Tonight was one of those magical, almost sacramental times that you never forget. I was feeling pretty glum about life and Madurai. I'm staying in the YMCA - International Guest House. It's certainly not the cottage I had in Kodai. (My driver, by the way, keeps reminding me that it's not pronounced "ko-dee-kan-ahl" but "ko-dye-ee-kan-ahl.") I was not feeling too mad about Madurai until tonight. My room is somewhat clean. I won't go into the odor. I had A/C last night, but it gave out today. The TV works. Sometimes. At 800 rupees per night (about $16), I guess I can't complain.
However....
Tempermental about the Temple
The famed Sri Meenakshi Temple - one of the prime reasons a person comes to Madurai - is - get this - being painted! So all 12 of its fabulous colorful towers are covered in scaffolding and thatch. You can't see a thing! It looks very eerie - like some bizarre towering tiki hut. When we arrived in town, I saw one of the towers and asked my driver what it was. When he said it was the temple, I said, "Yeah, right." I had a tour of the inside of the temple from a grumpy, mumbling guide that my driver recommended, and he became grumpier when I held him to the 50 rupees my driver had quoted. I ate a very mediocre meal at a rooftop restaurant. And my driver, Chandran, was getting on my nerves. He looks like a cross between Jerry Lewis and Gandhi. He's a great guy...just tries a little too hard. He speaks pretty good English, but keeps saying, "Take photo? Take photo?" at every little sight and insists on repeating everything I say 3 times. On top of all that, I was wishing I could be home for Anna's service. (In fact, I woke at 4:30 a.m., which would've been about the time the service was starting back home).
Today I went to the Tirumalai Nayak Palace, excited to see its' "nightly sound-and-light show." Alas, the palace is being renovated, so there is scaffolding everywhere, and the show has been cancelled during renovations. To top it off, workers were installing a handicapped ramp at part of the palace, and the contractor had one of his guys trying to make us pay to view that part - even though we'd already paid the "real" ticket counter. I complained, but to no avail. Chandran dropped me off at a place for lunch. Again, mediocre, with slow service. I then went to the Gandhi Memorial Museum, which was great, and suddenly found myself surrounded by a group of young college students who apparently had never seen a white person up close before. They stared in fascination and had to have their picture taken with me. Being the center of attention and adoration -- I could get used to this!
Murugan, the Rickshaw Driver
We drove to the Mariamman Teppakkulam Tank - a vast pool of water with a temple in the center. It is dry most of the year and used for cricket by kids, but had water in it because of the Teppam (Float) Festival, which just ended. A rickshaw driver hit me up at the Palace, and I relented. It turned out to be the best thing that could have happened and completely salvaged my time in Madurai. He picked me up at 5 p.m. for what was to have been a 1-hour ride, but I ended up hopping out to shop and snap photos of the various market sites and had him drop me a restaurant. This one was also on a hotel, but this time, the food and service was fabulous: spicy mulligatawny (sp?) soup, little veggie-kabob thingies, pulcha (bread), free raw peanuts and pappadums (crispy lentil wafers), and the best tandoori chicken I've ever had. Oh, and did I mention that they had real liquor? They approximated a gin and tonic for me, using gin, lime water and a bottle of fizzy Indian soda. I had two, thank you very much. Oh, and gulab jumin (those little donut-like balls soaking in syrup). The rickshaw driver is Murugan (the name of the god Ganesh's brother). I felt guilty having a middle-aged man pull this big ol' white guy around town - especially when I found out he had a bum leg from polio (yikes) - but kept reminding myself that I was helping him and the local economy by renting his services and by shopping. He waited for me while I ate. Murugan has 4 kids - one daughter at marriage age - so that's on his financial mind. He spoke pretty good English and gave me a great tour, stopping at the various areas of the market (jewelry, vegetables, fruit, textiles - each one several blocks long). He wanted my address, and I took his (actually just the "address" of where he parks his rickshaw) and assured him I'd recommend him highly to others. I gave him 700 rupees (about $14), and he seemed stunned and got bleary-eyed. On the way back to the Y, he insisted on stopping to buy for me, out of his own pocket, a bottle of water. He somehow managed to get an icy-cold one. I have NEVER before seen an icy-cold bottle of water in India. Murugan seemed so tired and sad. It really does put things in perspective, as they say: 1) I'm disappointed about not getting to see the colors of the temple, and 2) he's worried about how to feed his children.
Thanks to Murugan, I'm in good spirits now and am looking for a t-shirt:
"I came all the way to Madurai and all I got was this lousy t-shirt showing me what the temple really looks like."
However....
