#745 A Day With Makers In India

India has a long tradition of skilled craftspeople making functional items with their own hands. We visited a village outside Kochi to learn more about their amazing skills.

Weavers make cotton fabric they sell to the government for schoolchildren's uniforms.

We boarded a shikara boat and headed into the backwaters.

There we met a toddy tapper. He climbs palm trees to collect the sap, makes a natural brew, and sells it to local toddy shops.

Fish farmers demonstrated catching their crop with handmade nets.

Local chefs made a traditional lunch, served to us on a banana leaf.

We saw palm fronds, in the hands of experts, woven into panels traditionally used in home construction.

Coconut husks, processed and expertly spun, make strong natural rope.

Locally harvested reeds are dried and woven into beautifully crafted smooth mats.

Our day with makers ended with milk-makers at a dairy farm where chopped local forage is the input and site-produced bio-gas fuels the operation.

Yours in appreciating those who make,

Kelly

#744 Indian Seagull

As our ship sailed into the Kochi harbor, the bright yellow sign at the Hotel Seagull caught my eye and I snapped a picture.

That picture was the start of a wonderful relationship.

Hotel Seagull

On day 2 of our stay in Kochi, a dinner group formed around the idea of eating at the Seagull's waterfront restaurant. Our mode of transit: the chaotic tuktuk.

Tuktuk driver, Me, Abby

We were all smiles after devouring our Seagull meal.

Our excellent host that night was Rajesh.

Abby, Rajesh, Bob

When I showed Rajesh the photo of his yellow sign, he raved and asked me to email the photo.

On day 4, another dinner group formed around the idea of revisiting the Seagull.

Mariah, Tom, Judy, Bob, Kelly, Marni, Mary, Abby

When we arrived, Rajesh's big smile let me know something was up. He motioned me to follow him, away from the restaurant hubbub, behind the scenes, and into an office toward a large desk. There amid the clutter, a color copy of my Seagull photo was under glass, on display.

Pointing, Rajesh exclaimed, "Your photo! Your photo!" as my photographic pride skyrocketed.

Yours in photo connections,
Kelly    

#478 Chennai Public Library

We stumbled on another library! 

The Connemara Public Library in Chennai has been around since 1890, though this new building was built in 1973.

Why is it that libraries and fish tanks go so well together?

The library is "one of four national depository libraries which receive a copy of all books, newspapers, and periodicals published in India." On a Sunday, the periodicals room is quiet.

From the back of the periodicals room, we find our way to the old building.

The stacks are closed in the old building, so we can't walk further.  But we admire the stained glass and the teak shelves and we remember this is where Ramanujan studied math.



Yours in enjoying another library day,

Mary



#477 Striking A Pose

Here's a picture story about one of our local guides in India.

His academic credentials were impeccible with advanced degrees in all the right topics.  He did a stellar job describing the Hindu gods and interpreting obscure temple symbology.

 He was a very serious man...

...until he delivered the body positions lecture.

Yours in making a point with humor,
Kelly  

#476 Ramanujan Museum

In November, Kelly and I traveled to downtown Charlottesville to see a play produced by Britain's National Theatre Live about a Chennai mathematician.  (Nod to Melinda and Margie!) 

A Disappearing Number tells of the "heartbreaking collaboration between the greatest natural mathematician of the 20th century, Srinivasa Ramanujan, a penniless Brahmin from Madras in South India, and his British counterpart, the brilliant Cambridge don GH Hardy." 

And now that we've sailed half way around the world to Madras in South India, we're eager to visit the Ramanujan Museum.   But in India, securing transportation to an obscure one-room mathematics museum off the tourist route is easier said than done.  With smiles and high hopes, Theresa, Kelly, and I head off in a tuk-tuk ready for an adventure.

After stopping 4 times to ask directions to the museum at 15/9 Somu Chetty, 4th Lane, Royapuram, Chennai, our tuk-tuk driver delivers us to Old No 15 (instead of New No 15) Somu Chetty - a fabric store.  We are so close!

A few minutes later, we cheer our driver as he pulls up in front of the Ramanujan Museum!



Inside, those of us who began our undergraduate careers studying math pose alongside the great mathematician himself.

We are warmly welcomed with cool drinks (orange sodas) and introduced to the math education centre that provides a hands-on, visual approach to learning math:  "Mathematics is not a looker subject like art, a listener subject like music, a looker & listener subject like dance, but a looker, listener and doer subject like craft."

And wouldn't you know it?  There's a community library next door to the museum with magazines in Tamil, children's books in English, and computer language instruction books in English.  Adults can subscribe to the library for 100 rupees per year.

Yours in appreciating the mathematical genius of Ramanujan and enjoying the library serendipity of India,
Mary

#475 Finishing our "puram" tour

After our temple visits, we visited a shop of silk weavers before leaving Kanchipuram (famous for hand-woven silk fabrics and saris) ... 

...for Mamallapuram (a UNESCO world heritage site) where we had lunch on banana leaves...

...before visiting the world's second largest bas-relief sculpture...

...and a 7th century stone carvers' playground...

...followed by the beautifully-sited Shore Temple.

Yours in enjoying the places I can't pronounce,
Kelly

#474 Unspeakable Names

For me there's something magic about visiting a place I can't pronounce. And from Chennai, we took a trip to Kanchipuram and Mamallapuram. So that's double magic right there.

