Monday, October 02, 2006
Incredible India!
Time goes by, so quickly. Thanks to Ayuda Pooja (all machines honored and stopped for one day) I have time today to tell you about my past two months on indian territory. August was intense in spot roaming in South India. Independance Day weekend with the production team to Munar in Kerala. One week later Meenakshi temple - Madurai, Tamil Nadu - with some undefatigable travelers Valerie, Balto and Aurelie. The same welcomed me in Fort-Cochin, Kerala again, for the last august week-end. Munar is probably the biggest garden in the world, hanging 1500m high, covered with acres of tea plants with their shiny dark green leaves (more than in Bretagne, it rains here 8 months a year, and continuously). Here and there a tea factory with its communist flag at the entry and not far away a colorful small hindu temple, an indigo church, and all around beautifull wet and polished big dark rocks lost on the hill slopes. The Munar city center still has his old Winston Churchill pedestrian bridge (inaugurated 1944) and you get your change in coins and sweets when you buy your newspaper. On the bus (due to the rain, we spent most of the time there) the team was spending most of its time dancing one after the other like crazy on popular tamil movie songs. They made sure that one of the 2 buses would have a powerfull audio system!
Madurai, one night in train away from Chennai, has the most beautifull hindu temple ever built as everyone says here. Some work colleagues had adviced me so many times to go there, the opportunity came with friend's visit to India. Meenakshi is one form of Parvati, Shiva's wife. She is supposed to have "fish eyes", not because of the wide angle vision, but because as fishes she never closes her eyes (I never thought of it before...).A great temple, several walls and gopurams (tours), unfortunatly we can't see the gods in the heart of it, entry only for hindus. After a long visit, we go to see the palace, a massive construction showing a mix of styles, kind of hindu-muslem. Somme extravagant numbers are given by the guide about the number of workers who built the palace (lakhs? millions?) and the number of those who died at work. Only the first open-air hall and a dance room are left but it is the perfect place for a nap. Back to the temple in late afternoon. Hudge Nandi (Siva's bull) facing an old covered marked leading to the eastern gate. As we cross this long market, thunder and rain come, so heavy that we get trapped inside. Within a few minutes, 20cm of water covers the road to the temple. Night also has come. All around people are exited by this sudden change of atmosphere and happy as usual to see the rain come. We remove our shoes, cross the road and enter the temple to see that the water has gone also inside. The show is marvellous and surrealistic : temple candles and light reflected in the water on the floor, people walking as if they would walk on the water. Only the central area is dry. There, normal temple life is going. Gods are carried on palankins along the corridors followed by devotees. Noisy music bands open the way (drums, oboe). In a corner, a temple elephant blesses generous givers by a touch of trunk, collects the coins and gives them to his master. Its a place where I feel good, so much life concentrated and moving in all directions!
One week later, flight to Cochin with the Kingfisher airline. Kingfisher is the main beer maker in India, moved to low-cost airline to diversify its businesses. Food excellent, starts on time and hostess casting perfect (make-up and short red skirts in India!!!). The old center of Cochin is Fort-Cochin, once portuguese then dutch. Old gravestones in the churchyard, big old trees around playgrounds, a Rs. 1.75 ferry to the Vypeen island on the other side of a beautifull bay, chinese fishing nets (carrelets), fresh fish, "special tea" (beer served in mugs to escape from police controls), old european-style houses, katakali theater (green painted Arjuna trying to get some magic weapon from Siva, Mahabharata)...and great sunset (not available in east oriented Tamil-Nadu!). During the 2 days there, some time spent on the quiet backwaters with unique experience of todi drinking (palm tree flower juice, that has to be drunk within 6 hours after what it can be deadly. Even within 6 hours, it is somehow difficult to drink it without nausea. Balto, expert ex-todi can tell you more, number available on request) and in the Mattanchery palace where old Ramayana scenes are covering the walls. Fantastic fights between Rama, Lakshmana and Hanuman against ugly demons. On one of them, you can see Hanuman (the monkey's king) eaten by a demon and at the same time escaping by the demon's ear!
No comment :
September 11th, 1906. First Gandhi's non-violent action in South-Africa. Opinion poll in Economic Times Chennai, sept 10th, 2006 : "who is the greatest indian hero of all times?" 1.Gandhi 29% 2.Lord Krishna 28% 3.Lord Rama 16% 4.Amitab Bachchan 14% 5. G. Buddha 11% 6.King Akbar 2% (polled CEOs put Lord Krishna first with 35% against 22% to Gandhi)
The Hindu, sept 2nd, 2006 : About bidi workers (bidis are cheap indian cigarettes) : "stringent anti-tobacco laws have reduced work in the bidi sector by 30% and this would render 65 lakh women in the country jobless". Have you made the same calculation like me? 2% of indian population is rolling bidis to survive. Hope it is not their main job...
