On the morning of June 26th, I took a wicked (I’m not from
From there, we took a cab and got our first glimpses of Chennai—big city for sure, not anything too remarkable, but definitely still a cool place (like I said, I’m a sucker for the cities…). This shot was just one taken from the taxi. We found the hotel and crashed, in the way that has become quite standard for our weekend trips.
AKA: How-many-people-can-you-fit-in-one-room-to-pay-the-least-amount-of-money.
It’s a fun game, try it out sometime. (Below, L to R: Kirsi, Ganda, Kristina, me and Sander, obviously Ganda and Kristina look best, hands down.)
After lunch (which was AWESOME--don't worry, it's going to show in a future blog entry...), we met up at the Tamil Nadu Tourism Complex with my friends Mitch and Amy, both went to CU Boulder last year—Mitch and I taught together in China last summer (along with our other buddy Teju).
Mitch, Amy and Teju are all spending this summer in Chennai, building and developing an NGO called The Shared Element (link on the right), which is incredibly impressive, innovative, and VERY exciting. Please do take a look at their blog or website, both I’ve included, if you’re interested in the development work they’re helping intitiate in rural villages in
Shoutout: you guys are too amazing for your own good. And I can’t wait to see you three tomorrow with , for our weekend trip to the Taj Mahal!!! AHHH!!
ANYWAYS. All of us decided to go on one of those ½ day tours, and it was pretty funny. Our tourguide had rather, um, special English and really liked to yell at us to “Go! Go! Move! 5 minutes only!!” But, hey, I have no qualms about being a tourist—especially when we usually only really get the weekends to bask in its glory. Our stops:
1. Fort Museum-neat relics of British Rule
2. National Museum-beautiful bronze collection of Hindu sculptures
3. Valluvar Kottam, constructed in the memory of Thiruvalluvar, the classical Tamil poet and saint. It's constructed to look like a temple chariot, which is pretty neat. (below)
5. Kapaleeswarar Temple, which was one of the most memorable experiences I've had in India to date. I met a great newlywed couple who was also on the tour, the wife's name is Monika, though I've forgotten the husband's. When we started walking around the temple, they very naturally began telling me things about Hinduism, and I was eager to listen and had tons of questions. When we reached one part, the middle section of the temple, there's a sign that reads, "No Non-Hindus Allowed"--at this point, I just told them I'd see them later and I thought we'd part at the entrance to the inner area of worship. But Monika was very adamant that I go in with them. I was a bit uncomfortable about doing it, and resisted for a while, but she said that she, as a Hindu, knew that such signs were posted to prevent desecration, not to prevent all people from experiencing the temple fully. She said to me, "Hinduism accepts all people, of all religions. And this temple welcomes all people to worship in it, whichever way they choose." So in the end, I did go in with them. They just told me to be quiet, as I could pass as a Hindu since my Asian appearance could also be taken as East Indian...so as to not cause further problems. I did initially feel a little guilty about it, but soon that dissipated when we entered...It was so incredible, such a feeling of serenity and peace and calm, quite unlike any temple or place of worship I've ever been to. The air smelled sweetly of incense and there were traces of smoke everywhere, floating around in swirls (or it felt that way!), seen only by candlelight. The fire reflected off all the golden and bronze sculptures of gods and goddesses, wrapped in bits and pieces of brightly colored cloth, arranged in rows and rows with offerings of fruit and flowers laid before them. There was the soothing sound of repeating mantras, cut in once in a while with the ringing of bells, quiet shuffling of bare feet on the stone floor. The priests stood together, 2 or 3 of them, and you went up to them and bowed (for lack of a better phrase--or the correct one), and they bestowed upon you jasmine flowers or fruit and the tikka mark, a smudge of red powder or white ash.
It is hard to describe that moment, but I did feel like I was experiencing some other world, or even a different state of being. I was near speechless when we came out in the fresh air, and all I could do was thank Monika and her husband for giving me such an unforgettable experience. It's truly understanding part of culture in a way you thought you would never get to--with people who are so enthusiastic about sharing it with you. No doubt India knows how to do this so well--the people here just never, ever stop including you, teaching you, bringing you into their lives and giving and showing you as much as they can. Monika and her husband were happy that I appreciated it so much, and I still feel like I didn't fully convey what it meant to me.
From there, we actually left the tour group and walked to the home of Teju's family members to meet him there. I hadn't seen Tej for almost a year, which is RIDICULOUS, because it felt like no time had passed whatsoever...that it had been only weeks since we were in China, staying late and talking about anything and everything, climbing up the great wall (or, is it The Great Wall?), eating delicious bao zi by the side of the street, hanging with Mitch and the other guys...
Dinner was fantastic (Tej and I shared a dessert called, "The Last Time You Saw Your Waist"--no joke! And honestly, you really don't care about anything, let alone your waist, when you're in such creamy, brownie'd chocolate bliss), then everyone hung out for a little bit before the rest of them went back to the hotel. I decided to stay with Tej, Mitch and Amy. And I think we slept at 5:30 am or something, after hours of talking and playing LINK, a game we invented that involves a tennis ball and (awww, so PLC!) teamwork, laughing and sharing and catching up. Teju has some wonderful cousins that I also got to meet--again, Indian hospitality is...beyond belief. They dropped me off at the bus station, where the Pondicherry episode begins!(Ahh!! I am so psyched to see them again...good thing "again" in this case means "tomorrow"!)
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