Museum Complex, Egmore, Chennai, India

Chennai’s Government Museum complex in the district of Egmore is comprised of six buildings and 46 galleries. Of these, we only had time to visit the Gallery of Bronzes and the adjacent gallery of coins. Reading the dates on the coins, one gets an idea of just how far back (BC) India’s recorded history actually goes. There was even a display of the light-weight alloy coins that were commonly used back when I was first here in the early 70’s. The Gallery of Bronzes contained mostly statuettes of the dancing Lord Shiva (the destroyer), his consort, Parvathi and their two sons, Ganesha and Subrahmanya; the meditating Buddha; and a handful of examples representing Jain statuary. It is said that without the Jain contribution of grammar to Tamil language, the Tamils would never have risen to prominence. I also noted a statue of the three faced Brahma, the creator and first god of the Hindu trinity. It is extremely rare to find any visual representation of Brahma anywhere in India. I did not take pictures of anything inside as this would have required an additional fee of Rs 200.

On previous occasions we had attended live performances of classical Indian music by top native talent at the Museum Theater. It is an excellent, air-conditioned venue with fine acoustics for music concerts of any type.

The entire complex appears a bit run down but this only adds to its ‘deserted cities’ charm. There is one building in particular that is an amazing example of indo-saracenic architecture. It is not being used because it has been declared unsafe. The book exposition building contains mostly books printed in Tamil and a modest ‘Learning English’ section. The gardens have some magnificent native trees – Mango, Neem, Peepal, Cannonball, etc.

There’s one thing that has always bothered me about visiting museums and historic sites in India. Foreigners are routinely charged ten times the normal entrance fee. Also, foreigners are prohibited entirely from entering certain temples. The cast system, though declared illegal by the government, is still being practiced in spirit by the majority of the population in that servants, drivers and watchmen are often treated rudely and denied basic human respect. All these are subtle examples of generally accepted practices that continue to marginalize specific groups and exclude others altogether. Indians tend to glibly gloss over it, pointing to what essentially amount to superficial federal efforts - in terms of government handouts and judicial rulings that favor the scheduled classes (another name for the ‘untouchables’); female children receiving free education up to 12th standard, whereas boys don’t; and blonde, blue-eyed foreigners being charged ten times the normal amount at government operated museums or (joint) India-UN administered heritage sites – to combat inequity.

Reverse-discrimination is still discrimination. It undermines the moral standing of a nation. It tends to desensitize the populace into being willing to accept much greater crimes - even genocide. After our museum visit, we had lunch at a new restaurant, called AZULIA at the GRT (International) Grand Hotel. The food was simply divine from the Greek salad, through the main course, to the espresso. The place was empty when we arrived. The chef, Joseph Chahine, a displaced Lebanese Christian, came out and introduced himself. He was friendly and broadly smiling as he proudly explained the intricacies of his culinary art to us. He told us how he personally had designed the (paper) menu, a virtual tome, giving much unnecessary information about the Mediterranean region. There were glossy pictures and maps. …only one problem: The map showed the names of every country along the Mediterranean coast, EXCEPT ISRAEL.* More people arrived as we were eating. Mr. Chahine claimed there were always good crowds at night.

*The menu has since this writing been changed. It is no longer offensive and the food is still great.

Peter Koelliker; pkoelliker8@yahoo.com