2 Jan 2010

Today was overly stimulating to a point where it was almost scary. In fact i felt scared at some points. We started our day off at a dark 4:30am before the sun but not before the temples began blaring music. Every morning that i have been here the temples start our day between 4 and 5am with loud music. They also serenade the sun as it sets at five in fact i am listen to some hindi music playing from a temple a few miles away. This month in hindu tradition is a time when it is seen as essential and good to wake up early in the morning. For 15 day the music plays loud and competes with other temples in the area for the loudest songs. Traditionally it would have been members of the temple to sing but now its just a cd over a PA system.

So here i am before the sun and on my way to Samyarpettai the beach finally. We can't be situated more than 10 miles from the coast and i had yet to see the Indian ocean from India. It was beautiful. The blazing red sun came up as we made our way south toward this particular beach. Our drive VJ and guide for the day Tara as well as Tara's assist came with us. Tara is conducting a fish survey of all the fisherman on 17 fishing villages off the coast of India. With all of her stats she is going to assess the infastructure of the fishing and try to bridge the gap between the fisherman and the policy makers. On the beach was something i have never seen before. The beach was empty at seven but around eight it became full of boats and men laborusly pulled the boats onto shore. originally the fisherman had used raft-like boats to do their fishing but after the tsunami the government aid provided motor boats. At fist this was a great idea but the cost of fossil fuel became an issue and every other fishing boat became a hand on the motor boats. The men all work together to get their fish to market. the first place of sale is from the fisherman to the sellers at the market or transporters to the market. A few auctions happen at a time. the bushel of fish is poured onto a cloth on the sand and the elected autioneer handels the bids but also gets a share of the fish for holding such a role. the people who buy the fish are the wives and sisters of the fishermen. The women do the selling and the men do the fishing. This went on for a couple hours until all the fish came in and were sold. Depending on the catch, type, and size of the fish determined the price. A milk create full of fish would go for 6 or 7 dollars.

From the beach we headed to Pichavaram Temple. First we went and got so traditional Indian breakfast which was a crepe like bread wrapped around a potato filling with spicy curds and two other dipping sauces on the side. It was so good. We also had these deep fried dough things that puffed up like a balloon. It was a thin crispy dough that look just like a balloon and you dipped it in the same potato filling as the crepe thing. I wish i could tell you the names but i can't remember and they are difficult to remember and impossible to try to spell. Just look at the names of places.

The Temple was interesting. There were a lot of people asking for money because it was very touristy. Four huge structures stood at the cardinal directions and acted as the entrances for the Temple. The whole space was the size of a stadium. Inside there were a few smaller temples. It was mainly for the dancing god. this god is very common it has the four arms. There was the temple of a thousand pillars. There was a huge pool in one part. There were three boys swimming in the green stagnant water and women came to sprinkle some water on their heads. There were also men sitting with just clothes wrapped around them praying and congregating. the there was the main temple where the dancing god was said to be dancing. It is here i felt so uncomfortable. There were statures of cows and many gods. you would walk in a cirle and get blessings from all the gods. At one station you drank holy water for one god. Then you touch the imprint of feet for the part monkey god. you were tapped on the head by another god. there was a chamber in the center where the men had to remove their shirts and walk inside to be blessed. We left our shoes outside the temple in what i thought of as the shoe park. you left your shoes, received a number and paid when you got back. I was nervous in the temple because it was a place of worship and there was trash and beggars all over the place. The holy space for these people was just a place for tourists to exploit and i guess that happens everywhere but i felt very uncomfortable to participate in the blessing first because i am not a Hindu and second because by participating i am cheapening someone else's ideas.Plus i had no idea what anything meant so by receiving a blessing from the monkey god how do i know i wasn't asking to become a monkey? i'm just kidding. It didn't feel right.

From the temple we went to the second largest mangrove forest in the world. the first largest is on the other coast of India. Chidambaram, we were there for less than an hour. We got on a boat that was supposed to take us out for an hour but it took us out for thirsty minutes. Way to take advantage of the tourists. So we just left and went to have lunch near the temple on the way back to pondicherry. A long car ride and now we are back on campus and exhausted from the long day. I learned a ton about India culture today. Its scary being here and uncomfortable, but i think culture shock is beginning to wear off little by little.

The inside of my nose is entirely black and my skin is beginning to get some color too. Blah pollution, thats why the sun was so red today.


love you all

sadie