Q. How do you make Diane stop talking?
A. Put her in a car in India.
OK, so this is probably only funny to those of you who know my aunt Diane. For those of who you don't know her, let's just say she talks a lot. It's sort of a family trait.
Anyway, I'm dead serious with this. She was pretty silent the whole week she was here whenever she was in the car. Riding in the car here in Chennai is definitely a sensory overload. Here are some more photos of typical views out the windows of the car (in additional to some of the ones already posted last week).
The above two photos are typical to the average amount of traffic here in Chennai. While there are white paint markings on the roads to tell you where to drive, I have yet to see anyone follow these. A road that should only be 4 lanes wide (two on each side) is almost always 5 to 6 wide...and that's only on one side! I think if someone were to try to follow the road markings, they would 1) cause an accident and/or 2) get a ticket for following the law. Seriously, the white paint on the roads is just really a waste of good white paint.
The above four photos were taken along Marina Beach. Marina Beach is in the heart of Chennai and is one of the world's longest beaches. I wish I was playing an April Fool's Day joke with everyone by showing these photos, but I'm not. This is serious. Pretty sad photos, aren't they? Notice the person sleeping in the last photo in front of the grass hut. Unfortunately, it is a common sight day or night to see people sleeping where ever they want. I don't know if they are homeless or just migrant workers in the city working or what. It's a good reality check by seeing these people to make me appreciate my comfortable bed even more. I'm very thankful to have what I have.
5 comments:
I think we must be long lost family, cuz TALKING is a trait in our family too. What up cuz????
Carrie
Love the plastic covers on the headrest in the car!!
Bev
It is time for another blog!!
Beth
"Riding in India..is a sensory overload.".....amazingly accurate.
From an Indian who loves people and expressions on Indian "happenings". :-)
those ppl you mentioned living next to marina beach are dalit or fisherman. they built up those `houses` on theire own (the tsunami destroied a big part of them by the way). now the gouvernment is moving those men to the outlying parts in the course of the so called beautification of the city. there those ppl can not fish anymore what was their purpose in life. also they do not get sufficient drinking water supply in the new area (it is called thuraipakkam).
i am a volunteer from germany and i am working with slum dwellers in chennai. i will give you my email id: gotdaskills@gmx.net
just msg me if you are intrested in this topic
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