Jet Propelled from Overseas

Thuy, Jay, and I left Chennai one week before everyone else.  Our flight was scheduled for 4:00 AM.  Yes, that AM as in really, really early.  We planned to arrive at the airport at 1:00 AM, which is also really, really early if you're waking up for it; really really late; if you're staying up for it; or one more hour until the bar closes, if you're in college. For us, it was really, really late as we woke up at our usual time on Wednesday and stayed up all day.

As I told you, the trip was to carry supplies and furnishings to Chad and Valli's flat in Chennai.  So going back, we should travel relatively light, right?  Wrong.  All those souvenirs we bought add up and we spent Wednesday try to get each of the six suitcases under 50 pounds.  Seriously, we were leaving India with just as much stuff as we brought.

A Land of Contrasts

Indians often describe their country as "a land of contrasts."  Well, that's true.  But every country is a land of contrasts.  In the United States we have unspeakable wealth and despondent poverty.  We have the highly educated and the illiterate.  We have devoted philanthropy and criminal greed. We have NPR and Bravo. What distinguishes India in this regard is that these contrasts are juxtaposed.

The Beast

The creature lay patiently, unseen, waiting for the right time to strike.  Too early and the intended victims would be expecting it.  Too late and it wouldn't matter.  Then, when the victims were full of confidence that they were no longer under threat, it struck viciously and claimed three victims.

Not until the end of the second week did we get what we had expected earlier - traveler's diarrhea.  We took purified water wherever we went and only drank bottled or canned beverages in restaurants.  By the end of the second week, we weren't even thinking about diarrhea.

But that's when it hit three of us.  We picked it up in either Bengaluru or Mysore.  It lasted about two days.

One of the things that westerners should do, when traveling around India, is carry toilet paper and hand sanitizer.  Trust me, you want to do that.

Independence Day

August 15 was Indian Independence Day.  As you no doubt remember from the movie Gandhi, Indian independence was achieved without the revolutionary war typical of many struggles against colonialism.  Gandhi, the movie, was achieved without the song and dance numbers typical of a movie set in India.

Food

Breakfast at home

The question frequently posed to travelers upon their return is "How was the food?"

Food in Chennai and South Indian food in general is vegetarian and spicy.  The main starch is rice and rice flour is used to make idlis (a spongy dumpling) and dosas (rice crepes).  Accompanying the starches are various vegetable curries that I identify as green, yellow, or orange.  Some restaurants serve what they call North Indian food.  As far as I could tell, it consists of wheat-flour breads (naan, pooris, etc) with the same green, yellow, and orange vegetable curries.

Brindavan Gardens

Brindavan Gardens was established in 1927.  It is adjacent to the Krishnarajasagara Dam and was designed as a beautification project for the area next to the dam.  The park is famous for its fountains, one of which is Bellagio-like and spouts water in sync to music.  We arrived at the gardens in the evening, as the sun was going down.  As I mentioned, this was on the Independence Day weekend and the place was packed.  How packed?  The country has 1.2 billion people and they were all at Brindavan Gardens.

Mysore Palace

Mysore is not far in distance from Bengaluru.  In fact, when people speak of visiting Bengaluru, it's often "Bangalore and Mysore."  Maybe because Mysore rhymes with the old name.  So we decided to take a short (4 hour) drive to Mysore.

"McSpicy Attack" just doesn't sound right

Along the way we stopped at a recognizable highway establishment, McDonald's.  This McDonald's, however, is unlike any that you've been to (unless you've been to India).  The person taking your order greets you with a "Namaste," with her palms pressed together.  At this Mickey D's, there are no Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, or Big N Tastys.  No sir, that would be sacrilege.  The menu offered chicken nuggets, McSpicy Chicken, and Mc SpicyPaneer, a patty of cheese that's breaded and fried.  The closest thing that we have to that is fried mozzarella sticks.

Diogenes' Quest

A poll, published in The Hindu,  determined that young Indians perceive the main threat against India's future to be corruption.  The corruption, at all levels of government, is pretty bad.  The only person who seems to be on the up-and-up is Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, and people say that's the reason he can't get anything done.

Bengaluru by Night

By now, it had been two weeks since we ate beef.  Beef is rare (pun intended) in Chennai.  Indeed, very few grocery stores carry any kind of meat and it's usually expensive.  To  top it off, the chicken looks nothing like the antibiotic and marigold-fed chicken that we buy in the US.  So, after a week of South Indian food, many of us were ready to taste American cuisine again.  We headed to the Hard Rock Café – Bengaluru. 

Through our connections (Rajan's daughter) we got reservations.  To get in the door, we had to go through a metal detector.  This gives you a feel about India's concern over terrorism.  Furthermore, the Hard Rock Cafe attracts Americans and would be considered a soft target for those who wish to kill us.  The place was packed, both the restaurant and bar.  The diners were a mix of foreigners and locals.  Like us, American tourists and expatriates look for something familiar that's a break from the green, yellow, and orange vegetable curries.

Bengaluru by Day: Part 2

Cubbon Park is a big green area in the center of Bengaluru.  Originally encompassing 100 acres, it was created by the British in 1870.  It is now 300 acres. We headed to the state library at the center of the park.  Now that I look at the on-line maps, we took the longest possible route to get there.