Chennai

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Our welcome to Chennai set the scene for the rest of our stay. As we were checking in to the YWCA the receptionist passed the phone to Tony. It was the mother of a friend of ours from Australia. She was checking to see that we had arrived all right and to let us know that she would come around tomorrow morning to say hello. It was a lovely welcome and very much appreciated.

There were those amongst us who had not been in a shop, seriously that is, for many days - while we were on boats or moving pretty quickly - so the first thing that they needed to do was hit the shops. We selected Pondy Bazaar at T Nagar. There is a wide range here, some of reasonable quality, and some less than that, but purchases were made and it was deemed a useful expedition. Interestingly, our trip home took about 15 minutes. It took a lot longer to get there. Those maps again.

Next morning we met Mithran, the brother of our friend from Australia. He took us on a full day tour of the city providing an amusing, insightful and very interesting look at parts of Chennai that I am prepared to bet most tourists don't get to see.

Having someone so knowledgeable show us around was invaluable and brought the city to life. We have seen many cities in the last few months but, travelling with a person who has lived here for most of his life, we received a view of the city that took us past the bits that tend to stick out for first timers and into the more essential fabric of the place.

The beach is a feature of the city. It has a massive area of sand and is over 6 km long. We were told that it is the second largest beach in the world led only by the one at Daytona, Florida. It is certainly an impressive beach but there will not be that many others that have a slum along a reasonable part. 'Slums' here are a little different to what an Australian might call a slum. They are very much 'temporary' dwellings constructed out of tarpaulins, bamboo, sheets of iron, cardboard and anything else that might come in handy. Around some of them there is some kind of wall, often constructed out of corrugated iron sheeting. This looks like a way of providing some privacy or security or perhaps just managing access. The one on the beach at Chennai is not as extensive as it used to be. There is a slum clearance program underway. We didn't find out how that operates but it clearly seeks to move people from what has to be one of the nice spots to have a slum if you have to live in one.

We were taken to the Museum. Some of it was closed but we did get to see some of the better sculptures that we have seen in India. The architecture of the museum itself was that of the British Raj. Like a lot of old buildings in India it could do with some care and maintenance. I don't think that it is just a matter of letting buildings that are redolent of the Raj slide into oblivion. Nor does it seem to be an issue of lack of money and certainly not of labour. It is possibly just a matter of priorities and perhaps in a country that is so keen to develop that there just isn't time or space yet to look after the old stuff. It is only to be hoped that there is some left by the time that a critical mass of people decide that it is worth hanging on to some.

The collection of bronzes recovered from a variety of sites around India is one of the better ones we have encountered. The now standard statues of the various gods took on new life. The 'lost wax' method of bronze sculpture used has produced figures that have a form and beauty that we had not seen on other similar figures. This was the best of the museum exhibitions we have experienced so far.

We visited a small theatre where Mithran has produced and directed plays. It seats 500 and has acoustics that allow the normal speaking voice to be heard at the back - we did test that. A very comfortable and intimate theatre in which it must be a delight to attend and to perfom.

Just possibly masquerading as members of a visiting delegation from an important foreign funding agency we were able to take a tour of the Library. It is a shame that this building is currently hidden from public view although it does provide a lovely workplace if you are lucky enough to work there. And of course we were lucky enough to get a look at it and spend some time so perhaps it is just for special people - or members of visiting grants organisations. It was, again, built by the British. Or, perhaps more correctly, it was designed and paid for by the British and actually built by Indian craftsmen. I can't describe it well enough to do it credit but I think there may be a photo or two. The difficulty is picking out which one or two will do the place some justice. The line of stained glass windows around the top of the roof would, I am sure, have my younger sister start thinking about a new roof for her house. The photo of that definitely doesn't do it justice but I will put one in to give some idea of what it was all about. All of the timber is teak, old and polished and the frescoes - if that is the proper term - on the walls just sneak in beneath being over the top.

