As you might (or might not) remember I had gone to visit a close friend in Delhi in the first full week of january. During that time, the fog was terribly heavy, and the temperatures were (dare I say it) cold. Of course, I should qualify coldness again as in the lower and mid 50's (Fahrenheit).
This time, my friend assured me "it is now springtime in New Delhi." I had a hard time believing this. It was already in the 90s (30s C) when my sister left. But surely enough, the temperatures in Delhi were upper 70s and lower 80s. It was really nearly perfect weather. Of course, as an american I still think of those temperatures as more indicative of early summer, rather than springtime, but that in no way stopped my enjoyment of it.
So I went back to some places again, and saw some new things.
This time, with a visitor from the states with me, my friend's father had booked for us a few nights in the guest house of the Indian Oil Company. I have to say, if you get the chance to stay in a guest house, GO FOR IT.
I should certainly qualify what I mean by guesthouse. Apparently in India, this can mean many different things. The first of which (most common) is a shitty hotel. Those, you may want to avoid UNLESS you're a cheap bastard and really are just interested in saving money, but not comfort. The second, as far as I can tell means a house attached to an ashram or a spiritual center. I have no idea about these. Some of them have early curfews (9:30 PM) and disallow alcohol, sex, drugs, sharing of rooms by opposite sex couples, etc. Basically all the fun stuff. Although, there are others which I'm told are nice, I can neither confirm nor deny these allegations.
The third type of guest house is the one we stayed in. It is the private property of a corporation or governmental institution which reserves rooms generally for important people, eg governmental ministers, politicians, foreign dignitaries, etc. Luckily for me, my Indian friend is the son of one such person, and so he was able to book a few nights for us. Pretty alright I have to say. TV, fridge, nice big shower. They disallowed smoking inside, but otherwise not so bad. We certainly had alcohol. Ms. Appeltans was courteous enough to bring with her 3 bottles of outstanding beer (by the way, thanks to Axiomatic All Stars brewing of the Mole Stout!) and a bottle of duty free single malt scotch. If only good beer were available for purchase in India, I'd be a much happier man. As it stands, I enjoyed three bottles of beer more than any man should enjoy any bottles of beer.
So we left after 4 nights, to a rousing bill of 2 dinners (made in house) and 4 breakfasts, 4 nights sleeping, for Rs 394. That's right, I didn't miss a decimal place. Just a shade under $9... Again, if you're coming to India (which I generally recommend AGAINST) try to stay at a corporate guest house!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Five weeks of visitors
Well dear readers. I apologize for the lengthy absence. My sister had been here for a few weeks and then Ms. Appeltans came through for three weeks during which we took a west coast road trip and met lots of other fun(ny) characters.
So the west coast trip plus the golden triangle went something like this
Meet in Delhi with my close Indian friend.
5 days and nights in Delhi
1 day to agra for taj mahal ('cause you kinda have to go see it)
1 day and night in Jaipur (one of my favorite stops on the trip)
3 days and nights in Mumbai
6 days and nights in Benaulim, Goa
3 nights in Kollam, Kerala
1 night on a house boat in Kollam
2 nights in Varkala (along the cliff beaches)
1 night back in Chennai.
In the last 5 weeks I've been to 7 states of India and two union territories. Not so bad for a short time.
My highlights in 5 weeks:
Bangalore
Jaipur
Benaulim
Varkala
I'll start blogging up a storm from here on and try to fill in as many details as possible.
So the west coast trip plus the golden triangle went something like this
Meet in Delhi with my close Indian friend.
5 days and nights in Delhi
1 day to agra for taj mahal ('cause you kinda have to go see it)
1 day and night in Jaipur (one of my favorite stops on the trip)
3 days and nights in Mumbai
6 days and nights in Benaulim, Goa
3 nights in Kollam, Kerala
1 night on a house boat in Kollam
2 nights in Varkala (along the cliff beaches)
1 night back in Chennai.
In the last 5 weeks I've been to 7 states of India and two union territories. Not so bad for a short time.
My highlights in 5 weeks:
Bangalore
Jaipur
Benaulim
Varkala
I'll start blogging up a storm from here on and try to fill in as many details as possible.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Restoring My Faith in India
All things seen, told, heard, and tasted, Bangalore restored my faith in India. I'm aware that there is so much that I'm not seeing in India. In fact one could spend an entire life roaming around India and not know more than 1% about it. I'm probably missing everything good in Chennai while I'm here in my office typing up this absurd and ridiculous blog, but Bangalore still treated me better.
