Chennai

December 12: Chennai

11:55am We boarded a plane for Chennai. I didn’t think the city atmosphere and environment were going to be different but I was so wrong! The minute I got in the car that the travel agent provided us with, I could tell it was different than Mumbai….and any other place that I’ve been. This is what I thought India was going to be like. There were palm trees, green grass, houses with roofs made out of palm leaves and high rise buildings. I never thought that Chennai would be more developed than Mumbai, but it certainly seems so!

After getting settled in our room, we were all craving some good authentic India food. So we all went diving into our guide books in search of a restaurant. We were finally able to find Saravana Bhavan. This restaurant was so unique in the fact that it served 23 dishes in one entrée! You were given rice, a plate with a banana leaf on it and about 15 different dals, curries, etc. They were spicy, but sooo good! The curd (yogurt) that came along with the meal too helped to balance out the spicyness. The one thing that was so authentically Indian is that you ate the whole thing with your hands…no utensils! Soo I offer this…

How to eat like a local:

1. Put rice on your banana leaf

2. Put dal, curry, etc. on the rice

3. Mix the dal in with the rice with your fingers

4. Take a bit of the mixture into your hands and squeeze out the extra liquid

5. Then pop it in your mouth

We washed it all down with some yummy pineapple, mango and chikku milkshakes. Since we were full after that delicious meal, we decided to take some Indian sweets to go. Later that night, we indulged in some ladoos and other sweets courtesy of the restaurant’s sweet shop. The ladoos had fruits, nuts, honey—they were delicious! Then others had gram (kind of like chopped up graham cracker crumbs) and almonds in them. I hope we plan on going there again—that $10 meal (total for all 3 of us) was delicious! Unfortunately, the rickshaw ended up being the same amount ($10) though.

I thought living in Mumbai for four months would help me in south India, but that wasn’t the case. The rickshaws in Mumbai are on a metered system which makes it easy to know how much it’s going to be. But here, you can only ask the rickshaw driver how much it’s going to be. On the whole though, I already love Chennai, possibly more than I love Mumbai. We’ll see.

Going back in time....to Mumbai

Now that I finally have some free time, I figured that I would post all my journals, thoughts and random things from my trip to south India. Sooo, I start with the day before I left for the trip when my Dad arrived....

December 11^th: Mumbai

I was so excited for today! I was so excited in fact that I was up at 5:30am—just like Christmas morning excitement. It was such a wonderful feeling knowing that I was going to be seeing my Dad today. After trying to go back to sleep, I managed to sleep until 7am, then just couldn’t sleep anymore. It was too early for me to go meet my Dad & Hollis, so I played some solitaire then started my day. Around 8:30, I just couldn’t take the excitement anymore and went to meet my Dad. After giving him a nice big hug, we went to grab some breakfast.

Breakfast was great! There’s a little café near my apartment, so we decided to eat there. Being in the Indian mood, we all had a south Indian breakfast (for 70 rupees or $1.50 I might add!) and gorgeous looking coffee.

After fueling up on coffee and needed energy, we began our trip downtown. Our taxi driver that we had was very interesting too. I’ve noticed that anyone who knows a little English wants to “test out” their English on foreigners. And the taxi driver was no exception. He pointed out the Hanging Gardens, the Oberoi Hotel and told us of a story of how dumb white people can be. The previous people he had in his taxi had accidentally left an expensive Sony camera on the seat of the taxi. Whoops! I was surprised to hear that the taxi driver had actually wanted to give it back.

After spending $4 US dollars on a 40 minute taxi ride, we had arrived in Colaba, downtown Mumbai. We saw the unfortunate Taj Mahal Hotel blackened from the smoke damage of the recent terror attacks. We saw about 20 men all dressed in white, chanting in an open area near the Gateway of India. Taking pictures didn’t do this area or the men chanting any justice. There’s only so much you can take pictures of, before you want to somehow capture the memories. After taking pictures of the Taj Mahal Hotel and Gateway of India, we started to make our way to Fab India for some clothing.

