Tamil Nadu 2006 |
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Week 8March 31, 2006 |
Morning working on a case study for students. Afternoon I caught the train into town and posted another 4kg of books and notes back home by sea mail. It gives me half a chance of being within the baggage allowance on the way home. I walked from Mount road right down to T. Nagar, linking two areas I have explored. As always, it is the contrasts that strike you. At one stage there are a row of large modern office blocks, all mirror glass and marble, with sharp cars and sharp people going in and out. On the other side of the road there are palm leaf shanties, many people sleeping rough and children defecating on the pavement. No one bats an eyelid.
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As I've noted earlier, the quality of some of the portraits painted on the
walls is quite remarkable. Here monochrome renderings of the founders of
modern India, Gandhi and Nehru. I presume this is the Congress Party
headquarters, gearing up for the forthcoming elections. The portraits are
very fresh.
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The current incumbents, Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. She has just resigned her seat having been accused of holding an "Office of profit" which apparently is a bad thing if you are an MP. She's guaranteed to be re-elected in May, so she has regained the moral high ground without losing anything. She is a remarkable woman. Rajiv Gandhi's widow, she has stayed in India and assumed leadership of the Congress party, but not the premiership. The Indians really don't know what to make of her as they want to support the Gandhi dynasty (although Mahatma Gandhi is no relation, the names are purely coincidental) but they can't get away from the fact that she is Italian. She has become an Indian and campaigns in Hindi. I don't know her religion, but as I say, she is quite remarkable. |
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The idea of a screen-god here is also pretty remarkable, to European eyes anyway. This is the butch hero, not the comic turn. I particularly liked his serried ranks of cavalry. Look at the horses' heads. It is just two riders repeated endlessly. I wonder if he realises? |
Pam arrives in five hours time at the ungodly hour of 3:30 am. I have a car booked to take me to pick her up, I just hope I wake up in time. I have alarm clocks set...
I have been keeping this diary largely for her, so I will end it here. If you have read this far, thanks for joining me. If you want to leave any messages in the guest book, I would love to here from you, I will check it out. I have had readers form Israel, Switzerland, Canada, South Africa and a few others as well as the UK, so it has been of interest.
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