CHENNAI: Part 4-- The Bad.....& The Bizarre!

The Bad:

Brace yourselves, dear reader. Lest you think I am having a glorious time traipsing around this country, think again! I am seeing the sides of India that the vast majority of tourists are kept ignorant of...purposely, of course! Because, obviously, if they saw this--the worst--of India, they would run away screaming, and there would go a huge chunk of income for this country. 

It is heart-breaking really... I keep trying to envision what it must have been like, hundreds of years ago, before modernization... before motorized vehicles, huge industries, and the horrific air pollution that has resulted everywhere in this country. Before packaged food,  plastics of every variety, and the mounds of endless trash everywhere as a consequence, including in all of the bodies of water.  Before the processing of staple foods--such as rice---bringing on an epidemic of diabetes to the people here. Yes, friends, such "modernization" of India has brought with it all of the horrors that are decimating this beautiful planet of ours. 

I hate to be cynical, but a lot of my wanderings in this country render me so.... In the second largest country of the world, population-wise, and fast winning the race for the top (beating out the current position of number one by China), it is difficult to maintain any hope. Tragic, indeed. 

This was once a land of deep spirituality and devotion (Yes, you still see it here...but less and less, as people become more and more materialistic.) The people walked, or rode on camels or horseback. Everything they used was natural and went back to the earth in a natural way. Not any more. In their rush to "catch up" to the rest of the world, they have adopted all of the worst of the west. What you see below is the result. There are days when I truly loose heart. So, here you, go, the worst of this country of 1.5 billion people:

Trash, and more trash... everywhere you look... sadly, ubiquitous in India. And, in this city, it is some of the worst I have seen yet!!

On the beach... everywhere. At high tide, being carried out into the ocean... horrifying, to be sure.

Right on the street... I almost stepped on this poor, dead rodent, and it wasn't the only one... 

I once had the happy misconception that most Indians are vegetarians. If this was once true, it certainly no longer is. Since cows are still sacred--at least to the Hindus--they eat plenty of meat in other forms...mostly, chicken. These poor, sad animals are kept in terrible squalor before being sold... crammed in tiny cages, such as you see here, squatting in their own filth...the cages stink as you pass by them. Indians also eat fish--especially in towns by the sea, like Chennai. AND...buffalo, which they call "beef". I imagine the meat must be very similar to that of a cow. How is it that a species related to the cow--as surely the buffalo IS-- is somehow NOT sacred and OK to consume?!?!  The treatment of these animals bred for food is just as bad as the factory farms in the west. Just sickens me no end.

I have already spoken about the tragedy of so many mangy, depressed, flea-ridden and starving street dogs. This is the hardest aspect of all for me to stomach--these wonderful animals--in other parts of the world, "man's best friend"-- having such an utterly wretched life on the streets in this country. Does a being's "karma" get any worse than this!?? (The pooch is curled up on a sewer cover, by the way... )

Even "natural" debris can be found everywhere on the streets... apparently, there is no street cleaning system at all to take it away. I wonder just how long it will remain there??!

Trash alongside every body of water I saw... creeks, rivers, ocean... all of it, and as I passed stunk badly... probably a combination of the rotting trash, and perhaps worse...sewage?!? Industrial waste?? Who knows...but horrifying, regardless. 

Because of the Christmas holidays, every evening along the Chennai beaches, one could see hordes of people, partying, splashing in the water, having fun and... 

....of course dumping their trash EVERYWHERE on the beach. Not a trash receptacle to been seen everywhere...and all of this garbage is soon to be carried off by the waves.... HORRIFIC! (Do I use this adjective a lot?!? I suppose, but how can it be otherwise!??!)

The bizarre:

Autos: Also known as tuk-tuks and rickshaws...but mostly as "autos" in India. A car is, well, simply a car, distinct from an "auto". They are worth "dishonorable" mention here because of WHAT a headache they are to take. I prefer them to cars/taxis because they are, typically, much cheaper. HOWEVER! Foreigners, beware!!!! These drivers will do their level best to gouge a foreign passenger every time, charging two to four times the normal rate a local will pay. In fact, I ALWAYS ask the locals what it SHOULD cost to get from point A to point B, so I have grounds to haggle on, and haggle I do. But... they are all in cahoots, these drivers... and they have an agreement that they will NOT succumb to a reasonable fare for a foreigner! Well... here is the good news: along comes Uber. Uber is virtually everywhere now in India, at least in the major cities. There is also Ola--its Indian equivalent--and often one or two more, depending where you are. But I stick with those two...Uber and Ola. Now, it sounds great initially, because at least I cannot be cheated--the fare is fixed. I just have to be prepared with cash, because they will insist upon it... AND have the right amount of change, because they never, EVER have change: it is their devilish way of figuring that, because you won't want the hassle of them having to try to FIND change at some local shop, you will succumb to their connivance and simply forfeit the extra amount. 

BUT... NOT ME! NOT EVER! Its not that paying the extra amount will break the bank, but I just won't do it on principle... I simply cannot be party to their corruption and thievery! SO... I make a point of having the exact amount, as much as possible. But now... therer is an additional problem: Sometimes they are simply not available, especially at peak times. Often, they will cancel repeatedly...probably because they find a better fare, or one nearer to their location. It is maddening, and everyone goes through this with them. Then, one simply has no recourse but to grab an auto that happens to be passing by. Then, of course, they will try to charge me WAY more than an Uber or Ola would. 

