India - First Impressions Are Everything

Chennai, INDIA - There's a saying from this part of the world about the heat that "only mad dogs and Englishmen venture out in the midday sun."

Yesterday's temperature was around 100-105 degrees so
I must be a hybrid Englishmuttmadman because I did some sightseeing.


I had a nice old women saunter up to me at the Sri Ramakrishna Math and say very cheerfully, "This is a very lovely city but you have come to visit at the wrong time..."

Umm ... (wipe sweat from forehead, eyes, lip, neck) ... yes. It is hot!


But you get over it. The streets bustle and ooze the oddest smells - from flowers to shit - to coconut and curry to rotten tomatos - to grilled chicken to a sweaty armpit - a sweet, perfect mango to the tail pipe of an auto-rickshaw. Dirt, dust, humid air, air conditioned ATM booths, Coke in a bottle. This is an ancient place with a new under-current poking through the surface wherever it can find a spot to grow.



A walk on the beach is with shoes because trash is everywhere - the sharp kind. But failure to venture past the beached boat camps and you'll never meet the Bay of Bengal - the warm waters of the Indian Ocean where families dive into crashing waves - eat pineapple, cotton candy and roasted American sweet corn on the cob.



First impressions are everything. India easily won my heart. Even if Lonely Planet guides say skipping Chennai is a good idea - I am content. This city is steeped in tradition and swarming with a people proud of their south Indian culture. Plus the food is super-spicy!


Today, the DVD-production team began rehersel. Four future Bollywood stars (one is absent unfortunately because he is sick) - are dedicated to memorizing lines and acting their hearts out. I have the easy job of operating the video camera.

I am trying to think of what it would have been like in the 3rd grade for me if I were given the chance to star in an educational video for my fellow classmates. I probably would have given up. School plays were difficult enough. C'mon - Engilsh is a second or third language for these kids. Very impressive!

Around every corner I am reminded of how fortunate my life has been. It really is important to understand the balance in life that we all share.

Before I get too far into an after-school special rant - I will stop.



Say hi to Perry, the beach pony who runs on globs of cotton candy and cobs of corn. 150 rupees for a couple hundred yard ride. Yeah right! I can just see the dumb foreigner galloping merrily down Marina beach waving like an embicle to the locals, laughing and pointing. Maybe next time, Perry, after you and I share a few lukewarm Kingfisher beers.

More to come. Stay tuned.

namaste