Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Marina Beach, Chennai Pride March

I first visited Marina Beach the evening of Saturday, June 27 with a colleague from work. As I didn't have my camera then, I decided to return the next day and take some photos. At 13 km, it is one of the longest beaches in the world, and very wide too. It is popular during the day and more so in the evening, with cool breezes blowing in from the Bay of Bengal. There are many stalls offering snack food and souvenirs, merry-go-rounds and ferris wheels for small children, and balloon target practice games for older beach goers.









People go to the beach to visit and spend time with their families and friends. Cricket is hugely popular - I must have seen at least two dozen matches in progress on Sunday afternoon. A few people were riding horses and some brave souls were playing in the waves. The current is very strong here and there are no life guards, so swimming is not recommended.





Fishing families also live and work on the beach. They were especially hard hit when the tsunami struck on December 26, 2004, which claimed 206 lives in total in Chennai.



A friend explained to me that the beach is also a place to say a final farewell to someone who has passed away. I saw two separate groups of people near the water, preparing to commit the ashes of a loved one to the sea.

On the Sunday I was there, local activists held Chennai's first ever Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Pride March. About 200 LGBT people, family members and supporters joined in the march along the Marina Beach road. The theme for the march was inspired by Tamil poet Mahakavi Subrahmania Bharathi: "Hues may vary, but humanity does not."



The event was both celebratory, with some colourful costumes, and political, with marchers calling for the repeal of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalizes same-sex activity. Onlookers appeared to be mainly amused and curious, but since I don't understand the local language, I was undoubtedly missing some of the reaction. The march proceeded peacefully, albeit temporarily displacing several cricket matches on the road. Several marchers wore masks, concerned about serious consequences if they were to come out. However, at the end of the march, participants were celebrating.

Post Script: On Thursday, July 2, 2009, the Delhi High Court "read down" Section 377 and decriminalized same-sex activity between consenting adults, and read "sexual orientation" as one of the prohibited grounds of discrimination of Article 15 of the Indian Constitution. It appears that the decision applies across India. The ruling is in response to a case brought forward in 2001 by the Naz Foundation (India) Trust, an HIV/AIDS service organization, with subsequent support from Voices Against 377, a coalition of groups in favour of the change. The Times of India has devoted pages of articles to the topic over the past two weeks.

Monday, June 29, 2009

A Visit to Sri Ramakrishna Math

On Saturday June 27, 2009, one of my colleagues took me for evening prayers to the Sri Ramakrishna Math, a temple he likes to visit. The temple welcomes all, irrespective of religion, caste, creed, race, and nationality. The temple you see in this picture was constructed in the 1950's, and is one of several buildings on the property. The grounds are green and peaceful; people talk softly or walk in silence, as this is a place of meditation. Before entering the temple we removed our shoes. Inside the temple, we sat on the carpeted floor, men on the left side and women on the right. At the front and centre is a statue of Sri Ramakrishna, the founder of the temple. On the left is an image of his esteemed disciple Vivekananda, and on the right an image of the Holy Mother.

The service consisted mostly of singing, led by monks who were seated near the front, and accompanied by musicians playing small hand drums (tabla), a tambourine, and a keyboard instrument that sounds similar to an accordian. A leader at the front would also ring a bell (for an entire song at the beginning) and perform various rites. I did not understand the words, but the overall effect was one of reverence and devotion.

The temple is very active. Besides religious services and lectures, they have a library, bookstore and printing press, and they run several charitable programs directed towards healthcare, education and disaster relief.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Government Museum

On Sunday June 21, 2009 I visited Government Museum. It has a lot of variety, including antiquities, a national art gallery and a children's museum. I found the stone and bronze antiquities very beautiful and interesting. Most of the ones on display have a religious or heroic theme. The museum has panels explaining the meanings of the various works. However, the wealth of detail, lack of guidebooks for sale, and my sketchy memory have left me as an untrustworthy guide, so I hope you can appreciate the beauty of these works for their own sake. The one panel I do remember somewhat described the tradition of "hero stones." Stones would be carved celebrating the military exploits of important warriors. The stones might include images of both the sun and the moon, suggesting that the hero and his triumphs would be remembered forever. I found this example especially striking. Of course I forgot the name of the warrior.

The National Art Gallery includes a collection of historical and contemporary paintings. It includes portraits by the esteemed Indian artist Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906) that are considered national treasures. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a good image of one of his works onto my blog. Here's a link to a example of his work that's similar to the ones I saw at the museum.


The grounds of the museum are a peaceful oasis in the middle of bustling Chennai. As I was admiring the trees, I noticed that some of them were filled with ... bats! Hundreds of them! Here's some video of them hanging upside down, flapping their wings to keep cool in the afternoon heat. You can hear many different birds in the audio.




