The Earth shook, unleashing catastrophic waves from an epicentre near Sumatra that surged across the Indian Ocean. On Boxing Day 2004, the coastal settlements of fourteen countries were devastated, and an estimated 227,898 people were killed. The deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century.

I had no expectation nor want of seeing in person any of the damage this had caused. I hadn’t yet started travelling to other countries, or had any inclination to, other than a feeling it’d be nice to visit Egypt one day. The passage of time, as we all know, changes our reality and our expectations. A few years later I made it to Egypt, and then to Peru, and after that I travelled with James, a friend from University, to Australia and New Zealand where the effects of strong weather were never far from our minds.

When we got back, I had an unexpected opportunity. My workplace, whilst most of us web developers ourselves, was in need of some development work being done for an internal system that we didn’t have time to work on. This was out-sourced to a company based in Chennai, with three of us assigned to the task of briefing them, and managing their work. For the project start, we were told we needed to be there in person. For the first time ever, I was going on a business trip overseas!

Founded in the 17th century by the British East India Company as Madraspatnam, the city later came to be known as Madras under colonial rule. Following India’s independence, it was officially renamed Chennai in 1996, a change intended to reaffirm its Tamil heritage and cultural identity as the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu. The state itself had been renamed from Madras State some decades before as a first step to reclaim its cultural and political identity.

Situated along the Bay of Bengal, Chennai occupies a coastline that was severely affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. I had not realised the city’s proximity to this disaster zone, nor had the tragedy crossed my mind when I first learned that this would be our destination. It was in fact an area layered with the weight of colonial and catastrophic history.

Things moved quickly once the decision was made to go. From organising a 30-day business visa, to getting flights booked. The visa was accompanied by a letter-headed invitation letter from the outsourcing product development firm that detailed who they were, who they understood our company to be, and our reason for visiting.

We would like to invite Mr. David Paul, Developer UK to our offshore development centre in Chennai, India to hold discussions with our team on the status of their ongoing project and also discuss in detail on the future of product requirements.

We therefore request you to kindly issue the necessary visa for David Paul who will be representing the delivery team…

Our passports and applications, complete with a passport photo, had to be delivered in person to their embassy in Birmingham, but they were returned to us by post. There would not be time for any sightseeing, so all I needed to do was pack for a few days of office work with just one month to go…

Contents

• Day 1 - The Journey Begins…
• Day 2 - Mahabalipuram
• Day 3 - Aspiring
• Day 4 - Mistaken Identity
• Day 5 - Heading Home
• Day 6 - One More Flight