I'm astounded how different the two cities are. It seemed to me, that most things that Chennai lacks, Bangalore has. Of course there are things lacking in Bangalore, it's not my home. But I gotta say, for a place to visit, skip out on Chennai, and go to Bangalore instead. A lot of people tell me that Bangalore is too busy as well, and that one should go to Mysore. Which all points to the fact that my excitement in exploring other parts of India has been restored to its original pluck. I'm ready to go exploring again and see some interesting stuff. I will, however, be reticent to return to Chennai for anything other than my job.
I'm astounded how different the two cities are. It seemed to me, that most things that Chennai lacks, Bangalore has. Of course there are things lacking in Bangalore, it's not my home. But I gotta say, for a place to visit, skip out on Chennai, and go to Bangalore instead. A lot of people tell me that Bangalore is too busy as well, and that one should go to Mysore. Which all points to the fact that my excitement in exploring other parts of India has been restored to its original pluck. I'm ready to go exploring again and see some interesting stuff. I will, however, be reticent to return to Chennai for anything other than my job.
Middle Ages plus Technology
There are many things that can be said about India as generalizations. They are all expressly true and false. India is just too enormous to categorize in one statement.
THAT BEING SAID...
India is like the middle ages plus technology. Everyone knows about the technology sector of India. The sheer magnitude of corporations and offices opening just based on computers and medical technologies is simply staggering. However, even with all these things, standards here are remarkably similar to certain standards in Europe in the Middle Ages. Let me give some examples (partly courtesy of my sister)
First, the fashion here hasn't changed in quite a long time. I don't know when the sarree and its related fashions were invented and implemented, but they are still around. Fashion in Europe was able to develop because civilizations were advancing. Perhaps it's possible that Indian clothing is perfect for India and needs no improvement. But I'd debate that based on the lack of footwear. Many people (even those wearing nice clothing) wear no shoes or very thin shoes which do terrible things to your feet. Not sure about that one.
Second, on the "heels" of the no shoes comment, the sewage system here is still the system of rivers and the ocean. Moreover, in Chennai specifically a lot of that sewage runs right into the street. Many people stop and urinate wherever they want/need. I don't have so much of a problem with that, except that there is enough sewage in the streets to begin with. In addition to the sewage in the streets, there is barely any trash removal service. I saw trash removal happening in Bangalore, but here in Chennai, I have only seen a couple trucks in my nearly four months here. There is, however, an enormous, an unfathomable amount of trash strewn along all of Chennai's lovely streets.
Piggy backing on those ideas... There is a lot of filth. Despite all this, people still eat with their hands. Now, I don't object to this in principal. Lebanese people eat with their hands sometimes too, but there are several stark differences. In India soap is NOT ubiquitous. Not only is there a dearth of soap, but also a lack of handtowels. So when people wash their hands with often not properly treated water (still swimming with sewage bacteria) without soap they still lack to wipe off the majority of the dirt that was there to begin with... Another issue which revolves right in the realm is a similar lack of toilet paper. There is a necessity in that case to eating with the right hand only and leaving the left hand for more sinister activities. But come on people! Toilet Paper is not a big technological invention.
So, let's review so far: Not much wearing of shoes, or proper ones. Lack of sewage and trash removal, lack of toilet paper, soap, hand towels and napkins, and lack of utensils for eating... Not shaping up to be a healthy society.
Well, speaking of health care, while the debate rages on in the United States about how to fix our health care system, there is no social welfare or universal health care system here. Things don't cost much (in general) but even then not everyone can afford medical care.
Finally, there is a small family of problems here concerning literacy and education. According to one study, India had 48% literacy in the year 2000. Ok, that was 10 years ago, but it can't have shot up to 100% yet. Furthermore, despite the fact that the first MODERN literary work on Tamil grammar was written in the 1300s, there still is no universally accepted way to spell certain words. In fact, coming back on the train a few days ago, we pulled into a station named Basin Bridge Junction. The Tamil signs literally said "Basin Bridge Junction" but on either side of the station were two huge signs with different spellings. I can understand not being able to transliterate certain things from other languages, but at a major train station, perhaps we should at least know how to write its name.
