The first day in India, setting off from Dubai with Kath and Dorothy at 2 am local time and arriving in Chennai at 8am. Having wondered about it for so long, what sort of an assault it would be on the senses, would I be able to cope etc it was all remarkably stress free. Chennai airport was much smaller than I had anticipated and the dreaded onslaught and chaos of going outside much less than feared. No ATM of course, but a driver waiting for us and all the sensory memories of being back in a tropical country coming flooding back after 20 years away.
Everything we’d heard about the Indian highway code though was immediately apparent whilst stuffed into the front of the car. A mix of sights on the 30 minute drive to the hotel set the scene, dusty, tropical, teaming, small and towering temples, pockets of bamboo thatched houses set against concrete apartments. A welcome 2 hours to recover at the hotel before lunch, and then a 2 hour orientation session with Richard, Pooja, Vana, Swati and Alex
Just as the day was cooling slightly we set off on the Heritage Walk which helped to introduce some of the history of the City and make us comfortable about walking around. Our guide with his obvious passion for local heritage and its value on the culture started us off with the history of the Portuguese colonisation and the 1513 ‘Church of Light’. Kapaleeshwarar temple came as an utter and delightful shock. Also the first and only place that we saw other westerners that day. It all felt very inclusive – probably the by word for what was to come – easy to observe and be included in a simple way. Never felt harassed and people very tolerant of us. Final delight on the walk was the old traditional house built so well and functionally around the courtyard with its mango and jasmine tree growing out over the roof top.
Everything we’d heard about the Indian highway code though was immediately apparent whilst stuffed into the front of the car. A mix of sights on the 30 minute drive to the hotel set the scene, dusty, tropical, teaming, small and towering temples, pockets of bamboo thatched houses set against concrete apartments. A welcome 2 hours to recover at the hotel before lunch, and then a 2 hour orientation session with Richard, Pooja, Vana, Swati and Alex
Just as the day was cooling slightly we set off on the Heritage Walk which helped to introduce some of the history of the City and make us comfortable about walking around. Our guide with his obvious passion for local heritage and its value on the culture started us off with the history of the Portuguese colonisation and the 1513 ‘Church of Light’. Kapaleeshwarar temple came as an utter and delightful shock. Also the first and only place that we saw other westerners that day. It all felt very inclusive – probably the by word for what was to come – easy to observe and be included in a simple way. Never felt harassed and people very tolerant of us. Final delight on the walk was the old traditional house built so well and functionally around the courtyard with its mango and jasmine tree growing out over the roof top.
Then the introduction to the delights of Chennai’s evening rush hour traffic! With dinner at Chamiers and a chance to meet and hear from 2 remarkable people, working in different ways to strengthen social democracy. For me, the first chance to start to hear about India from Indians who were also activists of some note. To get to grips with the wider context of the politics of the civil society and what that meant in practice. To be able to start to understand what’s the same and what’s different between not just our two countries but global economics and political influences. Topics in particular for me that helped to open my eyes about strengths and challenges being faced included democracy and the impact of caste, the differing nature of poverty currently experienced in India, the Hindu culture of giving and probing the differences between British and Indian approaches to religion and spirituality.
And finally to sleep at long last!
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