Matthew II

Well Eleanor beat me to the draw with yesterdays post ansd I am probably going to leave her to describe today's.
I wanted to describe our second taxi driver and the trip from Mahabalipuram and the whole topic of traffic. the taxi which turned up to bring us the 2-3 hour trip from Mahabalipuram to Tiruvanamalai was not big enought o carry us and all our luggage - a lot of luggage! - comfortably. So Patrick found another one which had a roofrack much to the chagrin of the driver and henchmen of the first taxi. The sidekicks of the second cab told us that "the driver looks like a tiger" and I expected a fierce and possibly large and angry man. He turned out to be rather slight and gentle mannered but with a strong presence. It was when he smiled that his tiger like quality manifested most clearly , a face full of flashing white teeth and a certain wrinkling of the cheeks was very tiger like but I might not have recognized it if it had not been suggested. His driver was likewise calm and frugal, quietly powerful. Anyway to talk about the ttraffic in general. It is incessant, fast, noisy and colorful and it is hot here. Drivers use their multitoned horns constntly to warn you of their presenceSome are more judicious and selective that others but the overall result is an indescribable cacaphony. It works out for the most part but one does see many people and digs with crippling injuries. Motorcycles, taxis, autorickshaws, buses trucks and bicycles - all making a variety of noises. Motorcyles around 100 - 125 cc prdominate and it is not uncommon to see a family of four going about their business on one machine. It si also striking to see ladies in the most beautiful saris sitting side saddle on the back of a motorbike amid the grime an hubbub of the streets. And then to try to descibe the utter chaos of the motion of the traffic. We took an autorickshaw downtown last night, Patrick Linda and I to get food and to visit the huge Arunachulaswara temple. The road were blocked solid and our driver took us in any direction that offered the most miniscule opening between huge vehicles and pedestrians legs. I could reach our and touch other vehicles at almost any time and it might be moving in any direction relative to us. The atmosphere outside of the main gate of the temple was electric, crowded with sadhu's, beggars school children, families and the inevitable cows and dogs wandering around aimlessly. We asked at a fruit stand for a resteraunt and were directed to a very aggreeable vegetarian place we we ordered the sumptuous and inexpensive special. The bill for the three of us including coffee, tea, dessert and soup and appertizer was about $7.

We then visited the temple a huge rectangular place of about 25 acres surrounded by 30 foot
andwith massive towers at each of the cardinal directions covered in elaborate sculptures. There was an Elephant inside giving blessings or darshan. If you placed a coin in his trunk he tapped you on the head and not so softly. We were engulfed by a group of school children for a while visiting from another province. At one point some other people started geeting us and kissing our hands and I had visions founding a new (false) religious movement but we managed to disentangle ourselves fairly quickly. We then got another rickshaw back to the ashram and bought some food for breakfast as we had arranged for a guide to take us around the mountain starting at 6 am in the morning.

I will try to get back soon with some more serious topics - education, philanthropy etc.

Excuse my spelling - I am rushed for time in these internet cafe's.

Speaking of which -it is time for lunch- following the mountain circle - more of which later maybe from Eleanor or Linda.