When it rains ...

It all started last night at about 9 o'clock. Penri suggested we go over to Sparky's for dinner. It had been raining all day but because we were inside we didn't really notice it too much.

When we started out we saw the weather was bad, but decided to brave it over to Chetpet (where Sparky's is). We got there about 10 p.m. and had a lovely meal. When we got up to go, the rain was horrendous and we got drenched just running to the car (with an umbrella). We set off on our way home through huge puddles (nothing like I've ever seen before) and dodging crazy people walking on the road. It was really dark and the rain was still falling very heavily. It was so bad that we could hardly see through the windscreen because the wipers couldn't wash the water away fast enough.

We had only been driving about 20 minutes when our car shuddered to a stop (on a main road) - the engine was completely flooded and we couldn't get it started again. Penri had to get out the car and push us to the side of the road (where there was a petrol station). We waited in the car for about an hour, trying to start it every 10-15 minutes. It wasn't going to happen, so Penri got out and pushed the car to the back of the petrol station where we decided to leave it for the night.

There was no way we could get an autorick home as the weather was too bad and we still had a long way to go. So we decided to take an autorick to the Park Hotel and spend the night there. It also meant we weren't too far away to pick up the car in the morning. We locked up the car and walked to the main road where we had to cross over. The water on the road was up to our knees and we just had to wade through it to get to the other side. We caught an autorick (fairly easily considering) and went to the hotel. When we got there we looked like drowned rats. We actually squelched across the lobby floor to the check in desk.

We checked in and went up to our room. By then it was 12.45 p.m. We arranged a wake up call for 6 a.m. By 6.30 a.m. we had washed and dressed back into our still-soaking clothes (bad time to be wearing jeans!) We went and checked out and got a hotel car back to the petrol station.

When we got there, all thoughts of nearly being home, the car still wouldn't start!! We tried, and tried, and tried. Even the hotel taxi driver tried. In the end we called a mechanic. They told us they couldn't come until after 9 a.m. - another 2 and a half hours away. I then telephoned my mum in Doha to ask for her help. She tried to explain to us where the distributor plug is so we could dry it out but I couldn't find it. Then while I was on the phone to her a miracle happened - Penri managed to get the car started. So I got in and we slowly made our way home. It was kind of a scary trip as Penri didn't want to stop the car in case it stalled and we couldn't get it started again. So every time we came to a red light, he was revving the engine constantly and all the other drivers around us were looking at us like we were mad.

We finally got home just after 7 a.m. and now having showered and changed I can relax and be glad to be home. 'There's no place like home'.

Diwali - a poem by me

It's a beautiful day to be awake in Chennai
The sun's coming up and fireworks fill the sky
It's Diwali weekend, for those who don't know
It's like our Christmas, as celebrations go.

It's the 'Festival of Light', that's what they say
Fireworks and gifts, celebrations night and day
The streets are lined with fairy lights as far as you can see
Hanging from the buildings and entwined within the trees.

Even the drizzle of rain falling from the sky
Does nothing to dampen the mood, of the people in Chennai
Everyone's so happy, it's so nice to see
Spending time together with their friends and family.

It's a beautiful day to be awake in Chennai
As I watch the sun rising overhead in the sky
And the fireworks coming up over the sea
What a nice celebration called 'Diwali'.

Not a happy bunny!

Well, I've had a rough couple of days. On Tuesday I had really severe stomach cramps and was feeling nauseous and my temperature was rising. I saw a nurse who gave me pepto-bismal and some re-hydration drink. The following day (Wednesday) I was feeling slightly better in the morning but by 3 p.m. I was back to feeling terrible again and my temperature and gone back up and I was shivering, freezing cold.

Penri took me to the Apollo Clinic and went in to try and see a doctor. We were told there were no doctors available until 5.30. I just burst into tears and asked the receptionist if I could wait. Penri asked her if she could contact a doctor to come in (as they're supposed to be 24 hours). She told me my doctor only works mornings, but she will contact a doctor to come in. So Penri went back to work and left me at the clinic.

The receptionist came to the waiting room 5 minutes later and told me she had called my doctor and she was coming in especially to see me. By the time the doctor got there (which was only about 15 minutes later) I was still crying and my temperature was high and I was having pains in my stomach. She checked me over and said it could be a couple of things - either a really bad virus or it could be malaria. She gave me an injection (in my bum of all places) which really hurt (and today is bruised) and then told me they were going to take some samples to run some tests.

She gave me all these different antibiotics - some strong anti-malaria tablets (which is a 3 day course), some tablets to reduce my fever and some tablets for the cramps. I left the hospital at 20 to 6 and came home and went to bed.

