India lives in Villages?!
Monday, September 8, 2008 at 9:47PM The recent India trip time distribution was as follows:
Time at parents place : 7 days
Time at Sans Grandparents place : 1 day
Time at Marriage hall : 2 days
Travel : 1 day
While on the face of it, there appears to be a gross discrepancy in the way disproportionate time was spent in my parents place, let us assure the readers that of the 7 days spent at parents place more than 70% of the time was spent travelling between Mandaiveli and West Mambalam using a route that even I would not have imagined possible. Let me explain that in graphic detail.
As a guy who used to get lost within his own one bedroom apartment, within every locality we lived in, yours truly had a tendency to wander around. I used to miss exits on the freeway and claim to the Mrs. that we were taking "the scenic route", an excuse that would get me a smile and a dimple in her chin in those early years of marriage, compared to the "gas vikkara velayile..." (gas price being what it is...) lecture I get today... where was I? Hmm.. getting lost!!!
Even the guy who gets lost with this kind of consistancy, would not take a route to West Mambalam from Mandaiveli that involves taking a right on Chamiers road, geting on to Anna Salai via Cenatoph road, then going through the entire pondy bazaar just to get to Doraiswamy subway! What used to take us 30 minutes, now took an hour and 20 minutes, not to mention having to hear complaints from every auto dude about rising petrol prices, the longer distances, government policy, how no one knows which route is one way in which direction anymore, how cops are exploiting the new one ways to gouge unsuspecting auto drivers etc.
To top this, you see the guys in autos frantically screaming to the auto drivers urging them to drive as fast as they can, as one approached panagal park for fear that the women folk might just jump out of the stagnant auto, into Nalli's, Pothy's, RMKV's, Prince Jewelry or what have you at that corner! The reason, why guys always sit on the open side of the autorickshaw when rounding the south Indian Saree capital, finally dawned on me! Enough about traffic.
Now that we are back on track, lets say the probability density function of the Narayanan electron cloud around Madras was more likely to be :
Time at parents place : 2 days
Time at Sans Grandparents place : 1 day
Time at Marriage hall : 2 days
Travel : 1 day
Time spent in Madras Auto : 5 days
The only abberation in the cloud is the 1 day travel spent outside of the city, which actually happens to be the focus of this post. You can clap now, as though the title has been mentioned, in the middle of a Vijayakant movie!
We were not yet out of jet lag after reaching Madras when we were whisked away in a 13 seater A/C van booked by my FIL to take us to Anandhathandavapuram and back within one day!
Let's break that down for the non-Tamizhian folks... Ananda(happy)-thandava(dance)-puram(place). Literally, the place where lord Shiva did the "happy dance"!, with his wife Parvathi, of course (it is one of the few temples where the goddess is sitting on the lap of the god). With that in perspective, one is open to interpreting the "happy dance" part, as gods are always an inspiration, but that is outside the scope of this blog, which considers parenting as part of its staple!
The trip was promised as a safe, fast and comfortable one by the in-laws. While it was fast and comfortable, it was nowhere safe, especially if you sat on the front passenger seat with your four year old nephew on your lap.
While the kid thought he was in some real life video game, dodging cars, trucks and government buses coming head on towards you, on the wrong side of the road only to careen away in the last split second to pass a speeding bullock cart, the adults were screaming at the driver to go safely, who in turn was cursing the other drivers in "pure thoroughbred" -"thooya" Tamizh, unmindful of the octagenarians, ladies (or both) who were travelling within the same confined space.
The BIL and me, being the only young men?! in the van, learnt a lot of new "gaalis" which make us "current" w.r.t. Madras, sorry Chennai slang!
We even had a thirty minute break when our van encountered a fallen tree in the middle of the Highway. The locals came with saws and a mover to clear it. The kids had fun watching the proceedings, while goverment bus drivers decided to gridlock the road by trying to check out the happenings by coming on the wrong side of the road.
Soon the tree was gone, but the traffic was jammed in both directions! More choice epithets were used by the drivers on both sides, as the vehicles moved through surrounding marshes to continue on the adventure. The brigaspathi who started the jam, even obliged us with a picture!
Once we hit the villages though, it was pretty. Not many people in sight, a glorious calm, rice fields and greenery everywhere, the occasional hut with a few goats tethered outside, a few chickens running around and the naked toddlers running around behind the chickens! Pity we were on a schedule. Could have exhausted a 2GB memory card right there.
