An Indian Marriage

Because I was intrigued by what an Indian wedding entails, I messaged Aruna asking if it was still OK for me to attend hers. She said it was fine and told me to get a hotel in Chittoor as her marriage would commence at 5am the following morning. Why so early? Damned if I know.

So I quickly packed some overnight clothes and got on the bus to Chittoor. Aruna had informed me that her friend, and the man she is going to marry - Suman, would come and meet me and help book me in to a hotel. Now punctuality does not seem to be a trait of anybody here in India; in fact, we volunteers last year often joked about "Indian time" referring to how notoriously unpunctual our friends were. So I wasn't too surprised that after half an hour of waiting for Suman to come and meet me, he still hadn't arrived, living up to the expectations of Indian punctuality. By then I was getting very impatient though, so decided to go off and look for a hotel myself.

After some walking down narrow and busy streets, I finally found a hotel. It was only 350  rupees a night, so I asked to see the room first knowing full well it was probably going to be a shithole. But suprisingly, it wasn't too bad. I was fairly happy with it anyway so said I would take it for the night. Suman managed to get a hold of me so I informed him of where I was staying and he soon came to meet me. Finally.

By this time, it was early afternoon so I agreed to come to Suman's shop for sometime. It was a nice chilled afternoon really. Didn't do anything other than ate some of Suman's packed lunch (chicken curry and rice) and drawed a manga girl. Since I was in a clothes shop, I decided to buy Aruna a saree as a gift. I got her a pretty looking orange one as I remembered her saying that orange is her favourite colour. By about 7pm, Suman dropped me off at my hotel room and I decided to have an early night.

Well, that was what I intended to happen. It took me for what seemed like many hours to fall asleep, and I woke up at 2am. Great. A very cold bucket wash soon woke me and freshened me up though and then I just patiently waited for Suman to come and get me.
Coincidently, my hotel was just opposite the small temple they were getting married, so it only took 5 seconds to get there, where Aruna was sitting and waiting; she was wearing a very nice saree and looked beautiful in it. She had said that it was only going to be a small wedding, but I had least expected her immediate family to be there - especially her father! But no, only her brother Sunil came. None of Suman's family attended either.
We waited for a little while whilst the hindu preist made some preparations. When everything was ready, some drums started to bang and bells began to ring. What happened next was amazing but also confusing and bizarre for me at the same time; I didn't have any idea what was going on and why. I just got my camera out and snapped away at the rather elaborate ceremony; they put flowers over one another several times, prayed, bowed down to the priest and prayed, prayed to some bananas and rupee notes that they handed to the priest, we put our hands over a flame and some red powder (kumkuma) on our foreheads and prayed, and we also poured some seeds(?) over their heads. They then walked around the shrine a few times holding hands. So yeah, it was very confusing for me, but none the less I had enjoyed my experience of witnessing a marriage, even if I don't agree with the reasons for it.

After the ceremony finished, we said our goodbyes and I walked off pondering Indian marriage; I've noticed that on the billboards with wedding photos on them, seldom do I see the bride and groom smile and I wonder if it is because they have married somebody they don't love? Aruna didn't smile much at all and I know she doesn't love Suman. I'm probably wrong about the reasons for people not smiling in their wedding photos (supposedly the happiest day of anybodys life), but it was just a thought that occured to me. Very sad if I'm correct though.

Anyway, my morning in Chittoor wasn't quite over as Sunil found me and said I could ride with him and I'll catch the bus to Katpadi later on. It was very pleasant riding down the country roads on the back of his scooter at 7am. This is the first time I've seen morning mist and also the first time I have been shivering cold here! He took me far out in the sticks to where his aunty lives where we walked around some fields. We didn't stop there for too long and soon hit the road. Once again, he said I could drive so I did much to my enjoyment. We just spent the remainder of the morning driving around Chittoor and having chai (tea). Eventually, I said my farewells to him and got on a bus back to Katpadi.

Tradition vs Modern and Katpadi

India is starting to go through a dramatic change. In England, attire - or rather what ever happens to be this years fashion trend, tends to be the same which ever part of the country you may be in. In India, there's a clash of the traditional attire (sarees and kurtis for example) and western clothing (jeans and t-shirts), which only becomes apparent after spending some time in an urban city.