An example: An Uber or Ola fare from my airbnb to the famous old Chennai fort-- next up in the realm of the bizarre-- should cost only 100 rupees from my Airbnb. Of course the regular auto driver will charge me three times that amount-- e.g., 300 rupees. This is the moment when I protest, show them my phone, and explain how Uber/Ola would only charge me 100. But--they are not stupid!--- they KNOW I need them precisely BECAUSE Uber/Ola keeps cancelling, and I am getting desperate! 

So now, they will say something like, "OK, only 200, madam!" Insinuating that they are doing me a monumental favor by ONLY charging me TWICE the amount of what I would be paying to get an Uber or Ola!!! This is their "bargain" offer!!!!! This is the bizarre bit... they know that I know it should only be 100...yet, I should be bowled over with gratitude to have the honor-- the priviledge, if you will--of paying them twice that amount! AND, what's more, they will NOT relent!!! IF I refuse, and say, "100, not a rupee more!" then, they will simply refuse to take me. Even if it means that they will just sit there, on the street, with no passenger at all!!! As you can imagine, it is positively infuriating. And yes, of course I must eventually relent, and pay them their exorbitant fee, or simply not go at all!!  So I pay the fare, grumbling all the way there, often uttering expletives that I know they will not understand.  But this does at least help me feel a little better after being scammed yet again!!!

Not my photo... I guess I have such an aversion to the battle I go through every time I need a rickshaw ride in Chennai that I never wanted to photograph one myself...OR the drivers, who, by the way, RARELY ever smile, quite unlike the guy posed in this photo. Normally, they are surly, greedy, and insist upon a cash payment, even though they are not supposed to do this, per their Uber contract...but...who cares? It's India, and virtually anything goes! 

Fort St. George:

 Here is the descriptioin, per Google : "Fort St. George is a fortress in the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English fortress in India". 

It may just as well be called "Fort St. Knox", for the amount of rigamarole you have to go through to enter.  Because it is still a military base, you have to show ID (they took my driver's license since I didn't have my passport on me), write down all your identifying info from birthdate to residence to phone number... get scanned, looked over with a suspicious and critical eye...and finally allowed to enter. WHY??? Tourists such as myself ONLY have access to the museum, anyway, and surely there is nothing that could compromise government security there?!?!  Really WAS bizarre... as was the museum itself.  First of all, as so often is the case in India, a foreigner pays many times more than an Indian to enter this sort of establishment. In this case, the Indian entry fee was 25 rupees; the foreign fee, 300! Namely a whopping 12 times as much!!! An outrage, considering that are a GREAT many Indians far wealthier than many foreign travelers, like myself! But...such is just another of the many injustices that take place in this country. Furthermore, payment could ONLY be done through a special app online... which was a world of trouble. But...because I had traveled so far--after my usual, painful haggling with an auto driver--I was determined to go in no matter what. I succeeded in making the payment and entered, triumphant...

But...WHAT a disappointment! Only two floors were open...the upper two--well, you guessed it--closed for renovation or some such nonsense. The exhibit was none too thrilling.... and was easy to see in 30 minutes. In other words, a waste of time, rupees, and not at all worth the headache of getting there. 

However, ONE exhibit was noteworthy, and wonderfully bizarre... see below!

The "Anstruther's Cage"-- Captain Anstruther was a Brit who was captured and put in this cage--in China!--and rather than suffering from the extreme duress of such a cramped bit of confinement, chose instead to write about said cage, do a sketch of it,  and describe the experience in great detail! Then, hauled this cage from China back to India, where he was stationed!What an interesting guy, no?! 

It is rather hard to read, so I am going to tell you the story here, as I read it in India Times: 

"1840. What would you do if you were captured when surveying in China and thrown into a tiny cage with your kneecaps hammered? Captain Philip Anstruther of the Madras Artillery sketched his surroundings. Impressed, his captors allowed him a bigger cage. This is the fascinating story of Anstruther’s Cage. Legend has it that he used to always carry a gold mohur on his person — a gift from someone who was ugly, because Anstruther was uglier! He was eventually released and sailed back to Madras on HMS Blonde, with the infamous cage."

Hard to tell the scale from the photo, but this massive key was as big as a man's hand, and fit into a lock twice that size!! 

Not bizarre at all, but rather pretty...hence the photo. 

The old military garb...

A "baby" canon, which I found rather cute! 

The bizarre part? How proud humans are of their relics of destruction!!!

Yes, the unabashed discrimination against us "white" people...heck, I don't deserve this... I am not even British!!!

The museum itself-- not a bad looking piece of old architecture, to be sure... 

And finally... THE BIZARRE ENIGMA OF THE INDIAN STOMACH!!!!

Forget about the "French Paradox". Far MORE fascinating--and a much GREATER enignma--is how so many skinny Indians can consume half their body weight daily! Of course I am making that up... I don't REALLY know if it is that much, but it certainly APPEARS that way!! Suffice it to say that, no matter how small in stature, women and men alike can consume MASSIVE quantities of food at one sitting. Do they have stomachs two or three times the size of the rest of us?!? Certainly they must have metabolisms that are closer to that of a hummingbirds' than a human's. How else to explain what you see below??? Namely, such small, thin people consuming such HUGE plates of food!?!? 

This was taken at the Rama Krishna temple on January 1st, when a free feast for lunch was offered. See more about that in the next blog!

Amazingly, the women could consume just as much as the men...easily!!! 

Next up-- part 4 and last part about Chennai-- the wonderful day at the Rama Krishna Temple on New Years Day.