The result of google maps was that we got lost in a rich neighborhood on the south side of chennai and had to catch a train back so that we could eat at some "chinese" restaurant. Along the way, however, being head strong americans we decided to walk for a few minutes toward the IIT campus and just catch an autorickshaw down the road. That was not the most brilliant idea I've had yet in India. We ended up walking down through the slums between CIT and IIT campuses. We ended up on a main road with rickshaw drivers who immediately spotted that we were the wrong color and jumped all over us. So we negotiated for a while, after showing them the maps and telling them we know exactly how far we're going and the rate they still asked for double, so we said "no, we'll walk." Apparently Americans don't get chased after, the way the locals do. I stopped and asked a traffic guy where to go. He told us to take the M70 bus (if that's not an omen, then I can't be totally sure what is). As we were talking to him, one of the worker boys (vinodkumar) showed up and said hi to us. We were only a mile or so from campus at this point, so it wasn't too shocking. Even though he only speaks Telugu and I only speak english, he somehow managed to communicate the idea that he was taking us to the bus. So we agreed. He walked us through more slums. As we were walking by one of the many miniature rows of houses, he said, "my house" and pointed. He lives there! I couldn't quite believe it. "My house, come." was his refrain. At this point, mike and I were getting quite hungry, but I knew we couldn't pass such an opportunity. We followed Vinodkumar down a little narrow alley to the last "house" on the right. We were invited in wamrly. The doorframe was significantly shorter than I am. In fact significantly shorter than Mike, and he's probably only 6'0" or 6'1". Vinod's mother and father and younger live in this hut.
Worldy possessionsThree walls of brick and a ceiling of scrap metal, with a fan hung from an extension cord. They have a small tv, and buckets for cleaning/bathing and wood for making a fire from which to cook. We were invited in and Vinod's mother prepared us a place to sit. His father asked what we wanted to drink, and then sent vinod with money. I felt horrible at this point for allowing them to buy ME a coffee. Meanwhile all the neighborhood children were looking in the hut to see who the strange foreigners were. They all had huge and radiant smiles on their faces as if our presence was a big treat to them. Throng by throng they came and just barely peeked around the corner to see what the commotion was. We finished our coffees and Vinod knew we were trying to catch a bus and warned that if we didn't go we'd miss it. So he volunteered to walk us to the nearest us stop. I left without feeling. The hospitality and pride and warmth displayed by a family with nothing left me speechless and thoughtless. I could not comprehend exactly what had just happened.
This fan hangs five feet off the groundAfter Vinod led us to the bus station we tried to catch a bus, but there was no way the two americans could ride that bus, or any bus. They were all packed to the brim, with no fewer than 15 people hanging on the outside. I'm into joyriding sure, but not in that way. Vinod thought it was mildly amusing that we wouldn't board such a vehicle, so we caught a rickshaw to the bus station we needed.
Now I'd be back to sequence if I said google maps had led us astray. We walked directly to where we needed to go to find, not only no Radison, but no one around seemed to know where it was either. We decided to walk to the nearest train station which led us to this interesting discovery.
The way to the trainThis is what it's like in the slums for 100s of millions of people everyday in India. A quick aside: If you put together all the huge cities in India you'll result in a population of about 100-120 million people. Considering India has 1.12 BILLION people, and half of the ones in big cities live in slums I imagine the idea that 100s of millions of people living like this is probably pretty accurate.
Our excursion ended at some chinese restaurant called Wang's Kitchen, which really could have been almost any "chinese" restaurant in America. It turns out, the chinese only serve chinese food to chinese people. They dumb it down for EVERYONE else. That however is not the important part.
Here are a couple more photos from around a few slums in Chennai. The goat in a really nice area of town with the "posh" slums, and the general scene at any slum near a river.
A Goat just hanging out in a nice houseThis is their drinking a bathing water.
Backyard, no need to mow the grass
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