Madras/Chennai, the same and different. Since I first visited and lived in Madras many years ago It has actually changed less than other parts of India. The sidewalk shops and stalls adding a new floor or two and the ubiquitous large apartment complexes rising everywhere, but it still has somewhat of the same flavor. The Connemara Hotel still stands proudly in the commercial center, regal and austere with great works of South Indian stone and bronze art in its calm interior. Around the corner is Spencer’s, in my day the first department store in India built in 1864 in the British-era red and white Indo-Saracen style. After it burned down in 1983, the largest mall in India at the time was created out of its ashes, still active but rather shabby compared to its modern shopping mall sisters.
I am here with a small group of travel agents to explore some of the best of South India, hosted by Platinum by TransIndia and Waterstone, its U.S. marketing affiliate.
The main change in progress in the City is the extension of the Metro System, being pushed out to the beach area where the Ramakrishna Math, Vivekenanda House and the University of Madras have stood proudly overlooking the ocean since British times. So the marina area is now a big construction zone. Central madras is also broken up by Metro construction as progress to bring better public transportation appears to be a welcomed priority.
Our hotel in Chennai, the Leela Palace is the essence of luxury and our group of 6 interesting women, get to know each other and our tour coordinator and host over a first class Chinese dinner – with Indian accents of chili. Mentioning accents, in my brief time here, I have noticed one significant change. In the past I could always understand what the locals were saying in English. But now it is difficult for me to understand the local English speech. Over time, there may have developed a distinct difference in the English accent used to teach children in school so that I now have to ask people to repeat themselves or spell out words they are speaking. Perhaps the rise of education in local languages here has pushed out English Medium Schools once founded and taught by local Christian missionaries which influenced the local accents. I did not have this problem in Delhi or Bangalore.
Our visit today to the Mylapore Temple in Chennai is memorable as it happens to be a ritual time when the Shiva statues are taken out of the temple and paraded around the neighborhood on wheeled carts. This is happening every day right now leading up to Shiva’s marriage to Parvati which symbolically takes place this year on April 1. Even the guide was surprised as we found ourselves unexpectedly in the middle of a processions of garlanded images carried on heavy beams by priests around the outside of the temple and then back into the inner sanctum. There are no huge crowds but the police are out in numbers for protection and it is easy to see why as the carts seem to go out of control and require a lot of muscle to maneuver safely through the streets.
The towers are repainted every 12 years. They are now at year 7.
The music of Shenai and Mrdungum on either side of the temple entrance is loud and intense as the Gods are welcomed back home.
We visit the historic stone rock temples and carved relief of this important historical site of Mahaballipuram and the famous shore temple. The great tsunami of 2004 overran and damaged many nearby temples but this one was protected by the trees planted decades ago which served their purpose.
We are now driving as the sun is setting on the road South of Mahabalipuram toward our stay in Pondicherry, now called Puducherry, once a French enclave and colony. It is a well paved two lane road with scores of blue white and red flags representing one local political party and then large circular yellow and green billboards surrounded by flags encouraging another party’s favorite regional leader in the upcoming elections. A truck with workers piled in the open back is returning from a had days work. We pass large piles of dirt and the completed first stanchions of a bridge from and to nowhere. The road is being widened and a toll will eventually be instituted soon. The good road soon changes back to the smaller more familiar 2-lanes with active village life on either side. The homes are small one or two stop concrete block buildings, some with thatched roofs, some with corrugated metal or flat topped.
Returning to Chennai/formerly Madras bring up mixed emotions as it reminds me of the remarkable 9 months my late husband Charles and I spent together there on our extended honeymoon time in 1970. A creative period for him as he worked to put together and ship back to California about 50 black and white paintings, each 8’ x 3 ‘ long, some completed or nearly so and some in a sketch only phase. These are now sitting in my garage in Berkeley waiting for me to decide on their final fate. If any of you want one, let me know!
when I was with Charles a long time ago.
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