Turns out Kanchipuram is so much of a "Temple City" that it is sometimes called the "City of 1000 Temples".  Most were built between the 9th and 14th centuries back when people said things like "City of 1000 Temples".  Now in the 21st Century, we'd say "City of 1K Temples" or "City of 1K Temples presented by Doritos" if we were even inclined to get off Facebook long enough make the effort.

On our trip, we did not count all these temples, but that 1K number could be correct since we have experience in not counting temples. In 2006, we were lucky to visit the temple city of Bagan in Burma.  We were younger then with more energy, so we have no excuse, but we didn't count the temples there either. I would say more than 1000 temples are there and UNESCO agrees.

Suddenly I have an urge to compare and contrast these two temple cities. But I've learned this sort of feeling always happens after a few months of the academic immersion that is Semester At Sea and if I lie down for a while, the feeling fades.

So I'll just quietly post some of our Kanchipuram pictures.



Yes, this religious icon needs further explanation.

Yours in saving the Mamallapuram photos for the next post,
Kelly

#59 India or Indiana

When I type “India” on my laptop, Microsoft Word suggests “Indiana.” Maybe that’s a sign. In Trying Really Hard to Like India, Seth Stevenson wrote “Back home in the States, it can feel like we’ve got life figured out, regulated, under control, under wraps. But here in India, nothing seems even close to figured out. Nothing seems remotely under control. You’re never quite sure what will happen next, and you’re working without a net.”

And Mark Twain wrote, “So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked.”

As hard as it is for this Missouri girl to side against Mr. Twain, I must admit that I fall more in line with Mr. Stevenson’s sentiments on the topic of India. And in the earlier post, Kelly didn’t even mention the 100-degree temperatures (as opposed to snow in Indianapolis), the fire in a students’ hotel room, or the insane traffic. And their postage stamps don’t even have any adhesive! But, on the other hand …
• One of the most fabulously beautiful sights in all the world has to be an Indian woman wearing a colorful sari. Even when traveling India by train in the oppressive heat of the afternoon, these women are beautiful.

• We safely returned to the ship from our 3-day adventure to northern India with all 68 students. The two students from the burning hotel room have a great story to tell.
• I like the Indian head waggle and I intend to try it out back home again in Indiana. Its meaning fits somewhere in between our head nod and our shoulder shrug – and I’ve been needing a gesture just for that.
• Indian food is good.
• And for a more positive, well-written, heartwarming experience in India, be sure to check out Erika's adventure - India is kind of a big deal.

Yours in wondering if that Hannibal native may have been right after all,
Mary

Current location: off the southern tip of Sri Lanka
Latitude 5 degrees, 58.8N Longitude 79 degrees, 56.4E

#58 Trying hard to find the beauty in India

They warned us about India.
• It’s not safe to walk anywhere, and don’t get in a taxi alone. – US Consular official
• “Eve teasing” is a common form of public sexual harassment directed toward women by Indian men. – Indian inter-port lecturer
• Port security officers may demand money to let you return to the ship. – Executive Dean
• “In India, a casual sideways shake of the head does not always mean no. It can also mean, yes, maybe, or I don’t have a clue.” – Lonely Planet India

So with those and many more warnings in mind, we left the ship for 3 days to visit the Taj Mahal with Mary and another staff member responsible for a group of 68 students. We returned sleep-deprived 3 days later with all 68 students, and some first-hand observations.
• Walkers faced a constant barrage of aggressive street peddlers. Taxi riders complained about being taken to multiple shops they didn’t want to visit so the driver could collect a fee from each proprietor.
• At one tourist site, our guide warned students not to be lured away from the group by smooth-talking local men. Shortly thereafter, one female student was lured away from the group by a smooth-talking local man.
• After checking our passport, visa, customs form, and boarding card, the port security officers allowed us to return to the ship without bribes and gave us the India head waggle for free.
• The India head waggle turns out to be something like a Stevie Wonder imitation completed with the motionless shoulders. Even with practice, I can’t duplicate the move and the exact meaning remains unclear.

The Taj Mahal, for all its hype, lived up to its billing as arguably the world’s most beautiful building. It sits in the city of Agra, described by the Lonely Planet guide book as “a place to endure rather than enjoy”. In Agra, and everywhere we traveled in India, we were struck by the visible air pollution, visible and overwhelmingly smellable water pollution, poverty, overcrowding, and general filth. When I travel, I look forward to bridges as they often provide the best views. But in India where open water equals open sewer, bridges mean time to hold your breath.

The Taj Mahal would be beautiful anywhere, but the gleaming white marble and surrounding manicured gardens are in such stark contrast to the norm for India that I question my ability to objectively judge beauty. In India, I found a clean toilet to be a thing of incredible beauty.

Yours in enduring India,
Kelly

#57 Arriving in India

Just two days after leaving Myanmar’s military regime, we’re about to visit the world’s largest democracy with over 1 billion people. Our ship will dock in Chennai, India, at 0800 Sunday. We’ll get a city orientation tour, then leave the ship on a multi-day trip to visit among other sites, the Taj Mahal.

We’re under serious pressure to conserve water on the ship on this segment of our voyage. The ship is constantly converting salt water to potable water, but not when the salt water is polluted as we witnessed in Myanmar and are expecting in India. On land, we’ve not been able to drink tap water since Japan, and now with the on-ship water shortage we’re taking Navy showers, using paper plates in the dining halls, and generally focused on conservation of dihydrogen oxide.

Our ship departs India late Thursday and we’ll post updates thereafter.

Yours in avoiding Delhi belly,
Kelly