Nostalgic Solo Trip to Mamallapuram

It has been more than two months since my last blog. Every weekend i would think of writing about some or the other thing, but nothing pushed me to write. I got settled and comfortable in Chennai now, so no more struggles to adapt or any survival stories, and i didn't find anything else i did or happened to me interesting enough to write. I almost wrote about my visit to my college hostel, NM bakery and Leiden restaurant last month. It was a nostalgic trip and i was very excited every minute i spent there. I should have written immediately after that, but missed and got lazy later. So i needed something to push me to write. I wanted to continue writing about something or other, so i won't stop that habit and my dream of becoming writer one day might become possible. I read this phrase somewhere, "If you can't write something worth reading, then do something worth writing". So i decided i will do something or travel somewhere, so i can write about them.

 I visited Mamallapuram/Mahabalipuram once, when i was in Chennai for few months in 2008. At that time, we didn't see all the places there, not even aware of all the places there. It was just a place to visit then, with friends to hangout. I didn't have any more reason then, such as interest in Tamil/ Tamil Nadu history or architecture etc. Later, after i went to Mumbai, one day when i was extremely bored, i opened these pdfs which i had in my hard disk for long time and thought will give it a try. That pdf was Ponniyin Selvan Part1. Then there was no stopping me, i read Ponniyin Selvan, Sivagamiyin Sabadham, Parthiban Kanavu, Solaimalai Ilavarasi and Mohini Theevu without break, all Kalki's historical fiction novels. My interest in Tamil language, Tamil History grew, i wanted to visit Mamallapuram and Thanjavur temple again.

Here i will just talk about Sivagamiyin Sabadham and Mamallapuram. Sivagamiyin Sabadham is set in 6th century at the peak of Pallava dynasty, covering the rulings of Mahendravarman and his son Narasimhavarman(also called as Mamallan), after whom Mamallapuram is named. Kalki took few historical incidents and characters, and added many fictional characters and incidents and spun a great novel in this. The novel timeline was set a little before the monuments at Mamallapuram was built. But, throughout the entire novel, he showed how the city of Kanchipuram is filled with art and artists and their patrons such as King Mahendravarman and his son Narasimhavarman, and their relations with the artists and how much they cared about them, nurtured them and their vision to make arts which would lasts for generations to come. So in a way, the novel sets the expectation for you to make you visit Mamallapuram immediately after you finish it. And i felt exactly the same way. But i couldn't take off from work and come to Chennai whenever i want then, so i just moved on to next Kalki's novel.

Now its almost 8-9 years since i read Sivagamiyin Sabadham. I have decided before coming to India that i will visit Mamallapuram only after i read SS for the second time, so i can go with that feeling and excitement.  I started reading SS again last month, this time in hard copy, as i wanted to reduce the time i spend on screens and also i wanted to give the book to my mom after i complete. I couldn't read at a speed with which i read the first time, as i already knew the story. But i started reading slowly and steadily few pages per day, and every day it just reminded me how much i missed reading Kalki. He is indeed, the 'King of Narration'. The amount of detailing in book about the history of 6th century, the research he must have done in 1930s and 40s, to write this, it made me wonder again, 'how this man could've done this'. Everything came to mind again, how i was impressed with every scene he explained, the explanation of every characters mental anguish, anger, pride, responsibility, love etc. You could never hate any character in them. He gives so much respect even for a villain character.

So as i was reading slowly, my trip to Mamallapuram kept postponing every weekend. Also i was waiting to complete my scooter's first service. Last week the first service was done, but i was still in part 3 of the novel. I decided to visit this weekend for sure, even if i don't finish the novel by then. I was already indulging in the artistic Kanchipuram of 6th Century every day, so it should be the perfect time, i can even sit and read SS in Mamallapuram. What a nerdy moment that would be!!!!

I decided to visit Mamallapuram on Sunday and start from room as early as possible like 6-7. I don't remember when i last woke up at 6 on a sunday. I couldn't sleep on saturday night till 3 AM(sunday morning). I kept searching all the monuments in map to make sure i don't miss anything this time. I was checking what are all things i need to take like charger, powerbank etc. and ofcourse the SS book. When i finally slept, i didn't think i would get up at 6 in the morning, but surprisingly i did and got ready and started at 7AM. It was less traffic in the morning, so i didn't have any trouble driving and it was very good to drive that early in the ECR road. I first stopped at 'Tiget Cave' which is located 5 kms before Mamallapuram. Tiger Cave is an unfinished monument and there was also a Shiva temple near by which i think excavated recently.

There i met a foreigner who came there with an Indian. The thing i heard from people travelling solo is that you can meet and talk to a lot of strangers and make friends. I didn't actually want to make any more friends but i definitely want to talk to strangers a lot, because i'm very bad at that. So i just started a conversation with both of them and explained a little history i knew about the place. I asked if they're on their way to Mamallapuram and they said they're actually on their way to Pondicherry. So i said bye to them and started to Mamallapuram. First i had breakfast in a restaurant which i already searched based on the 4 star rating. Just a habit i picked up from USA, i think stop that in India and just eat at small restaurants. When i reached that restaurant, it was empty. Even the owner lady was surprised to see an Indian walking in and the first words from her mouth was "We don't have idli, dosa here, only omelettes, toasts and stuff". Then i had breakfast and decided to go to 'Descent of the Ganges' first. That and Krishna's butterball and many cave temples and monuments were in small mountain. This is the place i visited before in 2008. I didn't visit 'Shore Temple' and 'Pancha Rathas' before, both of which are located in two different places but within a km from this place. I started with 'Descent of the Ganges' and slowly covered all the monuments in the mountain. It seemed i missed many places see here even the last time. I walked slowly and covered all the places in my own time. Though, it was sad to see our people not treating the place with the respect and admiration it deserve.I saw people peeing behind some rocks in the mountain and i had to walk carefully not to step on human feces. It made me angry initially, but also made me realize, however bad people treat the place, those filth will be washed away in a day's rain, but these monuments will remain the same because of their rock-cut structures. Many more such sculptures made in those days might have got lost or damaged or stolen, but these monuments there cannot be moved or damaged. Whoever came up this idea of sculpting on the giant rocks in their own place, must be a genius. It made me remember SS again and how Kalki included that vision in that novel through Mahendravarman. Back to the bathroom problem, i did think people may not have a choice sometimes as not much public restrooms are there in our place and i myself faced the same problem few months back (Check my 'B(P)eing in Public' blog).  Then i noticed there was a toilet block at the back of the mountain. From the looks of it, it seemed built recently. Maybe people are still not aware of it. I only noticed after i walked around and went to backside of the mountain. So if any of you go there and had to attend nature's call, there is a bathroom there and please go there and attend.

