The Adyar River

So far I have mostly shown the best side of Chennai, but there is another side which I will try to document now and then. We are located about 3 blocks from the Adyar River which is one of two major rivers that runs through Chennai to the sea.
This would be a good thing and from a distance it is very scenic, but when you get near the river you are overpowered by a horrible stench. On closer examination, much of the shoreline is covered with garbage and the water is a dark, sludge color. In fact all the rivers and canals in the city are extremely polluted with sewage, garbage, and stuff I don't want to know about.
The waterways are often lined with slum dwellings where people live in shelters made with a stick frame, tied together and partially enclosed with palm thatch, old tarps or scraps of sheet metal roofing.

We live in very upper middle class neighborhood (for India), but these pictures were taken just 4-5 blocks from our apartment.

The divisions from affluence to poverty is even more distinct in the high tech campuses around Char's school. Here you go from high rise modern buildings, nice landscaped streets and people eating their lunch at KFC & Pizza hut at the campus cafeterias, but when you turn the corner you encounter a street that is mostly paved, lined with small concrete row dwellings with narrow alleys between them. Family dwellings are very small, often with only a cloth for a front door. It looks like most of them have no indoor plumbing, and open or inoperable sewers are common.

It is hard as a westerner to understand why people don't respect their environment more. But I realize education is not the only issue. In this land of a caste society, it is karma that some are destined to live in poverty and filth.

Local temples

No description of our surroundings would be complete without mentioning the numerous Hindu temples that are everywhere. Some of them are just small roadside stands that only a couple of people can fit into, others like the one shown here in a nearby neighborhood are very large elaborate affairs. (Note that you can click on pictures to enlarge)

You can see some of the detail work in these pictures. Ganesh (the god in elephant form) seems to be very popular around here.

This small shrine was set up on the grounds at Ideal beach.

We have yet to go inside any of the temples, though I understand we are welcome to most areas as long as we remove our shoes and it is strictly forbidden to enter if a women is menstruating. As open and receptive as the Hindu religion is they seem to have a problem with this.

From the medium sized temple just down the block, we often hear chanting, which seems to go on for hours and is not at all melodic, more like a very repetitous drone. There often seem to be social functions and stages set up on the streets in front of the temples for special occasions, like India independance day which was last Sunday.

I'm sure I will be posting more temple pictures in future blogs.

Street scenes

Here are a few snapshots from the nearby streets:

A stonecarver's shop, note the newspaper hat and the detailed work.










Ox pulled cart on a very busy street.

Here are some typical construction workers mixing and carrying concrete. I have yet to see a
wheel barrow, everything including piles of bricks are balanced on top of the women's head.





On an outing today a came across an incredible sight. Unfortunately, I was not able to get very good pictures of this procession, so I will try to describe it. The parade was led by small boys beating on drums in no particular rhythm, followed by a man sounding his long brass horn. Leading the parade was a man with a very long rod which pierced through his cheeks to hang out either side about four feet. His back was pierced with many rods, pointing to the sky which made him look rather like a peacock. Some of these rods held pots that were smoking with incense. If that weren't enough he pulled a small cart that was tied to these rods on his back which carried a figure of what I suppose is some god they worship.










He was followed by a similarly adorned man, without the cart, and successively by men with fewer piercings, until the last had only the long rod through their mouths. All of these men seemed completely relaxed, without the slightest hint they were in pain. Last came a group of women and children wearing garlands of flowers and carrying pots full of lemons on their heads. As I have read about, this seemed to be a spontaneous type of affair, with the parade taking up the whole street, and traffic backed up, horns blowing, trying to maneuver around the marchers.


We'll have to see what tomorrow brings...............

Our neighborhood

Here are a few pictures from around our neighborhood. We are 2 blocks away from a major arterial where there are an endless number of little shops, but our area is all residential, mostly apartments and large houses behind concrete walls. It is a very convenient place to live, with most everything you need close at hand.



You can find these streetside tailors on every other block with their treadle sewing machines. There are also Ironing carts on every block. These guys use the big old irons that you see in antique stores, which are loaded with coal.