You won't really observe the change out in the rural areas; Indian culture and tradition is still going strong out in the sticks. But I noticed that Chennai is gradually becoming "westernised". There are western fast food chain restaurants and clothing shops, that play god awful western pop music popping up everywhere. I noticed that a lot of younger generation females are swapping their sarees for tight jeans and a branded tee. And they'll even have their hair down.

Thanks to films and music video, what is socially acceptable is also changing. Now in England, it is common to see lovers showing affection towards eachother - usually through kissing and/or hand holding. In India, showing affection has not been allowed, or at least it is not acceptable anyway. If you see two males or two females holding hands, it is not because they are lovers, but because they are friends. But now, in the city at least, you'll see lovers holding hands too. I think this is due to debauche films focusing on romantic storied, and also the provocative and sexy performances in song videos, which all could well have been inspired by the western media. The younger generation are absorbing it all in and imitate what they see, so it is now becoming the norm. I think in some decades time, India will be a changed place that will start to lose its culture and make way for the modern era at this rate. I remember having this discussion with Arun last year, after he showed me some music videos and I pointed out the hypocrisies. He even said the same thing more or less.

This is what my final thoughts were as I left Chennai, train bound for Katpadi. Once I got there, I met up with Kalai who took me to her office and gave me some of her lunch. After some time, Sidhu arrived to help me find a hotel. It was great to finally see him again!

He and a couple of other guys managed to find me one called Milliniium Plaza. So I hopped on Sidhu's bike and after a very short distance, we arrived. My room here is a lot nicer than Raj Residencey, but is slightly more expensive. It's worth the price though as the bed is comfortable and comes with a blanket and no bed bugs; there's hot water to have a bucket wash with and it came with complimentary towels and soap. Must always keep the windows closed though as when I went for a piss, I looked out of the window to see a couple of monkeys just chilling on the sill. If my window were to have been open, some stuff could have potentially been stolen. You have to watch out for the theiving bastards! Even from the third floor.

I haven't done much here other than eaten at some nice restaurants and gone for long walks. I'll only be staying here till Saturday.

Driving to and Staying at Malla Kunta

After spending a few days alone in Chennai, I was happy to receive a text from Aruna inviting me to come and stay at her home again on Saturday.

I had an unpleasant sleep during the night thanks to bed bugs. I was generally pleased with my hotel room until I had to kill the bloody blood sucking parasites. Oh well. There was no use in asking for another room as I would be only spending one more night there. Perhaps I'll write a negative review on trip adviser to be amongst the other negative reviews on there. Anyway, I was up, ready and itching to go by half 6 in the morning.

I got the usual 7:50 train to Katpadi Junction, then the bus to Chittoor. This time, Aruna's brother Sunil met me at the bus stand. He took me to a tea stall and then some small restaurant for a milk-like-beverage. God knows what is was and what was in it, but it sure was nice! He then took me to meet a friend of his. I'll be damned if I can remember his name or what he looked like now. I know it sounds a bit callous of me, but people here are always wanting to show me off/introduce me to their friends and family, that I have had to digest so many names and personal information in such short time, it's impossible for my brain to retain it all.

So after meeting another friend of his, we finally started to head to his village - Malla Kunta. Once we reached the more quiet roads, he pulled over and said I could drive the scooter for the remainder of the journey. I was well up for it and since I had a moped when I was 16, I was already familiar with driving one. Well, it doesn't take a genius to drive a twist and go anyway.

But these were Indian roads and as I have mentioned before, they are extremely chaotic compared to the roads that I'm used to driving on. Oh, and health and safety does not exist here which I think is great! It's nice to ride a two wheeler without having to wear a helmet. Hell, it was just an exciting experience driving on seemingly lawless roads. I even passed by a police station; whoops, I do not have an Indian licence. But fuck it, who cares? No one does here. It's a breath of fresh free air since I come from a country that seems to becoming more authoritative by the year. 

So yeah, I was lapping up the fact that I was the one beeping the horn, rather than the one being beeped at. In India, horns are going off all the time; when they overtake, when they turn, when they're about to run you over if you don't move the fuck out of their way.
It was a fairly long journey; must've taken nearly an hour to finally get to Malla Kunta. We did stop for a quick cup of tea though. Once we arrived, I met Aruna and her cousin at her aunt and uncle's home. I went with them, quite far out in the sticks, to get some fruit from trees (no idea what they're called). I didn't like them myself as found them to taste a bit too bitter for my liking. There's also a massive, deep well there which they used to swim in as kids, but due to there not being enough rainfall now, it has all dried up and nature has claimed it. Possibly the effects of global warming?

