Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Last post

Discovered a banana-leaf "meals" restaurant in Chennai, which turned out to be famous:  Murugan (the name of a Hindu god) Idli (steamed rice cake) Shop.  Not only do they serve veg meals on banana leaves; they also have dried leaf cups:


From upper left:  Curd (yogurt) rice; yellow lemon rice; crackers; sauteed plantain; dessert; garbanzo beans; mango pickle.  Sambar in the middle.  Notice how the waiter stuck a spoon in the sambar for the foreigner who presumably can't eat with her hand.

This week I also got together with a former student from DU.  Ganesh was a psychology major who took my Hinduism class for fun.  He really made the class interesting because he had a lot to contribute, and I became very fond of him. His father flew out from Chennai for Ganesh's graduation, so I got to meet him.  Ganesh is now back in Chennai and enjoying being home after four years away.  He's teaching French, interning at a yoga institute, and making plans for grad school.  I got together with him on Tuesday evening.  We met at "Donut House," near where I'm staying, and talked for a few hours.  Then I got a ride on his motorcycle to a mall, where I bought a t-shirt for Ezzie.  We ate at the food court there and made a funny pair--me with my Indian outfit, eating spicy Thai noodles; Ganesh in western clothes (the norm for Indian males) with his Subway sandwich.  It was fun to get a glimpse of what young urban people do in the evenings.  

Then on Thursday his dad invited me to go out for dinner with the two of them.  His father is super nice and treated us to a great tandoori-style meal.  What a great family.



The work which I completed in Chennai focused mainly on reconnecting with the senior staff at the Kuppuswami Shastri Research Institute, where I've studied before.  There I learned the fantastic news that a Hindu ritual text that I'd translated, along with the original Sanskrit, edited by my late teacher S. Janaki, is finally going to be published next year by the institute after languishing in a legal and bureaucratic limbo for 20 years; the story is complicated.  This news is the best I could possibly hope for at this point.

For my last two days, my old friend Arun's mom Lakshmi invited me to stay with her; Robyn has met her.  (Robyn, she asked how you are.)  She used to live in a posh flat in town, but now, in her eighties and with problems walking, she decided to move into a retirement community about an hour south of city.  We just talked and talked, catching up and chatting about everything under the sun.  



I'm wearing a saree because we had just gone to the temple that's in the complex.  

So that's it.  The trip was short this time, but I got a surprising amount of work done, got to catch up with friends, and made a few new professional contacts.  If only I could stay longer!  Well, there's always next time....

Time is flying

How can it be Thursday already?  I took a taxi back to Chennai on Monday and checked into my "service apartment" in the center of the city, in a neighborhood called Poes Garden.  I found out that it's the most expensive area in the city, even though the room is just OK and costs no more than the even nicer B&B where I stayed in 2010--$65.  The exclusivity of the neighborhood comes in part because Jayalalitha, the chief minister of the state--equivalent to a state governor in the US--lives here.


She came to power many years ago as the protege of a previous chief minister known as MGR.  Both of them were stars in the movie industry during the 1960s and 70s:

MGR and Jayalalitha.  
Of course, the real star in this photo is MGR's glasses.

Another celebrity who lives here:  Rajnikant, one of the biggest actors in Tamil film.  If you read my 2010 India blog, at that time Rajni's blockbuster hit, the sci-fi movie "Enthiran" (Robot), had just come out.  


Here's a picture of him without toupee and makeup:


The cool thing about him is that he doesn't mind appearing in public looking natural like this. Anyway, I found out that his house is just next door to the place where I'm staying.  My friends in Chennai are impressed.

I spent Tuesday meeting and catching up with friends.  Had lunch with Deepa, who introduced me to a beautiful cafe surrounded by greenery in the middle of the city:





Deepa is doing well.  She has a year-and-a-half old baby girl, Nikhita, so she's not been able to progress much in her PhD work since I saw her last.  But she's happy, which is all that matters.


Tea and apple-guava pie with Deepa








Sunday, December 8, 2013

Weekend

I took the day off yesterday.  Went riding around, exploring and getting lost.  The more inland I went, the more disoriented I got, partly because the streets aren't straight, and partly because I have no sense of direction.  Thank goodness for the compass on my iPhone. As long as I'm pointed east, I can get to the ocean and the old part of town, which I know.  Had late lunch at a new place that was so crowded that I had to eat standing up.  Had what's called "mini meals," which includes a few basic rice and lentil preparations, a whole wheat chapati, which is like a tortilla, and a small dessert.  It's all vegetarian, which in India means no meat, fish, eggs--just veggies, lentils, spices and milk products.

A few sights:  Christmas season in Pondicherry.  In the upscale Nilgiris supermarket, I saw familiar-looking Christmas tree ornaments and snow-themed knick-knacks.  But elsewhere in town, at little curbside stalls across the street from Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, I found more Indian-style wares.





People hang up these stars in front of their houses, sometimes on trees.  At the bottom you can also see the tops of fake Christmas trees, which were kind of spindly-looking.  