You never know what you’re going to find in India though or where your day will take you. On our way to find FabIndia, we found a government Emporium shop that had a permanent exhibition….wooden elephants, Buddhas, Ganeshes, silk sarees—so much for the eyes to take in! At every section of the store, if you wanted to buy an item you had to bring it to the counter in that section. There, a person would write out a receipt/bill for the item. Your item would then go to the delivery section of the store and you would carry on with your shopping. Before you carried on with your shopping, the receipt was not complete without a few stamps. Every piece of paper that they gave you was stamped by these government officials. After finishing shopping, I managed to only buy a cloth notebook in the tie and dye style of fabric. We then went to the cashier to hand in our receipts and pay for the items. But the process of shopping was not done—now we had to actually get the item back. So then we had to go to the delivery section of the store to pick up our various items. Such an interesting way of doing things! I guess that’s one way to employ 20 people in a regular sized shop! Then we started off on the car congested road to try and find FabIndia which we were able to find quite easily. Dad & Hollis were able to get some kurtas and pants and I got a beautiful teal and gold colored dupatta (shawl) for $12. Soon enough, we were getting hungry so we made our way back to Bandra (where the taxi driver jipped us off and made us pay $10 US dollars for a taxi). In Bandra, we went to the Red Box Café for some lunch. I got this really yummy paneer (cottage cheese tofu thing) burger. Hollis and my Dad also got really good vegetarian dishes.

Then it was time to show them the bargaining side of India. My cheaply made Indian purse had ripped so I needed to get another one. Bargaining here is such an art! The shop owner might start the price off at 700 rupees, but I know that I should be able to get it for 250. In order to get it to a good price, you have to tell a little tale. “I’m an American and I want to love your country” or “I just had this bag and it’s cheaply made just like the one I’m buying from you”…I knew if I had taken a little bit more time, I would be able to get the price down to 250 or so—but I managed to get it for 300 rupees (about $7 US dollars).

After walking off our lunch and plowing through the crowds and people wanting us to buy cheap shoes and bags, we stopped for some Natural Ice Cream. This ice cream store has custard apple, jackfruit, coconut ice cream…the list goes on and on. It’s so nice to have a small group because then we’re able to share the ice cream and food.

After sorting out the luggage, we made our way back to the hotel, ordered ourselves some lassi (a yogurt drink) and called it a night.

There's no pausing through life

About three weeks after coming back from India, I'm finally catching up with myself and taking the time out to think about what I just went through. India certainly had it's ups and downs......changing apartments two weeks into the semester, crazy internship days, new life long connections, time for inner thinking...the list goes on and on. As much as I was happy to leave Mumbai, I was also sad to leave south India. South India especially gave me the chance to catch up with my Dad and also catch up with my own thoughts that were in my head. It was so wonderful and rewarding to just experience spirituality and grow as a person...never mind, what a life changing experience seeing all those temples and backwaters of Kerala were.

When I came back from India, I thought that I would be able to pick my life up right where it left off.....WRONG! I guess this is what everyone was calling reverse culture shock. I was gone from my friends and family for 4 months, yes, but in some way I thought that I would be able to have the same life that I had back in August. After coming back to the States, I've realized that while I was gone, people moved on with their lives. My friends moved on with theirs, my family moved on with theirs....their lives were still going on just as my life was going on in India. But for some reason, I thought my life could be the same when I got back to the States. And part of me still wishes for that. I miss hanging out with my friends. I hate not knowing what's been going on with their lives for the past few months. I hate that it could take a few more months to finally catch up on each other's lives.