Throw in a caste system which still has a strong hold in this part of the world and things are beginning to look medieval in this part of the world, except with loads of technology.
THAT BEING SAID...
India is like the middle ages plus technology. Everyone knows about the technology sector of India. The sheer magnitude of corporations and offices opening just based on computers and medical technologies is simply staggering. However, even with all these things, standards here are remarkably similar to certain standards in Europe in the Middle Ages. Let me give some examples (partly courtesy of my sister)
First, the fashion here hasn't changed in quite a long time. I don't know when the sarree and its related fashions were invented and implemented, but they are still around. Fashion in Europe was able to develop because civilizations were advancing. Perhaps it's possible that Indian clothing is perfect for India and needs no improvement. But I'd debate that based on the lack of footwear. Many people (even those wearing nice clothing) wear no shoes or very thin shoes which do terrible things to your feet. Not sure about that one.
Second, on the "heels" of the no shoes comment, the sewage system here is still the system of rivers and the ocean. Moreover, in Chennai specifically a lot of that sewage runs right into the street. Many people stop and urinate wherever they want/need. I don't have so much of a problem with that, except that there is enough sewage in the streets to begin with. In addition to the sewage in the streets, there is barely any trash removal service. I saw trash removal happening in Bangalore, but here in Chennai, I have only seen a couple trucks in my nearly four months here. There is, however, an enormous, an unfathomable amount of trash strewn along all of Chennai's lovely streets.
Piggy backing on those ideas... There is a lot of filth. Despite all this, people still eat with their hands. Now, I don't object to this in principal. Lebanese people eat with their hands sometimes too, but there are several stark differences. In India soap is NOT ubiquitous. Not only is there a dearth of soap, but also a lack of handtowels. So when people wash their hands with often not properly treated water (still swimming with sewage bacteria) without soap they still lack to wipe off the majority of the dirt that was there to begin with... Another issue which revolves right in the realm is a similar lack of toilet paper. There is a necessity in that case to eating with the right hand only and leaving the left hand for more sinister activities. But come on people! Toilet Paper is not a big technological invention.
So, let's review so far: Not much wearing of shoes, or proper ones. Lack of sewage and trash removal, lack of toilet paper, soap, hand towels and napkins, and lack of utensils for eating... Not shaping up to be a healthy society.
Well, speaking of health care, while the debate rages on in the United States about how to fix our health care system, there is no social welfare or universal health care system here. Things don't cost much (in general) but even then not everyone can afford medical care.
Finally, there is a small family of problems here concerning literacy and education. According to one study, India had 48% literacy in the year 2000. Ok, that was 10 years ago, but it can't have shot up to 100% yet. Furthermore, despite the fact that the first MODERN literary work on Tamil grammar was written in the 1300s, there still is no universally accepted way to spell certain words. In fact, coming back on the train a few days ago, we pulled into a station named Basin Bridge Junction. The Tamil signs literally said "Basin Bridge Junction" but on either side of the station were two huge signs with different spellings. I can understand not being able to transliterate certain things from other languages, but at a major train station, perhaps we should at least know how to write its name.
Throw in a caste system which still has a strong hold in this part of the world and things are beginning to look medieval in this part of the world, except with loads of technology.
The Search for Good Beer Continues
My search for good beer WITHIN India almost ended in Bangalore. I thought that would be fitting for such an excellent trip. The location: Millers 46. I was told that Chimay was on the menu...
Moreover, Millers 46 is a Steak House. A STEAKHOUSE IN SOUTH INDIA!!! Of course, it's Lent and I'm not indulging in that sort of thing now. But I thought I had really found something. I go to the top floor to look down all three stories at the ant-like people below. I was REALLY HIGH UP (<--- a touch of sarcasm). The menu comes out, moment of truth... What's this? Chimay? YES! Orval? Yes! Two trappist beers on the menu, in India? YES YES YES!!! Oh happy day, I have found the place I will come to every weekend in India so long as I stay here.
What's that you say? You don't have Chimay, or Orval, or Carlsberg, or Tuborg, or Foster's? Really? There are 7 beers on the menu, and you're out of 5 of them? What do you have? Kingfisher and kingfisher strong. F*** ME!!!! You're gonna tease me like that and then dash my hopes! You bastards! My sister immediately sang her refrain
"Dear India,
If an item is on the menu, it should be in the restaurant..."