One of the things that I wasn't really prepared for in Chennai was how much I stand out in a crowd. When I walk down the street, strangers wave and say hi. At the museum, a small group of people stopped where I was sitting and struck up a conversation with me. Two of the guys asked if they could take their picture with me so I said sure. I also asked them if they would use my camera to take the same picture for me, which surprised them a bit, but they obliged.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Un Canadien errant

I had a wonderful surprise birthday party at work today. Co-workers from Mississauga told co-workers in Chennai that June 19 was the day. I was called into a meeting room and everyone was there. They sang me Happy Birthday and someone sang me another song in his language. They gave me a beautiful gift and card that everyone had signed. We all had some chocolate cake too.


Sorry I don't have photos of the celebration itself, but because of security rules at the office, we're not allowed to bring in cameras.

Part of their tradition is that the birthday boy sings a solo! This is true, because someone else had a birthday celebration earlier in the week and the group insisted he sing a solo too. I went blank and couldn't think of a song I could sing that would fit the occasion and for which I could remember the words. Fortunately, someone suggested I sing a French song and it came to me: un Canadien errant. Well, partially came to me. Here are the words I sang:

Un Canadien errant, banni de ses foyers (2x)

J'ai oublié les mots
Je les ai inventés
Un Canadien errant, banni de ses foyers

Translation:
A wandering Canadian, banished from his home (2x)
I forgot the words
I made them up
A wandering Canadian, banished from his home

I chose to not provide my audience with the translation. Is that a bad thing? :-) I did tell them it was about a Canadian who was far from home.

In case you're wondering, you can find the real words here, along with an English translation. For a beautiful rendition of the song (not mine), check out this YouTube video. This guy is singing from his room at Camp Athabasca Lodge, not far from Fort McMurray in Alberta (my home province) and it is really heartfelt.


Don't worry, I'm not homesick! But thanks everyone for the comments, emails and Facebook wall posts - I really appreciate them.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

The food is delicious!

I've been in Chennai less than 72 hours and I've already had several excellent meals.

On Jet Airways I opted for Indian vegetarian meals, and had one with okra as the main dish, and another with eggplant, two of my favorite vegetables in Indian cooking. The dishes were served with a mixed vegetable dish, rice, lentils, raita (a savoury Indian yogurt condiment) and hot sauce on the side, so that diners could choose the amount of heat they wanted in the dishes.


On Friday evening, I went with co-workers for an Indian buffet at the restaurant in the Fortune Select Palms, Chennai hotel, situated at the IT corridor. The food was fresh and carefully prepared, and included tandoori chicken that was tender and very flavorful. Our conversation focused a lot on cricket. India was playing the West Indies in London and most eyes in the restaurant were glued to the large screen TV on one wall, or the projection screen TV in the adjoining courtyard. My Indian co-workers made a valiant effort to explain the sport to me, but I think I will need to make more of an effort to figure out the rules.

I'm fortunate to be staying at the Taj Mount Road Hotel, which has three excellent restaurants: The Club House, which is open 24 hours and serves a wide variety of food, Beyond Indus, featuring North Indian cuisine, and Kefi, specializing in Mediterranean food. So far I've been eating at the Club House because it's hours are convenient for our schedule.

Easo Johnson is the executive chef at the hotel and he is credited with introducing Thai food to Chennai. On Sunday afternoon he gave my co-workers and me a Thai cooking lesson, so we donned the cooks' orange aprons and followed him into the kitchen. What a treat! He prepared 5 dishes for us: lemongrass soup, chicken, fish in oyster sauce with basil, stir fried vegetables and fried rice.

Thai food uses a lot of ingredients.
In addition to well-known Thai seasonings like basil, lemongrass and red chilies, our chef also uses white pepper, plus imported Thai fish stock cubes and fish sauce. I learned that Thai cuisine uses LOTS of chopped garlic (I'm guessing 1-2 cloves per serving) and that adding a little bit of sugar to the sauce will temper the heat from the chilies.

Chef Johnson expertly prepared our dishes and we enjoyed them very much! Thanks Easo!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

I've arrived in Chennai

I arrived safe and sound on Friday, June 12, early in the morning. I can't quite believe I'm actually here!


Tuesday, June 9, 2009

I leave for India June 10

I received approval for my travel this afternoon, and my plane leaves Toronto on June 10 at 6:10 PM. Yahoo!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Still in Toronto

I am still here in Toronto, as friends and co-workers have pointedly remarked. Depending on considerations at work, I could be leaving as early as June 9, 2009, or possibly later. I'll update the blog as soon as I have a date.

On Saturday May 30, I had my going away party at my home. Thank you to everyone who came or sent good wishes.

I didn't take photos or video at the party, but I will share with you a funny goodbye card I received from Dan, one of my friends from Swingin'OUT, the dance group I've been with for many years. Sorry my scanner didn't capture this more clearly.

On June 5, the team from work and I had Chinese food for lunch at the Imperial Buffet in Mississauga. A
ll-you-can-eat for $10.99, a huge selection and it was delicious! If you go, be sure to save room for dessert.

I tried packing this weekend. I think I can keep this down to two big suitcases and one carry-on, providing my boy scout tendency to "Be prepared!" is kept realistic.