Afterwards, we headed back to Aruna's home and I met her family once again. Although I can't understand Telugu (the official language of Andhra Pradesh. Every state in India has a different language in case you didn't know), and they can't speak English, her mother and grandmother often speak to me anyway, often using hand gestures to help convey what they are saying. They seem like really nice people and regardless of the language barrier, I still felt really welcome at their home. It's a wonderful cultural experience spending time with a rural Indian family, I must say.

Sunil took me to their plot of land out in the fields where they have some mango and coconut trees. He bashed down some coconuts from the tree and used his sickle to cut open the shell of the coconuts to get to the milk, of which we then drank. I genuinely love eating and drinking from the land, which I had never experienced before. It just feels...right. And very tasty too!

When we returned back to their home, I met more of Aruna's friends and family. I went with a few lads back to their home where their mother made me some hot milk. I chilled there only for a little while before meeting his father - who is the local tailor, and a few more family members. By time I returned back to Aruna's home, she had pretty much cooked dinner, so it wasn't too long before I starting tucking in to some chicken curry. Not long after I finished, I turned in for the night.

The following morning, Aruna made me some tea and also cooked some sambar rice for breakfast. I then got on Sunil's scooter with him and Aruna and they took me to chittoor where I then made my way back to Chennai. All in all, another lovely time spent in Malla Kunta. It may just be a small rural village, but I do enjoy it there and find the people to be very friendly and pleasant.

It's good to just get away from the modern era and away from people fixated to their technology; people in England are so dependent on it that on the rare occurrence a power cut happens, people start to panic and melodromatically whine how bored they are. Oh boohoo. No television to keep them lobotomised for a whole half hour or so. It's an everyday occurrence here and people just get on with work, or sip some tea, or cook; perhaps they will socialise with one another! Anyway, you get the gist. So yeah, it's just good to get away from the trivial melodrama of first world problems.

Lonely in Chennai, Child Beggars and Zoos

So far I have been informing you guys of my more exciting days here, outside of the city I am staying in. But what about the days in between? And what of my adventures in the metropolis of Tamil Nadu - Chennai? Well, I'll tell you.

In hindsight, I kinda wished that I hadn't bothered staying in Chennai. I saw a lot of it with friends when I came to Tamil Nadu last year. I just figured the place is a central hub to where my friends live. And it helps that I am a little experienced and familiar with Chennai Central train station - which luckily I was only a 20 minute walk from. But I soon learnt that it is not a good place to stay for a fortnight if you are alone.

Fortunately, I was staying very close to a bus stand so I didn't have a hard time getting to where I wanted to go. Seeing as I was very close to Marina Beach, I decided to go there. The beach strectches for miles and it takes about 10 minutes before you reach the ocean. I stopped by a sugar cane stall (not sure if that's what they're officially called), and the vendor used his contraption to squeeze the juice from the sugar canes, filtered it to rid of any dirt and stalk, and then mixed it with cool water - all for the price of 10 rupees (about 10p). It's a nice sweet beverage, although I do prefer to chew on the canes themselves to extract the sweet, sweet juice from them.

I wanted to relax by the ocean so took a long, slow stroll to it. There are many stalls lined up along the beach; it's like a market place! I didn't purchase anything but it's nice to browse at the wares as I passed by. I did stop to eat some Pani Poori though. It's a delicious snack that I can only describe it as tasting a bit like yorkshire puddings, only with a lot of spicy sauce to go with them instead of gravy. Once I finally got to the ocean, I just sat and relaxed in the scorching heat, wanting to go for a dip to cool down but put off by the amount of litter washing up on the shore.

Boys were stripping off and going for a swim in the ocean, while the girls stayed dressed in their kurtis and saris and went for a paddle - except for a volleyball team who were playing, singing and dancing in the ocean, much to the amusement of onlookers including myself. Men were offering rides on their horses for some rupees and others were selling what looked like candy floss. Suffice to say, there's a lot going on this beach compared to the desolate and dull beach in Great Yarmouth.