I died just a little inside. To make a point of protest I did not order a beer. I ordered the cheapest veg thing on the menu and tap water and left a very small tip. Actually, the tip was quite large for Indian standards, I guess I should have rethought that one first. 8% seemed like an insult, but in fact in India it's not an insult, it's actually a complement... Oh well.
I was so certain the search for good beer had ended (now for the second time in India). No dice! Why, why India must you tease me so? I would rather just not know that good beer had once been here than to be excited by it and then dashed.
I had given up my search, but I think I will now need to up my efforts. Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, Goa, and Kerala (somewhere) are slated. I don't know how many I'll actually visit, but it's about damn time to find good beer somewhere in this country of 1.2 billion people...
Moreover, Millers 46 is a Steak House. A STEAKHOUSE IN SOUTH INDIA!!! Of course, it's Lent and I'm not indulging in that sort of thing now. But I thought I had really found something. I go to the top floor to look down all three stories at the ant-like people below. I was REALLY HIGH UP (<--- a touch of sarcasm). The menu comes out, moment of truth... What's this? Chimay? YES! Orval? Yes! Two trappist beers on the menu, in India? YES YES YES!!! Oh happy day, I have found the place I will come to every weekend in India so long as I stay here.
What's that you say? You don't have Chimay, or Orval, or Carlsberg, or Tuborg, or Foster's? Really? There are 7 beers on the menu, and you're out of 5 of them? What do you have? Kingfisher and kingfisher strong. F*** ME!!!! You're gonna tease me like that and then dash my hopes! You bastards! My sister immediately sang her refrain
"Dear India,
If an item is on the menu, it should be in the restaurant..."
I died just a little inside. To make a point of protest I did not order a beer. I ordered the cheapest veg thing on the menu and tap water and left a very small tip. Actually, the tip was quite large for Indian standards, I guess I should have rethought that one first. 8% seemed like an insult, but in fact in India it's not an insult, it's actually a complement... Oh well.
I was so certain the search for good beer had ended (now for the second time in India). No dice! Why, why India must you tease me so? I would rather just not know that good beer had once been here than to be excited by it and then dashed.
I had given up my search, but I think I will now need to up my efforts. Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, Goa, and Kerala (somewhere) are slated. I don't know how many I'll actually visit, but it's about damn time to find good beer somewhere in this country of 1.2 billion people...
IISc campus
India has a lot of Institutes for research and things. The idea of the traditional university as we think of it in America is somewhat uncommon here. As far as I was concerned I thought the IISc (Indian Institute of Science) was sort of like my home at IMSc, which is a small campus and a few buildings. Not many grad students, no undergrads, but lots of research (and in my case, blogging) happening.
Well, IISc reminded me in many ways of IIT here in Chennai. It's a big spacious campus with clean roads, quiet and removed from the busy city around it, and a pleasant place to spend an afternoon. The hostels/dorms look a little bit like prisons, but otherwise a really cool place. Now that I've seen it I'm a little sad they didn't make me on offer for a postdoctoral position, but then again, if I'd gone to Bangalore first I might not like it as much. I'd probably think of it as crazy and backward like I do Chennai, and I would've thought of chennai as a pretty cool place. Although, Bangalore is MUCH cleaner, more cosmopolitan, and has beer on tap...
In any case, if you get a chance to go to Bangalore and need some respite from the busy city, Lalbagh Botanic Gardens are cool, and IISc campus is really lovely.
Mimosa in bloom
The first airplane designed and built entirely by indians in india
A funky tree root
Nice to not have an aural assault
Gorgeous Flower Garden in the center of campus
Well, IISc reminded me in many ways of IIT here in Chennai. It's a big spacious campus with clean roads, quiet and removed from the busy city around it, and a pleasant place to spend an afternoon. The hostels/dorms look a little bit like prisons, but otherwise a really cool place. Now that I've seen it I'm a little sad they didn't make me on offer for a postdoctoral position, but then again, if I'd gone to Bangalore first I might not like it as much. I'd probably think of it as crazy and backward like I do Chennai, and I would've thought of chennai as a pretty cool place. Although, Bangalore is MUCH cleaner, more cosmopolitan, and has beer on tap...
In any case, if you get a chance to go to Bangalore and need some respite from the busy city, Lalbagh Botanic Gardens are cool, and IISc campus is really lovely.
