India (Madurai) - Mountain Temple

Today, I caught the bus outside of town to Alagar Koyil ('koyil' means 'temple'). The busride was long and crowded; most of the passengers on the bus were pilgrims heading out to the temple as well.

The bus stopped at the base of mountain road leading up to the temple. I hopped out ahead of the crowd to begin the ascent upwards. The sun beat down ferociously from above so I tied my Khmer scarf around my head for protection. After walking for a few minutes, I passed a Dravidian man who was also making his way up the mountain. He looked at me quizzically and asked me something in Tamil. All I could do was just look at him. He gestured and seemed to be a bit agitated about something. What could I do? I just looked at him, cocked my head and smiled. He smiled in return and then wandered into the shade to sit down, muttering something to himself.

It was only a bit later that I figured out he was probably trying to tell me that the hot asphalt road I was walking along was primarily intended for those making the ascent by bus, car or motorcycle. The path for those on foot was down below, under the shade of the trees. Oops.

After winding my way down a small trail from the main road to the footpath, things were markedly less hot. Families, couples and groups of young boys walked laughing and joking up the mountain.

And then there were the monkeys.

Lots of aggressive, crazy looking monkeys, all keenly watching us humans for signs of food and any hints of weakness. Heading up the mountain, I saw monkeys swoop down a couple of times on little kids and then run off, leaving the kids crying and minus whatever food it was they had been carrying. These attacks prompted me to spend a few minutes searching around for a nice, long walking stick (to whoop some monkey ass should any decide to step).

As I neared the top of the mountain, I noticed a number of men and boys passing me on their way back, all with freshly shaven heads covered in some type of yellowish paste.

At the top of the mountain road, I removed my shoes along with everybody else for the final climb up the steps to the temple. The temple was covered in monkeys hopping around its edges, scooping up puffed rice and other food dropped upon the ground and steps. Inside, devotees descended down to an area where they walked through showers of water from the sacred waterfall at the heart of the temple. Where the head shaving happened, I never quite figured out.

Madurai- My Fancy Room

Madurai- My Fancy Room
Originally uploaded by Tatsu2.

Just in case any of you are interested, this is a picture of the room I've been staying in for the past few days here in Madurai. Hooray for backpacker high living.

Madurai - Countryside

Natham Market - Betel Nut Merchant

I'm absolutely loving it here in Madurai. I got down here a few days back and since arriving have been privileged to have Sekar, Prof. Willis's "brother," showing me around and plugging me into life here. Yesterday, he rang me up in the morning and invited me to head out on a ride with him.

The day was sunny and beautiful as we drove north beyond the edges of Madurai and out into the countryside. We stopped first at a farm where Sekar checked in with the villager who is maintaining the plot of land he owns. We then continued onwards to stop briefly at a Gandhian NGO center that trains activists from throughout the country in non-violent means of achieving social and economic reform in their communities.

After parking his bike a short ways down the road from the NGO center, Sekar led me onto a passing bus which took us out to the small town of Natham. Sunday is the day of the weekly market in Natham, which we spent the afternoon wandering around in. The market was bursting with life and color, vibrant and beautiful.

It was too good to pass up the opportunity to take a photo or two, so with the help of Sekar,I asked a couple of the merchants if it would be okay to photograph them. The merchants cheerfully agreed, I took the pictures and then I showed them the shots on my digital cameras display screen.

My photo subjects were surprised to be able to see the photos instantly displayed. The excitement seemed to spread quickly through the marketplace. Next thing I knew, merchants from throughout the market were waving me over and coming to fetch me to come and take their photos. By the end of it all, I had a data card full of beautiful photos and a marketplace full of new friends.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67916188@N00/tags/nathammarket/

Madurai - Meenakshi Temple

Got up early this morning and walked down the street to finally check out Sri Meenakshi Temple, the most sacred place to visit in south India for Hindus. The famous gates were spectacular, massive and covered with hundreds upon hundreds of statues of various Hindu deities. Inside the labyrinthine complex itself, I was reminded of Angkor Wat, only here, the temple is still very much alive, a site of worship used continuously for nearly half a millenium.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67916188@N00/tags/srimeenakshitemple/

India (Madurai) - Kinder, Gentler Globalization?

Today I joined Sekar and his students on a field trip out to Teddy Exports, an operation set up by an Irish woman named Amanda Murphy in the 1990s that weds globalized business with community development.

