chaos, free for all, lawless

Ever wonder what it's like to interact with a billion people at once? Okay, maybe not all at once, but pretty f*ing close. It all starts when your plane from Doha to Mumbai lands, the passangers all start cheering, and the flight attendants walk down the aisles spraying mosquito repellent while holding cloth over their faces. Deplane - commence free for all.

I spent my first week in India in Chennai (formerly Madras). This is a huge city in southern India - the capital of the state Tamil Nadu. Although my father grew up in Andar Pradesh in a city called Hyderbad, his family spent some time in Chennai, and many family friends who I have never met still live in the same spots my father last saw them, 27 years ago. For the first two days, the traffic was just amazing. There don't seem to be any laws - cars and bikes and scooters and autorickshaws and people all fight for road space,honking and just barley squeezing by without hitting anyone. It started to make a little more sense of we drove around more, but I could never imagine attempting to battle it myself.

We attended the (3 day!) wedding of Dileep and Miew, some friends of family from Toronto. It was exciting and beautiful and overwhelming - so much south Indian food, bangles, music, flowers and dancers. Sheela and I got mendhi done on our hands - 4 days later, and it is still dark red all over my palms. I can't stop staring at my hands, listening to my bangles moving. The wedding culminated in a dinner and dance on the beach at a resort. We went swimming in the Bay of Bengal (so warm!) and then got all dressed up for dinner. I saw two shooting stars while on the beach - so warm and soft, I can hardly believe it's almost Christmas.

I promise more soon...