16.03.21 (2:30pm)

My first day in India.  After poring over the Lonely Planet’s “Dangers and Annoyances” section for
India (something we decided to do only after being robbed in Thailand), I was prepared for the worst.
However we were quite easily able to book a pre-paid taxi from the airport in Chennai to the Egmore
district, the location of most of Chennai’s tourist guesthouses, and for an extra 20 rupees, even got
the driver to drop us directly at the YWCA.  All the more remarkable because our flight arrived
at 3:50am.

Initial impressions: everything (buildings, cars, …) is huge.  It likely seems that way to me only because
I have been living for 3 years in Japan.  We were driven from the airport in a black and white taxi that
rode several feet off the ground and looked to be from the 1960s.  Along with the auto-rickshaws, these
enormous taxis can be seen all over the city.  Our guesthouse is located on sprawling, gated grounds and
has high ceilings, wide staircases and spacious rooms.  Everything has been clean.  We’ve eaten breakfast,
napped a little, booked an overnight second-class a/c train ticket to Mumbai for March 24th and have a
relatively well-formulated plan on how to see the main sights of Chennai.  Tonight we will email Nikita and
try to make it to the shore to feel the cool sea breeze.  The temperature is 37 degrees Celsius.

16.03.22 (6:20am)

I have so many thoughts this morning.  I awoke at 5am, my face glistening.  Unable to get back to sleep,
I lay awake thinking of India and how incredible (exciting, frightening, amazing) it is that we are really here.
There was a brief power outage at 5:30am which made the ceiling fan whir to a stop, but it has since
been restored.

We are taking it slow.  Yesterday we ventured off the YWCA grounds, just 1km or so into the city by
autorickshaw.  We were dropped off at the nearest train station (Egmore) and strolled two of the streets
there. Everywhere I have seen women in sari.  I guess I expected India to be like Japan where women really
only wear kimono for special occasions such as weddings and graduations, but here in Chennai at least,
it seems to be the most standard attire for women.  The men, especially, stare at me and I feel like some sort
of millionaire, extremely out of place on these streets.  We stopped to eat at a vegetarian restaurant and were
served Masala Dosai and chapatti.  We also sampled some of the shop’s displayed sweets: gulab jamun
(dough balls in rose syrup) which I had eaten a few times in Toronto and been yearning for ever since,
and a sweet milk and cashew-nut pudding (also super-tasty).  Along with 2 sodas, our dinner cost us
$3CDN for the two of us.

Last night we watched a little (though it was hard to get near the lobby TV with all the guests crowded
around it) of the India-Pakistan cricket match.  The great political rivalry between the two nations also
manifests itself on the field.  Although I read in The Hindu newspaper today that this was a friendly match
and that Pakistani businesses were welcoming the scores of Indian fans coming to see the match.

I also read some of the pages of matrimonial ads.  Both brides and grooms are advertising their availability.
Age, height, education, religion, caste, shared interests, in the above order, seem to be the main selling
features of the young hopefuls.  I must say the aspirants were mostly about my age, but seemed far more
qualified professionally that yours truly.  Well, then again, I suppose I am married which has perhaps
detracted from my burning desire to acquire several Masters’ degrees…

Anyway, if Rod hadn’t come along, my ad would look something like this:

27, 164.
White girl from good family.
Teacher and writer.
Roman Catholic.
Caste, religion no bar.

There was even an ad for a 31 y.o. Indian guy from Toronto!  It was bolded in the paper.
Big money, I guess, being the reason.
 

16.03.22 (5pm)

We’re back from a day of touring Chennai.  Our guide, Michael, is originally from Kochi on the southwest
coast of India.  He drove us all around the city in a white Ambassador (Indian-made car).  Our first stop
was Sri Parthasarathy Temple, constructed in the 8th century by the Pallavas and dedicated to Lord Krisna.
Just like in Malaysia, I was given the red forehead mark upon entering the temple.  We had to remove our
shoes to walk through the temple, even though it was open-air and didn’t feel particularly indoors with
a concrete floor.  Intricate stone carvings (oiled by worshippers) filled the walls.  A surprisingly large
number of devotees (considering that it was 10 am on a work day) were making their rounds of the temple.

Between destinations, Michael would point out each main building, monument, park, that we passed.
Some of the most memorable sites included High Court, a monstrous multi-domed (Indo-Saracenic style)
construction, second in size only to the High Courts of London.  We also passed Chennai and Anna
universities as well as several womens’ colleges.  Especially along Marine Beach, but also in town,
there were monuments to various politicians, including Gandhi and the famous Tamil poet.  We did make
one unsolicited stop at a shopping plaza where slickly-dressed, fair-skinned men attempted to lure us into
buying sapphire and ruby jewelry, as well as handicrafts.  We resisted their efforts and headed for our
next stop: Kapaleeshwarar Temple which was under construction, and allowed only Hindus into the
central worshipping area.  Next, we headed to Guindy Park’s reptile exhibit to check out various snakes,
crocodilians and lizards.  The cages were spacious and seemed to supply a reasonable imitation of
natural habitat for the creatures.  The animals seemed satisfied (if one can discern reptilian satisfaction).
Our final stop was at San Thome Cathedral, a 17th-century Portuguese initiative, erected at the site of
St. Thomas’(Doubting Thomas) remains.

Our tour officially came to a close back at Egmore Station, where Michael dropped us at a vegetarian
restaurant for lunch.  We each ate a thali (various sauces in small containers on a round stainless steel
tray with endless refills of basmati rice and chapatti bread).

It’s still incredible for me to think that we’re in India!  We plan to lay low tonight as we have another tour,
this time to the Shore Temple at Mamallapuram, scheduled for 6am tomorrow morning.  For tonight,
we’ll eat dinner, pick up our laundry, settle our budget and call Nikita in Gujarat.
 

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