Descent of the Ganges

                                                                                          

 
 Other than 'Descent of the Ganges', Butterball, and 7 cave temples, there are still many small structures which are amazing such as Wells, bath tubs, thrones, pallanguzhi, stairs, etc sculpted in various parts of the mountains. If you go, you should walk slowly and try to cover everything in there. After covering almost the whole mountain i thought of sitting somewhere in shadow and read SS. I sat under a tree, but not exactly under, as i didn't want crow feces in my book, a little far so that i get shadow but not under the attack from the crows. I was towards the end of part 3 then and i sat and completed the Part 3. I stopped reading then, because i wanted to save the next chapter, my favorite, the 1st chapter from Part 4 for the places i'm going to visit for the first time, either Shore temple or Pancha rathas. Before leaving that place, i went to the light house and saw the panoramic view from the top and i could see the Shore temple from the top. Even from there it stood out and looked beautiful. It was on the beach, surrounded by green lawns and Bay of Bengal behind it. So i decided next to go to Shore Temple.

When i got the ticket to Shore temple and started walking towards it, i could see how beautiful it was. That whole walk towards it, i couldn't takes my eyes off it. It just looked so beautiful. It was a small temple but again made of one whole rock, but something made it look way more beautiful than anything else there. Maybe it was the beach and the ocean behind it. People have to park the vehicles and walk some distance towards it, so traffic sound was not there. Just people murmuring and taking pictures. It was calm and relaxing and i just kept looking at it and clicking pictures. The scenes from the novel kept coming to my mind and i felt like Sculptor's(Sivagmai's father) place and his works from the novel are in front of me. Not 'like', it was actually there.

Shore Temple

And then i even started hearing the sound of sculptors sculpting statues, i.e the sound of tiny hammers hitting on rocks. For a second, i thought i was hallucinating. Then i saw few workers actually working there and hitting stones with hammer part of some maintenance work there. Then i was relieved that i haven't gone crazy yet, but still thought the coincidence was uncanny. It was like they were making background music for my mind. I wondered how that place would sounded like when thousands of sculptors were working there simultaneously. Then i thought this is the perfect time to read my favorite chapter from SS. I sat there and started reading the 1st chapter from Part 4.

Modern Sculptors

In that chapter, the sculptor was sculpting a statue alone as opposed to many students there used to work, and this again made the sound i was hearing there accurate to that chapter. And i should tell you about the 'Descent of the Ganges' which i visited before, had a description in front of it which said that there was a natural division between the rock and how the sculptor used it intelligently to use it as river Ganges flowing from heaven. It also said some say that the person who is doing the penance in the statue is Arjuna(thus its also called 'Arjuna's Penance) and some say that the person is Bagiratha. In this particular chapter which i was reading, the king praises the sculptor for doing the Bagiratha statue on the big rock and praises him for skillfully using the natural division on the rock as river Ganges flowing from heaven. And I was praising Kalki at that moment for skillfully incorporating this inside the novel.

It was little past noon and scorching heat at that time and sun was hitting on my face. People would have definitely thought i was crazy. Even more when i asked a stranger to take a picture of me reading SS with the Shore temple in background. But it was worth it. That picture is my watsapp dp now and i already got some compliments :). Pic is below.

After taking that pic, i wanted to take notes about the sculpting sound, auditory hallucination things etc so i don't forget that while i write the blog. So i sat in the lawn and took my notebook and started writing down notes. After i kept the notebook inside my bag, i saw an youngster come up to me and asking "Hi, i saw you writing down something in your notebook, if you don't mind, can i see it?". I was confused and not sure who that guy was and why he wants to see want i wrote in my notebook. I wondered if he is some security guy there and checking on me since i was sitting there reading and writing like no other tourist would do ;). I looked confused and asked "Why do you want to read my note book?". He told, "well i have never seen anyone taking notes in a place like this, so i was just curious. If you don't mind you can show me". I said ok and showed my my notebook and said "I mostly scribble there, no one else can read them". Then he asked me about my interest in the place and i told about the SS book and how i wanted to visit the place ever since i read that the first time. He said he heard about the book too, and it was in his syllabus for Group2 exams. Then i got interested too and asked about his group2 preparations etc. He finished college couple of years ago and attending training courses for group2 exams since.  He was surprised to know i work in IT and still interested in Tamil literature, history and stuff, Then we started talking for about 15-20 minutes about tamil literature, tamil history, Sangam period, hidden tamil history, Aryan domination etc etc. Finally i made my first friend through travelling solo. Then we exchanged numbers and bid adieu.

Pancha Rathas

Last stop was the Pancha Rathas. Each Ratha in them was gorgeous. No matter how many pictures you take there, you still won't have the satisfaction of a perfect picture. From all the sides it looked amazing. I wish i had lunch before i reached there, so i could have just sat there and kept watching them and may be read more SS. But i was hungry and i slept only 3 hrs, so i couldn't spend more time there. But it was stunning.

Overall Every monument in Mamallapuram was gorgeous, beautiful, stunning and whatever synonyms are there for those words. And i'm yet to complete the last part in SS, which i guess won't take much time as its my favorite portion of the book. As far as travelling solo was concerned, it wasn't bad. I might even call it good. Still i would prefer to travel with people with similar interests. But that grows very unlikely day by day. And i still have Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjur in the list. That also i visited only once during my college days. I have to read Ponniyin Selvan before i visit that place again. Considering the volume of Ponniyin Selvan is 3-4 times SS, it will take quite sometime for that. My next big travel plan is to Goa with my school friends. I want to spend time on visiting Old churches and forts rather than beaches there. Will see how it goes and let you all know about it in Jan. Till then, bye............

Getting Theosophical!?!?!!!!!

