Gets Under Your Skin

Touch could quite very well be the least considered sense that we experience on a daily basis. This by no means makes it less important, but usually unless it is a extreme sensation on the spectrum of pleasure or pain, touch can easily be taken for granted I think. One of my favorite tactile sensations is the first moment of diving into a pool for a swim and my entire body is immersed in the water, suspending by the absence of physical impact. It is often a moment of bliss for me at times.

In Madurai, my sense of touch has been challenged, or at least engaged in a variety of new ways that I am quite aware of during the day.

A Typical Tamil Lunch

Perhaps the most immediate sensation is when eating to begin the day and every other meal. The tradition here is to eat with the fingers and it can be quite a messy affair while getting the hang of it. But, you “feel” your food before you taste it. Eating then is a new experience for certain dishes. Although growing up with Mexican food and of course the pizza and hamburger culture of America has not left me immune to dinner with my hands, I was not accustomed to eating sauces and rice and stewed vegetables inter alia with my fingers.

In addition to the hands, the feet take on a new role in India as you will often find yourself barefoot as that is the custom in most Indian houses and many public areas. For the temple grounds in Madurai, you must check your shoes and visit them. I have not been in the Meenakshi Temple yet as I want to spend several hours there as there are a reported 30 million individual sculptures within the compound, but I have been on the plaza grounds surrounding the temple. Today was extremely hot here, but the majority of the people are walking around barefoot regardless. I took off my sandals (shoes are merely a nuisance in India for the most part) for just a short while and could not believe how hot the surface was. Yet, you see little kids to grandmothers walking calmly over the baked clay streets, metal grates, and whatnot, never flinching. That is something that will take time for me to get used to, another reason I am postponing the temple visit till my soles are a bit more adjusted to the heat.

Though I have not actually "touched" the temple, it is no less a portion of the “sense” of touch because of the rich texture that one “feels” when looking at the exterior walls. You eyes literally have to feel their way across the images, again in a sort of synaesthetic juncture.

Near the temple complex is the Pudhumandapam, or Great Hall, which used to be part of the complex, and was at a time a museum, but now houses the tailor's market, a row of bookstores, and a bevy of brass works shops. I went in today to have some shirts made to order and I was allowed to step into the stall and “feel” all of the fabrics, choosing three extremely comfortable ones. When buying clothes, my priority for them is usually how they feel first, then if they actually fit nicely. So, this was a slice of sartorial heaven for me today.

Because of the heat, I chose cotton, rayon, and a light silk, but that also extends to personal toiletries that I have adapted to using since here. I found my favorite Sandalwood soap from “Chandrika,” which I now remember paying about four dollars for in Austin, but for about a quarter here. In addition, I am using sandalwood powder after a shower because deodorant will just not work here with the heat. In addition, I have found a “cooling” scalp massage to help alleviate the heat.

My "Cooling" Toiletries

Speaking of the heat and clothes, unlike living in the States, when it is this hot, you skin is not met with the blast of A/C at 65 degrees after coming in from 100, but rather you come into a stale room and turn on the fan, if there is one. Turn it on because everyone turns off all electricity here when you leave due to the frequent power surges and outages.

As such, if you are fortunate to have such a fan, then one of the feelings that you encounter is then the constant breeze from them. We had ceiling fans in Austin as well, but we also had A/C, so it is bit of a mental difference without the choice.

And, as you can see from my window, here is our dryer.  Sun-dried clothes also have a different feeling that tumble-dried with Bounce, to be sure. In Italy, most Italians do not have a dryer either, but in India, to have a washing machine is nearly unheard of outside of the major cities, and in that in higher-class neighborhoods. Seeing laundry constantly hanging is just part of the daily scene.

As such, literally from head to toes, I am experiencing a different tactile world here. Though I have experienced each of these elsewhere at some point in my life, it is again the mixture of the other senses all at once that make it such the visceral collage.