My realxing enjoyment of people watching was over when I inadvertently drew attention to myself for, well, erm, for having white skin I guess. Then came the child beggars with their pet monkeys - who were only a one trick pony. One baby monkey climbed all over me and tried to steal my bottle of water while a young girl begged me to give her some money. It's very sad to see children living in poverty, but you have to be weary when giving them money for I recall being told that adults often "employ" them to beg, as people tend to show a lot more sympathy to child beggars than adults. Still, it's very disheartening but I carry very little money on me and there's nothing I can do to help. It's times like that, that I wish I was a very wealthy man so I could. The world really does revolve around money and as long as distribution of wealth remains unfair, it'll be hard to eradicate poverty.

Anyway, I started to get bothered by the unwarranted attention and the heat so went for a walk along, I guess, what is the equivalent of an English seaside promenade, only without arcades and pubs. I sat in a green area, leaned against a tree and started playing on my uke. This time the attention I was getting was warranted so I didn't mind; I'm always happy for people to hear me play some music.

As I said on a previous blog post, I was kinda getting fed up with rice and was craving some western food. One day I remembered that there were fast food restaurants in Spencer Plaza shopping mall, and since I was close by, made it my mission to go and treat myself to some KFC. Not a great choice for some western food I know, but my mouth was salivating at the thought of some chicken and chips. Not long after stepping in to the mall, I had shop merchants trying to persuade me to go in to their shops and purchase something. They all sell the same shit and none of it I want; scarves, jewellery, ornaments and meditation bowls are not things I need on my travels at all. I was there to eat some chicken and that was all, so I just ignored them. I stood outside to have cigarette at one point and ended up conversing with a devout muslim man. He was a pleasant chap and didn't mind me being an atheist who does not want to convert to islam. He didn't go all jihad on me, which is what the UK media and a lot of EDL members would like everybody to believe would happen in such a scenerio. Go figure. In fact, every muslim I have ever spoke to have all been kind people. But who wants to hear nice, pleasant things in the news? He soon left me alone when I told him I wasn't interested in purchasing anything from his shop though.

I had passed a park on my way back from the plaza and decided to have a relaxing day there the following day. Of course, I brought along my ukulele to practice. I also went long walks around the vacinity of where my hotel was, sat in cafes for some tea or coffee, or just grabbed a small and cheap cup from the many stalls on the streets.
I'm a member on a website called couchserfing - a site for travellers to meet and for people to host travellers, so another reason for me staying in Chennai was to meet up with some fellow couchserfers. One guy I had been speaking to surprised me by waiting outside my hotel room; I had told him where I was staying, but weren't sure when he was wanting to meet. He is a nice chap by the name of Jeba, but unfortunetly he did not stay long. He only dropped by to give me some recommendations on places to visit in Chennai - most of which I had been to already. I was quite interested in visiting the national park, though, so after we said our goodbyes I headed there by bus.

I paid 20 rupees entry fee and soon observed that it was actually more of a zoo. Not a particularly good one at that. I was mildly interested watching emus getting fed some biscuits by a couple but that was about it. I'm not particularly fond of zoos anyway; staring at animals in cages, all of which can be observed in the wild if people weren't so damn lazy. I mean some of the animals they had there you can see everyday in India! Monkeys for one and also a wild dog. India's streets are full of fucking dogs! Why on earth would I want see one locked up in a cage?! Indian logic strikes again (it's just occurred to me that I don't think I have mentioned the great phenomenon that is Indian logic before. I will soon enough). After about an hour of walking and uninterestingly observing animals sleeping, shitting and eating, I disappointingly headed back to my hotel.

And that's all that I got up to Chennai. For the most part I was alone and bored. Suffice to say I much prefer my time spent in rural places with company. I do like to be left alone, sure. But I don't think a city is the right place for it. Not Chennai anyway. Maybe Bangalore and Dehli will be different?

Rice, Love and Marriage

Last Tuesday, I caught the 7:50am Brindavan Express train to Katpadi where I then got on a bus to Chittoor to meet up with Aruna.

We met up with her friends and I went with them to the college that they studied at. They went there to pick up their certificates. Aruna introduced me to a few of her old teachers and told me about the place. Afterwards, we got some lunch; we all had some Biriyani. As usual, I couldn't eat it all. In India, small and little are two words that I'm sure does not exist in their vocabulary. I'm a small guy and I have a small stomach so I can only eat small portions!

