We arrived in Chennai late August 2008 after a 36 hour non-stop train trip from Delhi. The plan to take that long a ride was bold, though our only option to get to Chennai, as we wanted to avoid spending hundreds of dollars on air travel. When we reserved our bunkers two months ahead of time, we knew what to expect. We had already traveled in 2/AC, the next to top class of Indian train travel, with four beds per cabin, bunk style, 2 on each side.
In the Delhi central train station
Little did we know that we would have the four bunker cabin to ourselves for the full 36 hours! The trip felt closer to a luxury ride than to the train ordeal some would imagine, thanks to the cushy suspension of the 2/AC coach; for the whole journey we didn’t even feel the tracks! Absence of noisy neighbors, basic Indian food cabin service -made to order-, vendors walking through the halls with chai, coffee, snacks, mineral water, more chai, newspapers and trinkets, made for our other amenities. Icing on the cake, we had picked up food and sweets in Delhi for the long ride. Of course, backpackers traveling in "sleeper class", the cheapest, would have a very different experience, with jam-packed cars resembling livestock wagons!
Kamala in the 4 bunker compartment, Sanjay Singh, our train attendant
The Indian Railroad is an institution, the world's largest employer with over 1 600 000 employees and 14,000 locomotives that transport on average 12 million passengers daily. Every time we've ridden, despite the ageing infrastructure and equipment, I have felt generations of competency and know-how in everything that is provided and think of the value of knowledge and know-how, passed on through generations, so foreign to the high tech world I’ve lived in for the past 20 years.
Arriving in a big small town
When we disembarked in Chennai it was hot and polluted, noisy, smelly and dirty. For sure this was the real urban India and very few tourists have reasons to come here other than as an arrival port for visiting the South. Most people speak only Tamil, no Hindi and very little English. When we gave instructions to rickshaw drivers, finally learning to first indicate the name of the neighborhood we were heading to, I would have to repeat the simplest names over several times, to then hear them say the name with a very subtle twist I had missed. Just to say that they are not used to non Tamils speaking passengers…
Two neighborhoods of Chennai, CIT Nagar and RK Nagar
Rarely the driver would know the address or even the way to get there, and would make his way to the neighborhood, sometimes very indirectly, asking other drivers on the way how to get to the final destination! This was one indication of the small town configuration of Chennai, made of distinct neighborhoods each having a geography and a life of their own.
But Kanniapan, below, who after a month became our favorite rickshaw driver when we needed to really go around town, knew all the areas of central Chennai and spoke enough English to make him really stick out of the pack. Every time he drove us, he wanted to take us to a tourist shop for a 10 minute visit, for which he would get a gasoline voucher or a T-shirt for his kids… I accepted twice to do this for him. In these pictures he is dressed festively; it was a holiday and he left home specially to take us to the dentist.
Kanniapan napping , minutes later with Kamala
Formerly known as Madras, Chennai was for centuries a spice and silk center, engaged in commerce with Chinese, Phoenician, Greek, Roman and Babylonian traders more than 2000 years ago. It's India's 4th largest city in size - which tells you how rural India really is, with its 1.2 billion inhabitants-. Chennai is traditional in its values and style. Men, young and old wear the “lunghi”, the millennia old wrap-around skirt that I’m wearing in my recovery bed as I write.
Chennaites are also very devout and actively participate in religious rituals and festivals year around; drinking alcohol is looked down upon, synonymous to dishonor. The city is a living example of the stark contrast between ancient traditions and recent economic and cultural development that is shaping the style and behaviors of the younger generation.
Traditional Chennai
An example of tradition and ritual are the “Kollam”, designs that women draw with chalk powder every morning in front of each entrance to the house, after washing the sidewalk or the street, as auspicious protections and purifications for the household. Similar to some of the simplest Tibetan mandala or to the most basic sand paintings of the Navajo, they range from rudimentary patterns to intricate geometrical designs including animals or devotional objects such as conch shells. They become even more elaborate during religious celebrations when they are also drawn inside the houses for family rituals.
Kollam
Ganesha Chaturthi and Navaratri
Other illustrations of Chennai’s well established customs are the religious festivals that take place throughout the year. In the 7 weeks we spent there two 10 day festivals took place. The first one celebrated Vignesvara, better known under the name Ganesh, the elephant headed god, son of Shiva. Ganesh stands for Ganas Isha, meaning the Head of the Ganas, Shiva’s warriors.
