Chennai: This is family business y'all
Trip Start
Sep 24, 2008
1
13
76
Trip End
Jul 21, 2009
Chennai and Kanchipuram,
Tamil Nadu,
India
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
100 pillar hall at vardaraja temple
The human chain was for Tamilian solidarity for the opposition Tamils in Sri Lanka. As everyone knows, there has long been a struggle between the rulling Sinhalese in southern Sri Lanka and Tamilians in northern Sri Lanka. What I found out from Rangan Uncle (mom's older brother) was that there were many Tamilians who have spent generations in Sri Lanka and are landowners there. There is a smaller minority of Dravidian descent Tamilians in the very upper part of Sri Lanka (the stronghold of the LTTE - Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam). The Tamilains who are landowners (and many are Buddhist) are more than happy to be ruled by the Sinhalese government. Tamil Nadu, long feared to have rising separatist aspirations in India, and many of its residents tend to align themselves with their similar dialect and Dravidian brothers across the waters in Sri Lanka. Recently, there has been noise that the Indian government and military would step across into Sri Lanka's civil war and back the Sinhalese government. The last time India did this, in the early 1990s under Rajiv Gandhi, led to a disastrous consequence as the PM was assassinated by a Tamil Tiger. Some politicians of Dravidian parties (DMK) in Tamil Nadu have recently spoke out against any Central government assistance of the ruling Sinhalese in Sri Lanka. Thus, the human chain on the night I arrived in Chennai.
I arrived at my dad's sister's place to meet Lakshmi Aunty, Patta Uncle and my cousin Preet. Aunty, Preet and I stayed up late into the night discussing my travels and Peace Corps aspirations and it was wonderful to be around family that is so supportive (all of my family has been).
I woke up on the 25th to some authentic home cooked masala dosas from my Aunty (if you are ever in Chennai, you must come to her place for a meal; she is a world class cook) and then made my way over to my Patti's (mom's mother) place to spend the night with Rangan Uncle and my Patti
Chain links made of stone
. Uncle and I chatted about Sri Lankan politics, cricket and the pros/cons of test vs ODI vs T20 formats (he is a cricket fanatic), his business (pre-fabricated steel plants/factories/buildings) and the effect on foreign construction from the global slowdown and the whole story behind Gujarat being awarded the extremely lucrative Tata Nano plant/industrial park at the expense of West Bengal and his upcoming holiday in Cambodia (which he left for that night). One of my mom's other older brothers, VG Uncle, called by chance while I was there and I caught with him regarding my travels, my cousin Pasy's enjoyment so far abroad at LSE and the fall of his beloved Red Sox. It must be nice to have one season end and have another team start their title defence (Celtics). My Patti was unfortunately ill from a long day without much rest as the 25th marked the four-year anniversary (lunar calendar) of my Thatha's (grandfather) passing. However, I very much believe in mind over body, and she was in such high spirits from having voices and banter in the house and of course spending some time with her loveable grandson. Her wonderful cook, Vedam, delightfully made me some amazing dosas with her blissful tomato sambar (both that night and the following day); this is something I very much look forward to every time I come over to my Patti's house. My sweet Patti, who is unfortunately not a young spring chicken, forbit me from lifting a finger and she was running all over the place to make sure I had everything I needed.After spending the morning at Patti's and saying goodbye, I made my way back to Lakshmi Aunty's place on the 26th to witness to beginning of Deepavali (row of lights or Festival of Lights; commonly written as Diwali) in Chennai. Technically, Deepavali in the south is one day and in the north the day after (and for Gujaratis marks the beginning of the fiscal new year)
Chola era sculpture
. In mythology, it celebrates Lord Rama's triumphant return to Ayodhya after slaying Ravana and spending 14 years in exile, which was marked by the lighting of rows of lamps. In practice, it has lost much religious significance and is celebrated by everyone wearing new clothes and lighting an insane amount of firecrackers. When you are a child, it is wonderful, and while I enjoy true fireworks, most of the crackers tend to be absurdly loud noisemakers lit absolutely everywhere on the streets. It is incredibly deafening and gave me some sense of living in a war zone, but it's great to walk the streets and see all the parents helping their kids out, the kids running around like crazy enjoying the crackers and wearing their gorgeous new dresses and generally see a festive atmosphere. The only problem is people tend to blow crackers over the course of a whole week, not the allotted two days.Aunty, Uncle, Preet and I took a trip out to the beach in Chennai (where my Dad took all of us in December), which was a quiet respite from the deafening sounds of crackers. Beaches in most Indian cities are like a carnival atmosphere, which is quite enjoyable. Preet and I spent some time in the waves just chatting about both of our future career/life pursuits, potential desires for family, his desire to spend time with his parents and visit temples in the later stages of their life, and his plans to eventually start his own business, to spend more time helping children out and to practice his love of botany. Turning 34 on that day and growing up in Chennai, it was amazing how much the Preet and I had somewhat similar goals/aspirations and visions of how you should lead your limited life on this planet. My Aunt even later remarked to my dad how wonderful it is that all of my Thatha's (father's father) grandchildren are well adjusted, independent, educated and with good family and life values
Chola sandstone scultures