At the same time, I'm glad my life wasn't the same as it was back in August. India has changed me in ways that I don't even know yet. There are going to be days when I know my opinion for something has changed because of my experiences in India. In India I was able to turn off my American life (my cell phone, the internet, the media, the latest entertainment news....) and just look inward. I didn't realize it then, but I needed to look inside myself then more than ever. I needed this mental vacation in order to clear thoughts from my head, think about what I wanted to do the rest of my life, and just get away from the hustle and bustle of the American lifestyle. As much as I love my cell phone, I was so happy to not hear it ring when I was in India. I was so happy to turn on the tv and not have to hear about Britney Spears' latest hospital visit. So in a way, I am so happy that my life didn't pause while I was in India.

But is it wrong for me to want my life in India to keep playing while my life in America was paused for four months??

P.S. And as for all my experiences and reflections on India, don't you worry, they're all coming...

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...."

The time is finally here!! Hopefully my Dad and Hollis have arrived safely into Mumbai and have made their way to the hotel. Tomorrow morning, I'll be picking them up and we'll be off on a day trip around Mumbai. I'm going to be showing them downtown (Gateway of India, Taj Mahal Hotel, Queen's Necklace, Flora Fountain.....all the landmarks of the historic Mumbai) then we'll do some shopping for Indian clothes and a nice lunch and dinner. Then Friday we're off to Chennai! For the next 10 days after that, we'll be traveling around south India....enjoying the local cuisine, relaxing on Kerala's backwaters in a houseboat, getting Ayurvedic massages and just soaking up what the south has to offer.

I'll be leaving Mumbai for the U.S. on the 20th and will be back in Providence on the 21st. During my time in south India, I doubt I'll find the time or place to upload pictures or even blog of my experiences. But once I get back, hopefully I'll find the time to do so :)

See everyone when I get back!

You never know how much someone means to you until something happens.

I can't believe it, but it's almost time for my Dad and Hollis to arrive and for us to board a plane to Chennai. These last few days have been crazy to say the least, so I'll be happy for the craziness to end and for my vacation to begin.

After coming back from my internship and a little shopping with Barbara on Saturday, I learned that Blanche was admitted to the hospital. They thought that it was heart problems because she has had it in the past. But after running some tests, the doctors think that she has bladder stones...which are soo soo painful! After hearing about what happened, Dennis & I went to the hospital to see how she was doing. When her friends had told me that she had been admitted to the hospital, my heart sank. I guess you never really know how much someone means to you until something happens. Over the past several months, she has been such a comfort for me. Now that she's at the hospital and not at the apartment, it's weird not to have our three hour conversations every day. Usually we'll both come into the kitchen and start to make dinner or tea or something, and then never leave the kitchen until either one of us realizes we have something to do or that we should just move our conversation to the living room. She has been such a wonderful friend to me while I've been here. I never imagined myself to feel as welcome in a stranger's home than I do at hers. I thought that it would be weird living with a stranger for four months, but if anything, it's been the opposite.

So when I heard she was at the hospital, I wanted to go right over to see her. Luckily they were allowing visitors into her room. After seeing that she was okay and having a good conversation with her, I went home to start packing for south India. Later that night, Blanche's daughter flew in from London to be with her at the hospital. I'm so glad that someone is there with her, making sure the doctors are doing what they're supposed to be doing and just being there for her.

On Sunday, Barbara and I met up in Andheri and went shopping for some last minute things. And of course, me being the "Martha Stewart" and scrapbooker that I am, I spent 600 rupees (about $15) on Indian stickers, little appliques and everything else for my India scrapbook. Even though it might not seem like a lot of $, 600 rupees is very expensive for Indian standards to be spending on scrapbook stuff. And then, our trip would not be complete without getting some Indian jewelry. So now, I have enough jewelry to last a lifetime.

After coming back to the apartment with all my stuff, I made some dinner and attempted to get some sleep. Ever since the terrorist attacks, I haven't been able to get a good night's sleep. I guess subconsciously I'm on alert all the time and so I don't feel safe when I'm not in control (aka when I'm sleeping). I'm hoping that once my Dad gets here, I'll feel safer and will have a better night's sleep. And I reaaally hope that when I come home, I'll be able to sleep. Because surviving on 4 hours of sleep a night is just not enough for me!