Vignesvara is “the one who removes obstacles”, which explains why Ganesh images adorn the entrances to many houses and the small shrines inside most shops. He is invoked at the beginning of all rituals dedicated to other, more worshiped gods, such as Shiva or Vishnu, in order to ensure the rituals will be successful.
Vignesvara comes from Vighna-asura, the demon who creates obstacles. In ancient, tribal worships the elephant was feared as a powerful destructive force that had to be venerated to avoid its furor. Over time –perhaps as elephants were domesticated- this became a positive worship of the one who can remove obstacles. Elephant-god symbols are common throughout history and are found as far from India as Mexico. In Thailand the White Elephant is the Royal symbol, representing the power of purity, for the Greeks it was power and victory…. Illuminated Durga above the Chennai traffic, Majestic Ganesh
The festival, also called Ganesha Chaturthi, consists of several days of preparation, decorating every temple with banana stalks and flowers, color light garlands and illuminated designs of the deity, followed by rituals and offerings. Ganesh statues made of unfired clay symbolize how Ganesh was conceived by Parvati, his mother, from the fragrant herbs and essences she had rubbed into her body. In homes, hymns are sung to the images daily; they are clothed, garnished with flowers and oils. Dozens of statuettes are brought to every temple in town -there were 5 of them, just walking to school- to celebrate Ganesh’s annual return for the duration of the festivities.
One evening we overheard a “Puja” in the home next to our guest house that brought together a couple dozen people, playing cymbals and chanting for hours at length. On the last day of the festival all the figurines are brought by processions of floats to melt back into the ocean or rivers, symbolizing the cosmic formless, from which all comes and to which all returns. We were told that in Chennai, the quantity of clay figurines taken to the ocean each year has a devastating short-term impact on the coastal ecosystem...
Dvanda Atteeta is also a name for Ganesh. He is the “One who has transcended the pairs of opposites”, i.e. the dualities/paradoxes of existence, symbolized by his one broken tusk. An often quoted example of elephants’ capability is that with the same trunk they can uproot a massive tree as well as pick up the smallest needle from the ground. This symbolizes being able to apprehend both the most gross and the most subtle aspects of reality.
The second festival was Navaratri, celebrating the victory of good over evil, depicted by a 10 day mythological battle between Durga, the “Mother of the Universe”, combative goddess created by Shiva and Vishnu to incorporate the strengths of all the gods, and the bull headed demon, Mahishasura, who, overpowering, had taken over the heavens. During this festival, Durga, goddess of combat, Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and Sarasvati, the goddess of knowledge are each worshiped for three days and three nights.
Durga represented during the battle as “Mahishasuramardini”,
crusher of the bull-headed demon Mahishasura.
Bas relief from Mamallapuram. The day before last of the festival is a major holiday, Vijeya Dashani, during which everyone cleans their work-area, repairs and repaints their tools, cleansing their professional equipment from any soiling, to represent the intent of serving the power of goodness for the year to come. It was surprising and impressive to see how extensively this tradition was meticulously observed. If not repainted, every tool is washed, shined, before being blessed and decorated for the grand day. Workshops, store fronts, cooking utensils in restaurants, rickshaws, trucks, bicycles…
Spiffed-up rickshaw and taxi, make up on tires, banana stalks etc...
Our teachers explained to us that day no one uses books or musical instruments, as they too are considered tools of work and knowledge. It is considered the most auspicious day in India to register one’s children for school for the following year -knowing that the festival takes place in October-. It is also a day to celebrate the lineage of guru’s (guru parampara). We were in yoga class at KYM that day and went with the staff and faculty to the new headquarters, under construction, to participate in a special Puja celebrating guru Krishnamacharya, led by his son TKV Desikachar, the founder of KYM.
During this festival, live classical Indian music concerts are given in many temples; the performers are usually a female singer, a violinist, a tabla player and a tamboura (string-drone) player.
A few weeks before Navaratri, shops and stalls around the main temples fill with all sorts of pottery deity figurines and statues that families shop for, comparable to “Santons de Noel” for the Christmas crèches in France. They are added to the previous years’ collection and arranged inside the home for the final day’s ritual, concluding the victory of good over evil and blessing the family for the coming year of protection and goodness.
In the South you can also get a Thali, always dished out on a fresh banana leaf, to be eaten with your right hand. It includes side servings of raw and cooked vegetables, several sorts of vegetable condiments, some mixed with shredded coconut, lemon pickles, accompanied by Rasam, a clear spicy tomato based vegetable broth and Sambar, a slightly thicker vegetable stew that strikes a surprising taste resemblance with Couscous broth from North Africa. It differs from North Indian cuisine in the choice of spices and cooking style, lighter stews versus thick curries, subtler herb tastes and much less fat. Surprisingly the onions here are much milder –and much easier to digest- than in the North, more like the kind you find in Thailand.
