judi and kathryn come to india

Both my mother Judi and Chris' mother Kathryn arrived in Chennai on or about 17 February. They were both supposed to arrive on 17 February, but Chris' mom got slightly sidetracked by freezing rain in Chicago and ended up in Mumbai. Odd, but true. We got it all sorted out by the next day and they were finally both safely in our sight. And thus their 2.5 weeks in India began. Needless to say, Kathryn was sort of tired.

They spent one (or two . . . I can't remember . . .) night in a hotel and then moved into their loaned house to fight jet lag in the peace and quiet of a private home. They remained there until the very end of their trip, which made their stay much easier and more pleasant than staying at the New Woodlands hotel.

First, they toured the sites in Chennai. This means that they saw Fort St. George, St. Thomas Mount, Marina Beach, Kapaleeshwarar Temple, and St. Thomas Cathedral. It also means that they were given a window into Rajandran's all-consuming knowledge of and love for hotels and banks, which he is very proud to show to people.

They also went to Mamallapuram and Kanchipuram, where they saw temples. They did get blessed by the elephants (sorry Abeni). They took the overnight train to Cochin and went on the houseboat cruise for a day. They had yoga classes with my teacher, Venkat, and went on shopping trips with Rajendran.

Unfortunately, I am unable to supply much exciting detail about their daily adventures because we were at work through most of them. We were so busy that we couldn't even leave work on time, much less early. We met them most nights after work for dinner and I went exploring the shop stalls of Pondy Bazaar (a sort of St. Marks Place/outdoor Walmart/county fair) with them but, for the most part, they were on their own during the daytime. We did take one long weekend to drive down to Pondicherry, which was lots of fun, as always.

My mom took us all out for my birthday and Chris' mom took us all out for his birthday, so we got lots of good food. Thanks, moms!

Once again, we have no photos. I mean, we were at work the entire time, so cut us some slack. But they got lots of wonderful pictures and they both kept journals the entire time that they were here. I am hereby inviting Judi and Kathryn to offer up their stories and photographs for your entertainment and edification. We'll see if they comply. I'd give you their e-mail addresses so that you could encourage them yourselves, but that would probably be rude . . .