I am feeling much better today (Thursday) although still sweating lots. The only positive about feeling this crap is I have no appetite. Anyway, the fact that I am feeling a lot better is really good - it's likely it's not malaria and was just a horrible virus. I have to go back in on Monday to get the test results.

It's now Friday and I haven't posted this blog, but I am pleased to say I am feeling much much better - pretty much back to normal. I can only imagine that I just had a nasty virus.

Losing my sanity in India

Today is one of the days that I HATE living in India. There are some days when things are going well and I feel like life is fine and I am happy here. But on a day like today I just wish I could be like Dorothy and click my heels together and go home to Bristol.

First off, our water dispenser has broken so we haven't had drinking water from it for just over a week now (so I've been having to buy bottled water and stock up the fridge). Anyway, the dispenser is only two months old so I called up the place we bought it to ask them to come and repair it. This was about a week ago. There was an answer machine service with the message all in Tamil. So, I called one of the few people I know who speaks Tamil (our landlord's secretary) and asked her if she would mind phoning them up to explain our problem. She was very kind and agreed to do this for me. She called me back and arranged a time for them to come here to fix it. We agreed that at 3 o'clock on Thursday (today) someone would come over to the house and fix the problem.

So, I was out this morning with my friends and rushed back here at 2.45 to make sure I was here for the repair man. By 4.30, with still no sign of him, I called the secretary again. She called the guy and phoned back to say he was stuck on another job but would come within an hour. Fine - at least I know he's coming (that's what I thought). So, while I was waiting, I thought I'd do a bit of housework and general tidying up. I must've got carried away mopping and sweeping because the next thing I knew Penri was ringing and it was 6.45. No sign of the guy. So, I called the secretary again who told me that when she spoke to him he told her he was definitely coming and she was at home (not at the office) so I'd just have to wait for him. I said that was fine. I'd actually made plans to go over to a friend's house, which I then had to cancel. It is now 7.30 and there is still no sign of the repair man and I cannot ring him as he doesn't speak any English. Great!

In the midst of all the above happening, I put the washing machine on and was cleaning the kitchen when the water ran out! I figured it was an easy enough problem to fix so I went and asked Bala (thank goodness he's back) to pump some water up. While he was doing that I thought I'd better ring my friend to cancel our plans for this evening. As I went to ring her, the power all went off. No lights, no air conditioners and still no water!!

So, I laid down on the day bed in the lounge (as there's not much you can do when there's no lights and no a/c) and just waited. The longer I was waiting, the more stressed and down I was getting.

Anyway, the power came back on after about 20 minutes, then the water tank filled up (and the washing machine started up again), but still no sign of the repair man! Frustrating or what?!

The Return of Bala

Last week we got a phone call from the landlord's office to tell us that Bala (the security guard who used to work here) was coming back. It was all a bit strange when he left (a month or so ago). He told me one day that he wasn't well and he was going to the hospital and then we didn't see him again after that! It was very odd.

Anyway, he returned to work the night shift here as our security guard and it's really nice to have him back. It turns out that he went off on some Pilgrimage for a month (I don't know why he didn't just tell us that in the first place). Anyway, so now our night guard has changed shifts to be here in the day and Bala is here at night.

We also got a new postbox fitted outside our house, which I am really pleased about. Before, when we got mail, the postman would ring the gate bell and just push the letters through the gate (as he couldn't be bothered to wait for us to answer the gate).

Also, they have finally sorted out the road leading up to our house. It used to be a dirt track, but they came and laid a road down - they even had a big red steam roller (see picture) which I was impressed with. Unfortunately, because they laid the asphalt so thinly, grass and weeds have started to grow up through the road. So, I would imagine within a few months it will be back to being a dirt track!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I went to have my hair done yesterday after the salon in question was recommended to me by a few people. I was told they could do blonde highlights and it wouldn't be a problem; so I made the appointment and was all set to go. One of my friend's here then told me the first time she went to the salon, instead of blonde highlights, her hair turned orange! I was mortified and worried they would mess mine up. But she told me that she's been back a couple of times since and it was fine. So, I decided to bite the bullet and just go for it.

I had highlights and a cut, which took just over 3 hours! I was starting to get fidgety after an hour and a half, but I'm glad I saw it through. The Sri Lankan man who did my hair made a really nice job of it and I'm really pleased with it. I always have it shorter than planned but at least it grows back (eventually)!

The price was the same as I would pay in the UK (which means it's expensive compared to India prices), but it's worth it to have it looking nice. So I will definitely go back to 'Bounce' (the salon) again.

Pimp My Ride

As I mentioned in a previous message I went looking for a car to buy yesterday. My day started off earlier than predicted. I had asked Selvam (the autorick driver who was going to take me shopping) to pick me up at 9.30 a.m. however at 5 to 9 (having only just that minute got out of bed), the doorbell rang and Selvam was here to pick me up! I asked him to wait while I quickly got showered and dressed ... no time for breakfast!