I'm still struggling to survive in Chennai road and traffic. But the moment when i park the scooter in office and when i park in apartment at night are the most satisfactory moments i have in day. The satisfaction that i reached without any incidents. I'm still being tutored by my friend about the driving and the rules to be followed on the road. By rules, i don't mean the traffic rules implemented by the government. The rules followed by people to survive on the road. The rules i have learned so far are as follows:

1. Don't follow all the traffic rules blindly.
2. Don't give a damn about people honking horns behind you.(Which i have trouble following after driving in USA for close to 7 years where honking is very rare and only when we do some mistakes. So i still get flustered when i hear people honking behind me).
3. Don't give way to anyone. 
4. Exception to rule#3, give way only to Vehicles driven by women, because they are bad drivers and you would end up in accident and public supports only women. (This may sound little sexist or anti-feminist, but, 'Hey!!! i'm trying to be safe in road and not hurt others, so whatever tip helps me it's fine.)

I try to follow these, but in signals especially, where people try to squeeze in whatever gap they find, people keep honking me to squeeze ahead, but i'm still not comfortable to do that. So either i get scolded(which i don't hear much, thanks to helmet) or move my scooter with legs to squeeze in between vehicles. There are some places where there are no signals and after some time people lose patience and starts forcing in the oncoming traffic, it's like a war zone. One army trying not to give way and one army adamant on squeezing in and stop the oncoming traffic. One good thing is, even though i'm a bad driver, as nobody follows rules, even if i make mistakes, people adjust and get past me or avoid running into me.

This weekend also i stayed in Chennai, so i wanted to visit some new places this weekend. After the visit to the Anna Centennial Library last weekend, this weekend i decided to visit the Theosophical Society in Adyar which is just 4 kms from my place. Before going there i read something about Theosophy to get some introduction about it. First of all, it is different from Chrsitian/Boehmian Theosophy and its called Blavatskian Theosophy named after its founder. Is it a Religion? The answer is both 'Yes' and 'No'. It combines all the religions and mentions there is one absolute God and promotes Universal Brotherhood and that there was an ancient religion which will be revived and spread throughout humanity in the future, replacing dominat world religions like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism etc.The more i read about, it did indeed sounded like a religion. So i really didn't know what to expect there. Anyway it was open to visitors only 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon, so i thought i will just cover the gardens if nothing else was there to my interest. 

Saturday my friend was also available, so we both went decided to go. Before leaving we were checking if any memberships are required or any entry fees etc. It was mentioned in their site that there are restrictions on Saturday like 'No Young couples allowed'. I guess they mean unmarried young couples.  I don't blame them for this rule. Anyone in India would understand why that rule was in place ;). If not, you should take a walk in some public park and see how young couples behave. I don't blame young couples in India also, they don't have much place to hangout. 

When we reached the entrance, the gate was closed, but i could see just then an Uber car entered with some foreigners. I got down from my scooter and went to the gate and called the security to open the gate. He gave me a look like "What do you want?". I said we're here to visit the Theosophical Society, and asked whether we came in wrong timing. He said its open now and looked behind me and asked "No girlfriend right?". I said "No, its just us guys". Then he opened the gate and behind us there were a couple on a bike whom he didn't let in. 

Only the garden and some historical buildings portion was open to the public and certain areas were open to only the Members of Theosophical Society. Inside it was very calm and peaceful. We couldn't believe we were in Chennai. You never hear that much silence anywhere in the city, except for occasional birds sound. It had few Banyan trees which must have been there for over a 100 years and we couldn't find where it primary trunk was. There were other trees which we normally find in villages and some i never heard or seen before such as Punnai maram(Alexandrian Laurel tree), Poovarasa maram(Indian Tulip tree), Magila maram(Bakula Tree/Spanish Cherry Tree), Badam Maram(Almond tree), Nagalinga maram(Cannonball Tree), Arali maram, Mavilangam(Garlic Pear Tree), Puliyamaram(Tamarind tree), Chembaruthi chedi(Hibiscus Plant), Aanai kunthamani (Coral wood tree), Kaattalari maram(Suicide tree), kalli mantharai(Temple tree) etc. You could cover an entire botany class in that garden.

In addition to these, there was a coconut plantation and it looked exactly like a village. If anyone in Chennai who has never seen a village, you can check this out. And i saw a tree full of bats, sleeping upside down which i was seeing for the first time. I was little scared that one or two might wake up and come and bite me. Saw a couple of parrots sitting in a tree too. 

There was a Hindu temple, a Mosque, a Catholic Church, a Buddhist Shrine, a Sikh Shrine and a Zoroastrian temple inside the garden. Most of them were locked, so we couldn't enter any. There were few buildings built in 1800s and one building had the statues and logos and many different religions and their respective religious figures with a phrase "There is no religion higher than the truth" printed in the middle of the room. Some meeting was supposed to happen, so the security was rushing us off from that place. Many foreigners who are members of the society visit there it seems. After all this was first founded in Newyork and then the headquarters was moved to Adyar(the place we visited). Annie Besant was its President for 26 years(1907-1933) until her death it seems. I remember her name from my childhood textbooks as supporter of Indian Independence. Never knew this side of her. There was a bookshop and a library, both containing only books related to Theosophy and all the religions.

Overall it was a nice place just to hangout for couple of hours, especially for families, considering no young couples allowed ;).  And i still don't exactly understand what Theosophy means and what exactly they do there now. I guess you can know only if you're a member. But for general public, whatever they allow for general public is enough to spend couple of hours.

After we completed the visit by 4, i didn't want to go to room soon, so we searched for any places nearby and found that the Broken Bridge is nearby and decided to visit that. It's a bridge, as name suggests leads no where, a broken bridge. It was built in 1967 to connect fisherman from Adyar side to the other side. The fishermen who worked in harbour would then take bicycles, tricycles, rickshaw to cross the bridge. After the bridge was broken in 1977 due to strong currents of Adyar river, it was never repaired after and became a spot for youth to hangout and to see sunrise/sunset. It was used in many movies(by which i came to know about this) such as Ayutha Ezhuthu where Suriya and Madhavan fight. So the main reason i wanted to visit the bridge was just as nerdy movie fan.

From Ayutha Ezhuthu

Me

After taking a couple of pics, there wasn't much to do there. Had to leave soon because of the foul smell. On Sunday i visited the Anna Centennial library for couple of hours and i guess i will go for atleast few hours on any weekend i'm in Chennai. 

Next weekend i may go to my hometown, so it will take some time for the next blog.

Badminton, we're still playing once or twice in the week. But should increase the frequency for it to have any effect in reducing weight.