Tempermental about the Temple
The famed Sri Meenakshi Temple - one of the prime reasons a person comes to Madurai - is - get this - being painted! So all 12 of its fabulous colorful towers are covered in scaffolding and thatch. You can't see a thing! It looks very eerie - like some bizarre towering tiki hut. When we arrived in town, I saw one of the towers and asked my driver what it was. When he said it was the temple, I said, "Yeah, right." I had a tour of the inside of the temple from a grumpy, mumbling guide that my driver recommended, and he became grumpier when I held him to the 50 rupees my driver had quoted. I ate a very mediocre meal at a rooftop restaurant. And my driver, Chandran, was getting on my nerves. He looks like a cross between Jerry Lewis and Gandhi. He's a great guy...just tries a little too hard. He speaks pretty good English, but keeps saying, "Take photo? Take photo?" at every little sight and insists on repeating everything I say 3 times. On top of all that, I was wishing I could be home for Anna's service. (In fact, I woke at 4:30 a.m., which would've been about the time the service was starting back home).
Today I went to the Tirumalai Nayak Palace, excited to see its' "nightly sound-and-light show." Alas, the palace is being renovated, so there is scaffolding everywhere, and the show has been cancelled during renovations. To top it off, workers were installing a handicapped ramp at part of the palace, and the contractor had one of his guys trying to make us pay to view that part - even though we'd already paid the "real" ticket counter. I complained, but to no avail. Chandran dropped me off at a place for lunch. Again, mediocre, with slow service. I then went to the Gandhi Memorial Museum, which was great, and suddenly found myself surrounded by a group of young college students who apparently had never seen a white person up close before. They stared in fascination and had to have their picture taken with me. Being the center of attention and adoration -- I could get used to this!
Murugan, the Rickshaw Driver
We drove to the Mariamman Teppakkulam Tank - a vast pool of water with a temple in the center. It is dry most of the year and used for cricket by kids, but had water in it because of the Teppam (Float) Festival, which just ended. A rickshaw driver hit me up at the Palace, and I relented. It turned out to be the best thing that could have happened and completely salvaged my time in Madurai. He picked me up at 5 p.m. for what was to have been a 1-hour ride, but I ended up hopping out to shop and snap photos of the various market sites and had him drop me a restaurant. This one was also on a hotel, but this time, the food and service was fabulous: spicy mulligatawny (sp?) soup, little veggie-kabob thingies, pulcha (bread), free raw peanuts and pappadums (crispy lentil wafers), and the best tandoori chicken I've ever had. Oh, and did I mention that they had real liquor? They approximated a gin and tonic for me, using gin, lime water and a bottle of fizzy Indian soda. I had two, thank you very much. Oh, and gulab jumin (those little donut-like balls soaking in syrup). The rickshaw driver is Murugan (the name of the god Ganesh's brother). I felt guilty having a middle-aged man pull this big ol' white guy around town - especially when I found out he had a bum leg from polio (yikes) - but kept reminding myself that I was helping him and the local economy by renting his services and by shopping. He waited for me while I ate. Murugan has 4 kids - one daughter at marriage age - so that's on his financial mind. He spoke pretty good English and gave me a great tour, stopping at the various areas of the market (jewelry, vegetables, fruit, textiles - each one several blocks long). He wanted my address, and I took his (actually just the "address" of where he parks his rickshaw) and assured him I'd recommend him highly to others. I gave him 700 rupees (about $14), and he seemed stunned and got bleary-eyed. On the way back to the Y, he insisted on stopping to buy for me, out of his own pocket, a bottle of water. He somehow managed to get an icy-cold one. I have NEVER before seen an icy-cold bottle of water in India. Murugan seemed so tired and sad. It really does put things in perspective, as they say: 1) I'm disappointed about not getting to see the colors of the temple, and 2) he's worried about how to feed his children.
Thanks to Murugan, I'm in good spirits now and am looking for a t-shirt:
"I came all the way to Madurai and all I got was this lousy t-shirt showing me what the temple really looks like."
2 comments:
Hi Mark. I'm glad to hear that Tuesday ended better than it began! Thanks for sharing the story. Perspective keeps us reflective, doesn't it? I'm glad you've been able to blog; I've been curious about your travels, and I miss India, even though it's good to be home again.
I've been working on my video. The SS kids saw the first segment this past week and will see two more over the next two weeks. Don't know if it's possible for you to post or email any photos from India, but if you had the opportunity, these three photos would be really helpful:
- photo of our travel group on the steps of Siloam
- photo of me and sponsored boy at Saron (you might not have this)
- photo of me and Subulakshmi, a young warden at Siloam - taken the day we left.
You're in my prayers - for safe travel and for comfort in the loss of Anna. I'm sorry you missed her memorial services.
Take care,
Kris
Hey, Kris!
I got all excited tonight because I saw ports for my memory card reader on the computers at Quo Vadis...but only one computer was working, and I couldn't get it to log onto the net. I'll see what I can do tomorrow. I do indeed have a photo of your sponsored boy at Saron - several photos, in fact. Probably won't get it to you in time for Sun. a.m. Sorry.
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