We lunched at the Amethyst Cafe. This is a place 20 meters off one of the busiest roads in Chennai
and is an oasis. An old house that has been turned into a very relaxed and professional restaurant in a beautiful tropical garden setting. It provided us with some enjoyable fusion type food - the kingfish in a light mustard sauce was especially good - in a very pleasant setting. And it had wifi at a very good rate. I was able to load a post that I had written previously and download a pile of emails. Of course, the company was great as well - other than me that is who spent all of my time downloading or loading material.

The added bonus of having Mithran with us was that he is a 'foodie'. Inevitably, therefore, we ended our day of taking in Chennai with a meal at a restaurant where Mithran gave very clear instructions to the wait staff and where we were fed an array of dishes that left us having enjoyed a range of tastes and sensations (but I am not the food expert here and others will write about the food I trust).

Next day the real agenda kicked in and we headed south of town to a village or, more properly, a group of villages where the organisation Roofs for the Roofless operates. 'Roofs' is an organisation founded by Dr Chandran Devanesen which has a vision that is 'to empower rural poor through social justice and education that would enable them to build an economically independent and better future for themselves while becoming men and women of enlightenment and character'. The organisation has been operating for 25 years and now serves 17,000 people in18 villages.

We were lucky enough to be taken to meet participants in the programmes by the wife of the founder, a wonderful and impressive lady who still works actively for the organisation at an age when most are sitting quietly with their feet firmly up. We visited a group of women who were training to become dressmakers and seamstresses and another group who were forming a group to obtain a loan to allow them to establish small or micro businesses. They pool their resources, are trained in basic business skills relevant to the area in which they are to operate and obtain small loans to buy equipment. We have all heard of such schemes before and contributed to some but it was the first time that we had actually visited one. There are over 2,800 people involved in these schemes in 150 groups in this region.

The area in which the villages are located is being affected by the urban sprawl of Chennai. The agricultural land is gradually being swallowed up by the city. The workers are not finding the transition to city jobs easy and many are not gainfully employed. Their wives tend to take the brunt of the resultant frustration and it is good to see them having an avenue to a better life.

I should mention that it costs about 3,500/- (around $A100) to buy a sewing machine that can set up a woman with a means of obtaining an income and in a way that she can continue to manage her house and family.

Roofs also runs a community college that trains the 'losers' of the area for employment. Programs target those who have not been able to make it in the mainstream for a variety of reasons. Family break ups, violence, criminal behaviour or just failure to be educated. Two wheeler maintenance, nursing assistants, health and beauty, dress design and dress making are some of the courses offered. The aim is to produce people who are ready for work and able to maintain a job. Roofs claims that 92% of its people are in paid employment while the other 8% are earning or learning.

The College takes a very direct and strong approach to people who join the program, following up people who falter and convincing them to continue their studies. When similar approaches have been tried in some NT Aboriginal communities they have worked but they do require very special individuals to drive them. This College has those special people and, it seems, makes a point of trying to train more of them in the way they deliver their courses. This is something that I have not previously seen done well in other similar programs.

The program is also a little different to that you might expect from a similar college in Australia. Everyone comes out with computing skills. Everyone has to undertake life skills and all are trained in yoga and meditation. We actually queried this one - possibly with a little scepticism - and I came away convinced that training that gives a person skills in relaxation and in achieving self control was at least as important as computing skills for most people and certainly for the clientele of this College. Those who graduate don't necessarily work in the area in which they are trained. With their new computing skills and with their greater appreciation of the skills that enhance basic living they do move into other areas. The point though is that they are employed and they do maintain that employment.

We visited the aged care program that is run in conjunction with a health centre and a children and youth program. There are a range of other programs, including the housing program that was the original purpose of the organisation.

It was a full day of moving around and talking to people and, I believe that I am speaking for all of us, one of the most enjoyable we have spent on the trip so far.