Our teachers explained to us that day no one uses books or musical instruments, as they too are considered tools of work and knowledge. It is considered the most auspicious day in India to register one’s children for school for the following year -knowing that the festival takes place in October-. It is also a day to celebrate the lineage of guru’s (guru parampara). We were in yoga class at KYM that day and went with the staff and faculty to the new headquarters, under construction, to participate in a special Puja celebrating guru Krishnamacharya, led by his son TKV Desikachar, the founder of KYM.
During this festival, live classical Indian music concerts are given in many temples; the performers are usually a female singer, a violinist, a tabla player and a tamboura (string-drone) player.
A few weeks before Navaratri, shops and stalls around the main temples fill with all sorts of pottery deity figurines and statues that families shop for, comparable to “Santons de Noel” for the Christmas crèches in France. They are added to the previous years’ collection and arranged inside the home for the final day’s ritual, concluding the victory of good over evil and blessing the family for the coming year of protection and goodness.
Shops were cleaner than ever, Navaratri shrine including toys and dolls!
Food!
The change of climate from northern India was quite brutal, exhausting us for our first 10 days there, but the food more than made up for our acclimation period! We just love the food in Chennai.
In the North the traditional meal is the Thali, a platter with rice, sabii (vegetables in curry gravy) and dhal (lentils and onions), served with pickles and chapatti, a pita-like flat bread cooked on a griddle. It’s balanced from a nutritional standpoint, legumes and rice combination being a source of protein and amino acids, is often tasty and generally heavy on salt, spices and oil.
Condiments, Banana leaf plate with variety of typical tasting dishes 
Food!
The change of climate from northern India was quite brutal, exhausting us for our first 10 days there, but the food more than made up for our acclimation period! We just love the food in Chennai.
In the North the traditional meal is the Thali, a platter with rice, sabii (vegetables in curry gravy) and dhal (lentils and onions), served with pickles and chapatti, a pita-like flat bread cooked on a griddle. It’s balanced from a nutritional standpoint, legumes and rice combination being a source of protein and amino acids, is often tasty and generally heavy on salt, spices and oil.
In the South you can also get a Thali, always dished out on a fresh banana leaf, to be eaten with your right hand. It includes side servings of raw and cooked vegetables, several sorts of vegetable condiments, some mixed with shredded coconut, lemon pickles, accompanied by Rasam, a clear spicy tomato based vegetable broth and Sambar, a slightly thicker vegetable stew that strikes a surprising taste resemblance with Couscous broth from North Africa. It differs from North Indian cuisine in the choice of spices and cooking style, lighter stews versus thick curries, subtler herb tastes and much less fat. Surprisingly the onions here are much milder –and much easier to digest- than in the North, more like the kind you find in Thailand.
But the typical Southern dishes are idly, vadai, dosa and uttapam, respectively steamed rice cakes, fried doughnuts, crepes, and large fried pancakes, all made out of… lentil flour! What an ingenious way to absorb proteins, without any of the digestive effort that boiled legumes can take. Dosa/crepes come in several types, normal, “masala”, with potatoes and onions inside; “butter or ghee roast”, cooked to a brown crisp on one side and “paper roast”, very large and cooked to a perfect crisp. I have yet to see a restaurant offer Dosa with jam or honey, transforming them into real crepes that their texture, finesse and taste would easily permit.
These are always served with Rasam and Sambar and in Chennai they come with three types of chutney, cold sauces served on the side: white, green and red. The white one is shaved coconut with crushed legume powder and spices; green is mainly herbs such as mint and coriander and red is tomato and chili. Simply delicious, they remind me of Mediterranean herbal tastes or even American cocktail dips! After 3 months in southern India we still thrive on the south Indian Thali or any of the typical dishes. (chutney recipes see
Images of CIT Nagar and Annamalai puram
Chennai is India's second film making center, just behind Mumbai in terms of number of films released each year. Tamil films, "Kollywood" (named after the Kodambakkam neighborhood), have more realistic plots and heroes, higher quality production than "Bollywood" style. Tamils are fanatically passionate about "their" cinema. The first person I actually engaged conversation with, while waiting 45mn at a bus station that infamous Saturday, asked me if I new Tamil cinema, listing different names of films and specific Tamil actors. To then show me pictures of his idols from his wallet. The leading politicians in Tamil Nadu have also mainly come from the film business. Rings a bell to Californians…
Our principle while traveling has been that if we like the services, prices and attitude of a shop keeper, rickshaw driver, travel agent or tailor of such, we will not shop around any further. In this way we build a rapport and get to know people, their story, origin and family situation, bringing a more meaningful and trusting relationship, making the commercial aspects of the transaction secondary. We have found Indians to respond very well to this rather than to a tourist consumer give-me-the-best-deal or-I-try-your-competitor attitude. It is well adapted to the Indian culture, so strongly based on relationships. Dharmender, our taxi driver in Dharamsala, one day that we were coming back from the hospital an hour away, even told me that I didn’t have to pay market rate since I was a regular… That was a revealing cultural moment.