Reading Challenge is at 17/30, still 4 books behind schedule. Have to complete 13 books in 13 weeks exactly. I should apply some force on the accelerator to complete that. 

See you in the next blog with some new (hopefully interesting)experience or stories....

Started Driving and Reading!!!!

Since the incident I mentioned in my last post, I have traveled twice in bus - to my hometown and to Bengaluru. Both times I made sure I followed things properly to avoid the occurrence of same incident again and I'm glad to say it didn't happen.

Also, I finally got the Yamaha Ray ZR Scooter which I booked this week on Wednesday 12/09/2018 after a long delay. The reasons for the delay were: 

i) There was a rule change which imposes that the new vehicles should have 5 years insurance instead of current one year limit, so the dealers were asking for some extension for them to implement this rule. 

ii) The usual delay which happens in any paperwork 

iii) Superstitious reasons such as I shouldn't buy or receive a new vehicle on Tuesday which I'm not supposed to ask why. So even though the scooter was ready for pickup on Tuesday, I had to pick it up on Wednesday.

For the past 3-4 days, I'm driving the vehicle with my friend in the backseat guiding me to and fro from room to office. As expected I struggled(ling) a lot. I couldn't balance in the first place. I leave so much gap between my vehicle and the vehicle in front of me, that cars are entering and filling the space in between. Moreover, I get scared a lot when suddenly some one comes in front of me or overtakes me and I loose balance immediately. My friend almost lost his cool a couple of times due to my driving. First day I went to office and came back to room safely, without any damage to me or the vehicle. But unfortunately my shoes got worn down because I kept touching both my feet on the road while driving , whenever I loose balance. Good I didn't start driving with my slippers on.

The 2nd day, I scraped onto a another bike and fortunately there was no damage incurred to either the vehicle or the person riding it, but i got slightly injured on my foot. After that, my friend was skeptical to sit behind me any more and mostly he drove for the next couple of days if he was with me. I drove only when I went somewhere alone. After that, not many incidents have happened and I'm driving somewhat ok now.

For the last two weekends I was not in Chennai, so this weekend I thought I will stay back and will definitely visit some place. I started checking few places where I can go for the weekend. I wanted to go to Higginbothams, the book store in Mt.Road ever since I came to Chennai, so that was on my list. Then I found this place called Theosophical society near Adyar, which seems like a very calm place to hang out. Theosophy means study of God or nature, something like that. Then the 3rd place in my list was the 'Anna Centennial Library' in Kotturpuram. A bookstore, a theosophical garden and a library. Just mentioning these options to my colleagues, they looked at me like I'm a nerd or a nut job. I finally decided to go the library. All the bachelor friends I know in Chennai, are the ones with whom I'm sharing the apartment. One friend was busy getting married this week. So I asked another to accompany me to the library on Sunday. Only because I'm not confident enough to drive alone to a new place yet.

On Sunday, as expected my friend backed out citing some other appointment. But I was sure that I wasn't going to spend entire weekend just sleeping in my room. So I told him that I'm going alone. He warned me to take the auto as he is still not confident about my driving. But I told I will drive properly and took off alone. It was just 8 kms away from my home and before leaving I checked the route properly. Surprisingly I reached there in 10 mins without bumping into anyone.

I parked the scooter in the parking lot and got very excited to enter the building. Its an 8 storey building which all belonged to the library. There is a self-book-reading section in the ground and first floor and there were many people in there reading, writing etc. The entire building was pretty silent. I went up to the 2nd floor which is dedicated wholly to Tamil books. Once I entered that floor, I couldn't contain my excitement. I felt like a kid in a candy store. Everything I saw, I wanted to taste it. Historical fictional works by authors like Kalki, Sandilyan, recent books by Vairamuthu, Jeyamohan, books on Tamil history, Indian history, short stories, Novellas, novels, articles, essays, Sangam Literature along with explanation, Tamil epics, even translation of famous other language books such as War and Peace, one shelf just for books about Periyar, one shelf just for books about Anna and one for books written by Anna, Indian constitution, Right to information Act and many law related books all in Tamil. It was overwhelming. I spent almost an hour just looking around thinking 'I wanted to read this', 'I didn't knew these books exist', 'i would like to read these', 'wowww...this is too much to take'. I felt dizzy actually by looking at that floor full of Tamil books.

Then I told myself that I shouldn't waste my time in just browsing and should actually start reading something. So I started the first book which caught my attention the moment I entered, which is a book titled 'Kandeebam', written by Jeyamohan as a part of series called "Venmurasu" based on characters from Mahabharatha. He has written 18 of these and this 'Kandeebam' was the 8th book. This book is about Arjuna, his 4 wives and his bow Kandeebam. I started reading in the same floor, they had many sofas and tables with A/c on, so it was very comfortable to sit and read. Only problem was that I had cold and I was coughing and sneezing every now and then and I couldn't sit and cough there, disturbing others. So I was rushing to the restroom every 15-20 minutes to clear my throat, nose etc and thus couldn't read in a flow.  So with this intermittent  disturbance, I read till 7PM and completed around 90 pages. The library doesn't lend books, so I couldn't check out any. I think that's actually better, because people won't be responsible enough in returning the books on time or in good condition or pay the dues properly. It anyway works out for me as the Library is nearby and I can manage to drive now. I can come whenever I'm free and sit and read in a peaceful environment.

Before leaving I went to the 4th floor to see if it has all the English novels which I want to read and to my happiness, everything I was looking for were there. And with the computers in each corners and proper indexing, it wasn't difficult to locate the books either. I couldn't believe it's a public library in Chennai. Wish they could also maintain the washrooms. Some portions of the building are still under construction and I think there's a conference room, amphitheater etc. There was a food court too and an Aavin Milk(similar to Dairy queen) parlor inside the building. So yes, I finally found the perfect place where I can read peacefully. If you can't find me in my office or in room in Chennai, now you know where I'll be.

My book count now is at 16/30 and i'm still 4 books behind schedule, but now I have hopes that I'll catch up soon.

Badminton, I didn't play much in the last couple of weeks. Should continue that properly.

Now that I'm driving, I'm hoping to explore new places and things to do. Going all Solo! Let's see how it goes....

