Just returned from a holiday cum shopping cum fact-finding trip from Chennai, India…
(Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu – The Land of the Tamils and a place that I have not set foot yet. Image source: Wikipedia)
India – I have been fascinated with this country, long before a moron shouted: “if you don’t like, go back to India” (this moron, of course, did not appreciate the fact that our “motherland” is in Malaysia and it will be so no matter what happens).
India has been a fascination to me ever since I read about early civilisation during my History classes (back in the days when history was more interesting and was not so distorted). The fact that Hinduism was “the” religion of the nation before Islam took a foothold does say something about the travels and influence of the kingdoms of ancient India in the early years of the country.
When I visited Iran, I was excited to find that Iran means Aryans – the same Aryans who ventured down from the north and assimilated with the people of ancient India. And don’t forget the Dravidian who been residing in the south and where the majority of the Tamilian in Malaysia originated from.
So, I have been holding out on visiting India for some time now – I just needed the right time (and company). When I got a call from my brother in law who planned for a week trip to Chennai for shopping (mainly) and short travels to temples and food adventures, I hardly hesitated.
We looked forward to visiting the various ancient temples but more importantly to shop for dirt cheap sarees, clothes and herbal medicines (we were surprised to see just how much the clothes were marked up when it reached Malaysian shores).
We had managed to save up for this trip to Chennai and we even managed to get free accommodation and food, courtesy of a distant Indian relation who was happy to have us as their guests.
To be continued in Part 1…