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| cleaning the street in Chennai |
My first trip to India in 1976 (solo) I left my hotel in the north and the first image to hit me (India assaults) is a female beggar ,leprosy has taken her nose and most of her jaw, crippled, with her scrawny and mangled arms outstretched
begging............ It is an image that has haunted me to this day. And that was day#1. After a month roaming the north, the polluted, harassing over crowded over heated north I ended in Varanasi: the sacred Ganges. Cremations and sadhus and a labrnyth of tiny alley streets with the constant smell of burning flesh made me flee (Back to Afghanistan).
The assault was too much. And these are the feelings in which I trepidatiously re-entered India. I knew in the ensuing 36 years India had entered the developing and even a first world (in IT centers); but that was all intellectual.
Chennai is now definitely a mixed bag. Lots of nouveau riche
marble McMansions (next to the ever present slums), cappuccinos and masala chai, tuk-tuks next to Mercedes and the all consuming Cell Phones.... and did i mention
HONK-HONK!!!!!!!!
Crossing a street is an exercise in blind faith. But they Do let you cross........even as you inhale their exhaust.
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| old palm leaf manuscripts. sanskrit in the Theosophical Society |
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| all the religions are represented |
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| roadside eating |
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| Tuk-Tuks (3 wheeled)- in 1976 they were human Powered |
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| Bollywood is alive and Thriving! |
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| Hindu Temple where i had garlands of jasmine in my hair |
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| detail |
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| outside temple |
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| flower vendor who wove the garlands in my hair |
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| mandala |
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| ashes for my forehead (after performing puja) the mouse holds up the God Ganesh (the elephant) |
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| The soup kitchen for the temple (I contributed generously as this was directly helping as opposed to giving to the multitudes in the streets which are often scams!!!!!! (young girls with babies who pinch them to make them cry.... they have a pimp as in 'rent a baby") More on my struggles with this later_) |
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| the mandala lends a sacredness and universality ...... even to the ground |
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| Pujas (offerings of fire) |
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| touching the sacred tree (the colors denote puja+ worship) |
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| couples who want babies hang these (little cradles) |
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| what a feeling to spend the day praying with the masses, inside the temple; individually sacred, not all temples allow foreigners inside......but i do really enjoy to be allowed to pray, meditate and observe all the practices |
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| Zoe Nardone leading me through the markets like a Natural |
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| Zoe and I buying "sweets" for her host family |
Zoe has demonstrated a deep commitment toward global understanding and her family has hosted an international student studying at the local high school. It was a natural for Zoe to come to India for her gap year...... yet I do not believe that anyone expected her to be living in the Royal Splendor that fate handed her.
Her Chennai family are educated, Hindu and wealthy. The mother is a charismatic force and a lawyer by profession. They generously offered hospitality and invited me to come to their home and have a fabulous south indian meal...... on banana leaves and eating with hands. (this is the holy grail of traveling: being invited to a local home!) Zoe is Thriving in the big city....... but she is definitely living in a first world homestay..........Even with WESTERN TOILETS!
She graciously showed me around her neighborhood in Chennai.
It was delightful to be in her company.-
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| Indian hair is the finest worldwide for wigs |
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| the cellphone addiction knows No boundaries |
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| Zoe and her loving Chennai family |
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