Scenes from Chennai: Part 1-- The Basics

First of all, Chennai's best feature is the location: situated on the Bay of Bengal, the constant sea breezes keep the air fresh and clean...though NOT at all cool! This is what I read on Google: 

"Chennai lies on the thermal equator and is also coastal, which prevents extreme variation in seasonal temperature. For most of the year, the weather is hot and humid." 

In fact, one of my new friends at the Ananda Center made this joke about it: 

There are three seasons in Chennai: "Hot, hotter, hottest!!" 

In other words, even though this is "winter", it is still hot during the day. 

Right now, as I do this blog at 3 pm in the afternoon, I see that it is 30 degrees C, or 86 degrees F. Of course it feels hotter because of the persistently high degree of humidity. I am constantly sweating, constantly sticky. I don't like AC-- I get chilled too easily-- so I get relief by sitting under the ceiling fans in my Airbnbs or when I go out to restaurants. (Of course the more upscale ones ALWAYS crank their AC way up and I get chilled to the bone...drives me crazy, going from one extreme to the other!) 

Also... a shower a day is a MUST, if not more frequently. It is just what one does in this kind of climate!

Next, the food: The GOOD news is there is always an abundance of good--and cheap-- produce, so I can eat lots of fruits and veggies. The BAD news is that lettuce is such a rare commodity here (and in India in general, I have found) that a lot of vendors don't even know what I am talking about when I ask for it! Crazy. Also--and this is obvious-- the food is ALWAYS pretty spicey and oily. I do my best to do my own cooking, much as I am able to. I look for Airbnbs and other accomodations with kitchens...but they are often ill-equipped. Here, in my latest and LAST Airbnb in Chennai (the third one, no less!), there is a very basic, traditional Indian kitchen: small, with all metal "plates", no forks or regular knives (remember, traditional Indians, such as the couple I am now staying with, eat with their hands) and only spoons for utensils. Awkward, indeed! So... my dietary needs here are tough to meet. (Easier in the more touristic and/or modern places I have been, such as in Pune and Goa). 

Thirdly, I already mentioned the extreme difficulty of getting around here using rickshaws (always my choice: cheaper and cooler than cars). I won't belabor the point. 

Finally, how are my days spent? In the relative coolness of the mornings, I go walking and site-seeing. The afternoons are for blogging and reading in my room, under the whirling fan. The evenings are when I teach most of my online English classes. And so it is that the days pass quickly... and I have only 3 more to go here in this city. (It will have been a little over two weeks total, by the time I depart Chennai this coming Tuesday.) 

The best parts of my stay have been the time spent at the Ananda Center (Christmas eve and day); seeing some beautiful temples; meeting some wonderful--and interesting--people. 

I greatly look forward to an auspicious New Year's eve back at the Center this Saturday. Then, New Year's Day will be spent at the lovely Rama Krishna Temple I just discovered today  (more about that later). 

The worst parts...well, as with the best parts, I will elaborate more in the upcoming blog posts! 

One must always take both together, right? After all, that is the dualistic nature of life, is it not?! And so it goes... 

The lovely Vivekananda Cultural Center in Chennai

Statue, or "murti", of Swami Vivekananda... much revered as a saint throughout India. 

Not even close to the attractive light house near where I stayed in Kerala... but DID afford a decent view of Chennai and the beach from the top. Also, I was SO proud of myself for haggling over the entrance fee...and WINNING! They wanted to charge the usual inflated amount for foreigners... I convinced them to give me the "national" Indian rate of 50 rupees because I am a senior citizen. It worked!!! I am glad, because it certainly would not have been worth a single rupee more than that!!!

Unlike the other major cities I have thus far visited--except for Trivandrum, in Kerala-- the air was surprisingly clean here, as evidenced by the lovely blue sky... 

Nice seeing the beach from high up, where the trash is not visible!!! 

Of course on of the major highlights, always: the gorgeous, ornate and phenomenally detailed Hindu temples... created as a tribute to the various deities.

Many more photos like this to come in my "Beautiful" blog post!