We set off at 9.15 and drove across the city to a car showroom. We arrived there at 10.30 (ish). I had a look at all the cars they had to offer ... when I say 'all' - there were only about 20 in total. They had a variety of cars (mostly Indian made) such as Maruti, Tata Indicar, Ford Icon etc. While I was waiting for the salesman (who was going to help me) to arrive at work (they don't work the same hours as the UK - everyone is much more laid back here); a car arrived in the showroom. It had just come on the market and was a Hyundai Santro 2000 model. Selvam was telling me he thought I was very lucky to have first pick at a car that hadn't even gone on to the shop floor. So, he told me to sit in the front, which I did, and the salesman arrived to take us for a test drive. We drove for about 15 minutes before ... wait for it ... the car broke down. Well, that's what we thought until the guy realised it had no petrol in it! We were on a main road so they just pushed it to the side and he called for someone from the showroom to come and pick us up. It was really hot so we opened all the windows. The next minute, this huge green and white bus drove past us and all the fumes from his exhaust pipe filled our car! It was so bad that I couldn't actually see Selvam and the salesman, so I had to get out of the car. After about 20 minutes, another car arrived to take us back to the showroom. Funnily enough, Selvam said to me 'this car, no good ma'am'- I think I'd figured that one out for myself! It would probably be alright with a tank of fuel but I didn't have the time or the inclination to find out. Anyway, Selvam was telling me that the Hyundai Santro is a good make of car which is cost effective and it's easy to replace parts so I had a look at another one on the shop floor. It was nearly twice the price of the first one and an older model, so I told him it cost too much. Out of all the other cars I looked at, they were either overpriced or in bad condition. Then the salesman made a phone call and two more Hyundai Santros turned up. A metallic blue-green one, which looked good and a white one, which had definitely seen a couple of minor accidents! So, we took the blue-green one for a test drive.

The drive was nice and the engine sounded good, the interior was ok and in good condition and the a/c was good (which is a must in this country). So I called Penri to see if he wanted to check out the car. He agreed so we decided to drive the Santro over to Kottivakkam to our house to pick him up.

We got to the house and Penri came out and took the car for a test drive along the beach. He complained that the car was much smaller than he thought and he wasn't too keen on it. I tried to explain to him that it really was the best I'd seen within our price range, but he wasn't sold on the idea. So, when we got back to the house, I suggested he come back to the showroom with us.

The four of us got in the car and drove back across the city to the showroom. We had a look around all the other cars and Penri said there was nothing there he liked within our price range. The problem with car showrooms in India (and well, actually most places in India), there are no prices on things, so when we were asking how much is this car, how much is that car? It was like the woman was coming up with numbers off the top of her head. The thing that really put us off was Penri asked how much one of the Tata Indicars was and when she told him the price, it was 1 lakh (about £1000) more than the salesman had told me that morning. Penri lost his temper then and told Selvam to take us to other car showrooms and we left.

We drove around looking for another showroom but before we found any, we had to go to fix Selvam's autorick as there was problem with it. After an hour and a half of driving around in the rick we still hadn't found another car showroom. So, Selvam stopped and asked someone who directed us back to T.Nagar (the area the first showroom was in). We drove back there and looked at 3 or 4 other showrooms, who were even worse than the first one! They were completely trying to rip us off. Selvam spoke to us and said the first showroom was probably our best bet as the sales people see a white face and automatically double the prices (Selvam's words). So, we agreed and went back to the first showroom.

We had a look at a couple of other cars and then Penri negotiated the price on the blue-green Hyundai Santro that I had found that morning and brought home to show him. We spent a couple of hours sorting out all the paperwork and payments etc before we managed to leave the showroom. By now it was 6 p.m.

The back two tyres on the car were worn right down so the first thing we had to do was go and get new tyres (which we did, with Selvam in the car to help us go to the right place and get the right price). From there we went and had black film put on the windows (as many people do in India). It makes the a/c more efficient and it stops people staring at you. This was the most hilarious part of the day. We had pulled over so that Selvam could go and check whether we were in the right place to get the film done and this traffic policeman (not sure what to call him) knocked on Penri's window and told him to pull in, otherwise a car or bus might hit him. The man was kind enough to move two motorbikes out the way so we could park. So, he helped direct us into the parking space and then walked round to Penri's side of the car and knocked on the window. He then proceeded to pull a ticket book out of his pocket and ask us for 5 rupees for parking. Penri and I could not stop laughing! We thought he was just helping us when all along he just wanted some money off us. It was perfect timing as we both really benefit from laughing after such a stressful day!

