Chaotic Chennai and peaceful Puducherry

Exam week was around the corner and the whole country was celebrating Diwali later that week. Me and a bunch of friends didn't have any exams but were curious how the south looks like so on Friday evening we flew to Chennai. Catching a taxi from the airport turned out to be a challenge but fortunately we met two boys from IIM-A who could help us to get a taxi. One of the two, Raj, showed us the city later and we also immediately were invited to have dinner at his home during our stay in Chennai.

The first morning in Chennai we woke up hungry and wanted to take a rickshaw into town. The distance was 14 km and instead of asking in our eyes a normal price (140 rupees) the drivers wanted between 500 and 700 rupees. We didn't find an agreement and followed the recommendation of the hotel to take a local bus for 13 rupees. It was very cheap but we spent some two hours just sitting in the bus - and we were very hungry. The weather forecast was not predicting very good weather and after the breakfast - which turned into lunch - we went to look at the Chennai fort. We found only the museum about the fort, where we could hide from the rain. In the museum we learned that the flag of India represents the Hindu population (orange), the Muslim population (green) and the white in between was partly for peace and Gandhi, and partly for economic development.

St. Thomas Basilica.

Raj came to the fort and together with him we continued adventures in local buses. It has been a while since I've sat next to a homeless drunk guy in the bus, but here the guy was completely harmless. We went first to St. Thomas Basilica, which is for catholic people a pilgrim location as it is build on top of the thumb of apostle Thomas. In general, the south has quite many churches and the share of Christians of the population is then also bigger than here in the north. Next we went to see a Hindu temple. There a dance performance by young girls was about to start. The girls were very good dancers, acted very well even the facial expressions to go with the story.

After the temple we continued to the rooftop of a house owned by Raj and his family. We just missed the sunset but saw the city turning into its evening routines. Next we wanted to go to 10 Downing Street, a pub recommended by Lonely Planet. It was hard to find and no one really knew it, and neither do we because they refused to let us in. A sign was hanging at the door saying "formal dressing, couples only". It was a strange feeling to be refused from a pub, but luckily there was another restaurant on the other side of the street were we could eat but not order beer. Finland and many other countries could learn from the Indian policies to restrict availability and accessibility of alcoholic beverages. It is only sold in government approved shops, only for a few hours in the evening and you rarely see extremely drunk people on the street.

One of the cave temples.

The next day Raj joined us to Maamallapuram which is a smaller town a few hours outside Chennai. It is - surprising or not - know for its temples. The Cave Temples was made inside rocks, and we were climbing up and down the rocks. Lunch was again South Indian food, and we got to eat it from a banana leaf - the more sustainable option than plastic plates. The Shore temple was at the beach. Besides looking at the mor than a thousand year old temple, it was great to just watch and listen to the ocean doing its thing.

Back in Chennai we took some time to fresh up before going to the home of Raj. His mother had spent two hours in the kitchen to prepare our food. We started with Diwali sweets to start with, followed by good fish, chicken and vegetable dishes with dosas, chapatis and idli. When at some point Domenico stood up to wash the hands in between, the father of the family ran into the toilet and demanded us to not finish yet. The food was extremely good, and it was easy to follow the orders to eat more. "It is only one day," they kept saying. The conversation over dinner was also interesting, from siblings and importance of family, to taxation and municipality waste management. Before leaving Laura and me got jasmine flowers for our hair by the lovely mother of Raj.

Back at the hotel we went to bed early to wake up early and continue the journey. We were happy to leave this city were we spent so much time just stuck in traffic, which did not really have any logical planning and where the weather was unfriendly. Our next destination was Puducherry, a former French colony down south from Chennai. To illustrate how terrible the traffic is, we spent one hour just to get out of the city and three more on the way to our final destination. How can the people living in Chennai bear it, we kept wondering.

View from the balcony in Puducherry.

Puducherry is a very charming small town. This time we stayed in an Ashram Guesthouse located next to the beach. There was a garden for yoga, signs supporting sustainability values and giving good advice for life. As it was a place for spirituality, there were strict rules which we almost obeyed - gates closed at 10.30 PM, no smoking or alcohol allowed in the rooms and the like.

We started our day again with lunch - salad for starters, fish & chips and pasta as a main course and for drinks Indian white wine. After lunch we started to walk around trying to get a sense of the city. After chaotic, busy and hectic Chennai this was it seemed Puducherry was the most peaceful town you could find in India. No honking and no waste lying on the street but instead people on bicycles and houses in good condition. But after crossing one street and walking over a bridge with smelly water we arrived back in India as we know it - traffic, waste and lots of people. The contrast was very much visible, but we were left wondering how come. Dinner that night was steak with beer, and after running back to the guesthouse in a thunderstorm we spent the rest of the night playing cards on the balcony, enjoying our evening snacks and listening to the ocean. I think I found my happy place in this town.

Our second day in Puducherry started with breakfast in a French bakery and yet again the food was good. They had everything there - croissants, baguette, cakes - and we think the owner must be a french expatriate. The prices were of course not modest, and yet Indian people were a mayor customer group based on what we saw there.

The Matrimandir.

Next we continued to Auroville - a place which can be described with anything between sustainable and creepy. It was build as an ideal society, a place owned by no one but humanity, were people would be equal and live happy and sustainable lives. There are only four hours a day when the visitor's center is open and only after watching a ten minute video about Auroville, we were given a pass to go and see the Matrimandir - the center of the community what looked like a space shuttle. The village is not very accessible for people from the outside and that raises some eyebrows. Online we found stories about child abuse, child prostitution and rape. Later in the evening we ate dinner in a pasta restaurant, where the Italian couple told that instead of living together, people stay with their own nationalities - the French hold the bureaucracy in their hands, the Russians to whatever they want and Italians are friendly with everyone, according to the wife.

After Puducherry we took a night bus and went to Bangalore - more about that later!