I am leaving out, and I should not, the dinner we enjoyed at a Savanna Bhavan restaurant. These are apparently dotted around the world but it was our first experience of one. We had Mithran with us again and he took over the ordering responsibility, thus saving us that long period of examining menus, checking out what others are having and making sometimes interesting choices. We are developing some knowledge of dhosas. Shankar found us some good places, we have found a couple on our own and now this one. I have to say that the meal we had at the Savanna Bhavan leads the pack at this stage.

After leaving the restaurant Mithran wanted to show us some up-market Indian style and we dropped in at the Taj Mount Road - a very flash pub - and just sat around to absorb the atmosphere. Very nice but if we stayed in places like this we would be on the road for 3 weeks rather than nearly 3 years. Nice loos though.

Our last day in Chennai involved some interesting activities involving post offices, kids and food.

First, the post office. We have gathered over our time more gear than it is sensible for us to try to carry. For the next few weeks we will be travelling primarily by train. No more nice car that can easily carry purchases. So it makes sense to get rid of some of the gear. Postage works out as the cheapest means. We have posted stuff back before but the Indian experience is different. Yet again local knowledge and assistance was very useful at the Post Office. We knew that they would have boxes that they would use to pack our stuff, that they would put the boxes in a sewn up calico wrapping and that it would go sea mail. The way it all comes together though is interesting.

We arrived at about 10.30 am. Post offices technically open at 8.30 or 9.00 but, in practice, don't really hit their straps until around 10-ish. When we walked in we headed to the parcels area. There were a group of 4 or 5 men there in uniforms, a couple more behind counters and a woman with a cash register. There were no other customers when we walked in but some others arrived while we there. There commenced a period of negotiation and discussion. Two of the packages were to go Australia but to different addresses and the other was to go to the UK. A lot of the discussion centred on what might be the cheapest way of getting the boxes to their destinations but there were also matters of time, security and other things that I could not really follow. Eventually, we found out that there was no longer any 'Sea Mail' as such so, while the costs of that option had been discussed at length, that was really only for interest.

It was established by the process that the boxes would be going SAL Mail, or Sea Air Mail, or Slow Mail or some such thing. Anyway they would not arrive for about 3 months. This was acceptable to us. By that stage almost anything would have been acceptable.

Then commenced the packing process. Boxes were found. They come in pretty standard sizes and it was pretty clear that 3 big boxes would be needed. Some small ones were tried and failed. Material was packed into the boxes. Then some other customers came along. Our boxes continued to be packed but some of the staff had moved off. Once a box was packed and carefully sealed with packing tape a man measured the box carefully and cut calico sheets to fit. He then proceeded to sew the calico around the box. When finished he handed me a texta to write the appropriate addresses. When the texta ran out - they do that quickly when writing on to porous material like calico - a man has a little bottle of ink that he pours on the nib. Then you fill out the customs declaration which is much like any other except that now it has to be fixed to the calico. This is done with a handful of green paste - rice paste mixed with some poison to deter the ants - which is smeared all over the customs declaration and slapped, with considerable vigour but little sticking effect, onto the calico covering the box.

I find it very hard to believe that these declarations will be intact when they get to Australia and the UK but I can only assume that these blokes know what they are doing. The declarations note that there are wood products and tea coming in so I guess that our customs will open them anyway to check.

All of this activity moves along OK until it hits time for tea. Then almost everyone heads off for a cuppa leaving us standing about wondering what is going on. But they do come back and activity starts again. Boxes are packed, wrapped, sewn up and are ready for weighing. We finally pay up with the three boxes weighing a total of a little over 30 kilos costing about $A320 to be sent.

The total time taken, a little over 1 and a half hours. A similar exercise in Vietnam took 25 minutes and that included 15 minutes to get there and back. About the same cost though.

We had been invited to lunch at the home of our friends and this was very enjoyable. There was more food than we could have consumed in three sittings but some of us made a strong effort. We had chicken curry that had meat in it, a lovely daal, exceptional vegetable curry and a Sri Lankan dish that was superb. Again I am looking for a more expert food writer to do some of this food justice.

