Happy D Day friends! It pains me to be out of the country on this day, which my dad and I consider to be a national holiday. I will not get to watch The Longest Day today but my Indian adventures were numerous.
Saturday! The first day that we'll be able to get out into Trichy and explore, not to mention shop. Some of the students I've been working with come to meet us and we learn that we'll be taking the public bus to Rock Fort, a famous temple in Trichy and probably one of its most recognizable landmarks. I see Rock Fort from the wetland every day, as it is also Trichy's highest point. After looking at it so much I'm excited to finally see it.
Upon arriving to our destination, a busy street, we looked up and saw the giant temple sitting on the rock. All that stood between us and the temple was a very busy, very crowded, street full of stores and vendors. The bazaar was, to put it lightly, overwhelming. Trying to keep up with a group in the mayhem was a challenge, but we eventually reached the temple intact.
As a proud Mountaineer I figured the stairs would be nothing. Hello, my campus is essentially one continuous staircase, no problem. As it turns out, two thousand year old stone temple stairs, which are uneven and purposely dimpled for acupuncture purposes i.e. painful, are a little difficult to climb. As I'm heaving and dripping sweat, climbing up all these stupid stairs, I see an old woman, probably around eighty, taking one stair at a time. I thought Jews were hardcore, I was mistaken. At this point, it was clear that complaining would no longer be something I would be doing.
While this sounds like a miserable process, there is a lot to see as you walk up into the temple and the general awe factor is not lost on you as you proceed. When I reached the top of the temple, it was absolutely amazing. You can see over all of Trichy, including all the way to Srinagam, the other famous temple. It's also just a little bit cooler at the top, which after the impromptu cardio session, was much appreciated.
As the girls and I were taking pictures together, a flock of teenage girls rushed at us. Think Japanese fans running towards Beyoncé, waving their camera phones and repeating the word "picture". Um. Okay...and so it began. It was what I imagine being a celebrity is like. At first you're flattered. A picture? Of meeee? Oh well, I suppose I must. The people need me. This flattery quickly becomes exhaustion. Another picture? Are you kidding me? I'm not a princess, I'm a twenty one year old college student who's sweating through my shirt. Finally the high school seniors dispersed and we were left wide eyed in amazement at the phenomenon. Little did we know, this would be a reoccurring theme throughout the day. My personal favorite moment, was when a fifty something year old man took a picture with me in which we were locked in a handshake as if I were the president. Rock Fort was the first and last time I agreed to pictures. It seemed right to indulge the very kind people of India in their holy place, but outside the temple that'll be 300 rupees please.
To be so close to an elephant was surreal and she was so beautiful. We each feed her a bundle of grass and bent our heads so she could tap them with her trunk and bless us. When her trunk reached my head she sucked into her trunk and suctioned the top of my head a little. It was an odd feeling which made me giggle like a little kid. I could see how her job of eating grass and taking money was probably mind numbingly boring for such an intelligent creature. At this point, I just wanted to hold her trunk and go for ice cream or something.
As I walked into the room with ceiling to floor fabric, I had the most delightful experience of being Holly Golightly in Tiffany's. I walked up to the counter and began pointing to fabrics which a nice old man began pulling out and onto the counter for me to survey. I thought I wanted a green sari so the man began pulling every shade of green for me, but nothing was striking a cord. I shop the way cavemen hunt: instinct. As I walked down the counter, it caught my eye. A golden lace edged sari with a midnight blue accent and enough rhinestones to blind my new found fan base. When the man pulled the fabric out and unfolded it to reveal golden shimmery fabric that would be the blouse, I knew I had found the one.
From the clothing store we wandered through some jewelry stores and finally realized that as it was 8:30 we'd need to find something to eat. The students asked us if we wanted a meat or vegetarian meal. We figured vegetarian was the safest and we followed the students up a little staircase into a very crowded restaurant which had the most delicious cashew masala. Feeling full, and slightly terrified that we had just given ourselves food poisoning, we hurried out into the street and caught an auto rickshaw. Riding in an auto rickshaw was one of my primary goals in India. With four girls jammed into the back seat and Shyam in the front seat we were off. I'll liken the experience to riding a
camel, super interesting and super uncomfortable. As we climbed into bed that night we all slept more soundly than we had since we got to India.
Saturday! The first day that we'll be able to get out into Trichy and explore, not to mention shop. Some of the students I've been working with come to meet us and we learn that we'll be taking the public bus to Rock Fort, a famous temple in Trichy and probably one of its most recognizable landmarks. I see Rock Fort from the wetland every day, as it is also Trichy's highest point. After looking at it so much I'm excited to finally see it.
The bus was an interesting experience. As I'm backing up, trying to make room for everyone, I'm trying not to hit my head on the ceiling. I see all the men looking at me in confusion and judgement. Oh. I look back at all the men and then turn forward and see all the women. Awesome, separate seating. I shuffled forward a little to get out of the no zone and held on for dear life.
