First times

I just arrived back in Ireland.  I know its just after 5pm on Thursday but my internal time clock has no clue what time it is.

I expected that having lived in India for almost a year that I would have very few first-times during my 8-day stay here.  But I was wrong and there were quite a few firsts.

First time being in India without being sick. 

Hurrah!  OK slightly under the weather one day but generally good.   While I bless my good luck and hope it lasts, I also have a theory that the microbes in Southern India are less lethal than their cousins in the North.

First car accident. 

Shocking really that I never had one before they way people drive here coupled with the number of vehicles, people and animals on the road.  But one night on the way home from work the driver hit another car.  We had been going slowly and nobody was injured.  Both cars pulled over and stopped.  The driver and the finance manager got out while my colleague and I waited in the back of the car.  I feared there might be long discussions and paperwork (paperwork can be extensive in India) but as it happened both parties agreed there was no damage and we continued on our way.

First time drinking a glass of beer

I am not a big drinker and before this I had only supped tiny bits of beer.  But a senior person in the company invited us over to his house for a beer and there seemed to be no way to avoid drinking without causing offence. 

At least I managed to persuade somebody to share a can so I had only about 250 ml and that’s probably enough for me for quite a while.  I drank slowly.  The first few mouthfuls were OK (surprisingly so actually).  I spent the evening carefully nursing the drink to avoid refills and towards the end the beer was warm and nasty

In Tamil Nadu its very hard to buy alcohol so this beer had been specially brought from Pondicherry where in alcohol sales laws the French influence remains.

First time in Tamil Nadu.

Not as hot as the Delhi and Rajasthan in summer but still far too hot for me!   I don’t think it ever got below 25 even at night and many nights were 29/30.  During the day it was always mid thirties and we got 38 one day.

Mughal buildings (the Taj Mahal being the best example) are found in the North and the Muslim influence seemed more prevalent not just in architecture but also in food and attitudes

In Tamil Nadu, there was little Mughal influence and there were beautiful carved Hindu temples (also many gaudy ones like the North).  Also I saw no images of Hanuman (the Hindu god who is part monkey and part human).  Hanuman always freaks me out (I don’t know why) so his absence was a good thing.  I did many statues of Ganjesh (the elephant god) but I never find him as disturbing.  I should add the last paragraph is just my impression and I have no evidence to support it.  Perhaps there are many people Tamil Nadu with a special devotion to Hanuman but I saw no evidence of it.

First time I had a large flying creature in my bedroom

The last night I was having a shower. I came out of the bathroom and went into my room.  The fan was spinning and beneath it I saw something flying.  I wasn’t sure what it was.  It wasn’t very big but far too big to be a moth.  But large enough to be scary.  Courage utterly deserted me.  I screamed.  Not very loud but still a scream.  I called my colleague.  We cowered outside the room, looking in. How unfortunate to be stuck outside my room with only a towel on but there seemed to be nothing else I could do.  Then the creature left my room and we both scurried to our bedrooms.  After a few minutes I emerged (this time better clad than in the towel).   I felt better that my colleague had shown about equal lack of courage.  We agreed it was a bat and as it had entered the kitchen we closed the kitchen door and dashed away lest it somehow follow us from behind the closed door.

As  I was packing each time I opened a cupboard door or moved something I feared a bat would fly at me. 

I slept badly, waiting up often thinking that I heard bats flying while my sleep was cursed with nightmares of bat bites and flapping wings.    The next day there was no sign of the bat but I didn’t go looking and I was glad to leave the house behind me.