And then it was off to the north of Chennai to see a project where HIV infected kids are being cared for in a house set up by a project in which Mithran is involved. HIV infection rates are apparently climbing rapidly in India with some dire predictions about numbers that are on the way. Twenty of the kids who are the most innocent victims of stupid or criminal behaviour of adults are being cared for by a dedicated group in a rented house. The kids vary in age from babies through to those in their mid teens. While a number are receiving some of the drugs that are now available to slow the process there is little chance that any of these kids will last more than 16 years.

By the time they are about 8 years old they are well aware of their condition and are very careful about transmission. In this they are more responsible than, normally, their fathers who are generally the ones who have spread the infection. The idea that an 8 year old has to manage such a thing struck me as one of the most heartbreaking parts of a story that has many.

Every kid has a story and all of them are sad but there is no way you would have known. Kids had been abandoned, their parents had suicided, their parents had both died of AIDS or their father had cleared out and their mother had died, their mother had been abused and murdered. They sang, danced, laughed, played games and generally operated like a group of kids. Except that there were no fights. A new toddler hit one of the other children and was immediately gathered up by an older child, cuddled and carted away. Hitting and hurting is not something that seems to go on here. There can be no blood. The care and attention provided by the older ones for the littler ones was remarkable.

The place they live in is a rented house. The landlord understands that it is an orphanage but if he knew the status of the kids they would be thrown out. The kids go to a local school. Every kid carries a coin to make a phone call if they are injured so they can be quickly collected. The school doesn't know about their status. If it did they would be told to leave. The other parents wouldn't tolerate the situation.

It would cost about $A15,000 to buy a block of land for a new house from which they could not be forced to leave. It costs 3,200/- to keep a kid for a month.

The organisation cannot currently obtain government funding because it has only 20 kids. It needs 30 but it hasn't the resources to care for 30.

This isn't the worst situation I have seen and I will probably see worse again. It is impossible, though, to look into the shining eyes and laughing faces and not be touched. Very hard not to be angry too about a situation that denies to these kids a reasonable time for the limited time they can expect.

My memories of Chennai will be of dedicated people who give more than could ever be expected to care for their people and of people who are being given a chance that they would not otherwise have received. This is not the image that one might pick up driving around the streets or wandering through the markets but it is a reality that I am very glad we were able to see and experience.

I should say that I have some wonderful photos of the kids and some great videos of them dancing but I have not put them up. I am worried about identifying them and the repercussions that could occur.

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Photos

YWCA
in Chennai. Lovely grounds right near the Egmore Station and not far from Central

The Museum
Fine old buildings but gradually falling into disrepair

Shiva and Parvati
This is half one, half the other. They did this because someone tried to part them.

From the Back
They wouldn't actually sing but I did get a couple of dance steps.

Library
The whole ceiling was like this and the walls and the fittings.

Not So Good
as a photo. These are all stained glass windows around the ceiling. Just for Janet

St Thomas' Basilica
this is where he is buried. The so-called 'doubting Thomas' as far as I know.

Temple
Note the profile of the advertising sign on the other side

Teaching Area
A touch less luxurious than some. This was an old poultry shed

Trainees
They will all have jobs in the future and that will give them one.

Dhosa
the long roll is a paper Dhosa. Can't remember the name of the other but it was excellent and light.

Good Loo
Never thought of doing this but these classy hotels have nice loos and they let you in pretty easily.

Colourful Houses
They like a bit of bright paint around here.

Little One
Only new to the place.

Comments

[Andrew]

Thank you
Just to let you know that your postings are providing me, at least, with a fascinating insight into the places to which you have traveled - and a welcome escape through some fairly dire times here...

[SusieQ]

This has been especially interesting reading. It sounds like a very special experience that the general tourist would miss. I can see how it touched your heart.