Jitu

The air flow in the train could not satisfy the demand for a cooling breeze. In fact holding the hand out of the windows of the traveling train feels like holding the hand into the airflow of an hair dryer. Only the film of dust and exhaust laying on the skin of arm and hand makes the difference.

On 1^st of May a friend of mine (His name is Swami) and I went to Chennai to visit all my friends from my previous stay, but the heat after arrival was really hard to bear with. I do not know, how I got used to it 2 years ago. Shortly before we reached Chennai Central, we left the train to visit my friend’s uncle who came to pick us up with his 2-wheeler. My bag was very heavy and needed a lot of balancing on the bike because of the 2 square meters of unripe Mangos inside, which had to be brought to Chennai on the Swami’s behalf. At Uncle’s place the first thing we did was taking a shower. This is the only way, how to fight the heat, which does not cool down at night. Although the shower is very relaxing, it does not take more than 10 minutes to have the same sticky skin than before.

Next day we went to my friend’s place which served somehow as a headquarter: Here all our trips originated from. He and his family lives in a rural area in the northern part of Chennai. Rural area means no running water and no luxury. Water comes from a well. Nearby are a lot of industries recycling and producing steel components. Without any protection the workers direct the hot and red-glowing steel out of the oven to the rollers to form it into the right shape. Sometimes accidents happen and most of the times the injuries are very severe. My friend’s dad has a little hut next to the industries selling tea and cookies.

Next day we went to the south of Chennai and visited Mahabalipuram and its famous stones. On our way was his college, so he visited all his teachers. In Mahabalipuram we rested and took a little nap. While we slept some monkeys came by and stole the water bottle which was just laying beside my face. They also opened the zipper of our bags to search for something eatable.
One day we went to the shore and had a boat trip with some fishermen. At the beginning the people were very reserved and watched me from the distance. But after a while and especially after taking bath in the Bay of Bengal, the ice broke and the people turned into open minded and very cheerful ones. We had a lot of fun although I did not understand a single word.

During our stay in Chennai we got used to the typical heat and humidity there. So coming back to Bangalore was a very freezing experience accompanied with fever and cold.

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The IISc has rooms available for guests of the students. So if parents want to visit their sons or daughters, the student can book a room. It sounds easy and useful, doesn’t it? But unfortunately there are some rules:

1. A student can book a room for maximum 10 days only once per month.
2. If a sibling of the student wants to visit, his/her parents must be present.
3. The guest room can only be booked for direct family members (and not for e.g. friends etc.)

This can be a little bit problematic. It is explicitly said that all rules must be followed, there will be no exception. Ok, here is my situation:

My brother is 26 and married. If he wants to visit me, also his wife will do so. He is a sibling and therefore the booking will be fine as long as my parents come with him. Since his wife is also coming, her parents have to come, too. But not all people fit into one room, so I have to book two rooms, which is not possible (see 1^st rule). After all her parents are not my brother’s one and therefore, they cannot come although they have to.
If all rules are followed (there are 25 or so), nobody can visit anybody anymore, which makes the whole concept of providing guest rooms completely senseless. But the management gives a good reason for all these “security” measurements: terrorism

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Every winter I am looking forward to the upcoming season with its raising temperatures. The first sun is used to unpack the grill and to have barbecue. Since the temperatures in Bangalore are suitable for having barbecue since my arrival, I am planning to have it for a long time. The best occasion would have been the 30^th of April, which was also my birthday. I wanted to organize a really good party with self-mixed cocktails and nicely grilled meat. Unfortunately this event was doomed to failure since the beginning, because of the open fire of the grill and the alcoholic content of the drinks. Both are strictly prohibited on campus. But I thought: So what? We are in India. Maybe there will be some complains, but its is worth to risk. But they take it rather seriously and the reason still sounds so unbelievable that I am unable to comment it.

Several months back there was a shooting on campus and some terrorists attacked IISc. Since then plenty new rules (many of them are very senseless) popped up. Since the security staff, etc did not find a better reason to forbid a party like mine, they came up with the terrorism argument. After I heard this, I did not know what to say and at first I thought they are kidding me. The involved terrorists involved must have boozed heavily before committing the attack.

So instead of having a party on campus, I searched for a nice place just outside it. But I could not find any suitable place. So we went to a Bar/Restaurant, where I reserved the terrace and we had a nice and successfulk party there.

First the waiters denied to give us the booze bottles, but after a while and so many orderings they figured out that they can run infinitely, so they brought the bottles and we could fill up our empty glasses and bodies. I drank Indian wine, which came in a glass for brandy and was served warm. But some ice cubes could cool down even this drink.

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