Remindful Revival

Sooner than I could imagine, I'm back in Chennai to teach a class at the Asian College of Journalism. Returning to a city that you've lived in is different than returning to a city that you've visited. Familiarity, in this case, breeds joy. Particularly in a place that at seemed so chaotic when I first arrived last year. Chennai is still chaotic, but now I know my way around a bit and take pleasure in knowing where to get the best butter chicken and the way to my old haunts.

Of course, I visited with Alphonse and his family, who live in a new flat in a building built by their pastor and filled with relatives. I had lunch on one floor,  coffee on another and tea on yet another. then it was back up to the fourth floor for dinner.

Alice, Grace and Joy

Took a field trip to Sholingur Nagar, a temple town full of monkeys several hours west of the city. Watched a shopkeeper take aim at a monkey with a slingshot. The monkey took off before a single shot was fired. Although an enormous statue of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, stands sentry at the entrance to the village, visitors were all armed with sticks to keep monkeys away. And perhaps with good reason. A friend who made the long hike to the temple had her juice bottle pilfered by a monkey, who expertly opened the cap and swigged down the contents. 

And in the "more things change" department, Amma, Tamil Nadu's former chief minister/deity/femme fatale, went to jail for a few weeks and is banned from her old job. But that hasn't stopped her image from appearing just about everywhere, and from having her own float in Chennai's Republic Day parade.

    

Amma in progress.