SRM Hotel Chennai (Madras)

... stuff around town. I was still very c cautious about what his intentions were but besides taking me to a gem wholesaler and massage place where there was no pressure (but maybe possible commission for him) he was just nice enough to show me around without expecting any money and without making any advances. He even bought me some corn and pineapple (with chilli) from the side of the road so I could taste them. My faith in genuine nice people was once again restored.

I did have ...

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... and ugly. But at the same time, they were precious, adorned, and fundamental to life. Poverty In a letter to the editor of The Hindu (India's largest daily national newspaper) I read that 70% of Indians live on 20 rupees per day. The author is Markandey Katju, a judge on the Supreme Court of India, so I suppose that he has access to reliable data about his country. At the current exchange rate ...

... took the young man to the hospital and paid all of his bills on the spot. There is no auto or health insurance, not usually. But the man paid all the same. My friends said that is common, though hardly ubiquitous. Still, it's what they expect someone to do. I would like to think that my fellow Americans would do the same in that situation, but I have my doubts. In India such manners are a necessity because more than a billion people are crammed into a handful of cities. The ...

... the party and will go to the market. Auntie has also hired a cook for the week so she can spend time with us. The clothes are so beautiful all of the silks and saris, we have been to a few different shops that there are 3 levels of wall to wall fabric and silks. It is so beautiful. Sorry this is so jumbled just have many things to catch up on. I will close for now and will update again soon with some pictures. Hope everyone is well!

... to hike to to the small shrine where Ramana spent his earlier days on the slopes of the mountain. It took about 40 minutes. It was very serene. I felt waves of peace at time and got to sit in the shrine and meditate along with some other Westerners. I then started thinking of my plans again and of booking my train ticket for the next destination, and on the story goes. I left the shrine and made my way back down ...

Bueno, del 7 al 10 de febrero, me tocó ir a Chennai nuevamente, para un taller. Fue muy interesante el taller, supimos de varias iniciativas a difeerentes niveles (estado, distrito, comunidad) para hacer análisis de riesgos, mapas, etc... Pero también aproveché para estrenar la cámara de mi nuevo teléfono celular (un Nokia 6300, bien bueno la verdad), así es que acá se las presento!! Saludos a todos, y hasta pronto, Pablo

9/6 Virgin Airlines of India I flew Kingfisher airlines from Mumbai to Chennai. It aspires to be the Indian version of Virgin Airlines, complete with its own self-important billionaire CEO at the forefront of the company and the brand. Ryika was in for a busy night of work, so I took off for Mammalapuram, a small beach community about 1:30 outside of Chennai that is famous for its Shore Temple and various other temples ranging from 600 -1000 years old. It is ...

... the longest one yet on our trip, which definetly surprised me if not everyone else. We didn't get off the ship until around noon I think, and we had these two pieces of paper that we had to carry around with us everywhere, and were checked three times on our way off the ship and out of the port, and then again on our way back in. They were a 'landing form' and a 'customs' form on which you had to claim any items of worth that you were bringing into India, such as Cameras and computers ...

... to look at. Sunday was really really fun!! We went to a hindi wedding. The bride and groom were friends of Dr. Kumar's uncle, so we went and crashed the wedding. (They knew we were coming ahead of time) It was funny because once we got there, I think we were the subject of almost as many pictures as the wedding party. Anyhow, these weddings last for 2 days, and there is lots of carzyness to it. It was really fun. First off, we saw some of the ...