
In addition, we all had a good time engaging in coconut
smashing at the temple. There was a low wall set up specifically for this purpose
right outside the shrine. Jaisingh purchased coconuts and we took turns hurling
them at the wall. It’s a great way to
relieve stress if you can’t get an appointment with your therapist.
Finally, before we re-boarded our bus, our driver performed a
puja to ask for a safe journey for
our group. Once again, this involved
garlands of flowers, smashed coconuts, flames and limes. Everyone in our group participated by tossing
golden marigold petals at the front of the bus.
We then had a driving tour that brought us through various
neighborhoods. The sight of tourists was
obviously a novelty to the residents of Chennai, as people of all ages waved
excitedly to us. This included family
groups on motor scooters, school children in uniform, and groups of sari-clad
students pouring out of women’s universities in middle-class neighborhoods.
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| View from the front window of the bus |
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| We saw plenty of stray dogs roaming the streets, but not very many cats. |
According to Jaisingh, in this city of 8.5 million people,
approximately 30% live in poverty.
Crossing one of the bridges over the Cooum River, we could see long
lines of slums along both riverbanks. Not
surprisingly, the rivers are heavily polluted.
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| The slums spill into the river. |
Our driver managed to steer the motor coach through the
narrow lanes of one such slum so we could get a closer view from the windows of
the bus.
Later that day, in the sultry afternoon heat, our air-conditioned
home on wheels made its way to Georgetown, the most colonial section of Chennai. Along the route, Jaisingh pointed out
examples of Indo-Saracenic architecture dating back to the British Raj. The style is an elegant synthesis of Indian,
Mughal (Islamic) and European (Gothic through Victorian) influences. The characteristic elements of red brick with
white trim, and graceful design, often including spires and domes, make
Indo-Saracenic architecture easily recognizable.
The British established their presence in Chennai when they
built Fort St. George in the 1670s. A
statue of King George V still marks the center of Georgetown. Today, this is one of the busiest shopping
areas in the city. The main attraction for
us was the flower bazaar. People come to
the flower bazaar to buy flowers for pujas
at the temple and for pujas that they
perform at shrines in their homes on a daily basis.
Even before we stepped foot into the long narrow lane
devoted to flower vendors, the aroma of jasmine overwhelmed us. We had to squeeze our way through the
extremely crowded passage where a seemingly endless string of vendors displayed
red and white floral garlands, baskets of jasmine buds, and marigolds in a
variety of colors. A few stalls selling
colorful fruits were mixed in. The lane
ended at a small Hindu temple.
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| He offered me a flower! |
The narrow streets adjacent to the flower bazaar were
devoted to other types of goods. For
example, one featured shop after shop selling pens, notebooks, etc. Another street had only booksellers. Back near the statue of King George, I found
myself peering into the windows of a series of shops that specialized in
dazzling costume jewelry. I stepped into
one to inquire about a few colorful gold-trimmed bangles and ended up buying a
box of 144 bracelets, 12 each of 12 colors, for 350 rupees (about $10). This was just the start of a major shopping
spree that would continue until my last moments in India.
After an hour or so on our own in Georgetown, we all staggered
gratefully back onto our air-conditioned coach for the ride back to the
hotel. Our welcome dinner, the first of
many wonderful meals on our tour, was held at the Sigree Global Grill, an upscale
restaurant offering a staggering selection of dishes from around the
world. We all stuffed ourselves with the
tasty small plates (lots of skewered items and deep-fried items) that were
served at our table, not realizing that these were just the starters. Somehow, I managed to find room to try
several Indian dishes from the buffet, especially the desserts. I was already familiar with gulab jamun (sweet milk powder-based
balls in syrup) and kheer (vermicelli
milk pudding) but I’d never before tasted malpua,
a fluffy sweet pancake served warm with a sauce of thickened sweetened
milk. A woman in our group, who grew up
in Mumbai, insisted that I try the malpua
and noted that it’s not usually prepared outside the home. Indian desserts may not be big on visual
appeal, but they taste delicious. By the
time the feast ended, I had indulged in all four major food groups of Indian
cuisine: carbs, salt, sugar, and fried
foods.
By next morning, I had recovered my appetite and did justice
to the hotel’s breakfast buffet. After
all, I needed to fortify myself for a busy day ahead. As our bus drove north along the shores of
the Bay of Bengal, we passed the 7 kilometer long Marina Beach, the second
longest city beach in the world after Miami.
Jaisingh told us that Indians enjoy strolling along the sand while
wearing their street clothes, but rarely go into the water. From the windows of the bus, I could see
swaying palm trees and crashing waves.
It’s too bad we didn’t have time to get out and feel the salt spray.
Soon, we had the opportunity to experience a completely
different form of transportation. Our
bus brought us to the Chennai Beach train station where we boarded an “aerial”
train to the Mylapore district in the north of Chennai. As you can see in the photo, we had to walk
across some tracks to reach the train platform.
This type of train had hard wooden seats and no electric lights. Throughout the 20-minute trip, the train doors
and windows remained wide open. I was
lucky enough to get a window seat.
Plenty of passengers were hanging onto straps dangling from the
ceiling.
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| Walking to get our train to Mylapore |
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| View from the aerial train |
Mylapore is the site of the St. Thome Cathedral, built by
the Portuguese in the 16th century.
According to local legend, the cathedral was built over the tomb of St.
Thomas, one of the original disciples of Christ, who supposedly brought
Christianity to India in 52 CE. Whether
or not the story is true, the Gothic revival architecture of the building was
quite striking – imagine Notre Dame painted gleaming white.
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| Men preparing for morning puja at the nearby temple in Mylapore |
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| Selling coconuts on the street in Mylapore |
While in Mylapore, we also relaxed for a few minutes in the
shade of a pavilion where we conversed with some English-speaking locals before
stopping for a mid-morning beverage and bathroom break. Some members of the group ordered masala chai,
the spiced Indian tea served either black or with hot milk. I sampled a variety of unfamiliar sweet
treats along with a typical south Indian filter coffee traditionally served in
a stainless steel cup, which remains very hot!
Then it was time to bid farewell to Chennai. We were headed for Mamallapuram, and that
will be the subject of my next blog post.
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