The Gayatri apartment building, home of Footprint Bed & Breakfast  

It's high time I write about Footprint B & B, my home away from home for more than six months. It's difficult to imagine what life in Chennai would be like had I  lived on my own. 

At Footprint,  I am never really alone - in a good way, not a crowded way -  thanks to the wonderful staff and the constant flow of guests from around the world: The surfer woman from Holland, the voice coach from London, the yoga and chanting students from Australia, the Ukrainian woman who returned to visit Chennai where she once lived  and retrieve her accordion, which she had had to leave behind when she moved.

Months ago, Ayaka, a masseuse from Japan was my next-door neighbor. She had come to study yoga at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram. I traded her a dinner in exchange for a bone-deep massage. 

For awhile,  my long-term housemates Shirley and Chuck and the Footprint staff were entertained by little Lars, the son of Max and Jamila, who is doing her PhD research on how students learn Bharata Natyam, an ancient classical dance form that originated in Tamil Nadu.

Lars! 

Ratheesh and Lars

Siju, Jamila, Lars and Max

It will be sad to leave Ratheesh and Siju and others at Footprint who prepare wonderful Indian breakfasts, keep decorative ceramic bowls filled with  rose petals and marigolds, tidy my room and move my stuff when I'm out of town.

Footprint's footprint spills onto South Street to include Gayatri security staff, drivers for different residents and over-the-fence friends employed at neighboring buildings. They greet me on my way to yoga in the morning and crack up when I try to say something in Tamil at their bidding.

                                      Kaalai Vanakkam!   Good morning!

                                      Eppati irukkinga?    How are you?

                                      Nailaa irukean.        I'm fine. 

                                      Romba Nandri!      Thank you very much!

                                     Now, it's time to learn: "I will miss you very much."