Discovered a banana-leaf "meals" restaurant in Chennai, which turned out to be famous: Murugan (the name of a Hindu god) Idli (steamed rice cake) Shop. Not only do they serve veg meals on banana leaves; they also have dried leaf cups:
This week I also got together with a former student from DU. Ganesh was a psychology major who took my Hinduism class for fun. He really made the class interesting because he had a lot to contribute, and I became very fond of him. His father flew out from Chennai for Ganesh's graduation, so I got to meet him. Ganesh is now back in Chennai and enjoying being home after four years away. He's teaching French, interning at a yoga institute, and making plans for grad school. I got together with him on Tuesday evening. We met at "Donut House," near where I'm staying, and talked for a few hours. Then I got a ride on his motorcycle to a mall, where I bought a t-shirt for Ezzie. We ate at the food court there and made a funny pair--me with my Indian outfit, eating spicy Thai noodles; Ganesh in western clothes (the norm for Indian males) with his Subway sandwich. It was fun to get a glimpse of what young urban people do in the evenings.
Then on Thursday his dad invited me to go out for dinner with the two of them. His father is super nice and treated us to a great tandoori-style meal. What a great family.
The work which I completed in Chennai focused mainly on reconnecting with the senior staff at the Kuppuswami Shastri Research Institute, where I've studied before. There I learned the fantastic news that a Hindu ritual text that I'd translated, along with the original Sanskrit, edited by my late teacher S. Janaki, is finally going to be published next year by the institute after languishing in a legal and bureaucratic limbo for 20 years; the story is complicated. This news is the best I could possibly hope for at this point.
For my last two days, my old friend Arun's mom Lakshmi invited me to stay with her; Robyn has met her. (Robyn, she asked how you are.) She used to live in a posh flat in town, but now, in her eighties and with problems walking, she decided to move into a retirement community about an hour south of city. We just talked and talked, catching up and chatting about everything under the sun.
I'm wearing a saree because we had just gone to the temple that's in the complex.
So that's it. The trip was short this time, but I got a surprising amount of work done, got to catch up with friends, and made a few new professional contacts. If only I could stay longer! Well, there's always next time....
This week I also got together with a former student from DU. Ganesh was a psychology major who took my Hinduism class for fun. He really made the class interesting because he had a lot to contribute, and I became very fond of him. His father flew out from Chennai for Ganesh's graduation, so I got to meet him. Ganesh is now back in Chennai and enjoying being home after four years away. He's teaching French, interning at a yoga institute, and making plans for grad school. I got together with him on Tuesday evening. We met at "Donut House," near where I'm staying, and talked for a few hours. Then I got a ride on his motorcycle to a mall, where I bought a t-shirt for Ezzie. We ate at the food court there and made a funny pair--me with my Indian outfit, eating spicy Thai noodles; Ganesh in western clothes (the norm for Indian males) with his Subway sandwich. It was fun to get a glimpse of what young urban people do in the evenings.
Then on Thursday his dad invited me to go out for dinner with the two of them. His father is super nice and treated us to a great tandoori-style meal. What a great family.
The work which I completed in Chennai focused mainly on reconnecting with the senior staff at the Kuppuswami Shastri Research Institute, where I've studied before. There I learned the fantastic news that a Hindu ritual text that I'd translated, along with the original Sanskrit, edited by my late teacher S. Janaki, is finally going to be published next year by the institute after languishing in a legal and bureaucratic limbo for 20 years; the story is complicated. This news is the best I could possibly hope for at this point.
For my last two days, my old friend Arun's mom Lakshmi invited me to stay with her; Robyn has met her. (Robyn, she asked how you are.) She used to live in a posh flat in town, but now, in her eighties and with problems walking, she decided to move into a retirement community about an hour south of city. We just talked and talked, catching up and chatting about everything under the sun.
I'm wearing a saree because we had just gone to the temple that's in the complex.
So that's it. The trip was short this time, but I got a surprising amount of work done, got to catch up with friends, and made a few new professional contacts. If only I could stay longer! Well, there's always next time....