jumpy jumpy vitamins « India day #15, a little late

India day #15, a little late

Sorry - in the middle of a major hardware migration at work, and kinda busy. Here’s the 10th.

Saturday 10 February 2001

Up again too early. Bed tea as I applied bug juice liberally, then a weakened b-fast. Josey and I would be going on a tour of the city. (I had asked Rony, but he had exams coming up and had to study, and none of his college-age friends were available for the same reason.) Achamma would be there at the house most of the day but had a church thing that night (Feast of St. Mary); I gave her my pile o’dirties after breakfast, and Josey and I took off.

We walked to the large road nearby and hailed an autorickshaw. For whatever reason — perhaps my adaptation to the driving — I wasn’t as petrified. Auto to the KTDC’s big place near the rail station; only Rs. 14/-. We found the bus — very snazzy — and sat awaiting the rest of our group. Guide checked our tix and we left.

Our group was 9 people: an NRI couple from Chicago, an NRI man from Toronto, a man from Mumbai, a couple from Mumbai with father in tow, Josey, and myself. The man of the couple from Mumbai was fucking beautiful. I spent much of the tour admiring his pecs.

<13/02/2001 09:48 Chennai>

So. First, to Sri Padhbaswamy Temple, largest in town. Our guide informed us that men had to wear dhotis and women saris, but neglected to mention that non-Hindus couldn’t enter… So Josey and I wandered around outside while the others entered. (And I missed seeing the hottie shirtless, grrr.) Got to see a few Brahmins, though, identifiable by the cord looped around them and over their left shoulder. After the temple, we walked a hundred meters to the palace, built in classic Kairali style. Gorgeous. Our guide was a bit frazzled, though, since he had to compress his one-hour tour into 30 minutes. Saw the intricate carvings and thrones (one of ivory, the other of Bohemian crystal) and various bits of chattel before rushing back to the bus. Next, to the zoo and museums. Zoo was well-planned but poorly maintained — many places were in serious need of rehab. Natural history museum was boring and even shabbier. The sculpture gallery, however, was pretty damned cool — even if the building could have used some work, and even though I had redundant commentary from Josey the whole time (”Yes, I know that’s Vishnu”). We finished considerably earlier than the allotted time, though, and had 20 minutes to kill waiting outside the bus.

From there, the planetarium. There was a HUGE crowd of schoolkids outside, waiting for the noon English show, but the guide got us in. Now, I had never been in an SRO planetarium show before… but sure enough, there were people up around the perimeter of the theater. And the noise!

Applause when the lights went out

Cheers when the opening screens appeared

Running heckles/commentary/animal calls from the peanut gallery

So the show was, um, an experience.

Show->lunch at a KTDC restaurant. Ehh. <12:52 13/02/2001> Sat in the lobby for a while, reading The Hindu — seems my political party is crucial to making a viable opposition coalition to the BJP-led ruling coalition. Picked up a few more passengers for the second half of the tour.

First, Veli Lagoon, a swanky tourist destination outside town. Had a short backwaters-ish ride, then quiet time to kill wandering on the grounds and on the beach.

Next, Vizhinjam, where there was a marine aquarium consisting of about 20 fish tanks. Kinda cheesy… Finally, to Kovalam, the famous beach 15km south of TVM. Beeee-autiful, despite the hordes of middle-aged European tourists in skimpy bathing suits (please! no Speedos! You’re 53!) and PUSHY souvenir hawkers. Got some great photos, wet feet, and a little Ganesha pendant (silver, Rs. 200/-, and really cool — have to get a silver chain for it). Also saw a few very gay couples, which was actually kind of refreshing.

Back to Trivandrum. Josey and I got down by the city bus hub and took the bus to his house (only Rs. 2/-). I cleaned up a bit before heading off to yet another club meeting (Pothencode Executives).

19:30 meeting; it was the District Governor’s visit, and they really put on a show for him. Some kids sang, the club treasurer got way off-key and off-beat, and there were several speeches in Malayalam before I BS’d again. Still got asked the same questions, despite the fact that I said during my speech that I found India beautiful, the people friendly, the food excellent (”and I actually like very spicy food”), and the climate pleasant. JFC, do these people listen to anything? Had some beer, fish curry, and tapioca before dinner. They fed me non-spicy food despite my earlier remark. grrr.

Back home and straight to bed.

Now that’s an action-packed day.

I should clarify that “my party” is the political party in Gobi that I spoke to; they made me an honorary member.

I should also clarify that the #1 reason I didn’t speak (not even to say “Hi”) to the superfine Mumbai muscleboy is that I was afraid of his wife. Imposing woman, she.

Tomorrow-ish: jeem attends a training. yay.