Questions and Observations

Friday 9th May - Ooty (full name Udhagamandalam), South India

I will start with a bit of social commentary, well, social observation might be a better description. It’ll be superficial of course; how could it not be after just a few days in the country? And I’ll be conflating all sorts things inaccurately too, especially since the conversations took place in a non-serial manner over a few days. But here goes anyway.

We first met our driver, Afridi, a few days back in Bengaluru. Lovely young man, aged maybe 25 or so. Shortly after he and I connected on WhatsApp and his full name came up - Mohammed Afridi.

I was chatting to him the other day about a series of promotional posters I had seen on the side of the road. He explained that the face I was seeing was that of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (the State we are currently in). His name is MK Stalin.  Afridi offered the view that he is a “good guy” because he “looks after the little people”. With that as background, I asked what he thought of Mr Modi. “Not much” was the essence of the response (my words). How come, I asked, “is it because of his Hindu/Islamic biases?”  (There's been criticism for years that Modi is nationalistically pro-Hindu to the exclusion of others.) “No” came the reply, it's because he isn't interested in the little person. Afridi went on to talk about the GST which Modi had introduced, and how much that hurt the little person. That wasn't quite the answer I was expecting.

We've also spoken about his work. He has a BSc in chemistry, but can't find work. He could probably get a job “if he paid them for it”, which he can't afford to do. “Who’s them ?” is the obvious question. I didn't get a clear answer,  but I think “them” would seem to be some arm of government. I didn't really explore this as I wasn’t understanding.

So Afridi, a pleasant and articulate young man, has to support the family from his less well-paying job. The “family” is he and his wife and their 10-month old daughter, his parents (now retired) and his two younger brothers, one of which has a disability of sorts. They live in rental accommodation in Mysuru. Afridi’s wife, Mizba, has a commerce degree but has also not found work.

Lastly, I asked how come he was known as Afridi and not Mohammed. Apparently about half his friends call him by one name, and half by the other. I asked him what his wife calls him, and he replied, with a smile “babe”.

I asked I asked him this out of more than idle curiosity. I have detected the ever so slight hint of anti-Islamic sentiment, not helped of course by the current troubles with Pakistan. The TV is very nationalistic, and I’ll share a couple of shots later. There has been nothing in Afridi's nature or conversation which gives rise to this, so I may well be over-thinking it. Back to the social commentary/observation. Afridi is a seemingly well-educated, apparently reasonably smart (he speaks 7 languages - English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Arabic (a bit), Urdu (a bit) and one other), and yet he seems destined to a life with a less well-paying job.

His home town is Mysuru, and he has invited us to visit the family and  have coffee with them when we are there.

But now back to the tourist side of things. Yesterday was temple day. We had arrived into Coimbatore late the evening before (the train trip from Bengaluru was long and I probably shouldn't have eaten the train food), and our first stop was the Marudhamalai Murugan Temple. It is located about an hour's drive out of Coimbatore, and I wanted to visit because from my online research it looked quite spectacular. It was built by Tamil kings in the 12th-century, located fairly high on a hill, and dedicated to Lord Murugan (and is considered the Seventh House of Lord Murugan). Did I say fairly high on a hill? It's a walk of perhaps 1.5 klms up, during which time one traverses 641 steps. In 35-degree heat!! It was worth it though. The temple is quite spectacular No photos allowed inside, but the few below will give a bit of a sense.

Next was the Pateeswarar Temple, a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located at Perur, in western part of Coimbatore. The temple was built by Karikala Chola in 2nd century. Again, no photos allowed inside, but we had an interesting wander around.

As the only non-Hindus present at both places we were probably a bit of a curiosity - a few sideways glances here and there, and we didn't participate in any of the ritual blessings (apart from being imposters of sorts we had no idea of the protocols in any case).

Today was a travelling day, the highlights being a visit to a tea plantation (I had visited one in Darjeeling, but this was a first for Janet), and then the "toy train" from Coonoor to Ooty. Ironically, the tea plantation also has a fairly advanced eucalyptus oil production facility. Photos below at the tea plantation, including with Afridi, and at the Coonoor train station and train, and at/near our hotel in Ooty.

In this last photo we have a magnificent eucalypt outside the window!!

Ooty explorations tomorrow ...

A footnote - a couple of folk have asked whether we are ok. Answer, yes, fine. The current troubles are a couple of thousand klms to the north of us. See map below. Obviously it's a concern when nuclear powers sable-rattle like this, and I'm nowhere near an international conflict expert, but from what I've read neither side really wants the situation to escalate, and at the same time both need to save face. It's obviously serious, and the nationalistic tone of theTV here in India is quite eye-opening (as I'm sure it is in Pakistan). But in summary, we're quite safe, it's a long way away. We'rewatching, but not worried.