We found the people charming in both the neighborhoods where we stayed. The gracefulness, softness and true kindness of the people we shared our daily life with for a month in CIT Nagar left a strong impression on us. I experienced a very authentic connection with the local shop owners and we had a great time becoming somewhat locals spending time in a small neighborhood and going to the same places day after day.
The beautiful people of CIT Nagar, Chennai
Of course, we were constantly stared at in the street which reminded us that after 8 months spent here, though we have become totally accustomed to India street life and to Indians, we will always look very different to them!
After a month of commuting 20 minutes between CIT Nagar and KYM, our yoga school, we were able to move to Annamalaipuram, from which we could walk to school. We ended up staying three weeks there before moving on to Pondicherry. It was another experience of the daily flow of local life, as we would pass the ladies drawing kollam in the morning; vegetable, tailor or ironing stalls setting up for the day, groups of men in what we called “the building materials street”, waiting for someone to hire them for the day just like the Hispanics in front of Home Depots in California!
Mylapore temple
One of our very favorite evening destinations was the Kapaleeshwarar temple in Mylapore, in south-eastern Chennai. Mylapore was known of Marco Polo, of the Greeks and was colonized by the Portuguese. Saint Thomas lived in Mylapore several years and died there, after evangelizing the Malabar Coast of Kerala, during the middle of the 1st century. Mylapore was the main port before Chennai developed into a trading city and built a port further north.
We loved the evening ambiance in Mylapore, organized mainly around the Shiva temple.
The busy festival evening, Atrium-type open space: antique socializing plaza
Hindu temples serve primarily as places of worship sprinkled with many different shrines and on-going rituals, but their large open space lends them to perform many other functions, similar to the ancient Greek temples and atria. People come to pray, to attend rituals and to chant in groups; families also come to chat around some food or to listen to a classical Indian music concert. You will find people on their cell phones, kids running around playing and young people hanging out and goofing around. These are all illustrations of the inclusive role that Hindu religion holds in society and how the temple has a social purpose, ensuring the integration of the divine and the mundane.
The illuminated Mylapore Shiva temple, Kamala with Claire and Manfred
Mamallapuram
After our first couple of weeks in Chennai we felt enough energy to go to Mamallapuram, an hour’s bus ride down the coast. It’s a UNESCO world heritage site and combines a long undeveloped beach with several famous ancient (~700 AD) bas relief and sculpture sites.
The many sculptures are famous throughout India and Mamallapuram has remained an active sculpting center for centuries with literally hundreds of sculptors working white, black and red marble, completing large scale orders from across the country for temples, private homes, national edifices and mansions.
The Shore temple North-side, Bas relief of Vishnu , 13 centuries old
It was a fantastic change of environment from the busy and polluted city, with the fresh ocean air and long stretches of clean beach. Hundreds of Indian families come to enjoy the ocean along the beach south of the shore temple. The atmosphere is childlike and playful, some families discovering the ocean for the first time, parents and children holding on to one another as they are crashed-into by the waves, hand driven kiddy rides and lined up ice cream vendors, pony promenades and fortune tellers. It reminded me of the innocent character of Rehoboth or Atlantic City in the mid-‘60’s, when my father would take my siblings and I on vacation along the US East Coast.
South view of Shore temple, the ice cream vendors, hand-driven kiddy rides
As often in touristic towns there is a “westerner” side composed of a few streets lined with small guesthouses, artifacts shops, tailors and restaurants catering to the foreign clientele, and a busy Indian side with its typical streets stalls, tourist hotels, shops and market, the two being separated by the small, ancient Shore temple, visible in the pictures above, standing along the beach since 700 AD.
Mamallapuram
Our next blog visit will take us to a spiritual school of yoga:
Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai.
Mamallapuram
Our next blog visit will take us to a spiritual school of yoga:
Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai.