After getting some sleep, I went to the orphanage then met up with Barbara again to hang out. We got some reaaally big cups of coffee...

Just kidding :) But they were still pretty big! And then after getting fueled up on coffee, we began our search for some mehndi. For anyone that doesn't know, mehndi is the henna ink art that is done on people's hands and feet. After looking everywhere, we were finally able to find a girl (probably no older than us) who had set up a table and a sign saying that she did mehndi. 200 rupees later ($5), I had myself some mehndi on my hands. And it's gorgeous!! It was so hard to keep the henna on my hands for 2 hours while it dried, but I managed to do it. Here's what it looked like before I rubbed off the ink:


And then here's what it looked like after:

If facebook lets me, I'll post more pictures of my adventures up online. If not, I guess you'll just have to wait til I come home for me to upload the pictures. Just a few more weeks everyone and I'll be home!

Yet more attacks....

You think that things are always going to happen to other people but not to you....to other cities, but not to yours. Buuut, here I am in Mumbai and that is no longer the case. And to be honest, my cool, calm and collected mind is starting to fizzle out to one that is nervous and highly anticipating going home. Following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that began on November 26, I felt safe. I felt safe taking the train every day to my internship, taking rickshaws and going out in public by myself. After these attacks, I thought it was over. I thought that for the next several months, the only thing that they would be covering on the news is the commentary about what Mumbai is going to do after these horrible events....not covering more attacks after November 26th's ones.

No more attacks since November 26th's batch of ones has happened....yet. It's not good to get in a negative mindset that there will be more attacks and that it's only a matter of time until these things happen...but sometimes you just can't help it. After reading the newspaper and watching the news, there has been warnings that attacks and a threat of terrorists hijacking planes in India has happened. Here's the full story.....

Airports on alert after hijack threat

Anasuya Roy

Thursday, December 04, 2008 11:01 PM (New Delhi)

There has been tight security at the airports in Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore after the Bureau of Civil Aviation issued a hijack warning.

The move follows an anonymous mail sent to a news organisation in Gujarat last week, warning of terror strikes at these three airports on the 6th of December that also happens to be the anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition.

Vsavaraj Malajhati, DCP, Bangalore Police, says: "Security has been stepped up. We are asking passengers to keep calm. Necessary arrangements have been taken."

There's a 5-tier security ring -- right from the time one enters the airport to the point passengers finally board the flight- which means more checks, but no one's complaining.

The terror alert seems to have changed the way people in India view aviation security -- no more tantrums or complaints about having to stand in long queues to be frisked several times

But there are some who still feel more steps can be taken to improve security.

"They stopped my car did not check my baggage they should do that also," says actor Kunal Kapoor, adding, "now the security agencies shouldn't become complacent, and this kind of security should be maintained."

If you're planning to take a flight, here's what you need to do:

Reach the airport early, at least 3 hours before the departure time

Make sure u have a proper identity proof

If u need to carry medicines, especially liquids, in hand baggage, please carry the doctor's prescription

And try to travel light

I spoke to some of the passengers inside and they say the security measures are as usual, but security agencies tell us there is no visible presence to avoid panic.

Courtesy of NDTV.com

My Dad, his friend Hollis and I are supposed to have a 10 day vacation down to south India starting next week and ending on the 20th of December. My only hope and wish is that my Dad & Hollis are able to make it safely to Mumbai and that we're able to have a safe trip around south India. I cannot wait for this south India trip. I've been preparing for it for months now, so the anticipation is becoming like Christmas Eve or morning before you're opening those presents. But now, I almost can't wait just as much to go home and know that I am safe back in the US. Wish me luck :)

My reactions to India's 9/11

After over 50 hours of shootings, grenades being thrown, fires raging and people jumping out of buildings, the terrorist attacks in Mumbai are over....for at least a few months anyway. Surprisingly, people in Mumbai (called Mumbaikers) have already started to get back to their normal life. All of this started on Wednesday night (Indian time) and just finished this afternoon....they really like to take their time with it all! So all day Thursday and Friday I didn't go out of the house. On Friday night, Dennis (the director of Champlain College in Mumbai) invited me over to his apartment for a Thanksgiving dinner. His place is about a 10 minute rickshaw ride away from me, so I felt safe going alone. Everything was still quiet though when I went out and came back from the dinner.