Nativity figurines
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, built 1791

This morning I stayed in my room and worked.  For lunch, I went out and ate at Surguru, where I've eaten a couple times this week.  Had the "business lunch," which means the usual thali meal on a round plate with lots of little side dishes, but minus the big pile of rice in the middle.  With the rise and spread of prosperity, middle-class Indians are having the same weight and health problems that Americans have, so the business lunch cuts down on the carbs.  Clockwise from the white stuff:  chilled yogurt rice, to be eaten at the end of the meal with the spicy lime pickle in the little bowl; cabbage; gulab jaman (dessert--a little ball of dough, deep-fried and soaked in sugar syrup); sambar--a kind of thin lentil "soup"; vegetable; yellow rice with grated carrots; Bisibela rice, which is sambar mixed with rice. 



I love the way they line the plate with banana leaves.  It's a modern variation on the traditional South Indian banana leaf meal, which looks like this.  The stainless steel container at the top holds refills from which someone will serve you.


Add caption

After lunch, I found a wi-fi cafe and spend the afternoon writing and sipping on an excellent cappucino.  Then as I was riding back to the hotel, I passed a closed fruit or juice stall with a surprising item on its list:



I don't know what it is supposed to mean.  I'm sure it's something familiar, since I know all the other fruits.  (Actually, I don't know what "masambi" is, either.)

Near the hotel, I returned my bicycle to the Shri Manonmani Amman Cycle Store, then walked back to the hotel.  The guard in the driveway asked me, "Where is cycle?"   I'd grown fond of it--such freedom for $8 a day.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Friday

I've been here almost a week already; hard to believe.  I've gotten a surprising amount of work done and am feeling rested and thoroughly content, enjoying the slow pace of things.  

Here's a picture of my room in Pondicherry.  It has A/C, a flat-screen tv, electric kettle for tea, and a hair dryer--all very luxurious.



 Yesterday after I left the library for the day, I remembered to take a photo of my bicycle.  When I ride it, I can't decide if I feel more like Lance Armstrong or the Wicked Witch of the West.



Yesterday around 5:00 I rode along the beach promenade.  It was probably eighty degrees at most, with cloud cover, so it was the perfect weather for me.  Not so for many Indians, evidently, since I saw people wearing sweaters. 




Snack vendor.  Notice the baby all bundled up
with the knit cap covering her head!

Cotton candy vendor.  The spun sugar (look at that yummy natural pink color) in wrapped in individual plastic bags so that they almost look like balloons.  The seller had a bell that he clanged as he walked up and down the beach.
Shells for sale

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

In Pondicherry

I love this town.  It used to be a French colony and still preserves some beautiful colonial architecture, much of which is well preserved in the old part of town.



The place is small enough so that I can get around on the bicycle which I rented yesterday--a one-speed, purple girl's bike with a basket in front.  (Bella would approve.)   Once I get over my embarrassment, I'll have someone take a picture of myself on it.  The hotel watchman smirked at me as I parked my battered steed among all the sleek-looking motorcycles, so he's out.

The bike lets me get quickly from my hotel to the two research institutes where I'm working:  the French Institute of Pondicherry and the French School of Asian Studies.  (Sounds better in Frinch:  l'Institut francais de Pondichery; l'Ecole francaise d'Extreme-Orient.)  Together they house a rare collection of palm-leaf manuscripts, transcriptions and books focusing on the philosophy and rituals of the Shaiva Siddhanta, the Hindu tradition that I study.  It goes back over a thousand years and is still practiced in many temples today.

Courtyard inside the French Institute

One of the libraries--
The windows at right look onto the Bay of Bengal.


Today I'm working in the non-air-conditioned library because I have wi-fi access here.  There's a strong breeze coming through the open windows, with lush greenery and bougainvillea just outside, so it's a pleasure to work and not be dripping with sweat.  I'm the only visitor to the library this morning.  Guess I should actually do some work, but wait, is it already time for lunch?




Sunday, December 1, 2013

A rainy morning

Woke up to find the rain coming down hard.  Good for Chennai, which needs the moisture; not so good for travelers like me, though.  I got up leisurely, packed, headed downstairs for another fine South Indian breakfast.  I peeked outside and found the temperature to be very comfortable; it's just wet as all heck.  I booked a taxi to Pondicherry, rather than deal with the buses in the rain.  Boy, am I spoiling myself this trip.

Courtyard outside restaurant
 
Feeling more awake today
main lobby

Saturday, November 30, 2013

In Chennai again

I'm here in Chennai again after 3 years.  My flight wasn't bad at all--Denver--Chicago--Heathrow--Chennai.  Left Nov 29 and arrived Dec 1, some 28 hours in all.  Just happy to have gotten here with my health and my luggage.


jet lagged in luxury

Staying at the super fancy "Royal Meridien Hotel Chennai" just because it's near the airport.  After a few hours of sleep, an excellent vegetarian South Indian breakfast, I went out into the garden for a look around and heard the bells clanging at a little temple next door; an auspicious beginning.   Now I'm sipping a cup of lemon ginger tea and writing without trying to think or do much; I'm too fatigued for that.  Think I'll have an afternoon nap before venturing out.



my favorite breakfast!