I took an internal flight to Madurai to reach a town called Rajapalayam, where I'd be teaching English in a school and staying with the local factory workers for around a week.
As I stepped off the plane at Madurai airport at around 6:30pm I was greeted by a severe tropical thunder storm. I met the driver who only speaks the local language, Tamil. Bags in the loaded in the car, I turned on my iPod for the two hour journey to Rajapalayam.
To say the roads were treacherous was a major understatement. I said a prayer in case I had offended Indra, the god of rain and thunder. I didn't know what I'd done wrong but I was sorry.
One hour into the journey, the tyre had blown. Great. Assuming the driver was taking charge of the situation, I handed him my waterproof and head torch to assist. After a few minutes of the driver examining the spare tyre with a puzzled look, he called me out of the car and smiled.
I then found myself jacking up the car and changing the tyre as the driver wore my waterproof and head torch. I was as wet as a fish's wet bits.
Tyre successfully changed, we both got back in the car to continue our perilous journey along the country roads. The driver smiled and gave me a thumbs up as he gave back my waterproof and torch.
I was relieved to finally arrive at Rajapalayam. Several locals greeted me and showed me the apartment in the staff quarters where I'd be staying for the next week. As I collapsed into bed, I hoped I had redeemed myself in the eyes of the Hindu gods.