India in an Instant
The town is Chennai, the state is Tamil Nadu, the language is Tamil, the temperature hot, the food yellow and spicy, the smells strong;
Men wear diaper-like skirts, women flow in bright sarees;
Homely Holy Cows hunt for snacks in the trash;
The napkins feel like plastic; I fear the toilet paper might also;
Laneless, lightless traffic is barely held off from chaos by the constant chatter of horns;
Christmas exists. It presents itself visually in a nativity scene in my hotel that includes a Hindu-looking temple colored with cake icing, two sets of bride/groom dolls, and Santa overseeing the whole party, hanging like a spider from a nearby tower.
Ahhh, it’s nice to be back in India. : ) Just 3 hours from Bangkok, “same same” yet so, so different. Except the moto taxis, the plumbing, the dirt. Tomorrow I begin my volunteering with Unite for Sight, nature unknown. Somehow I’ve once again managed to do things in the odd way; the other new volunteers arrive tomorrow. So, time to wander (but not far) and type (but not much to say yet). 🙂
Tags: Chennai, India
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