India Online Journal, November 2001
Author: Jennifer Kumar

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Day 5
Sunday mornings are really nice at this house. There are many soothing noises coming from outside, pouring into the windows of the house. The first is the sound of “AUM” chanting between 5 am and 6 am from the near by Anjaneya Temple, and the other being the carnatic music classes being held next door. The sounds of small children repeating “SA RA GA MA” after their female teacher fills the neighbourhood with a lively, refined feeling.


Dog guarding the music class next door. Isn't he cute?		 This morning I went to the CSI Church in West Tambaram to meet a class mate, and as I was waiting, I thought it must be too long because many beggars that came to me while I was waiting inside, were the same beggars! About five were sitting there, and every so often would come inside trying to collect money from the devotees streaming out the door. Mostly, I did not see anyone giving money. And, though it may seem rude from a western standpoint, I don’t usually give money to beggars. In this case, especially since all five could see me, if I gave money to one, all would start running toward me. Say if I gave the first two rupees, I would have to give all them the same amount or some would start giving the evil eye to me, thinking I like some better than others.

I did not have any change, so I refrained from giving. The other reason I don’t give is because these beggars like to trick people. Actually, many of them are eligible to get good jobs, but they know by begging they can make more money. There is even a story of one beggar who owns a house. He makes three times more a month, tax-free, than a honest worker in a lower-paying job. One more reason is that as a social work student we were told not to encourage beggary. One thing that initially startled me was the idea of ‘baby renting’ among the female beggars. Frequently, one will see a beggar standing with a baby. In many cases, this is not their baby. The baby is a ‘rented baby’ from a local prostitute ring. The baby is used to create pity from people to collect more money. The babies suffer in this process. Usually the beggar rents the baby for Rs10 per day and does not think of feeding it, and on top of that sometimes will hit the baby to make it cry to make more pity in the passers by. Sometimes babies become severely sick or even die in this ‘work.’ This is no joke. After I first found out about this, I read about it in the Hindu Newspaper, and also two Loyola College social work students had done a research on this by going into the ‘racket’ area where the babies were rented from. This was a very dangerous proposition, and the boys said knives were pulled on them and other various death threats placed on them if they told the ‘police.’ Anyhow, in another instance my classmates accosted such a beggar and she asked for Rs 50 (a lot of money to give to a beggar) showing her ‘baby’ and saying she must take it to the children’s hospital as it was sick. Somehow, they gave the money and few minutes later, they came to try to take the lady to the doctor, and she was at the liquor store buying some hard drinks. In another case, my other classmates, learning from the lessons of the others, offered to take the beggar with baby directly to the hospital. Upon hearing she would not be able to pocket the money, she said she did not want it, nor did she want to go to the hospital. Now, the question is, if it were really her baby wouldn’t she take them up on the offer to be taken directly to the hospital?
Flats on the border of Anna Nagar and Shenoy Nagar.

Road with flats to the left and Thiru Va Ka Park on right side.
Anyhow, back to my day. I left Tambaram about 10:30 am and went to my friend’s house. Originally, all the windows were rolled down in the car to let the cool breeze in. However, Chennai climate is a very odd phenomenon, as it will be hot outside (90 degrees F), but the ‘cool breeze’ in November, December and January will send shivers down your spine (once accustomed to the climate). And this morning revealed to me, I am surely accustomed, as the biting wind hit the top of my head, I became very cold, and raised the window. It is due to this wind that during these months it is common to see people wearing thick, woolen sweaters and woolen or knitted scarves on their heads.


Thiru Va Ka Park, opposite flats (above photo).
Children playing in the water logged park.		 On the way, I asked the driver to stop next to Thiru Va Ka park, near by to my friend’s house. I took a few snaps there. The park is gated in, but the inside, due to rains, is totally flooded. I had taken a few snaps of children playing in the knee-deep water, playing on slides and swings. From the looks of it, many children may have been unclothed. I am guessing only slum children go into this park. It is very unhygienic as many water-borne disease fester in such places. But across the street were two nice flats complexes, which I also took some snaps of.

Upon arriving at my friend’s house, we chatted and had lunch. We tried offering some to the car driver, who refused. It is a customary thing to do, if hiring a car for the day, to offer the driver lunch. Usually they will accept, but this man decided to find his own food. After eating, my other classmate came and we three chatted sometime, and he left. It would not be fun for him to go shopping with two girls!

We decided to go to Spencer’s Plaza. This is a modern indoor shopping complex, comparable to any western shopping mall. The only differences in this one, however, are that there are several shops which bargaining is permitted. This place is a very confusing maze, not so easily mapped out or user friendly as the western counterpart.

We entered the drive to the parking garage from the wrong side, so the traffic police bribed us Rs 50 to get in. This bribe turned out to be about three times more than the parking fee! It costs Rs 10 for the first two hours and Rs 5 for each hour there after, we stayed for three hours. Entering the mall from the parking garage is a different experience, as the elevator (lift) is glass and you can see the sites of Anna Salai from there. This was the first time I had been in the lift.

We spent about three hours in the plaza, visiting only three large shops: Music World, Food World, and Landmark. Landmark has another building near Gemini Flyover (U.S. Consulate) and this one in Spencer’s is three floors, with books, music, home items, clothes, gifts, and a coffee shop. We only had time to see one floor fully. It was very nice and spacious. Indian music sections are always vast because India has 15 national languages, though about 5 are have their music sponsored here: Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada. There is also a western music section with the same variety and selection as you would find in any Tower Records.

An interesting side note is that this Landmark store was recently opened. I had noted the CDs, cassettes and other merchandise had security tags on it. There were also security gates at the entrance to track stolen or unpaid items. Though these things are quite common in US, and to some extent in India, in more upscale shops, a majority of places most Indians I knew in Chennai purchased CDs, casettes and other merchandise did not have to worry about security tags. I pointed them out to my friend and asked if she knew what they were. She did not, so I explained it to her.

Actually, here in Spencer’s there are lots of foreigners, but many Indians too. It has become a happening place to hang out on Sundays. I am not sure how much buying goes on, but I am sure plenty! Many youngsters come and browse and hang out, and families also come. The problem in this plaza is there is no defined food court. There are several shops to buy food, but they are located behind the main shops in the maze, few and far between. When they are found, they are quite a find! And it has full a/c, a nice fountain, capsule glass elevators inside the main part, and escalators. I am not sure how many building accessible to main public have these ‘modern conveniences.’ There are public restrooms, but as usually found in India, are not very clean. The women’s room has a western and an Indian toilet. I always prefer in India to use the Indian style because many Indians do not use western toilets properly and the seats are very dirty. I also don’t remember seeing hand soap or paper towels in the bathroom, though there is a dirty wash basin inside. It is best to avoid public restrooms at all costs in India, unless you are in a very costly upscale hotel or restaurant.
I was able to arrive back home at 7pm. For the total ride of 78 km, and about 10 hours car time, the total came to Rs 650, or about US$13.
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