Blogs from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Asia - page 14

Arrived in South India after 2 nights on the train from Delhi. Going to see what's happening at Auroville, an International Community, and then take it from there. "Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity."... read more

The drive frron Thanjavur to Chennai was a long run, about seven hours, only broken by a stop at the Swaminatha Temple in Swaminalai. Swaminatha is another name for Murugan the son of Shiva and the temple featured many images of the Shiva family. There were several large paintings (I think they must either date from the Nayak period or else be more recent). One showed Ganesh actually riding on his mouse. I knew that the mouse is Ganesh's mount but all depictions I had seen previously (even the Nandi like mouse in Thanjavur) hasd been far to small to realistically carry the elephant-headed god, but here a blue mouse is shown carrying not only Ganesh (in powerful form with eight arms, but also a consort. Likewise, Murugan was depicted on his peacock with even more ... read more

From outside the train station, I took taxi to get to the guest house called the Red Salvation Army Guest House. The guest house is located a couple of miles away from the central Chennai. I had to take the opportunity to seek the sanctuary here at the time of my late arrival. Having circled around and making five or six phones calls, the taxi driver cleverly found the place to the guest house. I realised that it was trick work of the taxi driver to charge me for all the hassle which I caused him. I refused to pay an extra rupee, which irritate not only the taxi driver but also the night duty officer at the guest house. However, there was an English guy to rescue me, who later became a good travel companion ... read more

So an update on our adventures... I've been doing work most of the week and visiting research partners. I went to a private hospital on Tuesday. I've never ever seen so many patients in one place. They were lined up against walls, all the chairs were full. The hospital was very clean and very organised which they would have to be with that many people coming and going. I also went to an engineering college. I had to give a lecture and it was until I got there that I found out it was in front of 120 staff and students. They seemed to like it and it all went well. We had lunch at the college. I was a bit confused at first because one of the professors and I got sat by ourselves at ... read more

Hey everyone, Ben here. I got up early this morning to come down and upload some more pics but I wanted to tell everyone what a great job all the team members are doing. Phil is the oldest person we have ever brought to India but his spirit is probably the purest and most full of life. He inspires everyone he talks to and his stories are amazing. His sermon yesterday was a huge encouragement to the marrieds and especially the fathers. When Mitch laughs, everyone smiles. All the younger guys want to grow out their hair now! He is super giving and always looking out for Laurel and Debbie, especially when we are walking through the streets. Laurel is a genius. She loves looking at the food/plants/animals and I just believe whatever she says. Hopefully ... read more