Trichy Diary

I was in Trichy for the past two days. Let me start by saying that everything about this trip was unique for me. Ill start at the very beginning.
When I started, lots of tensions were up. My uncle fell ill, my parents were worried, I was worried that I should be able to get back in time if god forbid something happens, and my parents didn't know I was going to Trichy ( I just didn't have the energy to justify my visit and fight it out). So, I was very tense and keyed up.
My train starts from Egmore. I have never been to this station before, and I was charmed by the ambience. Chennai Central sees people from all over India, but Egmore mostly gets the TamilNadu passengers. So, this station gives a real feel of TN, you see mamis in the 9yards sarees and diamond nose studs, laced with easy smiles and soft words, then thathas in lungis. Even the train was nicely scented- sharp cinnamon - clove tinge in the air. This station is also much much more cleaner than Central.
I couldnt sleep all night as I was worried Ill miss the station. My train- Rockfort express, goes to Kumbakonam via Trichy. It starts at 1030pm from egmore and reaches Trichy at 515am. It turned out I need not have worried. By 430am, everyone was up and about. Lights were on and people were talking. I was feeling sorry for the Kumbakonam passengers. It turned out I need not have done that either. Apparently, a lot of people get down at Trichy. So, Trichy passengers are alloted separate coaches. At trichy, these coaches are detached from the rest of the train and the train proceeds to its destination. Efficient. No wonder Indian Railways is minting money. They use common sense.

I was put up in a hotel. I was sceptical about this as I have never stayed in a hotel before, but it was a good hotel - nice people and close to the station.

Trichy is a small city. Here, the general people are not overly friendly but they are not rude either. Chennai is rude. Also, in Trichy, everyone is curious about everyone else. Like I was asked by so many people if I had come to give examinations (I look younger than what I am, its a disadvantage also as sometimes Im not taken seriously, many students even asked if I am in my first year of PhD!)

The university I was visiting is some 17kms away from the station and is reached by taking a mofussil bus. One of my friends there, VM, picked me up on the first day. Beautiful countryside, though it predominantly has dry vegetation. Also smooth roads and frequent buses. I met very friendly people at the university and my my!! Their motivation levels have to be seen to be believed. Before lunch, I had discussed more physics/research than I had ever discussed in one whole week. My talk in the afternoon went well. I was asked to make it accessible to the Msc students as well. I tried but I dont think I succeeded. I got positive feedback from the graduate students.

Anyway, I came back to the hotel on my own. I enjoyed those bus journeys :-) I slept very early after an early dinner and woke up 12 hours later.

Next day, I went to the university by myself. I can read Tamil though I'm painfully slow at it. This helped me this time in reaching the university without mishaps.

After a few discussion sessions that day, I was invited for lunch to the girls' hostel mess. Now here I must compare it with our mess. They pay 20pd, we pay 43pd. They have to bring their own utensils,we dont have to. They even wash their plates, we dont even bother to clean the plates of the mess. Their food is served very hot and its very tasty and unlimited. Believe me. They even get unlimited ghee! Our food is supposed to be hot and tasty, but something happens to it.

In the afternoon, VM and her friend TM, took me around to show places around Trichy. We first headed to Srirangam. On our way there, they pointed out Prez APJK's alma mater. TM had even met the Prez once and has a photo with him. Quite an experience for her!! We parted ways with TM after a while.

VM took me to SriRanganathaswamy temple in Srirangam. Very impressive place. The entrance was very majestic and very tall. I think thats what is called the Rajagopuram. Like a fort, there were townships in and outside the entrances. It has three entrances and apparently totally 26 gopurams of all sizes. We could count only 16. It seems the fourth side also has some gopurams and that is allocated for the harijans (as told to us by a person working in that place). Many were also hidden by trees. The picture here shows the Rajagopuram (from wiki, I unfortunately did not take my camera on this trip :-( I did not think Ill actually go for sight-seeing).Beautiful architecture in stone from the days of the Cholas. Markets and houses surround this temple and so sitting there, one can almost imagine how the township looked like some 700 hundred years ago.
I also saw the temple elephant up close, sort of came upon it suddenly and jumped out of my skin :-D
After this, we travelled back towards the city and went to the Rockfort temple.
This is, as the name suggests, on a mountain. If I counted right, we climbed 330 steps to reach the top. We looked like the old man climbing the stairs in the Chawanprash advertisement :-D And I saw a guy who was climbing these steps on his knees with a ghee lamp in his hand!! No words at all.
The view from the top was beautiful. We could see Srirangam temple from here. Also we could see a very dry Cauvery bed from the top. It is waiting for either Karnataka to release waters or for the rains in July.
This wiki picture shows the river, I saw only the riverbed :-)

There were many temples inside the rock mountain too. In one place, I saw a carving with a pregnant woman in it and wondered what it could be for. Maybe this wiki entry answers it. I saw another temple elephant here which again took me by surprise.

We then came back to the city and after a tasty dinner, I headed back for Chennai.
India-Srilanka match was up. So everywhere I went, cricket was being closely followed. Even in the station, the platform was empty as everyone had gathered in the arrival lounge to watch the match on the TV. At one point, a loud cheer went up and the platform emptied some more. One guy came to the station just as the train arrived ( You see I like to be at the platform 1 hr before the train arrives!). And he calls up his home asks what the score is! :-D Today early morning, before we reached Egmore. the passengers were wondering what was the outcome. One guy even said that we must have lost and in case we win, the match must have been fixed. :-D
I took a bus from the station (at 515am!! wow I'm impressed by the bus service). Chennai looked beautiful that early in the morning. I love visiting new places but finally I belong to Chennai :-) Or maybe its just that I love returning home :-)
A memorable trip, one that will linger at the back of my mind for many days to come.
Chennai does not give a complete picture of Tamil Nadu. The real TamilNadu lives in these cities.
I was asked many times if I was a north-Indian, to which I said no I'm a Tamizhian :-)

I have a similar opportunity to visit Banaras via Delhi, but I guess Ill have to forego that. Im sure there will be stiff opposition at home and I dont want to do things chori chupe. Inspite of having worked hard for the major part of this trip, there has been a nagging feeling at the back of mind that my parents do not know about this, and I think they deserve this much honesty from me.
A pity. I would love to see Banaras too :-)