Then today I went to my internship by rickshaw rather than by train. The rickshaw ride was pretty expensive (60 rupees=about $1.50), for Indian standards, but I'd rather pay that then risk my life on the train. I still didn't/don't feel safe taking the train right now. Dennis said taking the rickshaw was a good idea too. While I was at my internship, the attacks finally ended....after 3 freakin days!! Even though they're saying the death count is about 150, I know it's more than that. There's probably 100 dead bodies in one of the hotels alone! The Oberoi hotel and Taj Mahal Hotel (both 5 star hotels) each have about 800 rooms in them, so you can imagine the damage there. They'll have to close down and renovate their hotels, which will make them lose a lot of business.

And believe it or not, if you were in Mumbai right now (excluding downtown area), you probably couldn't even tell that something happened. It looks so normal now. People are out on their motorcycles whizzing through traffic, people buying produce for the night's dinner, and of course the construction on the hundreds of new apartment complexes have resumed. And what I've see and heard, people aren't even talking about it. I've been talking about it with Dennis and his wife, Blanche, and Barbara (who is from Austria and is also here for 4 months helping out at the orphanage) though. It's hard not to talk about it! We still can't believe how much damage 15-20 terrorists can do. The Indian government is so bad, and already everyone is blaming the politicians. The elections here are coming up, so you can imagine the huge blame game that is going to be happening over the next several months here. They seemed so helpless when all of this was going on. At first the police in Mumbai thought that they could handle the situation, but then after several hours of being defeated by the terrorists (and losing countless police officers), they decided that calling in the army would be good. Uh, yeah! What ever gave you that notion?! I just don't understand how it can take 3 days for them to get the guests out of the hotel. Keep in mind that these guests didn't have access to food or water for those 3 days either. Crazy!! They're definitely going to be criticized in the following weeks and months for sure. And I don't blame the media when they do.
Usually I get the newspaper every morning on my way to the internship and read it on the train. But since I didn't go to my internship, I never got the paper. Now I wish I had gotten the paper so that I could preserve history and keep a copy for my scrapbook :)

The funny thing is with all of this is that I was just talking to Blanche about what I was going to show my Dad and his friend Hollis when they arrive in Mumbai. I was planning to bring them to see the Gateway of India, Taj Mahal Hotel, and to have lunch at the Leopold's Cafe. Buuuut I don't think we'll do that. Now I wish I had seen the Taj Hotel interior before all this happened. I've seen the outside of it, but not the inside. Now I never will. Leopold's Cafe, where the terrorists opened fired at, is a very popular place to eat for foreigners. The terrorists were certainly very smart and definitely knew where the foreigners were. At the Oberoi hotel, the terrorists told the guests that everyone could leave except for people with a U.S. or U.K. passport. Not good!

And to reassure everyone of my safety.....Early Thursday morning at 3am, Dennis actually called me up to let me know about the attacks. The attacks all started around 11:30pm Wednesday night, but it takes a while for the news to travel if people aren't watching the news. I guess he had just heard the news at 3am and wanted to make sure that I didn't go to my internship the next morning. After that 3am call, he and I have been in constant contact about if I should go out, go to my internship, etc. Champlain in Burlington has also been in contact with him to make sure that everyone here is okay.

I knew that I was never going to forget my experience in Mumbai, but now I definitely won't forget it. And people all over the world won't forget it either.