. Over the several days in Chennai, I learned a lot about my dad as a youngster and my Thatha and am realizing that there are many qualities of his that I possess - it's kind of uncanny (down to the way I walk, carry myself, treat others, my pride and unfortunately my sometimes short fuse). We then popped into a nice sculpture and art gallery before gorging ourselves in a chaat feast (Indian snacks and small food items like Cholle Batura, Pakoras, Samosa Cholle - basically the VIKs menu in Berkeley) at Spencer Plaza. Ankit, I too now own a Team India football jersey. May our monetary contributions inspire the squad to a World Cup seat! That night, I was able to talk with my dad and sister (he was visiting her in NY), which was great to catch up on the phone, rather than by email. On Deepavali itself, Oct 27, we relaxed in the neighborhood - it's way too chaotic and noisy to do anything and indulged in Lakshmi Aunty's wondrous cooking - coconut rice, lemon rice, chapatis, some bean and peanut dish, rajma, bangan bharta. I was a little out of sorts on Deepavali, however, as I sadly heard from Ankit that one of the MDs on my old desk had passed away. Howard was a tough man to deal with as he was incredibly demanding and without peer when it came to work ethic, but he was also a model professional. He was the closest I found on the desk to the work ethic and mantra my Dad espoused during his 20 years working in the software industry
Deepavali 1
. A zest and joy for work, always the teacher and mentor and always treating colleagues/clients with the professional respect that you sometimes don't see in day-to-day Wall Street life. While he spent a lot of time away from his family, Howard loved them immensely and I have many fond memories of a proud father telling me about his children's latest music recordings or computer programs and very much enjoyed our discussions on music and the Simpsons. His passing was especially troubling for me because he leaves behind two young children, the eldest of which just started university at Texas-Austin. Howard's passing is terribly tragic, but in his passing, he has provided me with some lessons/confirmed realizations. He was a model of how one should conduct themselves professionally in whatever endeavor you follow: work hard and be passionate. However, he also reinforces my ideal that your mental/physical health and happiness are the absolute top priority in life, with family close behind and work/career/status nowhere near the top. Quality of life and a balance between work and life are not only luxuries, but I believe a requirement of living on this planet as it doesn't take a boatload of dough to live a humble, but comfortable life and provide for one's family. On Oct 28, we all headed to the temple town of Kanchipuram, a couple of hours south of Chennai, for the day and to visit my other Patti (dad's mom) and Paddu Aunty (dad's younger sister) at an ashram where she leaves just outside of town. Kanchipuram has many model south Indian temples made out of granite and sandstone and with enormous gopurams, beautifully carved 100 pillar halls and gorgeous deities/statues/sanctums. It is one of Lakshmi Aunty, Patta Uncle, Preet and my dad's favorite places to visit in Tamil Nadu, which made it especially nice for me to visit as compared with most sightseeing towns
Deepavali 2
. We saw the Ekambareswar Temple (Shiva temple), the Pandava Perumal (with an enormous Krishna statue that represents where he, helping the Pandavas, crushed a bunch of soldiers of the enemy that had lulled him into befriending the enemy), the Ulagalantha Perumal (with a 35ft statue of Vishnu as Trivikrama who grow from the dwarf Vamana to this giant form and used three steps to claim all of the land on earth, all of the heavens above and to send some guy to the netherworld), the Vaikanta Perumal (one of my dad's favorite temples with MS Subalakshmi-esque music playing, beautiful deities and a goregous perimeter of the inner sanctum in wonderful sandstone carvings from the Chola dynasty in a similar style to the wonderful sculptures of Mamallapuram) and the Vardaraja Temple (main and largest Vishnu temple in Kanchi with a ridiculously ornate 100 pillar hall, linked chains made out of stone, sacred golden and silver lizards that bless you with health, a beautiful statue of Garuda, the vehicle of Vishnu, and wonderful Narsiman statues. The 100 pillar hall had depictions of Hanuman, Vishnu, Krishna and myriad other stories from Hindu mythology). I received a special blessing and photo of the massive Lord Vishnu statue to guide me on my travels and Lakshmi Aunty wrote down a mantra to Garuda (who bears the beak of a bird, is the King of the Birds and vehicle of Lord Vishnu, and most importantly hates and kills snakes at will) to protect me on my journey. On our return from Kanchi, we spent a few hours with my Patti, who such a sweet woman and always full of laughter. I was full to the gills after an amazing south Indian thali at Saravana Bhavan and, of course, my Patti fed me some masala dosas/snacks and chai. I was exploding after visiting her. Neither of my Pattis speak excellent English nor do I speak Tamil, so communication between us is tough
Deepavali 3
. However, they understand fairly well and you don't have to speak to necessarily spend quality time with your grandma. She told me that when she was young, maybe 14, she saw Gandhiji on one of his famous addresses on a train platform in Tamil Nadu! She is also the only person in the world, and perhaps most qualified, who does NOT think I look anything like my father. I hope for immensely good health for both of my Pattis. We all crashed out pretty early that night and I leisurely got up, enjoyed my final Amazing Lakshmi Aunty meal of parathas and yogurt, and made my way to Bombay for a few days of some (relatively expensive mind you) partying and to ring in another trip around the sun.
Cricket Update 11/1: Australia has dominated the Indian bowlers making the amazing 613/7 that India put up completely worthless. It is now likely the test will end in a draw (which is a victory of sorts for the surprisingly underdog Aussie squad coming into this test) as the entire second innings must be completed in one day (Sunday, when I'm there) and the score is too close for India not to take the opportunity to bat again. Aussie is currently 566/8, with Michael Clarke adding to his century. The good thing is I am likely to see the Indian batsmen in person - I hope that I at least get to see Sachin bat.
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PS: Thank you all for the birthday wishes. I had a wonderful time in Bombay (to be in the next entry). Missing everyone and hope you all enjoy a nice Halloween weekend.
Comments
very sad day
i'm no longer a supportig cast member in the blog. reality has creeped back in...time for domalts....