By this point, I am already starting to get fed up with rice. I'm not overly keen on the stuff. Sure, I can eat a little but as I said, small portions just seem alien to the people here so I always get large portions! And then more because everyone wants to make sure I'm well fed. The people here are just too hospitable sometimes. Anyway, I would hate to eat rice two or three times a day. How they do not get fed up with eating the same food all the time, I'll never know. Especially with something as bland as rice.

I digressed. Where was I? So we had lunch and I left half of it. Afterwards, Aruna's friends all went home and we went to a park. In England, parks (the swings and roundabouts type ones) are for kids. Here, you see more adults use the swings! It was a nostalgic feeling as I haven't "played" on a swing for many years so it felt great to feel like a kid once again! Same for when we sat on the roundabout.

But our conversation then got very adult; we started to talk about love and marriage and also our personal lives. Aruna is getting married on the 6th February. You may not be aware, but arranged marriages are very common in India which can be quite problematic as you could imagine; let's just say that such arrangements have caused many a suicide. I'll just go ahead and honestly say, as a liberal person, that I hate it. I can never agree with such a system that oppresses free will; in this case, the will to love and marry who you desire not whom you parents desire.

Aruna, as far as I know, is not being forced to marry this guy, but her father really wants her too, and she wants to respect her fathers wishes. Oh, and Suman (the friend she is marrying) is also guilting her in to marrying him by threatening suicide if she does not. What a man, eh. If you love someone and it is unrequited love, you just let that person go. For if you truly loved that person, then you would just wish for him/her to be happy. Suffice to say, I think this path will probably cause her misery in the future. Hell, it makes me feel sad just thinking about it.

I know it's easy coming from me - someone who was brought up in a country where we have the freedom to be in a consensual relationship with whom we desire, to tell her that she can be a free and independent person if she so wishes, but at the end of the day, as she also simply said to me, it's the way things are in India. I'm no great person who is going to cause a great social change in India, so I just have to tolerate the fact that this is the way things are here. As I said, you just got to let go...

Thiruvalangadu and Racist Dogs

Last Sunday I decided to head back to Thiruvalangadu, but this time to see my friends Shanthi and Devi.

I left about 9am to head to Chennai Central train station to catch the train to Thiruvallur. I love riding the trains here in India; it feels pleasant to stand by the big open doors and hang out to catch the breeze and get some great views of the rural areas and towns against the backdrop of natural scenery. And when I tire of standing, I can just sit and dangle my legs; as long as the trains are not crammed full of people - which often they are! It can be quite dangerous to hang out too far though, as your head may get swiftly removed by an oncoming post or other obstacle - it makes quite the game of chicken sometimes!

So after about an hour and half train journey, I arrive in Thiruvallur to be swamped by auto drivers. I swear these guys can smell a foreigner from a mile off. Of course I took one as I didn't want to miss the bus and, of course, I got overcharged. Oh how they must rub their hands with glee when a foreigner jumps in their vehicle.

I did not have to wait at the bus stand too long before the 105c bus came. And let me tell you now: Buses are a nightmare here compared to England; they arrive and depart at whatever time, so sometimes you may only have to wait 5 minutes and other times you could be waiting over an hour. Oh, and they're often crammed too so one needs to push and shove to get a seat a lot of the times. So next time your bus is a few minutes late, consider the poor folks here in India and be grateful.

Fortunately, the 105c was not initially packed so I got a seat. I always enjoyed the 40 minute (only 11 rupees too!) bus journey to Thiruvalangadu when I worked at the YRC there last year and it felt nostalgic to take the same route again. It was good to see that the roads have improved a lot now too! Although it hasn't deterred drivers from driving erratically; the traffic is still as chaotic as ever and probably always will be unless they finally bother to enforce the road laws - although I am unsure whether there are any!
Anyway, once I arrived at Thiruvalangadu, I headed to the new location of the YRC (A lot more space and better than the old one. It's on the roof of where the ICS volunteers now live.) where Shanthi and Devi waited for me. One of my national volunteers (who was only with us for a week), Dani, was there too. It was great to see him and the girls! Dani left after a short time and I hung out with the girls for the duration of the day. We chatted, played my ukulele, had some Biriyani and took photos. It was a pleasant day and I was glad to see and spend time with them again. 

