The anxiety of planning my travels has officially set in. Three cities and only two months made me feel like I was planning more for the Amazing Race than pre-dissertation fieldwork.  As soon as the power cuts in our neighborhood, my mother and I have started taking trips out of our area to cooler territories.

Can you blame us, when the outside temperature of 40C seems better than sitting indoors? Battling the sweltering heat to Mylapore Tank Road we made our way to the Railway station to make my travel bookings and get supplies for the next couple of days.

Traffic and roads was supposed to be terrible on May 30 and 31^st nationwide due to protests staged by local DMK and AIADMK parties, so we had to plan our schedules around those inconveniences. Unfortunately my every memory of visitingIndia has taught me not to make certain plans and arrangements unless absolutely necessary. Sudden political activism, mostly crafted by one opposition party or the other, leads to a series of consequences. Sometimes certain commodities become unavailable, at other times scarcity of autos and heavy traffic makes you wish you could fly everywhere like Hanuman.

The recent rise in fuel prices and the ensuing strikes and protests haven’t helped the cost of transport and essential commodities. Every short autorickshaw ride that I had anticipated would be Rs.45 has risen to Rs.80. In Chennai especially the faith in the government has dwindled even more in recent years. The 2G scam followed by the 4G scam, and the blatant corruption in every venture from welfare schemes to distribution of resources such as water, electricity, fuel, and internet led one of my neighbors to comment: “These politicians, you know, they will never provide for the people. They will cut open their bellies, stuff it with all their cash, and take it up with them to heaven. There is no hope.”

Maybe it was the heat and the 4-hour power cuts everyday, or perhaps the shortage of fuel and lack of diesel in the state, but Tamilnadu is in serious need of a hero. That is probably why every successful Tamil movie portrays a one-man-army as the protagonist, who ruthlessly kills corrupt officials to reinstate a fairer government run – of the people, by the people, and for the people.