We went on to the little "kula deivam" temple at the edge of the village. The last time we visited the place was in 2001. This time the water tank was empty, but the greenery was still all around. We all got to bathe in the temple, then pray, eat food cooked for the prayer and then leave.
The best part at the end, was when the little one and daddy both asked the priest "where is the rest room?" and his reply was "inge adhellam kidayadhu. appidiye vayakattu pakkam pongo!" (there is no such thing here, just go around to the edge of the paddy field and do your business!). The little one, brave girl that she is, watched the chickens and goats and did her business. Luckily, no one took pictures of a sheepish daddy walking around paddy fields, in his dhoti with a mug of water in his hand, Vijayakant style!
The trip was a blast. It almost felt like Vijayakant was travelling with us the whole time in various get-ups because there was a poster of him every 10 feet, all the way from the village entrance back ot Chennai City, in village clothes, in military fatigues, in police uniform, looking tech savvy with rimless glasses and a cell phone, etc. etc.
What is a post about a trip without pictures? Here they are...
A place for good tea somewhere near Dhindivanam
If a tree falls...
The man with a plan!
The kids, looking visibly distraught at the first part of the roller coaster ride. Coming from US and Australia, where bumps are used as speed breakers, they were surprised by the drivers using the bumps as speed enhancers, by launching vehicles into the air!
Welcome to Pondy!
The speeding bullock cart with a top speed of 6 mph between two vehicles with a top speed of 60 mph. But the bullocks would give the Toyota Prius a run for the money what with the 60 mph vechicles consuming gas while the 6 mph bullocks, producing gas! Think the bullock carts are here to stay on the highways for a long time to come, because at the end of the day, it is all economics!
The nephew doing "peela" jadoo using a nimbu on the little one!
The village goats, a typical scene
The other avatar of Daddy Narayanan...
Posing inside the temple
Tickets to India for family of four : 6000 dollars
Renting a van to Anandatandavapuram : 600 dollars
Chasing your cousin in a village temple : Priceless
On the way back, we stopped at Vaidheeswaran Kovil to visit the temple, and the Mrs., on a whim, decided to check out her Naadi Astrology prediction.
That is where we stop today and continue tomorrow...
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Reader Comments (7)
I love your writing style Sundar annah :)
Awesome narration! The li'l ones do look tired by the journey. I was amused at the usage of the word brihaspathi. I use it a lot and husband makes fun of me for it!
Have you noticed...there is a distinctive smell associated with villages - something pure in the air.
(No, I did not mean the maattu shanam!)
Ahh !! How cool ! fantastic pictures and lovely narration !
Vijayakant is a household name. You cant do without the kants !
The tree falling in the middle of the road is commonplace these days. jamming up of traffic is deriguer. Choicest gaalis are an important part of the milieu !
It all happens. Only in India. Atleast thats what i woult like to think !
Looking forward to the Naadi josiyam results !
As a guy who used to get lost within his own one bedroom apartment, within every locality we lived in, yours truly had a tendency to wander around. I used to miss exits on the freeway and claim to the Mrs. that we were taking "the scenic route"
..LOL! i do the same..loved the post..idha solradha..adha solradha nu therla...ellamey pramadham!
..btw did it cost $600 for a rental van? just for a day?
ROFL :) Loved the pics of the kiddies near the temple.. Im sure they were scared by the road, K refused to let go of the side handle on the car door, when he came in 2005 and he is 30+ :D!
Ah, such fun- trying to dash past Panagal Park so that the ladies couldn't shop! Ha:)
Well, my daughter and I have managed to lose the domestic airport terminal in Delhi, so you aren't doing too badly with Chennai's one ways. Kolkata is even crazier- the one-way becomes the opposite at Ipm every day,leading to the utmost confusion!
Sounds like a lovely, eventful, nostalgic trip. Congratulations ot the newly weds. Glad the kids like the new mami:)
sivajini, thanks!
ss, thanks. Yes. there is a smell in the villages.. my guess it is the "goandu" from all those vijayakant posters! Just kidding..
the paddy fields seem to have their own smell!
Kavi, how the hell does Vijayakant get all that popular all of a sudden?! beats me!
me, I am glad there are others who are taking the "scenic route"!
anu, we were all hanging on for dear life. Let's just say that the prayers started way before we reached the temple!
Dipali, please do NOT teach TamilNadu politicians the trick of making the same road one way in different directions.. I thought we had it bad! looks like you have it worse.. time to shut up about Chennai traffic I guess.