Author: Anne Nowell

It’s been an interesting week here in Chennai with the beginning of the monsoon season. Torrential rain has made it difficult on almost ever level. Since my mode of transportation is a bicycle, flood rains make it hard to get about for shopping (food and clothing, I am still working on an Indian wardrobe) or Internet (communication with you all) or you name it. I showed up for a class at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram
( more on that in another post) soaked through to the skin, literally!!

Thusly, life has been a bit like living in a terrarium, with everything damp and soggy. Chennai is tropical, and the plant life is amazing; palms, ferns, and flowering trees to boggle the mind. With the onset of rain, the mosquito population has increased exponentially. Now my life involves a combination of skin repellant and citronella candles and benzocaine. A first for me is waking up with bites on my lips!! a bit like collagen injections!!

All this then is the backdrop for a Vipassana meditation retreat with a visiting teacher, Ajahn Sumedho Bhikkhu, of the Thai Theravaden Buddhist tradition. Imagine torrential rain, mosquitoes, and 6 hours of meditation a day! Sumedho is an amazing teacher and I am so very blessed to have this opportunity to practice with him. However it is a bit comical. When the Buddhist’s say heaven and hell are the same thing, they mean it!

It’s a bit hard to take photos in the rain. These were taken during the daily lull in rain and will give you some perspective. Well, if I was looking to be comfortable ……. !  I hope that the love and prayers from the fire in my heart will arrive dry to you all there Stateside.

Namaste

As many of you know, it has taken me a number of years to have the freedom of schedule to return to India. At long last I have arrived in Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu, on the southeast lower corner of India.

Since many of you have not traveled to India, in this first post I will share photos of the people who are providing services to make life possible here. Indian business is very specialized. One shop will sell only batteries, another will sell only light bulbs; one vendor has only fruits, another only vegetables. This, then, provides more jobs for more people, but makes shopping rather time consuming. However in India, time (and the necessary patience to get things accomplished) is understood as infinite. There is no hurry!!

Enjoy the photos!! Please click back and forth for a larger view. Remember I would love to hear from any and all of you with your comments.