Back in Pondi

Now I am back in Pondi at the same internet cafe. I am here to update.

Yesterday after I left the internet cafe, I went to a very sweet shop and cafe called Kasha Ki Aasha. It is women owned and operated. I had a dosa pizza. It didn't taste like pizza but I wanted something Indian-ish that didn't have curry.

After sitting there for a while, I started speaking to a group of American guys sitting nearby. When I upload the video and get a photo from them, I will upload the images. Anyway, it was fun talking to them. Turns out they grew up in Chicago and two of the guys are studying to become priests at a divinity school in Kerala. The third guy worked for Lehman and now does NGO business stuff here. Their families are orginally from India so it was interesting gaining their perspectives on India and religion in India. It is always nice to speak to people and find so many similarities in cultural values and religious issues.

I returned by tuk-tuk. My friend Arpita called me. She moved to a cheaper guest house. Unfortunately, someone tried to break into her suitcases. Fortunately she has them locked up. Unfortunately, while trying to pick the locks, they are now jammed. Her decision is to keep the locks jammed and go shopping. I don't know if the plan worked to her financial benefit but we had fun shopping today.

We went back to Fabindia. I bought a couple more Kurtas because my other ones are smelly and I don't feel like washing them in this rainy weather. When I get to Goa, it will be dry and sunny and I will hand wash all my Indian stuff. We got silly and bought matching earrings -- also not financially smart. But when I convert the rupees to dollars, it seems okay, right??? Ten bucks...

I took Arpita back to Kasha Ki Aasha and tonight we will see a movie in Auroville about Laughing Clubs. Arpita and I talked about women in India. She said that about 70 percent of Indian women are beaten by their husbands. There are villages near her home that have no daughters (ie female babies are killed by boiling them in milk). I truly hope that more international pressure can change some of these horrible injusticies.

Tomorrow I will take a 3 hour meditation class and then we will hire a taxi to take us to a temple about 2 hours away in Chidambaram. The story behind the temple is basically a "dance-off" between Shiva and Krishna. Arpita will take photos. I will take video and will upload soon.

Love from Pondi -Noa