P(B)eing in Public

Its been almost a month since i arrived in Chennai now. Room cleaning is still going on, but room looks a lot better now. Work started in the office. Still i'm learning to adapt both in the office and outside in the city. In office, its definitely weird with all the people around talking in tamil, as i spent most of my working days in Mumbai and USA with people talking in Hindi or English around me. I don't feel like i'm in office, rather feel like in college. It would take few more days to get used to that i guess. And i hate that every time i step out of my cubicle and come back, i have to search for a free chair and push it to my place and adjust the chair to my height and sit.

Outside in the public places, still i'm learning how to behave, what to do and what not to do. In some places like Browsing centers, xerox shops etc., i walked in directly with footwear on and some even had to rudely tell me to leave them outside. So now wherever i go, i first look outside if others left their footwear outside or if people inside wearing their footwear or not. The thing i'm still not able to figure out is where a queue is. Most of the times i go and stand in banks, cafeterias when there is only one person before me talking to officers or ordering food in the counter and i assume 'ok, i need to stand behind and form a queue'. But when i do, after sometime someone else will come and go directly to counter even while they are still dealing with other person and start ordering their food or start discussing their requests, simultaneously giving me a look like 'why is this fellow standing here?' . To save face, i had to start looking at menu in the wall and act like i'm still not decided what to have or look around like waiting for someone.

I went to my hometown 2 weeks back, which i decided i have to go at least 2-3 weeks once to compensate for not being home for 4.5 years. That was also a new experience as i never much traveled in bus from Chennai to hometown often. When i was in Mumbai i used to come to Chennai via flight and reach my hometown via train. And i always came during non-festival times to avoid crowd. Chennai to anywhere in weekends it busy and crowded in buses. So i had booked a semi sleeper to go  and sleeper for return. Friday night when i had to go to Koyambedu from my office i took a government bus and it was full crowded and it brought back all the memories of when i used to travel like this and be happy even if i get a proper place to stand first and slowly after few stops will get a seat to sit and i would feel like the luckiest person in the world. Same thing happened this time too, but i realized how people of all financial strata were in that bus and soon after reaching koyambedu, people will split and some will go to take a government bus, some semi sleeper and some sleeper, with A/C and without A/C etc.

I reached Koyambedu and got on the semi sleeper bus which i booked, though i had hard time making sure i got on the right bus, with my Dad and sister kept calling me giving me tips on what to check, how to check with drivers, like the final destination of bus, whether it will go through our home town or not, if not where should i get down and tell the driver to stop at that place and tell conductor to wake me up etc. Then i reached home in the morning and again, my village felt like heaven to live. Same old Prince-treatment in home, my mom's cooking, pillows flying when i lie down in front of TV, neighbors still coming to my home just to meet me and say Hi, playing with neighbor's kids etc. 2 days went by in a jiff and sunday night i boarded a sleeper bus which came via my village itself. As usual my Mom made sweets for me and my friends, this time Rava laddu and Ellu urundai.

I had to get down at Guindy, so i kapt alarm for 4AM and slept soon. But i woke up at 3:30 itself as i had to relieve myself. But the bus will reach Guindy only after an hour. So i decided to hold it, but it started getting difficult and i thought of telling the driver to stop somewhere so i can relieve myself, but i didn't know if that's normal or they will look at me like i'm from another planet(like some of you reading this thinks about me). With that hesitation, i kept holding it and the bus reached Guindy at 5 AM. Now i'm in a hurry and absolutely can't wait, i kept walking here and there to find a lonely place, but everywhere i could see one or two people. There was a subway nearby and i crossed the road through that and found that the railway station is just on the opposite side. For some reason i thought there will be a restroom in railway station, then reminded myself i'm in India. I couldn't stand in one place for few seconds, i kept walking here and there and crossed the road via subway both ways couple of times. But i didn't find any lonely place to relieve and went to nearby petrol bunk and asked them if they have a bathroom and they said no. Meanwhile i kept trying to find an auto/cab via ola and thought i can hold for few minutes and use the bathroom in my room itself. But it kept saying "Sorry all rides are full, try again after sometime". A part of me kept telling me 'come on, this is India, just pee away. No one will mind. You have done it a lot of times before you went to USA. Just turn your back and pee anywhere in the road, don't worry about people behind you.'  But another part of me kept telling me 'come on, whatever good habits you developed in USA, keep following that, like keeping the room clean, following rules, don't throw trash in street and don't pee in public. Why should you follow all good things in another country and once you're in your home country, you should start treating it like garbage and then blame the nation'. 

While my brain split into two factions and continued this debate about moral conundrum , my bladder was about to burst and if i don't open the gate soon, i'm running into the risk of flooding. While crossing the subway back and forth i noticed there was a place in the middle of subway, steps on the side leading into the middle of the road. But the exit of that stairs was closed with a shutter and it looked like a closed room. I decided that's the only place i can pee with minimum people around. Maximum one or two people walking in subway could see me, but what the hell. So i started walking into subway and went to those stairs near the middle  and it was dark and finally i started relieving myself standing in the angle so my back is towards the shutter and subway and i could hear few people walking in subway behind me, but i was too busy to bother about that. Before i could complete, a bus came and stopped exactly in front of the shutter and a bunch of people started getting down and i was standing right in front of them and they could see me through the shutter. It was a good thing i was standing with my back towards shutter, though not entirely. I felt so awkward and embarrassed, but i couldn't do anything, the gates were already open and can't stop the outflow. The bus left immediately and i also completed and finally relieved. Still little embarrassed, i started walking in subway and towards one side of the road and the second i entered the road, there was a man peeing on the side of the road and of course many people were in the road minding their businesses.

I started thinking how much ladies would be facing this issue in our country. There was no public restroom in many places. I don't know if there are restrooms in local railway stations. Remembered how ladies are very careful about not drinking water before long travel, using restrooms before beginning travel etc. After coming from USA, i'm trying to follow few things, like doing physical activities such as badminton, reading books, keeping room clean, washing clothes regularly, not eating fried items much, not using same socks twice etc. But these are all personal things which i believe i can maintain in long term. But when going out and spending time in public places, being in traffic etc, i don't think i can follow rules. Maybe our country become too convoluted for that. After i start driving i will get to know how much traffic rules i have to follow and how much i shouldn't to survive in road.

