It was so bright and the time was only 6.00am. I thought I got up late but when I looked at my watch the time was 6, damn. In summer, the days are longer and nights are shorter. Something different, especially in an Asian country. So there came 2nd day of my trip.

I realize that the people in the village will have a bedcoffee before they even brush their teeth. Ladies will be walking around with kudam to fetch water from public pipes. There is no more the hand pump type like those days, its tap now. They call it the nallathanni meaning good water or clean water. This is the water they use to drink and cook. Its free provided by the government. Oh not only that, in India, the education is free if you are studying in public schools or university, water is free, electricity is also free in some places. Today we just stayed in the village since there was a festival going on. A typical village temple festival, just like the on in the Paruthi Veeran movie. Huge chariots, approximately 50000 people with only 4 policemen. Yes I aint kidding, there was only 4 policemen to cover that 50000 people. I was thinking about thaipusam here in KL. They will bring down all the policemen in the country, then they will have FRU, thousands of RELA flers, not forgetting CID singarams who thinks they are James Bond and many more.

I made friend with a Sub Inspector, his name was SI Anbalagan. He actually reminded us of ACP Anbuchelvan, same style of talking and walking, stiff and strict, well educated and passion towards the job. I asked him does he get any problems from the politicians like how we watch in the movies, he said yes. But he is not bothered, for his 10 years experience they have transferred him to almost 28 police stations. I was stunned. We were stunned. He was so cool and said, what else they can do apart from transferring. Adding to that, none of the police there was actually smiling and giggling, there were all serious and tough. Tamilnadu police na kokka!
I met the panchayat head who is a retired civil engineer and yes he have 18 villages under his control. He proudly told me that in those villages there is no police station and sarayam shop (toddy shop). Even if a police would want to capture anyone they need to get this leaders permission to enter the village. Fuh, powerrr.. The it was evening and we were chit chatting with everyone there waiting for the chariot to move back to the temple.

That night there were concerts and pattimandram, exactly like Leoni’s one. The speakers were outstanding, they can sing, crack jokes, be serious, give message, you name it they can do it. It’s nice to see so many talented people there, unlike some horsedicks who thinks they are experts in what they do. But when you give them one dialogue to act, they will look at the script as though its written in French. Ok that’s another story for another time. I had my dose of valaka bajji, chili bajji and barota’s through out that day. Awesome food it was.

Did I tell you that I was riding bike while I was in India. Its Bajaj Pulsar and Yamaha. Pulsar is the same one that Dhanush rode in Pollathavan. Didn’t get the chance to meet any Dhivya or Ramya there.L

Upon arrival, the first ever temple we went to was Srirangam Renganathar temple. If you are wondering which temple, its the exact one which appears in the opening scene of Dasavatharam and the perumal a.k.a Renganathar is in a sleeping position in this temple. The temple was so huge that you can go around the temple and the rajagopuram can be seen from Nasa satellite. When you enter the temple you will be able to see some photographs taken from NASA which shows the gopuram appears to be perfectly alligned and at its exact propotion. Seeing is believing! Of course they had 3 different entrance to pray, free entrance, Rs25 and Rs50. You are actually paying to cut-q. Yes, absolutely you are paying to skip the crowd and queue to stand in front of perumal and pray, inside the shrine. Im not kiddin. For those who have been to India, knows what Im talking about.

People tend to make money in any way that they could. There are some temples where if you pay more like Rs500, you can even hug the god and pray. Heheheh. From Srirangam moved to Samayapuram. The temple is named as Samayapuram Mariamman Temple. Its predicted that this temple was built around 18th century, but I am not really sure of this.

Final destination before we head to the village was my ultimate favourite, Uchipillayar Temple. You will be able to see this temple from your flight if you are landing in Trichy. Its at the tip of a rock hill which is around few billions years old. Its the rock mountain is that old, not the temple. Its in the Rockfort town, very near to the airport actually. At the top, you will be able to see the whole of Thrichy city and Renganathar temples rajagopuram. I dont want to eloborate too much, being there is the ultimate feel.

We left Rockfort around 7pm reached the village about 9pm.

Photos @ http://picasaweb.google.com/rujjcoomarh/

Reached Thiruchirapalli International airport. It’s a new building which was opened few weeks ago as their expansion project. We had to go through Influenza scanning as India and Malaysia have been identified as infected country. The moment I walked out of the airport, I felt so excited and happy. It’s some sort of mixed feeling just like in the movies and with that heat and smell of sand. Got into our Tata Sumo and drove off. The first thing I heard was the sound of the honking drivers. Its madness, they keep honking and honking nonstop. The reason they do that is to inform another driver that he is either at the back of him, going to overtake, taking a turn, going to stop.

Since no one follows traffic rules in India, honking is the only method of communication in between the drivers and other road users. I was looking outside the car window and saw small huts called as “kudusai” in Tamil, surprisingly equipped with satellite dish and tv. Who said India is poor, no they are not. They have all the resource and money, sadly sometimes they failed to either appreciate it or don’t know how to utilize it.

It took us 2 hours to reach the village called as Silathur. To make it simple, India > Thiruchirapalli > Pudhukottai > Arathangi > Silathur. Or in other words its like Malaysia > KL > Klang Valley > Bangsar > Taman Bukit Pantai. I was under the impression that the village will be that typical ones just like in the movies and I was abit freaked out on how am I going to shit. You know in village they shit in open field and bathe either at the river or motor-pump.

Guess what? I was absolutely wrong! The village is so beautiful and modern. Houses here looked like bungalows, double storey, triple storey, fully aircond, toilet inside the house, cable tv and everything that a modern home will have. I asked our host how come this place doesn’t look like a village, he said that everyone who lives there are all working in overseas. For instance the neighbor of our host is a chemical engineer in US. Most of them are working in USA, UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi. No doubt they could build such a huge house.

And no there were no kids running at the back of our car when we arrived. We were received well by everyone and was so happy that I came. We ate talked and time to sleep. For the note, we are 2.5 hours ahead of India timing.

Photos @ http://picasaweb.google.com/rujjcoomarh