The "bad" part of Chennai

Being back here in Chennai for 2 weeks, I have yet to see a drop of rain from the sky. Although the weather is still cool in the morning but there was never a moment of doubt that it will never rain the whole day. It is good..... but for now.... I've heard horror stories of the hot weather here in Chennai (Mar to May especially) which many people died from the heat wave. At the moment, people are freezing to death in North India. Although I'm in the South but the temperatures here are also quite low (relative to S'pore's) in the morning. However, afternoon, it's a whole different story - best to stay indoors.

These days I've not been able to have a good night sleep. Every morning I'll be woken up by mosquito bites. Before January, it was nearly impossible to find any mosquito especially at the place where we stayed. I was very surprised as I would expect lots of mosquitoes because of the environment. However, honeymoon period over, every morning I wake up with mosquito bites on my wrists, feets and sometimes my face (I wear sweater and long pants so only these are the "vulnerable" areas). Two nights ago, I started my "exercise routine" before I go to sleep. Been on a mosquito killing spree... I smacked at least 10 of those blood sucking pests before I sleep. BUT... every morning I wake up, I can still kill another 5 or 6 (before I open my room door). There's gotta be a more efficient way of getting rid of these pests... They've been bothering me for about a week now and I don't think they'll stop. I suspect the cause was the heavy rains in Chennai before January. Water logging is still a problem although it has not rained for weeks. The river which was swollen before is now very dry.

People Below Poverty Line (BPL)
After being in Chennai for quite some time, I am now able to recognise the usual beggars on the street. The way they beg for money differs. One beggar with her son (or maybe most probably her grandson, he looks to be about 2 to 3yrs old) begs near where I live. Every time I pass by her, she'll drag the poor kid from whatever he was doing and cradle him in her arms. Then she'll make her way towards me and call out "Baby... baby" signalling that the baby needs to eat. As usual, I avoided her...... I know I've said it a few times but I don't know what to do for her. I can't give her money as there are other beggars around as well. If I do give to one, the rest will come running. (I've seen someone gave money to another beggar and this old woman quickly again grab the kid and beg).

There's another beggar near where I work. I see this woman .... (I just realised something... most of the beggars I've met are women, rarely men).... Anyway, this woman beggar is slightly different from the rest. Mainly because of the way she begs. Usually beggars will present themselves "humbly" (in a "kelian" way) but not her. She'll be liked in a pissed off mood and demand money from you shaking her metal cup with some rupee coins inside.

It is quite sad and makes me feel guilty when I can easily spend Rs200 on a meal while they struggle to get Rs10 of food. Whenever I spend a lot on "expensive" food here in Chennai, I would donate some amount of money into Oxfam and other food aid organizations. I also don't know how much this will help them as well because even charities are corrupted. It is very saddening to learn that an organization such as NKF S'pore under T.T. Durai would lavishly spend it on unnecessary expenses. Over here, I'm not sure of the organizations here but I hope they are better as most are managed by international NGOs. There are so many people in the "Below Poverty Line" (BPL) catergory here in India. They depend on the food aid provided by government but not always receive it due to corruption.

Pollution
As it has not rained recently, the amount of dust here in Chennai is quite bad. But, most people still consider Chennai as very clean. They say that Mumbai and Delhi are more polluted. I don't know since I've never been there. My nose is always clogged up.

On a happier note
Since training is over, now I have Saturdays free!! Wheee!! No longer paid like Mc Donald's counter staff..... But then ar.... what to do on a free day? :S ... With this new found freedom, suddenly like nothing to do..... No need to study for exam..... no need to go for lessons.... sleep all day?? :P