At Teddy Exports, workers make a variety of products - from wooden massage rollers to shoulder bags to Christmas potpurri sacks - which are purchased by a number of major global retailers, its primary customer being The Body Shop.

At Teddy Exports, 55% of the workers are women and a number come from disadvantaged backgrounds (HIV positive, physically/mentally challenged, etc.). Men and women receive equal wages (that by local standards are very good), full medical coverage and inclusion in a pension fund. But that's not all.

The profits are used to fund a variety of services for the workers and the surrrounding community - a primary school and junior high for local children (including those with special needs) with free transportation, uniforms, books and food; a clinic providing medical services for free to employees and for only the most minimum of charges for others in the community; veterinary services; a special night school for children who work during the day in a nearby candle factory; and a variety of assorted other services.

In addition to all of the above, a portion of the profits is used to fund a concerted anti-HIV campaign directed towards sex workers in the area and their primary customers, lorry (truck) drivers who pass through onto other parts of India (thus supposedly making them the primary vector by which the disease is spreading through the subcontinent).

Sekar and his wife, Vidya, both seemed to be particularly impressed by the safety standards maintained for the workers when we visited the nearby woodshop factory (which, incidentally, had been turned over to senior employees who are its major shareholders) - workers were provided with protective visors, earplugs and masks.

I was impressed by the way in which Teddy Exports is doing so much for the community in which it is based while at the same time managing to turn robust profits. Seeing Teddy Exports strengthened my conviction that I've really got to learn more about business, management and finance if I want to do some good for the world beyond mere lip service.

There were some concerns expressed however. What happens when The Body Shop is gone? What happens when the demand for the products that Teddy Exports makes dries up abroad? None of the products that are made at Teddy are made for local consumption (indeed, just one of the wooden massage rollers produced at Teddy Exports retails in the UK for something that probably equivalent to a week's worth of wages for the worker who helped to make it).

INDIA (Chennai): Landing

Well, earlier today, I sat down and started to write my first blog entry in over a month. And then, the computer connection went down, taking along with all of the wonderful things I had written.

Such is life. Of the many wonderful things that I have gotten out this trip thus far, one is the understanding that (at least on the road) things rarely worked out as planned but things will work out somehow. And lost work is lost work. No use crying over spilled milk. Unfortunately, internet costs money and takes time that I could be spending "out there" living life, so I'm afraid that I'm gonna have to leave this entry short (especially since I've gotta run and get checked out of this expensive hotel pretty soon before I get slapped with another night's worth of charges).

I touched down in Chennai last night after a 8 hour journey that started in Kuala Lumpur, stopped briefly in Singapore and required a transfer in Colombo (Sri Lanka). It was a bit past 9pm by the time I cleared customs and immigration so there wasn't much that I could see of the city once I got outside of the airport. Naturally, there was an army of taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers waiting eagerly outside to offer me a ride into town, but I politely refused all of them and instead walked around asking for directions from folks to the nearby train station. Until I cleared the parking lot, I was trailed by one particularly persistent taxi driver, but he was harmless enough and not nearly as persistent as the drivers in Phnom Penh.

Once out on the main road, I noticed street hawkers and people buying late meals...and mixed in with all of that were men relieving themselves only steps away. Not the most appetizing combination I'd ever seen, but as I continued to walk along, things seemed not nearly as "developing" as I had feared it might be based upon the reports of others.

The train station was not too far away and it was simple enough to catch a train to the central train station here in Egmore (where I'm staying). The ride was pleasant and I was impressed by the massiveness of the train. I also felt a bit surprised at how pleasantly unhumid the air was (and is) compared to most of the places I had visited during my journeys through SE Asia. Even though it was night, I also felt struck somewhat by the colors. On the train, The lighting and paint gave everything a bluish hue and in the streets, everything glowed orange. Colors in general seemed distinct and primary, as if chosen from a crayola box of 8.



Upon reaching Egmore, I wandered the streets for about 30 minutes before finding the hotel I had called from the airport. I was a bit thirsty and hungry, but reluctant to consume anything, fearing the "Delhi Belly" I have been told by so many will be an inevitable part of my experience here.

After sleeping in late, I began my day by writing the blog entry that I lost. I was even more hungry and thirsty, but still wanting to put off my first encounter with the food. I'm supposed to be meeting up with friends of Prof. Willis (my virtual dad in Kobe) while I'm here but failed to make contact during the morning.

Oops. Running out of time. Gotta work on the concise writing thing. More later.