Chennai seems to have gotten worse with each of my visits. I am talking, of course, about traffic and air pollution. There were just so many new buildings, both commerical and residential. In terms of quality of life, I won't be surprised if something goes horribly wrong there in about a decade or two. I met up with my friends Santosh and Ganesh and their families in Chennai. I had a lively, practical conversation with my Periappa and Periamma (the latter being my Mom's elder sister). I enjoyed that and was pleasantly surprised to learn that my Periappa was an atheist just like I. When I left Chennai, I wished I had had more time to have spent with them all.
I visited my Chithappa and cousins in Vizag, a relatively clean town. My time with them was extremely pleasant. We did a bit of shopping and visited some local spots. Again I felt I could have spent more time with them.
A new park has been established with assorted stuff like these huge sculptures on top of a hill outside Vizag. Possibly the park is an effort to make the town marketable.
I travelled to Madurai, my hometown, from Chennai on the Guruvayur Express. It seems that anytime I travelled to a location in India, there is always a family or two with a bawling kid in the mode of transportation I used. Again, I couldn't quite shake off the feeling that with the population there growing at an alarming rate, something had to give somewhere...sometime. On a positive note, the highlight of the trip was a dusky beauty that got on board with her Mom at Trichi. She ignored me until it was time for me to disembark in Madurai, where as I got up with my luggage, I felt her eyes checking me out. I left the train feeling a little wistful.
Madurai has not changed since my last visit there in 2004. I met up with my friends Suresh, Sahayaraj and Vijayabaskar briefly. Plus I made a short visit to my high school English teacher's house. She quipped that she didn't want to see me the next time unless I showed up with a wife. She, of course, didn't realize that such comments only strengthened my resolve to not bow to certain aspects of tradition.
My Dad's neighbors (of his new house), whom I met for the first time, were very friendly and helpful. His sisters and their families had all convened to celebrate the kumbabishekham of a temple he had helped build in Koodal Nagar. It seems like there is a temple on every street corner in India. Personally I think that such a task as building a temple will feel unnecessary when one is comfortable in one's skin. But reason usually fails before conventional thought :) Anyway I wasn't there to preach. It was a unique experience and I made use of it in my own way.
A lot of the locals showed up for the Kumbabishekam.
Before I left Madurai, I made an early morning visit to the Meenakshi Amman temple, took some photos and relived memories of weekly visits to the temple with friends back when I was in high school.
The Golden Lotus tank.
They have been standing patiently for centuries...
The thousand pillar hall. Outstanding!
From these hallowed outer corridors, several centuries of history looked at me.
A day trip to Rameswaram proved interesting.
I flew Air France for the first time. Their service was not in the same class as Lufthansa's but it wasn't too bad either.
Calorie-rich airline food. I skipped dessert and any juices provided with the food.
Locally, I flew Kingfisher Airlines from Chennai to Vizag and back. Kingfisher is the cleanest airline I have flown. Plus I have never seen so many slender Indian women as I did in the local airports. I am talking, of course, about the flight attendants of the various airlines that have popped up in the last few years.
Did I have a good time in India? I think so. It was nice seeing those friends who were still there, some new neighbors and, of course, my extended family. There were also some unpleasant moments. But all of that happens when one travels. So I am not going to fret over it. All in all, a good trip!
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