Blogs from Elliot's Beach, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Asia

On the 25th November, myself and seven fellow dancers travelled to Chennai for a four day night shoot. Chennai is a city in South India and the fourth largest in the country. As we flew in I could see that the buildings of the city were all different colours and fairly low in height - a nice change from Mumbai's maze of beige/cream high rise apartment blocks. On the drive from the airport to our hotel I also noticed there were loads of cows wandering around at the edges and sometimes on the busy roads. Unlike the black and white dairy cows I am used to seeing at home, these were huge creatures with humps on their backs, folds of extra skin underneath their necks and huge horns which were painted red. I have seen a ... read more

YUPIII!!!! Nous sommes arrives en Inde saines et saufs! Il fait chaud et beau! Chennai ne nous a pas trop impressionne, ville trop grande, etendue et nous n'avons pas pu lui trouver l'ame. Mais nous avons vu notre premier temple dravidien et nous avons mis les pieds dans le Golfe du Bengal (chaud et agite!). C'est la que nous avons trouve plus l'ame de la vile car la plage etait noire de monde, des locaux qui viennent passer la fin de la journee en bord de mer en piqueniquant et en se saucant dans l'eau. Mais nous avons eu notre petit coin de "paradis" car le hostel de YWCA etait dasn un jardin paisible et verdoyant au nord de la ville. Il y a des jolies batisses (gare, mairie) de style plutot britannique. On avait hate ... read more

Visit to Elliot's beach It was a one day short business trip I had been to the souther town of Chennai. After finishing my work in the first half of the day, I had nothing concrete to do. My return flight was late in the evening. Since I had company of my business colleague, I thought heading toward one of the famous beaches in Chennai. I had been to Chennai before several times on business. But due to lack of free time, I could not visit the beach before. So, this was an opportunity for me to see the beach. Beach is not new to me, as I am born and brought up in Mumbai, which itself is a beach city. Juhu beach (part of Arabian sea) is a major beach in Mumbai. I always wanted ... read more

Finally reached Chennai where I visited the Christian Missions Charitable Trust which runs a school for kids from the slums and an orphanage. Also,visited the tomb of St. Thomas (doubting Thomas) who brought Christianity to Madras in 52 AD and viewed the world's largest Banyan tree. Since Jan has a wonderful way with words here is her diary entry for her last few days in India: "I left off with our afternoon in Pondicherry. Hugh and I went shopping -- I for a new pair of sandals that would make blisters in a different place than the ones I brought, and Hugh for sari silk for Suzanne, his wife. I was very taken aback at the civility of all the street stalls. They allowed us to browse unmolested, and thanked us for stopping by as we ... read more