January 22, 2001 - Staying at the Broadlands...
January 22, 2001 - Staying at the Broadlands... |
Triplicane High Road Your first few nights in Madras should be spent at a western hotel (with a western toilet, toilet paper and air conditioning) until you get used to India. Then you should head toward Triplicane and the Broadlands Lodge and the Maharaja restaurant. The picture shows Triplicane High Road which is an old farming town near the sea. Just two blocks from here are dairies and an open market bazaar. All of the kids that that I know lived on the sidewalks of this street. |
Ever autorickshaw (the yellow and black motorized tricycles) driver knows the "Star Theater, Triplicane". From there you can find the restaurant called Hotel Maharaja and from there you can find Broadlands Lodge around the corner. |
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Vela Slept Here! This photo is taken from the roof of the Jaiz Complex where Vela's Grandmother sometimes cooks on a open camp fire. On the sidewalk below is where Prabhu and his grandmother sleep. Even though Vela now has a house in the government housing project, she still sleeps here sometimes because it is much more fun to be in Triplicane. |
The Side Road to Broadlands In this photo (probably taken by Ramu, Mari's brother) is Mari standing next to Ramu's autorickshaw. Note the sign on the building is for Hotel Comfort. Once you see this sign, just walk about 100 meters and you will come to Paradise Guest House. Next to it is the Broadlands Lodge. On the left side of the street is the building where Mari works and below that is where Mari's family lives. |
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The theater is the center of the social life in Triplicane. From the outside, it looks small. Actually, this is only the entrance to the courtyard where the theater is located. In the courtyard are different areas to buy tickets. Each section of the theater has its own line. If you are going to the show, lots of people will help you select the proper line. But never give anyone money except the ticket taker. (Once you get to know the kids, they will do this for you.) The metal gate in the middle of the picture is closed to keep people from sneaking in or out after the show starts and to prevent riots. (I only saw one theater riot and that was at a different theater because too many tickets were sold for a very popular show in the cheap seat section.) |
Memorize the face on the lower right. Always get a autorickshaw driver who looks like him... the hero of a Tamil movie. He is the good guy. |
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Here is a map to Broadlands and Paradise Guest House lodge which is next door. This map is not to scale nor is it accurate. Dozens of streets are missing from this map. I have stayed in both places. If you have the money, you will probably prefer to stay at the Paradise Guest House but it does not have as much flavor. Note the Star Cinema. is shown on the card. Everything within a kilometer of the Star Theater is described as being opposite the Star Cinema. In reality, Broadlands is over 300 meters from the Star Theater. |
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Broadlands is a rapidly-decaying, low-rent lodge which caters exclusively to foreigners.There is nothing special about Broadlands other than a tiny library and numerous courtyards and the fact that it is run by a religious organization. Since Broadlands restricts occupancy to people from foreign lands, the lodge is the focal point of most new visitors to Madras. This makes it a good place to start learning about India. Also tourists at Broadlands attracts street kids who often hang around outside begging for 5 rupee which is about 12 cents in US currency. (Don't give them any money. Buy them good food instead.) Broadlands is in Triplicane, which is one of the many towns which have been swallowed up by Madras. As cities go, Madras is rather new. It started near the harbor and slowly spread out from there. Triplicane was the farming/ranching area for the original Madras. Triplicane is also one of the lowest cost district in Madras to live. This attracts thousands of people who live on the streets, covering about 20% of the sidewalks after the shops close at night. |
Here is a street vendor cheating a new visitor to India. In India, there is very little change... either small coins or bills. Therefore, if you do not have exact change for a purchase, it is an excuse for the vendor to sell you more stuff that you don't want. Also, most sales in India are not at a fixed price. That is, the price must be agreed on based on how much you want something and on your ability to pay. Only restaurants operate on a fixed price basis. |
Photo of Broadlands |
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On my third trip, I stayed at the Chennai Students Hostel which is also about 300 meters from the Star Theater. Here you can see the motor bikes outside of the student hotel for the university students. Since I prefer to stay for two or three months, paying by the month is very inexpensive here as compared to Broadlands lodge which has no monthly rates. The kids made all the arrangements for me. I doubt if I could have done it without them. Kumar arranged it so I paid for a double room with double beds which gave me additional space as well as a place for the kids to stay at during the day. |
My Room Here are Prabhu and Vela sleeping until 11 am. People wake up at about 7 am when they sleep on the streets. Vela rarely wakes up before 8 so when you see a lump on the sidewalk, you know it is Vela. Note the water bottles and the mat on the floor where I actually sleep to keep cool... even with a ceiling fan running constantly day and night. |
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Speaking Indian English Broadlands is pronounced "Brau Lanz" since the Tamil Language requires that each syllable start with a consonnet and end with a vowel sound (the same as Japanese). Similarly, when you ask the kids for take out food, you ask that they get a PARCEL. This is pronounced "paa--saal" with no "R" and a very soft "L" at the end because syllables cannot end with a consonnet. And Maharaja is pronounced Mag ha ra ja with a very hard "g". |
If you feel really brave, you can visit one of the shanty towns of Madras.
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