Upon arriving to our destination, a busy street, we looked up and saw the giant temple sitting on the rock. All that stood between us and the temple was a very busy, very crowded, street full of stores and vendors. The bazaar was, to put it lightly, overwhelming. Trying to keep up with a group in the mayhem was a challenge, but we eventually reached the temple intact.
The temple is absolutely spectacular. Thanks to my father I have an intense love for museums and history and a personal special interest in religions. Rock Fort was the best combination of all of these things. I walked around in wide eyed wonderment like a little kid, just trailing behind our student guides. We gave our shoes to the old lady at the shoe check and proceeded into the temple. We then commenced the task of climbing the three hundred and fifty stairs.
 |
| Sweaty but enthusiastic |
While this sounds like a miserable process, there is a lot to see as you walk up into the temple and the general awe factor is not lost on you as you proceed. When I reached the top of the temple, it was absolutely amazing. You can see over all of Trichy, including all the way to Srinagam, the other famous temple. It's also just a little bit cooler at the top, which after the impromptu cardio session, was much appreciated.
While leaving the temple, we ran into our long awaited friend, the elephant. Now mind you, Rock Fort is a temple dedicated to Pilaya, as he's known in Trichy or Ganesha, as I had learned previously. Pilaya is a god that has the face of an elephant. Fun fact, the mythology says that Pilaya lost his head and had to replace it with another head, this was the point at which he rolled up to an elephant and took its head for himself. When Shyam told me this story he smiled afterwards and said it is just a myth though. I assured Shyam every religion has its colorful stories.
To be so close to an elephant was surreal and she was so beautiful. We each feed her a bundle of grass and bent our heads so she could tap them with her trunk and bless us. When her trunk reached my head she sucked into her trunk and suctioned the top of my head a little. It was an odd feeling which made me giggle like a little kid. I could see how her job of eating grass and taking money was probably mind numbingly boring for such an intelligent creature. At this point, I just wanted to hold her trunk and go for ice cream or something.
As we left the temple we stopped to collect our shoes. The old woman took our number and began placing pair after pair of shoes on the counter. None of them were ours. I looked at the Sarahs with wide eyes. Had this woman lost our shoes? After a minute or two, we located the slot in which our shoes were, and Shyam pointed out to the woman where our shoes were actually residing. She was talking to Shyam and shaking her head as the rest of us were pointing to the slot, hoping she'd get the message. India can be a difficult place where communication issues arise often, but this was the first time since I've been here that I felt my patience eroding rapidly. Maybe it was the heat or that I was hungry, but I was about to climb over that counter and retrieve my shoes myself if the shoe dictator didn't get it together. We eventually got our shoes back, but the process was a difficult one.
We moved on to the only task that could ease my nerves: shopping. Saratha's is a ginormous department store full of nothing but clothing, just a hop and skip down the street from the temple. The fabrics were just overwhelmingly beautiful. We first went to look for casual outfits to wear for a group picture. This, while informative of how the system worked, was an average experience. All you have are the clothes on the rack and since I am so much taller and my shoulders are broader than the majority of the women here, I got stuck in the high sizes and the selection was sparse. Women here must have intense body complexes due to this sizing system. I'm not a particularly big person and I've seen plenty of women who are equivalent to my size. No wonder the older women just call it a day and wear a sari. I found something sparkly and pretty however, that would do just fine. But who cares about any of that because the next place we went was the sari department.
As I walked into the room with ceiling to floor fabric, I had the most delightful experience of being Holly Golightly in Tiffany's. I walked up to the counter and began pointing to fabrics which a nice old man began pulling out and onto the counter for me to survey. I thought I wanted a green sari so the man began pulling every shade of green for me, but nothing was striking a cord. I shop the way cavemen hunt: instinct. As I walked down the counter, it caught my eye. A golden lace edged sari with a midnight blue accent and enough rhinestones to blind my new found fan base. When the man pulled the fabric out and unfolded it to reveal golden shimmery fabric that would be the blouse, I knew I had found the one. 
From the clothing store we wandered through some jewelry stores and finally realized that as it was 8:30 we'd need to find something to eat. The students asked us if we wanted a meat or vegetarian meal. We figured vegetarian was the safest and we followed the students up a little staircase into a very crowded restaurant which had the most delicious cashew masala. Feeling full, and slightly terrified that we had just given ourselves food poisoning, we hurried out into the street and caught an auto rickshaw. Riding in an auto rickshaw was one of my primary goals in India. With four girls jammed into the back seat and Shyam in the front seat we were off. I'll liken the experience to riding a camel, super interesting and super uncomfortable. As we climbed into bed that night we all slept more soundly than we had since we got to India.
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