Leaving Las Vegas, er, um... Chennai.

Blast Off:

Day 3: Chennai to Vellore

The Flag off ceremony held in St. George’s Indo-English school and orphanage, a 300 year old series of buildings, behind the madness of the main streets on what looked like a miniature desert was supposed to be an epic gala event. And in a way, it was. The original idea was a gala with 10 representatives from the embassies from each participating nationality with national anthems, a RedBull arch, a celebrity guest, flame throwers, jugglers, a live band and a bollywood DJ duking it out. It was also suppposed to start promptly at 9am.

Since it was organized exactly 2 minutes in advance it went something like this: a Christian revival event had booked the vast desert/parking lot/playground in advance and we could take over the entrance/corner before they could wake up and make it back for another day of hawking inspirational and/or devotional products. And yes, analog tapes were available from hosts with incredible brylcreme pompadours.

Participants placed the final decorative touches on outrageously painted autorickshaws, from the Disco bottle hanging from Compact Pussycat’s rickshaw, to the bell pull used as a tail and male blow-up doll to complete team Nip ‘N’ Tuk’s autorickshaw that had been transformed into a pink elephant.

Participants got their first taste of the local media crews that follow the event, posing in costumes that ranged from pirates, to superheroes and hippies.

Right out of the gate, teams began breaking down, in fact Tip ‘N’ Tuk created a new event record by having a massive breakdown less than 100 meters from the flag off.

Poor bastards. The first days are infamous for having the most mechanical problems as newbie foreign drivers learn the subtle nuances of driving a two-stroke, 3 wheeled bottom of the barrel autorickshaw. Team 6, The Jokes of Hap-Hazzard had the dubious distinction of having their rear wheel fall off and roll past them as they came to a stop.

The first major stop of the day was a school visit organized by a local Round table (MERT- 30). Since this happened on a Sunday, there were only about 60 children, rather than the hundreds we would see in the coming days. Technically no children were supposed to be there but we'd bribed them in advance with the promise of chocolates, handily supplied by a local Cadbury rep. There we were greeted by teachers and students with fragrant jasmine garlands, small milk candies and a blessing for a good journey. Participants dressed in costumes thrilled the kids and there was just enough time for a brief game of ball. Teams and organizers then met with local Round Tablers and teachers who gave a history of the school, the impressive achievements of the humble staff -notably that despite all the difficulties not a single student has failed the yearly examinations. Participants distributed chocolates and began the rest of journey to Vellore.

The pace car got the luxury of an additional stop: the Rajiv Ghandi memorial. It was at this spot in Tamil Nadu that the dubious figure met his gruesome end. The assassin was a suicide bomber, a young woman. She approached him and appeared to place something at his feet (a flower?) and blew them both to bits. The memorial site itself, is quite lovely. Lush green lawns that are in stark contrast to the rest of the landscape.

Large pillars with intricate dark metal sculptures circle the exact spot; where there is a large vertical mosaic depicting the exact moment of splat in which it is said that Rajiv died with a benevolent smile on his face.

Somewhat questionably the artist uses tiles and a circular base that continues the "mid air" theme. Since the pillars, landscaping and large stone socialist-stylized mural are heavily dependent on idealized symbols it's even stranger. But hey, I liked it.