Paul in India

Epiblog

I am now back in Mumbai. When I arrived two months ago, I was totally overwhelmed by this city. The heat, the traffic, the throngs of people. I was a lot less apprehensive about coming back. The traffic here in India is crazy, but especially in Mumbai. It is as if everyone is fleeing something in a different direction. Because of the density of the traffic, and the condition of the roads, no one really gets above 50 miles per hour in India, even on the main roads. This means that although there are constant near misses, no one gets excited about it. India is like a very big go-kart track.

In Periyar, me and Pete went early on Tuesday to buy some spices from Harris the spice man across the road. He gave me a hug when I left and taught me how to make chocolate. We walked to the bus stand just across the state border in Tamil Nadu to catch a bus to Madurai. I was disappointed to find the bus wasn’t there waiting- this was my last bus in India, and the first time I had to wait more than thirty seconds to catch one. We went to the Chai stand, and asked two Indian girls when the bus to Madurai was coming. They were going there too, they were returning from Cochin, where they had had interviews for Nursing jobs in Saudi Arabia. They were really chatty and friendly, and I realised I had spoken to very few Indian girls my age outside of the University. We had the usual chit-chat about family and what we did for a living, and then I made a remark about following them to Madurai, so we would get the correct bus. I’m not sure if they maybe thought that I was inviting myself to dinner, but one of them, Majil, said suddenly ‘We have no Fathers. Our Fathers have left. We are from broken homes. We must look after the family’. There was a silence after this. There was no change in mood; they were still very warm and welcoming, but clearly we were on different terrain. Pete looked at me, and we fumbled our way out of this conversational bomb site and back onto safer ground. I don’t know if they were suggesting I should back off and not follow them to their house, or if it was a marriage proposal. The rest of the conversation was perfectly normal and enjoyable.

The bus journey was fantastic, the scenery was even nicer on the way down the far side of the Western Ghats.  The mountains were impressive all the way through Tamil Nadu, and it got hotter all the way to Madurai. It is a Temple town, with a famous temple complex right in the centre. There are twelve massive ‘Gopurams’, spectacular 50m tall towers depicting colourful icons of Gods, playing out the stories from the Indian epics. We wandered around the complex in a daze, and Pete got blessed by an Elephant. We somehow found ourselves in a sacred inner sanctum, and were chased out for not being Indians. Outside the temple, a little boy came up trying to sell the most annoying pipe I have ever heard. I didn’t know if he was a beggar, but I gave him a can of coke. He said, ‘Thank you, Namaste’, the first time anyone has said this to me, and looked genuinely pleased. We walked away and he skipped after me, and said breezily ‘I have no Father, I am far away from home’. We were in a dense bazaar area and were getting loads of hassle, so I just said as a reflex, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t have any money’. He left so quickly and happily it made me think that he actually just wanted to chat. 
 
On Wednesday morning we got up at 5:45 to get our flight to Chennai, and our connection to Mumbai. When we got to the airport, we were informed there was a four hour delay, meaning we could have had a lie in and breakfast, and we were going to miss our connection. Catching the later flight to Mumbai meant we would spend all day travelling. My last day in India- I had tried to avoid this by booking so early. But, neither of us had planned anything, and didn’t really mind. I hadn’t had a single hiccup here, travel or otherwise, and I would have taken this at the start no problem. We had a three hour stopover at Chennai, and although I didn’t see the city, seeing it from the air was great. We also got to see the Bay of Bengal, and monsoon clouds from above.

In Madurai airport, because of the delay, the Jet airways staff allowed us into their office to wait and use the internet. Pete slept on the sofa, and I frantically searched for news of Xabi Alonso leaving Liverpool. After an hour, I started to wonder if we were over staying our welcome, and sure enough, a member of staff came over to me looking a little embarrassed and apologetic. However, he only wanted to tell Pete to put his feet up on the sofa to be more comfortable. They couldn’t have been nicer. There is an idea of hospitality in India that is different from anywhere else I have been. It isn’t always there, but when it is it is wonderful. In the hotel next to my flat in Manipal, the waiter’s badges said underneath their name: ‘Fortunate to serve you’. Kini and Ratna, who came out to meet me again in Mumbai, told me that ‘in India, when you have a guest, they are your God’.

It would be a bad idea to try to write a crappy summary that somehow describes India from my little time here. I can’t remember what I expected before I came, but I know it was different from what I now think. India is a land of dense beurocracy, and of millions of people who have slipped through the net. It is frenetic and chaotic on the surface, and pensive and sedate underneath. It is a flurry of life, colour and moustaches.

I leave India with 30 rupees in my pocket, lots of bites, and a terrible tan. I could easily stay for longer, but I feel I’m ready to leave. I’m looking forward to sausages, dry pants, and pre season friendlies on channel five.

My biggest regret is that I haven’t learned enough about India, possibly because I was working, or spending so much time with Westerners. I have seen and felt everything I wanted to, but not read or listened enough, and I still don’t know anything about the food, culture, history or music. I suppose I can do that in Derry. I hope to come back someday, and hopefully learn a little more. But also maybe hit the ground running, using whatever I have learned from my first trip to India.