madurai, tamil nadu. we have a room on the roof of a hotel that has amazing views of the city and sunrise this morning was rather special. the huge temple towers, thought to be decorated with 3.3 million brilliantly painted sculptures, dominate the vista. while the chants, wails, toots and beeps rise from the chaotic streets of the bustling holy city below. you can feel the excited anticipation as everyone prepares for deepavali. this is a very different india to goa and kerala – and i think i’m going to enjoy it.
munnar tea stations, high in the hills.
munnar tea stations, high in the hills. this might have been a bit of a mistake as it has rained constantly for days. apparently the view from our hotel across the tea plantations is amazing – if only we could see through the mist. very atmospheric but very wet. considering the torrential rain and looming misty cloud, i was obviously quite happy to hear that the town in which we are staying is host to a famous old gentleman’s club where apparently one can while away the afternoon playing snooker, sipping a gin and tonic, surrounded by hunting trophies. i’m an english gentleman – i thought. so with a hop, skip and a rickshaw ride, we were there – the high range club. i confidently approached the golf sweater wearing manager and, with my best public school english, enquired as to whether we may avail of his facilities. he took a cursory glance at me and said no. i wasn’t wearing shoes. “but… but i’m english”, i thought, looking down at my flip flops. then turned around and left muttering to myself about golf clubs and jeans.
somewhere in south india.
somewhere in south india. my first impressions of india were mainly the stark contrasts. old ways and new ideas sit quite happily next to each other. take this broadband internet cafe i am in – looking all swish and air conditioned – while oxen lead wooden carts in the mud roads outside. it is constantly hectic yet surprisingly easy going. though it doesn’t seem as different as i thought it might – mainly i think due to the cultural barriers that can be crossed by sharing a common language. whereas south america was constantly a battle to be understood or to understand, here it is much easier. even though the place is completely crazy at times. a particular ruse that i am becoming aware of is something we have taken to dub “the elaborate faff”. it goes something like this: 1) identify a problem that everyone knows the solution to but won’t admit; 2) create a particularly elaborate diversion – ideally involving lots of running around and people getting busy; 3) faff plenty; 4) solve original simple problem behind the elaborate smoke-screen diversion. all this is done most knowingly – with lots of smiles and yes sirs and no sirs and dippings of the head. talking of head movements – one thing that has caused a few confusions is the sideways rocking of the head that indicates agreement when it looks like a negative shake at first glance from a westerner’s perception. i think we’ve gotten used to that one though – after only a few minor mis-interpretations.
anyway – i have a few photos to share with you from the last few days.
benaulim, south goa.
benaulim, south goa. well we made it. rather than bore with a long winded poetic description of this place, i thought i’d let the sounds do that talking – recorded sat on a shaded terrace, in a small fishing village, just watching life.
What Barry says
got sent this movie clip earlier this morning. normally i just flick through things like this that get sent around but i was really taken by the style. banksy stencils in 3d motion – with an important message to boot.
indian preludes
what with all this thinking about india, i’ve been spending a little longer than i sanely should checking out various indian websites. there’s a site for everything! the indian rail site seems far more efficient than our offering and i’ve learnt a thing or too about indian cooking. it’s a little worrying that when googling for a site about british food to show an indian friend – this came up second! i just love the line “After lunch the father will smoke his pipe and read the newspaper sitting on his favourite armchair while his wife washes the dishes” – under a picture of the typical family having sunday lunch. it doesn’t mention anything about trolley teas though.
anyway – here’s some indian sounds to tease the ears. sometimes, simple everyday sounds can be the most evocative things.
ThisWayPlease.com
this way please… go check it out, fred’s been busy.
EDIT: more here
Am I more important than the internet?
with a certain magazine deciding to strip the most important thing in the world of its capital “i”, it’s good to see some people are sticking to their guns. i mean – these things are important!
india bound
well it’s time to get out there again. our flight is booked for mumbai – we leave in a few weeks for 3 months. time to get planning. whoop!
Photos
now that i have a brand new digital camera in my hand, i can’t stop snapping again. i think it’s only right i try out some open source image browsing code. take a peek at what i have mostly been doing this summer 