I have booked an Yamaha Ray ZR and will get this week mostly. Initially i was hesitant to buy a scooter as i thought people would tease me saying it's girly and all. But after seeing the traffic in Chennai and how people drive, its really very scary. So i'm not worried about getting teased now. First let me drive the scooter and get used to our road and people, then i will think about driving bike in Chennai. Next week, would start driving scooter and don't know how many new bad words in Tamil i'm gonna learn in the process.

About continuing reading habits, i just completed one small book "Periyarum Arasiyalum". Not getting the mood or proper time and place to read a book. Still trying to find a way to continue reading. Ordered a couple of Murakami books via amazon and they are waiting in shelf for me.
Book count for the year at 15/30.

Started playing badminton regularly and it's definitely a good physical activity and hoping to continue that and get better in that slowly.

Chennai's Welcome

Ever Since my Visa extension denied, my friends and colleagues were teasing/threatening me about Chennai. I have only stayed 3 months in Chennai in my life, when i was in bench during initial days of my career. So technically i have never worked in Chennai. Never traveled to office on a daily basis. The major things they mentioned about Chennai is its traffic(though not as bad as Bangalore), and the fact that i have never driven a gear bike in my life, and the recently increasing phone snatching incidents. They told not to take my phone out in public, even if i have to i should be careful and brief etc. Some said that i will know how difficult it is to go somewhere or meet somebody and how i have to plan well in advance for all those things. One of my friend, immediately after hearing that i'm coming to Chennai, uttered the phrase "Sivaji, neenga America-vukey thirumba poidunga, Chennai-lam ungaluku othu varaadhu". Colleagues especially told about offshore work environment, the politics, and once i'm in Chennai i can forget about coming back to USA, as already many people are in line waiting to go to USA. And everyone strictly said "Don't ever go to TASMAC, if you want to drink, go to decent bar or get from elite wine shops".

At the end they also said some good things like "Boss, however it is, that's namma Chennai and you will get used to it and then you will have a good time", "Chennai is the most happening place boss", "You will definitely love hanging out in Cafeteria, tea breaks, etc in office which you don't experience much in Onsite", "Enjoy your rest of the bachelor life" etc.

Once i decided i'm going to Chennai, i told two of my college friends who are still in Chennai and as bachelors, that i will be coming to their room to stay. So few things i took as positives are that
1. i will be staying with my college friends for the remaining bachelor life and i don't have to worry about finding roommates and sharing apartments with strangers etc.
2. I can finally start driving bike and being with college friends would be helpful in that aspect too.
3. However nice life i had in USA, i felt lonely in the last one year, except when i spent time with my GF, so i thought i will be surrounded by people in and out of office and will be a learning experience work wise and personally.
4. I have few friends in Chennai from college, work, school etc and i can visit them and their families finally. I missed attending friends and their families functions etc for very long time.
5. And finally i can go home in the weekends and have my Mom's cooking and relax in home.

Few things i worried about are(other than the things which friends already warned):

1. Its a chance to start driving bike, but will i be able to?
2. I was playing Tennis, volley ball, badminton, cricket etc in the summer in USA. Would i do get to do any physical activity in Chennai ever?
3. I started reading for last one year, and will i get to continue that habit in Chennai?
4. And with the Scorching heat and lack of physical activity, would i grow dark and fat?(My GF worries a lot about this ;) ).
5. I'm going to stay with my college friends which is exciting, but how clean/dirty the room is going to be?

After a week's rest in home, i decided to leave on friday night so i will Chennai on Saturday morning and spend the weekend in Chennai before reporting to office on monday. The main reason for reaching Chennai early is to clean the room. I definitely know my friends would still keep the room as same as how we kept in college. But after living relatively clean in USA, i can't live in a room which is that dirty. So i reached Chennai on saturday morning and had my first Ola ride and reached the room. And it was exactly how i imagined it would be. It was like i time travelled 10 years back to college.

I said 'Hi' to my friends, had tea and some chitchat and they went back to sleep and i immediately started cleaning. I got tired very soon and realized its not possible for me clean(2years of dirt) completely and gave up. But i couldn't even breath in the room. It was suffocating, and wherever i look, its dirt and bathroom floors and tiles were darker and water was not flowing out of drain properly in toilet and the faucet in the toilet was broken. I started thinking if i should really live there. Then we met another friend who came from abroad for vacation and while chitchatting i told my friends(now roommates), that i can't live here with the room in this condition that either we need to clean the room completely or have to look for a PG for me. They said "ok, we'll have some cleaning guys clean the room and if you're still not satisfied, we'll look for a PG for you" and i said 'ok'. Then on Monday we hired a guy for cleaning and he cleaned the bathroom floors, walls, all the floors in all rooms etc with Acid and fixed the drain in toilet, replaced the toilet faucet, painted the toilet floor with white cement and after all that the room didn't look so bad. Yet there were many bags and suitcases in the shelves covered with dusts which we need to clean later. But to start with, the room looked better and i decided to stay here itself.

The first weekend we traveled to few places to meet friends and mostly via Ola and it wasn't so bad, but i was terrified to see the traffic and the way everyone drive in the road. I tried driving my friends bike once and gave up even before going 100 meters. I decided first i should start driving a normal vehicle like scooty or activa and get used to the Chennai crowds, traffic and cows in the roads and then i can try driving a gear bike.

Whenever i walked in road, i couldn't breath. Everywhere the stench of garbages, fish markets, piss, spit etc and i was afraid to breath actually. With my room also very dirty for first few days, i think i actually exhaled air thrice than i inhaled. I was getting worried about how i'm gonna live here and it was a nostalgic feeling like wherever you go new, you get that worry and fear, but later you get used to it. But here i don't want to get used to all these. Sure, i can't clean the roads, but atleast the room i can keep clean and slowly we continued cleaning the shelves, kitchen etc and tidied up the room in one week and the room looks a lot better now. We started cooking too, thanks to Kalaignar's demise which made the shops closed for a day.

And the office, its very new to me. When i first stayed in Chennai for 3 months, i rarely went to office or worked in an ODC,cubicle etc. So looking around and everywhere people and all speaking in Tamil is totally new to me. Cafeteria especially looks like a marriage hall all the time. It was also nice to see so many girls around, i rarely saw any girls in office in USA. I just got the ID and Access cards in the first week and the work is not yet started completely and i getting used to stay in office till 9PM.

