A Passage to India
We are now at the end of our second day in India staying in an oasis of tranquillity at a Radisson Resort south of Chennai/Madras. When we arrived at Chennai late on Sunday evening from Bangkok, my first thought was, oddly, of Siegfried Sassoon. When asked about his experiences in WWI, he replied: "The noise, my dear, and the people!". The scene, even late at night, was chaotic - even from the relative comfort of the wheelchair to which I lay a semi-legimate claim at airports.
What we have seen since fits every stereotype from every documentary ever seen, "The Jewel in the Crown" and "A Passage to India", and are far too complex for any kind of encapsulation. Only impressions can be conveyed for now. Chaotic traffic slowing down for (presumably) sacred cows, the transport of loads of agricultural products by ox-carts on main roads, mopeds carrying whole families, and the roads themselves a pandemonium. An anachronistic fascination for me is the prevalence of a car known first to me in NZ in 1949 as a Morris Oxford. They are known and made locally by the Ambassador Motor Company, and must have added millions to the fortune of the late (and possibly lamented) Lord Nuffield who, it is to be assumed , sold the design rights to them.
We are still in the State of Tamil Nadu, famous for its ornate, numerous and extenive Hindu temples - many of which we saw today. We also had our first Hindu vegetarian meal, which we rather enjoyed and from which we have not so far suffered any ill effects - despite the rather disquieting ambience of the restaurant.
We are now at the end of our second day in India staying in an oasis of tranquillity at a Radisson Resort south of Chennai/Madras. When we arrived at Chennai late on Sunday evening from Bangkok, my first thought was, oddly, of Siegfried Sassoon. When asked about his experiences in WWI, he replied: "The noise, my dear, and the people!". The scene, even late at night, was chaotic - even from the relative comfort of the wheelchair to which I lay a semi-legimate claim at airports.
What we have seen since fits every stereotype from every documentary ever seen, "The Jewel in the Crown" and "A Passage to India", and are far too complex for any kind of encapsulation. Only impressions can be conveyed for now. Chaotic traffic slowing down for (presumably) sacred cows, the transport of loads of agricultural products by ox-carts on main roads, mopeds carrying whole families, and the roads themselves a pandemonium. An anachronistic fascination for me is the prevalence of a car known first to me in NZ in 1949 as a Morris Oxford. They are known and made locally by the Ambassador Motor Company, and must have added millions to the fortune of the late (and possibly lamented) Lord Nuffield who, it is to be assumed , sold the design rights to them.
We are still in the State of Tamil Nadu, famous for its ornate, numerous and extenive Hindu temples - many of which we saw today. We also had our first Hindu vegetarian meal, which we rather enjoyed and from which we have not so far suffered any ill effects - despite the rather disquieting ambience of the restaurant.
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