The Hindu, aug 25th : "the Rajasthan police arrested Arjun, the main accused in the case of forcibly cutting the hair of a Sikh boy here on monday".
"The free dhoti and saree scheme, one of the popular scheme of Tamil Nadu and wholly funded by the State Government, has attracted the Union Government's attention."
Last year, 164 lakhs (=16.4 Million) sarees and 164 lakhs dhotis were distributed for free (cost 273 Crores, or 2.7 billion rupees) in the Tamil State to sustain weaving industrie and give cloth to people living below the poverty line (BPL).
Madurai, one night in train away from Chennai, has the most beautifull hindu temple ever built as everyone says here. Some work colleagues had adviced me so many times to go there, the opportunity came with friend's visit to India. Meenakshi is one form of Parvati, Shiva's wife. She is supposed to have "fish eyes", not because of the wide angle vision, but because as fishes she never closes her eyes (I never thought of it before...).A great temple, several walls and gopurams (tours), unfortunatly we can't see the gods in the heart of it, entry only for hindus. After a long visit, we go to see the palace, a massive construction showing a mix of styles, kind of hindu-muslem. Somme extravagant numbers are given by the guide about the number of workers who built the palace (lakhs? millions?) and the number of those who died at work. Only the first open-air hall and a dance room are left but it is the perfect place for a nap. Back to the temple in late afternoon. Hudge Nandi (Siva's bull) facing an old covered marked leading to the eastern gate. As we cross this long market, thunder and rain come, so heavy that we get trapped inside. Within a few minutes, 20cm of water covers the road to the temple. Night also has come. All around people are exited by this sudden change of atmosphere and happy as usual to see the rain come. We remove our shoes, cross the road and enter the temple to see that the water has gone also inside. The show is marvellous and surrealistic : temple candles and light reflected in the water on the floor, people walking as if they would walk on the water. Only the central area is dry. There, normal temple life is going. Gods are carried on palankins along the corridors followed by devotees. Noisy music bands open the way (drums, oboe). In a corner, a temple elephant blesses generous givers by a touch of trunk, collects the coins and gives them to his master. Its a place where I feel good, so much life concentrated and moving in all directions!
One week later, flight to Cochin with the Kingfisher airline. Kingfisher is the main beer maker in India, moved to low-cost airline to diversify its businesses. Food excellent, starts on time and hostess casting perfect (make-up and short red skirts in India!!!). The old center of Cochin is Fort-Cochin, once portuguese then dutch. Old gravestones in the churchyard, big old trees around playgrounds, a Rs. 1.75 ferry to the Vypeen island on the other side of a beautifull bay, chinese fishing nets (carrelets), fresh fish, "special tea" (beer served in mugs to escape from police controls), old european-style houses, katakali theater (green painted Arjuna trying to get some magic weapon from Siva, Mahabharata)...and great sunset (not available in east oriented Tamil-Nadu!). During the 2 days there, some time spent on the quiet backwaters with unique experience of todi drinking (palm tree flower juice, that has to be drunk within 6 hours after what it can be deadly. Even within 6 hours, it is somehow difficult to drink it without nausea. Balto, expert ex-todi can tell you more, number available on request) and in the Mattanchery palace where old Ramayana scenes are covering the walls. Fantastic fights between Rama, Lakshmana and Hanuman against ugly demons. On one of them, you can see Hanuman (the monkey's king) eaten by a demon and at the same time escaping by the demon's ear!
No comment :
September 11th, 1906. First Gandhi's non-violent action in South-Africa. Opinion poll in Economic Times Chennai, sept 10th, 2006 : "who is the greatest indian hero of all times?" 1.Gandhi 29% 2.Lord Krishna 28% 3.Lord Rama 16% 4.Amitab Bachchan 14% 5. G. Buddha 11% 6.King Akbar 2% (polled CEOs put Lord Krishna first with 35% against 22% to Gandhi)
The Hindu, sept 2nd, 2006 : About bidi workers (bidis are cheap indian cigarettes) : "stringent anti-tobacco laws have reduced work in the bidi sector by 30% and this would render 65 lakh women in the country jobless". Have you made the same calculation like me? 2% of indian population is rolling bidis to survive. Hope it is not their main job...
The Hindu, aug 25th : "the Rajasthan police arrested Arjun, the main accused in the case of forcibly cutting the hair of a Sikh boy here on monday".
"The free dhoti and saree scheme, one of the popular scheme of Tamil Nadu and wholly funded by the State Government, has attracted the Union Government's attention."
Last year, 164 lakhs (=16.4 Million) sarees and 164 lakhs dhotis were distributed for free (cost 273 Crores, or 2.7 billion rupees) in the Tamil State to sustain weaving industrie and give cloth to people living below the poverty line (BPL).