Overall, Chennai scares me a lot, but i'm getting used to it. I can see the change in a week itself. But i don't know if what to get used to it completely, because i don't know what my long term plan is. My GF is waiting for me to come back to USA. Even if she comes back to India and we marry next year, we can't settle in Chennai as she doesn't speak Tamil and it will be overwhelming for her. So for now, i'm settling in Chennai temporarily and have to look for other options soon.

So far, i'm not doing any physical work like gym or sports etc and if i maintain that way, i will become fat(ter). I started reading a book and i have to catch up soon with my count of 30 books this year(14 completed so far).

More on my life in Chennai in the coming days.............

Thai Manne Vanakkam - Part 2

I finally got the email from my company a week later on 07/12, mentioning that my Visa extension denied and i have to leave the country in 1-2 weeks. People kept saying that i'm going to India after 4.5 years and i should buy lot of things for everyone in home. I'm terrible at buying things for other people. My girlfriend accompanied me for shopping and those few days we were fighting for everything, even in buying chocolates. I didn't want to carry any extra baggage. I'm really lazy in submitting claim request and following up with managers for the same and all. So i just fitted everything in the allowed 2 check-in bags and one carry on bag. In the airport i still had to throw away 3 kg chocolates and couple of shoes etc to bring the weight of each bag to 23kg.

Flight was booked on Etihad airways and i finally left USA on 07/18/2018 and reached India on 07/19/2018 night. Whole travel i couldn't sleep much. My mind was on how i'm going to adapt to India and Chennai soon and whether i should try my chances of going back to USA soon or not. My Dad and my cousin came in cab from my hometown to Bangalore to pick me up. Two of school friends also came to airport to see me. The moment i came of out of airport and saw my Dad,cousin and my friends, i couldn't stop blushing. It felt like a generation after i'm seeing them.

Then we started immediately and reached my home on 07/20 3:30 am. That travel itself gave a glimpse of India. The traffic, the honking noises, bad odor on roadsides, unhygienic restaurants on highways etc. Then after reaching home, it was awesome, relaxing, comfortable and full of love. I soon realized how much i missed spending time with my family, my village, neighbors, relatives etc. Looking at Mom's smile makes us forgot all the worries. Getting insulted by sister makes us forget all our ego. I stayed one week in home and had my favourite foods(that are most delicious only when my Mom cooks) that i have missed very badly for long. Idly with Tomato kurma and coconut chutney, rice and karuvattu kuzhambu, Idly with Mutton kurma, Appam with coconut milk, lemon rice(i never liked lemon rice unless its made by my Mom), Banana stem stir fry, various green leaf dishes, etc.

First 2-3 days i only ate and slept due to jet lag. Then started meeting relatives one by one. I hardly recognized anyone other than people who were past 30. More new kids, kids had become grownups, teenagers had become adults. Everywhere new houses were built, all the streets in which i played when i was a kid looked very small, maybe due to the all houses became big and tall. Meeting the relatives made me feel how much i have been an outsider for so long, yet they still treat me as special. Almost every one in my village came to my house to say 'Hi'. It was good to see my village and the people didn't change much, except for bigger houses. Neighbors chatting till 11PM at night, people walking into each others houses with just yelling "Yekkovvvvv....", neighbor's kids playing in our home, helping neighbor kids homeworks etc.

I practiced gear bike for few days and had some improvement. But still my Dad kept telling me to buy a gear-less two wheeler as it would be difficult to drive in Chennai. As the days kept passing and i had to leave for Chennai, fear again struck in me. CHENNAI.....ever since Visa rejection, people kept teasing me that i'm going to have a tough time in Chennai. I finally left for Chennai on 07/27 night.

Chennai's welcome, soon....

Thai Manne Vanakkam!!!!

I came to USA on Oct, 2011 and the last time i went to India on vacation was on Mar 2014. I have been spending more than 6.5 years in USA and almost last 4.5 years continuously. I planned for a vacation once in Feb 2017 but cancelled at the last moment due to some stir caused by the Trumps Immigration ban. My GC process also got started 2 years ago and i have my I-140 approved through which i applied for H1B Extension beyond the 6 year limit. Since i applied for extension back in Sep 2017, many things happened. I got released from my Support project(in which i thought i'm irreplaceable, but the onsite position itself got scrapped), then the next short term project which i was working on almost went into deployment and got messed up and later it took few more months for the deployment. On a personal level, i finally revealed my love story to my parents(i would write a separate blog detailing that) and got approval for marriage.

After applying for extension, i didn't get any update from USCIS for almost 7 months and finally on April, i got RFE. Few other people who applied for extension after me got theirs approved in 2-3 months(though they are still within 6 year limit). RFE is never a good news, especially in current times. Nowadays, its often the harbinger for rejection. So after i got the RFE i knew the possibility of extension approval is 50-50. So i was preparing myself mentally for both the results. More than me, my Girlfriend and Dad wished a lot for my visa to be extended. My girlfriend came to USA just 2 years back and she certainly wants to spend more time here and she doesn't want me to go back yet. My Dad kinda always wanted me to settle here and especially after i revealed him about my girlfriend, he thought its better if we both stay in USA for sometime after marriage. So they both were constantly checking the VISA status with me.

My girlfriend kept insisting me that i submit the documents on time and fill the details properly on every stage of the process. I, on the other side really didn't care much about the result. I was getting bored here and badly needed a change. So if i get visa, i will move to another state for another project and if i don't i will finally go to India. I kept it that simple. But this result just wouldn't come. My company responded to RFE only at the last few days as more RFE's were coming these days and they have to work on cases on priority.  After submitting RFE, i had only one month left for my Work authorization to expire(240 days since i94 expiry). So i can't afford to sit and wait again endlessly. So i requested for Premium processing. Once i submitted premium processing, people were saying that the result would come any day now.

I started checking the USCIS portal and my email the first thing daily morning. One week passed on nothing happened. I started losing patience and getting irritated everytime i check the case status and my mail. I just wanted it to get over and really didn't care about the result. I always had my luck with USCIS so far. I had my L1B visa approved when around 10 people in my account got rejected back in 2011. Then the first year i applied for H1B, i got picked in lottery. But this time i thought my luck would run out. So i was preparing for that and notified my apartment society for ending my lease by July end and settled my car loan and got the title so i can transfer to my girl friend if i have to leave. I was ready then to leave the country(or)state and just waiting for the result. 2nd week started since premium request and again same. I get up, check case status online, check my mails and nothing. My girlfriend had subscribed for notifications about my case status from USCIS. But USCIS site is not always up to date and not reliable. So i have to check both my mails and status online. More and more it got delayed i started losing my mind. I didn't want to get up in the morning, i wasn't getting sleep and most of the days i slept only at 4-5AM in the morning. I stopped cooking(which recently i got more interest and got really better), i stopped buying groceries for long term, i couldn't plan for July 4th(which surprisingly i got 2 days leave in my account) vacation. Because i may have to pack any day now and i may not get much time as my i94 expired long back and have to leave the country immediately in case of rejection. My Dad on the other side, checked astrology and was telling me that he was sure that i will get it approved between July 9-11th.