Mimosa in bloom
The first airplane designed and built entirely by indians in india
A funky tree root
Nice to not have an aural assault
Gorgeous Flower Garden in the center of campus
Playing Holi
Let's start this off frankly. I don't really know what Holi celebrates. It's something about the homecoming of some Deity or king after recapturing his wife from his rival in the neighboring kingdom now know as sri lanka, or something or other.
Here's the link Wiki Holi.
Ok, forget all that. Holi is a holiday which is fun as hell. People throw colored powder all over each other and then have to spend about two days washing it all off. It's a day when enemies can approach each other, and don't really get mad about stupid things. Furthermore, there is a killer drink made of milk and marijuana. This is a little harder to find than I'd thought. I sadly did not partake this time. I'm told from those more experienced that this drink is really tasty, but the hangover from it is pretty rough. A friend of mine told me you can sleep nearly 24 hours straight if you drink too much of it. Well, I couldn't find it, my host couldn't find it, and I had an 8AM train to catch the next day. So I forewent said amazing drink. Perhaps next Holi...
Well, I couldn't let the entire holiday pass me up. I had to go get colored. Quick side note, it's a funny way to say things... Indians become colored. It brings up less than pleasant notions about racial categorizations in Apartheid South Africa...
Anyway, I'm not here to talk about Apartheid or racial issues, I'm here to talk about getting my freaking face and arms and body covered in fun colored powder. My sister and I went in search of this. So we were trolling around the campus of IISc (Indian Institute of Science, where I'd applied for a job about a year ago). We saw some kids that were all painted up and decided to join them. My sister said, "You have colors?"
The response was
"You want to play Holi?"
We answered with a resounding "YES!"
To which our new friends responded by painting our faces and rubbing colored powder all through our hair and on our arms. Damn good time. It was amazing walking around campus and Bangalore afterward that day. Everyone was really pleased and amused to see the two foreigners who had played Holi.
What made the day for me (besides the amazing dosa at CTR for breakfast) was the fact that everyone says "play Holi" they don't say "celebrate Holi." Celebrations generally involve lots of prayers and formal rituals and generally aren't that fun. Holi is supposed to a playful holiday, and play we did. What fun, what fun. I haven't gotten so dirty on purpose in years. I wish it were an American Holiday! Perhaps I'll celebrate it next year wherever I am just because it's awesome. Here are some pics of me, my sister, and some random folks who we got to play Holi with.
Here's the link Wiki Holi.
Ok, forget all that. Holi is a holiday which is fun as hell. People throw colored powder all over each other and then have to spend about two days washing it all off. It's a day when enemies can approach each other, and don't really get mad about stupid things. Furthermore, there is a killer drink made of milk and marijuana. This is a little harder to find than I'd thought. I sadly did not partake this time. I'm told from those more experienced that this drink is really tasty, but the hangover from it is pretty rough. A friend of mine told me you can sleep nearly 24 hours straight if you drink too much of it. Well, I couldn't find it, my host couldn't find it, and I had an 8AM train to catch the next day. So I forewent said amazing drink. Perhaps next Holi...
Well, I couldn't let the entire holiday pass me up. I had to go get colored. Quick side note, it's a funny way to say things... Indians become colored. It brings up less than pleasant notions about racial categorizations in Apartheid South Africa...
Anyway, I'm not here to talk about Apartheid or racial issues, I'm here to talk about getting my freaking face and arms and body covered in fun colored powder. My sister and I went in search of this. So we were trolling around the campus of IISc (Indian Institute of Science, where I'd applied for a job about a year ago). We saw some kids that were all painted up and decided to join them. My sister said, "You have colors?"
The response was
"You want to play Holi?"
We answered with a resounding "YES!"
To which our new friends responded by painting our faces and rubbing colored powder all through our hair and on our arms. Damn good time. It was amazing walking around campus and Bangalore afterward that day. Everyone was really pleased and amused to see the two foreigners who had played Holi.
What made the day for me (besides the amazing dosa at CTR for breakfast) was the fact that everyone says "play Holi" they don't say "celebrate Holi." Celebrations generally involve lots of prayers and formal rituals and generally aren't that fun. Holi is supposed to a playful holiday, and play we did. What fun, what fun. I haven't gotten so dirty on purpose in years. I wish it were an American Holiday! Perhaps I'll celebrate it next year wherever I am just because it's awesome. Here are some pics of me, my sister, and some random folks who we got to play Holi with.
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