And morning coffee is brought to our door step by a vendor on a bicycle. (I have not gotten up the nerve to try it on the street yet)

And here is our local market which is just around the corner. It's a great little grocery & misc. goods on one side and a wonderful vegetable stand on the other. We are able to buy most of our food here, and it is much less expensive than the stores that specialize in western products. It is also easier for us to shop here than from the streetside vendors because they tend to rip off westerners who don't know what the prices should be. We fell prey to a banana cart man our second day who charged us about 5 times the going rate.

And not a very good picture, but yes there is an occasional cow in our neighborhood.

There are also several temples in the area, the largest one is just a block away, and another smaller temple is just down the street. Actually, I should say in the street because the road has to go around both sides.

These temples are extremely ornate, with many carvings of the Hindu gods in their various forms. It's not unusual to walk by and hear chanting or songs coming from the larger temple.

That is a quick snapshot from a walk around the block. Next time, I'll get some more pics. from some other areas close by.

Birthday @ Ideal Beach

On our first Saturday the school arrainged an outing for us at a favorite place for the staff to get away from it all.

It also happened to be a great way for me to spend my birthday.

Statue on the grounds.

Ideal beach is a 5 star resort about 50-60 kilimeters south of Chennai. What a contrast to the city! From the crowded, noisy, dirty, smelly city to a tropical paradise where you can swim in the ocean and lounge under palm thatched shelters, or hang out by the pool and eat and drink your fill, including alcohol (India does have prohabition, but liquor is widely available on the black market and night clubs).

Fisherman on the beach.

You can get a day pass here for about 1500 rupees ($30) or $90 for a very nice room.

Until next time.

First week in Chennai

We've been in Chennai for a very busy 2 weeks, the first being taken up with a schedule set up by Char's school for our orientation. Our days were filled with the school drivers & receptionists taking the new teachers out shopping, which consisted of taking us out to some of the more western department and grocery stores. Not exactly what we had in mind because most western items are much more expensive than what you can find in the local markets, but we were able to pick up a few items and were able to see some parts of the city, however disoriented we were.

We did spend one day at a very crowded government office to get our residency permits. This consisted of Char having to pick a number and wait in several different lines to emerge with a slip of paper three hours later with an appointment time to pick up the actual permits. Fortunately this only involved waiting in one line for about an hour.

Evenings we were wined & dined at the best restaraunts in town, most of them in the high class hotels or "hot" night clubs. The food was great, with many new tastes for us from Northern & Southern India & Thailand. Here's a picture of the largest peice of flat bread (Naan)(sp?) you can imagine. The most memorable dinner was at a Sheraton where we were serenaded by a guitarist singing Ring of Fire in a perfect American accent.

First morning

We have been in Chennai a week and a half now and still trying to get settled, moved into Char's classroom and getting our bearings. We are definately feeling like strangers in a strange land, even though the school has been very supportive with our orientation. The hardest part is many of the natives do not speak English, or speak Tamil as their primary language, or the English is difficult to understand. But let me back up a bit and give my impressions of India.

We arrived in Chennai at midnight, walked right through customs with a wave from the customs official where we were greeted by a school employee and taken to our apartment. After a day and a half on planes and a 12 1/2 hour time difference, it was hard but we forced ourselves to catch a few hours of sleep in a thankfully horizontal position. Waking up the next morning I walked out onto our little balcony, looked out onto the street and saw women in Saris, some with bundles of sticks in their hands sweeping the streets, men on old delapitated tricyles, auto rickshaws put-putting along ,beeping their horns and whole families on one motorcyles, with the women riding sidesaddle. That is when it hit me..... I'm in India now!

The first thing you notice about the city is the traffic, it is not like anything we are used to in the States. It is more like a flowing river with a thousand tributaries, with cars, buses, motorcyles, pedestrians, autorickshaws (tuck-tucks), water trucks, bicylces, tricycles, all fighting literally for inches of space. When you throw in the fact that everyone is driving on the wrong side of the road, it is very disorienting and difficult to look beyond it to see the world around you. Despite what seems like total chaos to us, it works and begins to make some sense after a few days. I'll never again think someone is actually tailgating me!