By the End of July 3rd, there was no still no update and i planned to go on a short 2-day trip to Wisconsin with my Friends here and their families. But on the whole trip i was checking the status and mails every one hour. I was in talks with few people about my next project in a different account and everything was getting delayed because of this VISA extension result. After the trip was over i again started checking status and mails from Friday(July 6th) morning. Saturday actually i was about to go to Phoenix to attend my Friend's son's 1st birthday party which i couldn't plan for because of the delay in VISA result. I so wanted to go and was checking the status on Friday every 30 mins once. Also checking the flight tickets which was costly on the last minute, so i was checking flight to Vegas which was cheaper relatively and planning to drive from Vegas to Phoenix. So i thought if no update in result by 4PM, i will  book a flight for Vegas and drive to Phoenix from there so i can make it to Saturday birthday party.

12:00 PM - "Case Received and Receipt Notice Mailed on June 22" (No Update)
12:30 PM - "Case Received and Receipt Notice Mailed on June 22" (No Update)
01:00 PM - "Case Received and Receipt Notice Mailed on June 22" (No Update)
01:30 PM - "Case Received and Receipt Notice Mailed on June 22" (No Update)
02:00 PM - "Case Received and Receipt Notice Mailed on June 22" (No Update)
02:30 PM - "Case Received and Receipt Notice Mailed on June 22" (No Update)

* June 22 was the day Premium Processing was filed with USCIS.

Flight from Chicago to Vegas that night was 180$. Checked Rental car also from Vegas for low price. About to book both.

03:00 PM - "Decision Notice Mailed" "On July 3, 2018, we denied your Form-I129 and mailed you a decision notice that explains why we denied your case and your options. Please follow the instructions in the notice. If you do not receive your denial notice by July 18, 2018, please go to USCIS site to request copy of notice...."

Ok Thats it. Luck run out.

I called my girlfriend and said its denied. She thought i'm kidding or checked some other case id(i do things like that, believe me) and checked the status in online to double check. Once she confirmed, she couldn't believe and i could hear welling up and about to cry. I told her not to cry in office and will call her later. Then i pinged my friends in office in watsapp group and everybody was in disbelief.

I saw the status updated in USCIS site on July 6th and the status said they said notice on July 3rd itself. So i wasn't sure how long i'm allowed to stay here and when should i leave. As July 4 was a holiday i thought the notice wouldn't have reached my company by 6th, so i kept waiting for monday. In the weekend i cleaned the room, washed the clothes and packed and almost ready to go. But no email from my company on Monday(July 9th). No mail on July 10th and none on July 11th too. I started panicking. My friends were telling me to be careful that if i overstay i may not be able to enter USA again ever. So i tried to contact HR, Manager, Immigration department and anyone i can, but everybody kept telling me that wait for the email. I also submitted a ticket and got response from my company that the decision notice isn't received from USCIS yet and it normally takes 7-15 business days for the mail to reach and i'm allowed to continue working until then. I still don't know how many days i will have after the notice reaches my company and they send me an email. But i'm ready to leave anytime and just waiting. Now daily morning i'm just checking my emails and every hour from morning.

Then the other problem is that i switched from my old company to current company in USA. So i'm a USA hired employee, so i need to get a project confirmed in India first, only then i will be transitioned to India payroll, else i will be out of job when i arrive in India. So the quest for project and also the location(either Chennai or Bangalore) has begun and was in progress.

I'm going to go to India after 4.5 years, so people are saying i should definitely buy things for family, friends etc. Some of them might ask me to carry stuff to India which i cannot deny. And i'm hesitant to inform all my friends in India to avoid their requests to carry stuff for them. For me and my family, as usual i have no clue what to buy.

A lot of things are going on my mind right now.
1. Climate. How difficult it would be to adapt to India after nearly 6.5 years since i came to USA initially.
2. Office. How difficult it would be adapt to offshore working culture, like staying in office till 10, doing all works other than the actual work, transportation from office to room and vice versa(Man!! Am i going to miss driving a Car),
3. Bike.I'm still not comfortable driving a bike in India. Have to learn that soon after i arrive in India.
4. Food. I don't have to cook in India where ever i end up. I will miss cooking new dishes in weekends though, but i can compensate by eating variety of items i missed to eat when i was in India. I didn't even many South Indian food item's names when i came to USA. I have huge list of food items which i want to eat in various parts of India.
5. Reading.  I like reading and i resumed reading books in Sep, 2017 after a gap of 2 years. Ever since i'm reading on regular basis. I will definitely miss Barnes & Nobles and Libraries here a lot. Sometimes i just go directly from office to B&N and browse some books and start reading some random and continue the book. I won't get such an environment in India or at least that i know of.  I have completed almost 14 books this year out of New Year resolution Count 30. Some how i need to continue the habit irrespective of however busy i get in work or other things.
6. Writing. After coming to USA, i rarely wrote about my experiences or any short stories in my blogs, even though i have visited a lot of places here. But in India, definitely a lot of adventures will happen just in our normal life and i'm sure i can continue writing again once i'm there.
7. Marriage. Well, then there is this thing. As my GF would be in USA for at least another year, i can't think about getting married for an year. But there are definitely few things which i need to take care before i get married and i need to be in India for that and hope this Visa rejection is a blessing in disguise for that.
8. Friends. Almost all are married and most of them with kids. So friends, who i can hangout with in India are very few and i have to use whatever time i get to enjoy last few months of our bachelor life there.

So i'm looking forward to the email from my company very eagerly and can't wait to land in India soon and feel "Thai Manne Vanakkam!!!".

Few of my friends are still in my condition(I-140 approved and awaiting H1b extension beyond 6-year limit) who are waiting to see what happens with me. I will keep them posted on the details.