I had my first proper experience of being mobbed by Indian children the other day! I’m used to the staring you get as a white person living in Chennai – in a city of over 6 million people I would be surprised if there were more than 1,000 Westerners living here. With those kind of… Continue reading →

I was so close to claiming my first Indian road kill today when I opened the car door and a guy on a motorbike slammed in to it. As part of the crazy ‘no rules’ driving style in Chennai, when Aravind stopped the car, I opened the passenger door (on the pavement side – not… Continue reading →

I’ve decided to write some tips about catching a tuk-tuk (known as an auto or an auto-rick to the local population) when in Chennai – they probably apply to most asian cities aswell though. So here goes… 1. All Tuk-Tuk Drivers Wear Face Masks and Black & White Stripy Tops Or in other words, they’ll… Continue reading →

I’m getting more and more bugged as the weeks have gone by about Westerners in India. For some strange, unknown reason, they are all insisting on immersing themselves into what they believe the culture of India is by wearing traditional Indian clothes. By that, I mean the guys wear a kind of wrap-around fabric –… Continue reading →

India is a place of unexpected surprises. In order to survive, you must come to expect the unexpected and not let it phase you. Driving the wrong way down the street, no problem. The tuk-tuk driver is facing you rather than the road, furgetaboutit. However, there needs to be a new qualification to the phrase… Continue reading →

I was invited round to a pancake party (erm, because it’s pancake day) being thrown by some other Brits here in Chennai. They’ve come over to work for HeyMath.com for a year. I’ve never actually met them before, but hooked up with one of them through a friend of a friend of a friend (you… Continue reading →

I was talking to the lawyer today that joined us and was asking about law practice in India. He showed us the court house where he practiced law. The building was actually built in the late 19th century by the British. He told me that as a lawyer, there are only three ways to win… Continue reading →

Thanjuvar is an old Indian town that has an even older temple, 1,500 years at the last estimate. It is said to be a wonder of ancient architecture, but more on that later. The journey itself was due to take around 6-7 hours because the place was 300 KM away. Aravind told me I would… Continue reading →

It sounds like it could be the start of a bad joke, but no, today it actually happened. The hilarity of the situation is going to be lost a fair bit but here’s what happened. One of the rooms in my apartment has been locked since I arrived due to a faulty door handle. This… Continue reading →