Madurai
The last few days have passed in a bit of a blur, we've crammed in a lot of stuff without much pause. The visit to the orphanage gave me a lot to think about and I haven't really had time to put it into words yet.
We left for Madurai on the bus in the morning - not something I was looking forward to as the ascent had been nightmarish in terms of triggering my vertigo. I am told that the descent was equally gut-wrenching, but I was totally unaware of it as I was distracted by a local film that was being shown, and an interesting chap called Rhoji who told me about his life and family. They have an interesting way of loading and unloading the luggage here - balancing huge washing baskets on one's head and climbing ladders with no other support.
In Madurai we visited the Sri Menaksh temple (where some quite abrasive freeform jazz was being played - very unexpected, it sounded like something Ornette Coleman would come out with). Dan and I were a bit put off by the pitiful sight of a trained elephant being made to pat people's heads in return for money. I don't know what sort of quality of life the animal has (it could be very happy for all I know), but it certainly looked quite bored and frustrated, a contrast to the animals I had seen roaming around a couple of days before. Dan also took the opportunity to have some clothes tailored, a long sleeved shirt and some fetching green trousers (I have no idea if he actually intends to wear them, he didn't seem overly thrilled ...)
There was high drama as we made our way to Villapuram and caught a bus - apparantly Intrepid has some history with the taxi driver's union, the details of which escape me. In any case, they weren't pleased that we were catching a public bus instead of going with them, and much banging on the side of the bus (against the background of screeching bats) ensued as we bludgeoned our way through the traffic and crowds. Our driver was certainly agitated about something, the driving style best described as 'homicidal'. The bus leapt and snarled along with the ferocity of a wounded Bengal tiger, announcing it's approach with the delicate call of an ocean liner - I am amazed no one was injured (inside or out). I could tell this was a bit more than the usual progressive style of the continent because the locals were getting increasingly upset and jumping ship before their stops.
After all that excitement, Pondicherry made a welcome change. It's still very influened from it's days as a French colony. We went out for Sue's birthday (with a glacial rickshaw ride back), and in the morning walked along the beach front where the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami had deposited tons of rock, and that people now perform their morning meditations on). Prya explained some of the aspects of Indian politics under the gazes of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru (looking in to India and outwards respectively). The afternoon was taken up with an interesting visit to Sri Aurobinde Ashram.
In the morning we passed through Auroville, an experiment in communal living started in 1972. It is a sort of spiritual retreat / commune with a current population of 2000, the idea being that people renounce all religions and give up personal possessions and live in a collaborative, egalitarian society. There are apparantly no leaders, and everyone has a set role that they perform (practical, artistic etc.) and are expected to be students, researchers and teachers of their roles. 5,000 people are empoyed in the area, with a plan to expand the community to 15,000. It was an interesting place, but I left feeling unclear how things such as personal disputes etc. would be handled and if it was truly as idealistic as it claimed to be.
We left for Madurai on the bus in the morning - not something I was looking forward to as the ascent had been nightmarish in terms of triggering my vertigo. I am told that the descent was equally gut-wrenching, but I was totally unaware of it as I was distracted by a local film that was being shown, and an interesting chap called Rhoji who told me about his life and family. They have an interesting way of loading and unloading the luggage here - balancing huge washing baskets on one's head and climbing ladders with no other support.
In Madurai we visited the Sri Menaksh temple (where some quite abrasive freeform jazz was being played - very unexpected, it sounded like something Ornette Coleman would come out with). Dan and I were a bit put off by the pitiful sight of a trained elephant being made to pat people's heads in return for money. I don't know what sort of quality of life the animal has (it could be very happy for all I know), but it certainly looked quite bored and frustrated, a contrast to the animals I had seen roaming around a couple of days before. Dan also took the opportunity to have some clothes tailored, a long sleeved shirt and some fetching green trousers (I have no idea if he actually intends to wear them, he didn't seem overly thrilled ...)
There was high drama as we made our way to Villapuram and caught a bus - apparantly Intrepid has some history with the taxi driver's union, the details of which escape me. In any case, they weren't pleased that we were catching a public bus instead of going with them, and much banging on the side of the bus (against the background of screeching bats) ensued as we bludgeoned our way through the traffic and crowds. Our driver was certainly agitated about something, the driving style best described as 'homicidal'. The bus leapt and snarled along with the ferocity of a wounded Bengal tiger, announcing it's approach with the delicate call of an ocean liner - I am amazed no one was injured (inside or out). I could tell this was a bit more than the usual progressive style of the continent because the locals were getting increasingly upset and jumping ship before their stops.
After all that excitement, Pondicherry made a welcome change. It's still very influened from it's days as a French colony. We went out for Sue's birthday (with a glacial rickshaw ride back), and in the morning walked along the beach front where the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami had deposited tons of rock, and that people now perform their morning meditations on). Prya explained some of the aspects of Indian politics under the gazes of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru (looking in to India and outwards respectively). The afternoon was taken up with an interesting visit to Sri Aurobinde Ashram.
In the morning we passed through Auroville, an experiment in communal living started in 1972. It is a sort of spiritual retreat / commune with a current population of 2000, the idea being that people renounce all religions and give up personal possessions and live in a collaborative, egalitarian society. There are apparantly no leaders, and everyone has a set role that they perform (practical, artistic etc.) and are expected to be students, researchers and teachers of their roles. 5,000 people are empoyed in the area, with a plan to expand the community to 15,000. It was an interesting place, but I left feeling unclear how things such as personal disputes etc. would be handled and if it was truly as idealistic as it claimed to be.
posted by James at
3:37 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home