Adventures in India

In March of 2005, I traveled to Tamil Nadu, India for Sivaratri celebrations. Here's my adventure recreated from a number of e-mails that I was able to send.

It so turns out that some friends from the Temple - Anand, his wife Vidya, and their son Abhinav were going to be in India at the same time as I was. Anand was leaving a few days before I was and working in Hyderbad before joining his family in Coimbature. They were traveling to the Murugan Temple in Palani for Abhinav's samskarm ceremony.

At first it looked like attending would require me to leave directly from the airport onto a long trainride then a bus to arrive at Palani. That simply did not seem feasible as the flight to India takes approximately 22 hours not to mention crossing the international date line.

We went back and forth on the arrangements a number of times before finally settling on a travel schedule that would allow me leave for Palani the evening after I arrived as well as be in Kanchipuram to celebrate Sivaratri with Seetharama. Arrangements were made for Anand's brother-in-law, whom I had never met to pick me up.

When Indians return home they tend to take a number of gifts for family and friends. Because the luggage restrictions are rather strict and I tend to travel light, I take some boxes that I pack containing their items back with me. On this occasion, Kannan Battar from my temple asked me to take back Temple decorations for the Andal (Bhoodevi festival) in Thiruvendipuram slated for August which consisted of a rather large oblong box. My luggage consisted of carrying diapers and other baby supplies for Abhinav, chocolates for Anand's family, and approximately 3 days worth of clothing for me some miscellaneous reading materials and an entire suitcase of items that Seetharama simply did not have room for when he returned home to India after living in the US for several years.

After a number of calls and arrangements it was decided that Seetharama would meet me at the airport to get his luggage, a friend of Kannan Battar's would make arrangements for the delivery of the Temple decorations (because that itself entailed a 4+ hour drive, and I would stay with the brother in law for the night. The plan was for me to hire a car to go shopping during the day, then we would take the train to Coimbatore (several hours ride) followed by what I believed to be a brief 1.5 hour taxi ride.

The day that I was supposed to leave, I had to work. I was oddly reluctant to go to India and excited all at the same time. Because of language and cultural barriers, these trips tend to be rather challenging. Due to work, I packed and did a number of things at the last minute. I forgot the baking study guide that I printed out at work, Anand's telephone number, Siva's telephone number (a friend residing in Chennai), and my reservations for the hotel at the airport in Singapore.

Luckily, Singapore provides free internet services. You are limited to 15 minutes at a time. I had e-mailed myself the reservations to print out and was able to find the travel hotel without a problem, although it was more expensive than I would have liked. Turns out later that I had misconverted the money situation, so the hotel was actually cheaper than I thought. The shower and brief nap were worth well worth the amount of money that I thought that I was spending, although airport food and prices sucked! I used my ATM card to buy some rather interesting confections.

Because I was being met at the airport, I did not have a lot of cash with me. In fact, I had around $40 US.

I arrived in Chennai in the evening only to discover that the brother in law did not show up. Fortunately, Seetharama did or I would have been at a great loss. We waited until almost 1 a.m. before leaving for Kancheepuram which is about a 2 hour drive. Unbeknownst to me there had been a snafu in communications, so the poor man arrived at the airport after we left and waited long into the morning to discover that I was not there. Anxiety abounded for all involved.

The trip to Kanchipuram was uneventful although by then I was near exhaustion. Hotels here are open almost all night so I was able to check in.

That evening, I wondered why I had come back to India. I also contemplated whether religious activities were even anything that I wanted to continue to pursue. I hadn't been to Temple in months, done pujas, or meditated for that matter. I convinced that this was my final trip and I that I was done. I managed to get some sleep before grabbing a light breakfast, "take shower" (which involves filling a plastic bucket with water then using a smaller scoup to pour the water over you. A much better way of conserving water and hot water) then get dressed for a morning puja. I was up at my usual 6 a.m. even though that would be 5:30 p.m. for you guys in Calif.

They start at 6:30 a.m. and end with a yagya (fire ceremony) on the roof of the building that concludes at approximately 12:30 pm. each day.

Then they eat lunch and rest during the afternoon before arriving do an evening puja at 6 p.m. This has been going on for several days now. I will be early joining them tomorrow (3/5).

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