There was market going on there too, so once we said our goodbyes I decided to check it out before heading to the train station.
I got a lift on a tuk tuk which already had about 10 people in it (Technically only enough for for 4 people to seat) so I had a comfortable journey to the station, practiclly clinging on to the damn vehicle! All part of the Indian experience! Once I got to Thiruvalangadu station, I got invited in to the railway police station and had some coffee with the officers and played them a song on my uke. The miserable bastards in England wouldn't do that! You'll be lucky to even get a smile from them.

That was my day pretty much. So now I just want to mention stray dogs as they're fucking everywhere in India. For the most part, they don't seem to be bothered by my appearence. In the city anyway. During the day. But in rural villages, late at night and early morning, they get all aggro on me. They're not bothered by the Indian people, but when they get a whiff of 'ol whitey here, they go fucking mental. They don't go for me but they all soon bark, growl and sometimes follow me. They're blatantly racist.

Arrival in Chennai and Visiting Chittoor

So, after a long plane journey and stopping off at Colombo in Sri Lanka on a connecting flight, i finally made it to Chennai. At least the food on the plane was nice. I was a bit nervous at first when I left the airport and got a taxi to take me to my hotel as he didn't have a clue where to go! But after asking directions from tuk tuk drivers, he finally managed to get me there. It only took about 45 minutes. And he had the cheek to ask for a tip.

Raj Residency - the name of my hotel - does not have cleanliness on its priority list it seems. But at least I got a relatively comfortable king size bed, a cold shower, air conditioning and a smoking balcony, so it's not all bad. You get what you pay for so to speak. I didn't obviously do much on my first day as I was tired from the long journey, so i just spent time getting myself an Indian sim card sorted out and since there's a bar opposite my hotel, I also had a Kingfisher beer which was quite tasty. Since I now had credit, I decided to message my Tamil friends to let them know that I had arrived.

The following day, I decided to get the train to Thiruvallur and then head to Thiruvalangadu - the town the YRC is at where I worked as a Restless Development volunteer. I had messaged my friend Arun to let him know I was on my way and met him when I got there.I spent the whole day with him, Raj, Mani and Ajith as well as meeting the new national and English volunteer. It was a great day and I reminisced the time I worked there. It was a shame, though, to hear that they are moving the YRC up the road and that most of the people I knew and befriended no longer work there. Things change though.

The next day, I finally managed to get hold of Aruna and Kalai, I arranged to meet Kalai in Katpadi. It was great to see her again and she took me to her brother's office where I got some sweet bread and a cool drink. I didn't stay long though as Kalai took me to the bus stand so I could get to Chittoor. Aruna told me that a friend of hers, Suman, would come and pick me up from the bus station and he soon found me. I guess I must stick out like a sore thumb, haha! He took me on the back of his bike to the clothes shop he works at where i relaxed and waited for Aruna to come.

Aruna looked beautiful as always and I was glad to finally see her again. We spent a little time in the town of Chittoor and in the evening she took me to her village, Mala Kunta. I met her family and Aruna cooked me some potato curry which was delicious! In the morning she made me some tea (milk straight from her cow) and breakfast and let me used her bath, which was certainly different from an English bath. She also showed me around her village and introduced me to more family members and friends. She took me to the nearby farms where I had some coconut straight from the tree and coconut milk. I had never tried it before and it was lovely! I also tried some sugar cane too. Very nice!

Samun came and picked us up and we visited a temple. Didn't stay too long though as there were a lot of monkeys around that were agitated by us and Aruna got scared. I did a little too as one started hissing at me. I think it wanted my camera! Afterwards, we went to Samun's village and I met his family and friends. Becuase i was so tired, i ended up staying there the night rather than go back to Chennai. But not before meeting and hanging out with more of his friends and having a small bottle of whisky at some stall/shop. Was a pretty good, spontaneous evening!

The following day, I met up with Aruna again at Chtittoor. I taught her some chords on my ukulele; she's a quick learner! She then took me to her friends place in a more rural area of the town. It was a lovely relaxing day; her friend cooked us some rice and chicken curry and I also had some fruit which tasted a lot like a lemon which Aruna put some chilli powder slat on which made them even nicer! We just sat outside and chatted with her friend and her mother. I could get used to such a life.

Late in the afternoon, I got the coach back to Chennai. Aruna seemed upset that I was leaving but hopefully we'll meet again real soon. I really enjoy her company and most certainly would love to see her again, for sure.

So, that's what my first days here consisted of and I hope my time spent here will continue to be awesome. So far, the people here have been very pleasant and hospitable and friendly. I love it here.