While the film was being done (as it took about an hour), Penri bought some hubcaps to put on the tyres. It reminded me so much of the programme on TV 'Pimp my Ride' where they take a car and add all these things to it to improve it. An hour and a half later, our car was finished.

We drove down the road from the car place and turned a corner where we were pulled over by the police. I couldn't believe it! They wanted to see Penri's license and explained that he had gone through a red light (which he didn't realise). Anyway, when they saw his license and he paid a fine, we were good to go.

We dropped Selvam off so he could get his autorick and we went to Penri's office (as he had a meeting at 8.30 p.m). It was at this point I realised I hadn't eaten a thing ALL day and all I'd had to drink was a small bottle of Pepsi. After Penri's meeting (at 10 p.m.) we drove to Kebab Court for a celebratory meal. It is SO nice to have our own car and our freedom! And do you want to hear the funny thing? When we were driving to the restaurant I said to Penri 'I thought you didn't like this car?' to which he replied 'It's not so bad once you get used to it; even the interior is growing on me'. I commented that this was the car I had brought to him in the morning and he had moaned and complained about it, and he said 'well that was before I saw the rest; this was definitely the best of the lot' ... so all I can say with regards to the car hunting is ... MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Just what Chennai needs ... another car on the road!

We haven't had much luck with getting a car here so we are still travelling everywhere by autorickshaws and call taxis. It is SO frustrating as with the autoricks - you have to haggle and haggle to get a fair price (they always try to overcharge you) and with the call taxis - you are lucky if they bother to turn up! The thing that is even more frustrating is when you call the company and say 'I ordered a taxi, you said it would be here at 10 o'clock - it's now 10.45' they respond '5 minutes, car will be there'. And guess what? An hour later you are still waiting. Honestly, I am not exaggerating ... one day we ordered a taxi and we waited nearly 3 hours before we started walking for an autorick. As we were driving down the road near our house in the auto, the taxi went past us going the other way (obviously to our house). 3 hours late!

So, I am now on a mission ... to find a car. I am going car shopping tomorrow with an auto driver called Selvam (who met Penri when he was staying at the Park Hotel in his first weeks here). Once we have found and bought a car, we will make the decision whether or not to get a driver. Most expats use a driver here for two reasons: the traffic is SO chaotic and there is no sense of logic (see picture above) and secondly, for convenience. You just get in the car and say where you want to go and you're on your way. So, fingers crossed we get something sorted. We need to try and sort it out before we have visitors staying with us. It's fine if there are only two of you in auto, three is a push, but four is a definite no-no. Unless you are Indian - somehow they manage to squeeze five or six into an autorick (which really doesn't look comfortable!)

I'm not made of plasticine!

I have joined a Beginner’s Yoga Course. It is three times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) from 4 p.m – 5.30 p.m. I thought it would be good for me to do some exercise (nothing too strenuous) and it gets me out of the house when Penri is at work. Well, whoever said that yoga is not strenuous and hard work and tiring was wrong. It is all of those things and I am finding it quite hard … I am definitely not as flexible as I used to be! Anyway, I am going to persevere to the end of the course and then instead of going on to the Intermediate Course, I am going to redo the Beginner’s Course. The worst thing about the course is that all the other people (okay there are only four others) but they can all do all the stretches and don’t seem to have a problem – it’s only me who can’t do it! I can’t hold all my weight on my arms alone and I don’t enjoy thrusting different parts of my body into the air while my arms feel like they’re going to collapse with the weight – so why am I doing it?!

Eating Out

So, it's been a while. Things here are going well and we seem to be finding our feet. Although we still make some errors in judgement. A perfect example ... the other day Penri met me from work on the ECR so that we could go out for a meal. It was early - only 6 o'clock - so we were looking round for a place that was open. There was one restaurant (I don't recall the name of it), which is above Spencer's Daily Supermarket. Penri persuaded me to try it, saying he had been there on his first week here in Chennai, so I agreed. When we went in we very obviously stood out from all the other customers. We were led to our table and given menus. I couldn't actually see anything I thought I'd like except for a vegetable korma so that's what I ordered. The service was terrible and when the food finally came (served on a banana leaf, which was cool) it was quite disgusting. I ate naan bread and the sauce from the korma. Penri had a South Indian meal called Thali, which he seemed to be able to eat. To put it into context of the standard of the meal - when the bill came it was £2.40 each!

We are very happy to have found a cool American restaurant here called Sparky's Diner. It was recommended to me by a friend and is well worth the 45 minute drive from our house to go for a proper burger and chips. They also serve Mexican food too, but so far we've been eating all the American stuff. The whole ambience of the restaurant makes it more enjoyable - the chef (who is American) has decorated it like a diner with the black and white chequered floor and knick-knacks from all over America. It's really nice.