Tamil Nadu 2006 |
 |
Week 2Feb 17, 18 and 19, 2006 |
It's 30°C in the shade, sunny all day and warm at night, and I've got a streaming cold. No justice. I've been in, writing up notes all day and only went out for a stroll in the evening. I found a nearby road I hadn't seen before and discovered it was the up-market area where the westernised Indians hang. I've disgraced myself; the Indian equivalent of KFC for dinner followed by two cafe lattes in the ultra chic Cafe Coffee Day. Indian coffee is good, but I had been missing my caffeine hit. I also spent some time in one of the "shiny shops" as we call them, the stainless steel emporiums. Buckets, plates, jugs, jars and many things of unfathomable utility stacked and hanging everywhere.
 |
Living in India: stainless steel everything Everyone buys the craftworks in copper and brass, but the range and quality of things in stainless steel is amazing. I've been collecting all sorts of cups, jugs and saucers which are excellent for mixing paints on and just aren't available in the UK. I shall buy a complete set of "glasses" to use on my boat. Unbreakable and they stack into each other perfectly. Most Indian drinking utensils are stainless steel. When an Indian drinks, she tips her head back and pours the water into her mouth without letting the cup touch her lips. They think we Europeans are pretty unclean, gobbing all over the rim. |
 |
Living in India: the bucket shower There is a full wet-room type shower, but also a bucket and jug, which is universal. The shower rose is blocked so I use the bucket. It really works quite well when you get the hang of it (don't worry, pictures won't get any more graphic than this.) Only "cold" water, but that's relative. The idea is that when you have finished, you up-end what is left in the bucket all over yourself.
|
A tourist day. I had planned to go to Mamalluporum, but all the hotels were full, so hope to go next week. Have a streaming cold in any case, so probably for the best. I took a jacket into town and bought some silk and commissioned a tailor to make a lightweight copy for me. Should be ready next Friday, so we'll see what the quality is like. Then decided that life would be easier with a cell phone so went and bought a cheap one. I have put some comments about getting a cell phone in the notes section.
 |
There are bookshops everywhere. Higginbothams is one of the largest I've found. Once you have bought a book, about four people are involved in selling it to you. At one point a lady prints out a double receipt which she passes to the security guard sitting next to her, who stamps them and gives them back to her. Then he passes the books to a third person who wraps them and waits to get one of the stamped receipts from the first lady before you can have it, whilst a fourth person records it all in a ledger, in addition to the computer it started out on. All the book shops have a big array of self improvement books of the airport variety, "All you've got to do to win is to win!!!", "One hundred top tips from millionaires!!!!", "How to always make that sale!!!!!!" etc. etc. I was tempted by the "10 minute MBA!!!!!!!!" but then thought, I didn't really have the time. |
 |
Some of the displayed authors are a bit surprising. This was a display of religious and philosophical titles. I can't read Tamil, but I'm sure I recognise the chap with the silly little moustache in the lower middle... |
 |
A real tourist. I bought a little Kashmir rug. I'm a lousy
bargainer, but I got Rs500 off the starting price. It's only 2ft by 3ft and
I'll either hang it in my boat or put it on the office floor.
Maybe I am not so bad at bargaining. It is about 15km from the centre of town to Swaminathan's. Last week I was charged Rs250 (about £3) by an Auto driver. Yesterday I got it for Rs80 (Just over £1). Today only Rs60 (Just under £1). |
Quiet day at MSSRF as the labs are closed. Spent the morning domestically and did my washing. The stuff I sent out ten days ago still hasn't reappeared. Went on a long walk in the afternoon, looking for the allegedly "biggest banyan tree in the world". I've seen some big ones, so this claimant must be worth seeing. I eventually tracked it down to the grounds of the Theosophical society, who have their world headquarters here. You'll be please to read that I know absolutely nothing about this organisation, but I was surprised it was shut on a Sunday. I'll have to go back.
 |
My walk took me down onto a new part of Elliott Beach, with a very busy fishermen's village on it. Plastered with EU flags and posters saying it had been provided by the European Union. Again, a tsunami relief project. These children asked for their picture to be taken so they could see it on the camera. One of the boys was carrying the baby, but as soon as I set to take the picture, big sister muscled in and insisted she must hold the baby. |
 |
The mouth of the Adyar river was broken wider open by the tsunami. There is a broken bridge that stopped either side. This man was giving a ferry service across (only about 50 yards). he was just paddling with a plank of wood, not a proper paddle, but still seemed to make it go quite well. It is a barely buoyant raft and must be difficult to move. |
 |
You can see just how barely buoyant!. These lads looked decidedly uncertain when the water came up between the logs. |
 |
A fisherman spinning coir rope on the beach. Another man
about 30 yards away was walking backwards, paying out the coir fibre whilst
this guy was working a crank that span it into strands. You can see the
hanks of rope they have already made running off from the stake. The piles
of nets they have must be quarter to half a mile long, they are enormous. I
presume they drag one end out to sea in a loop and then pull the whole thing
in, but I haven't seen it done. Coir is the fibrous husk of the coconut and they make just about everything out of it in south India, although synthetic rope is becoming very common. |
 |
Lots of roads have been widened, but they clearly don't like cutting down mature trees. This arrangement is common all over town. One such tree had a sign on it saying "Protruding tree". Yeah , right, I hadn't noticed. |