Trip to India : Observations & Experiences – Part 2 of 2
– Had stiff neck all through the day on Jan 1st, thus wasting 1/19th of my holiday.
– Managed to find time to visit the Book Fair in Chennai (& happened to meet Badri there).
– Was stunned to see photo-copied versions of International Best Sellers & other IT books being sold for a fraction of their original cost, right outside the Book Fair venue and elsewhere in Chennai. With colour photocopying in place, one would find it hard to distinguish them from the original, but for the quality of the paper.
– Maintenance standards have taken a severe beating at the 32 ft. Anjaneyar Temple in Nanganallur.
– No fee is charged for minding the footwear at temple entrances in TN. Problem is that, at some places there is no one to man the place making people think about their expensive footwear while inside the temple.
– Many roads in Nanganallur, if not all have been relaid to good effect in the last 18 months.
– Only KJ Yesudas manages to draw the crowd he does for Carnatic concerts. Is it due to his gifted voice or cine fame or both?
– The New Indian Express costs only Rs 1.50 in Chennai.
– Both ‘The Hindu‘ & ‘The New Indian Express‘ have started their Trichy editions. Previously, Trichy-ites used to get their papers from Madurai.
– ‘Times of India‘ is all set to launch its Chennai edition. Their offices are being readied at Sholinganallur. I expect Hindu to launch its Mumbai edition subsequently.
– Quite a lot of people, whom I met, are not happy with the so-called neutrality of The Hindu.
– An auto-driver at Chennai to another motorist who crossed his way, “Vanakkam Sir! Konjam paathu poga koodadhaa…”. Should I say that it was pleasant to hear these words instead of the usual innuendoes.
– Was made to realise that a battery is as important to the camera as a film. There is no point in having 4 extra film rolls & even a digital camera as a backup if you don’t have backup batteries even for one. Murphy’s law would strike ensuring that both the cameras would cry for batteries when you badly need them.
– Chennai has changed and it is for good.