Vellaikkaari: photography by B. Tamilarasi

After a much needed break, I am safely back in Madurai. While at home I got to catch up with friends I haven't seen for a very long time. I was flattered to learn that folks have been reading my blog religiously! So I am resurrecting this blog now after a hiatus. I hope you enjoy, and make some comments from time to time. I am sure there will be many more embarrassing and potentially interesting things to take place over the next six months.

Each time I return to India, even after a relatively brief hiatus, I feel as though I am coming here for the first time. This time was no different. After only a few weeks my Tamil had become like a rusty wheel. I was taken aback by the Indian service and hospitality, especially after just having spent time in Philadelphia where service encounters of any kind are often excruciating. My last service encounter in the United States was at the airport in Newark when I bought an overpriced bottle of water; the "staff" were literally lying half asleep on the counter and customers were treated at best as hostile nuisances, at worst as invisible entities.

Flash forward to my hotel in Chennai where the service and attention were so over the top it was actually quite a bit suffocating. After every service encounter I was presented with a comment form asking for my evaluation of the service. I signed no less than five different forms on at least three different occasions confirming that I had indeed paid a Rs. 4000 deposit upon check in. I received a call merely six hours after check-in asking if I wanted my room cleaned. I said no, but when I came back during the afternoon there was a man hard at work cleaning what was already a spotlessly clean bathroom. I tried to give him a tip but he refused; he was merely doing his job. While I was trying to sleep off the jetlag in the middle of the afternoon, reception called to ask if I liked the hotel. At the complimentary breakfast buffet, staff rushed to serve the guests. At dinner I told the waiter I would spoon the dhal onto the plate myself and he looked like he was going to cry.

I reached Madurai and was very happy to see my friends again. People seemed happy to have me back in the neighborhood. I had brought one of the neighbors a bottle of Jim Beam and I have never seen him so happy. The local men had quite a fun night on Tuesday it would seem. Regrettably I discovered upon my return that I had basically been robbed blind while I was away, but that's another story altogether.

While I was out of town I gave my good friend and brilliant research assistant Tamilarasi a digital camera to take photos while I was away, mainly because I was missing Pongal this year. I have included some of those here, with her permission. I think she will be pleased to see them published on the web. She wasn't able to get photos of decorated bulls (a traditional part of the Pongal festival) because the owners said that taking photos of them would cause them to be damaged by the evil eye. One owner cited an instance in which a foreigner had taken a picture of his bull, thereby putting the evil eye on it. The bull then ran away, never to be seen again. I am guessing it might be a little difficult for me to get an interview with this guy.