The ones that got away

I have enjoyed taking photos and experimenting with my little Minolta point and click camera. Sometimes I think there can't be anything that interesting on a route I've taken before and I leave the camera behind. And I always regret it. Like the photo of Nitara's delighted face reflected in the little round mirror of the autorickshaw. The red and black swastika (the ancient sign of good luck) painted on the back of a bright yellow lorry. The slogans "We two, ours one" and "Delay marriage until 21" painted on the back of another truck. The billboard pleading for responsible use of fuels to prevent global warming, which I could hardly read because of the haze of exhaust from cars who would never dream of passing emissions in the US. The little children perched on the dashboards of passenger busses, their faces pressed excitedly against the windshields. The five year old girl standing between her father's knees on a red scooter in rush hour traffic, one hand holding the middle of the handlebars, her other hand holding a cellphone to her ear.

Today V and I and the girls took an autorickshaw to Spencers Plaza, a big shopping mall, to get some gifts for baby Anirudh's birthday and just hang out. And along the way so many photos escaped me. Such regret. We found some really great gifts for Anirudh. Initially I wanted a Fisher Price push toy that later turns into a ride on toy. I don't know what the price in the US is, but surely not $80 like it would have been at this store. American imported products are usually about double the usual price. So we dropped that idea, browsed around Landmark's huge toy department. I found two wonderful, large platters with almost life-sized carved wooden fruits and veggies, hand painted. They were all local fruits and veggies. I would have loved to buy another set for my girls but had to admit it would have been for me instead, just the desire to possess such a wonderful set of toys. Also a small ball toy was purchased for him. For the girls I found three books in both English and Tamil, nice stories too, and a music CD of traditional Tamil kids songs set to Bollywood style music. We ate a snack dinner at MarryBrown's a fast food joint similar to McD's but it offers veg and non-veg burgers as part of its regular business. No veggie burger hidden in a dusty corner of the menu board like at home. Finally we stopped by a store that sells food and I found some 100% apple juice packs for Nitara, some mouthwash for myself (always a necessity with Indian food!), and a few odds and ends. This mall has a lot of tourists. Strangely enough, of all the white women I saw I was the only one in western clothes (t-shirt and capris, my main uniform this trip). The others were all wearing salwar kameeze outfits. There were plenty of Indian women wearing western clothes, though. Outside we tried to find an auto home but they kept quoting us twice the usual fare. V had the bright idea of making me and the girls hide behind a corner, he found a driver for the usual fare and then we emerged and climbed in. On the way to the rickshaw I gave money to two beggars, a child Abi's age and a handicapped man sitting next to a hand-pedalled bike.

Tomorrow we leave for Mahabalipuram, also called Mamallapuram, which has some amazing stone artwork and includes a temple that had been buried by the sea, now being dug out through international funding. It's one of the world heritage sites. On the way we will stop by a crocodile park. If the hotel is good we may stay overnight, but after our experience so far I am not holding my breath.

By the way, we did get to do our shopping yesterday! We arrived close to closing but they were nice and stayed open until we were finished. V bought me a really beautiful hand-sewn applique quilt which shows a world tree with animals. It's incredible. Will post a photo after it's on our bed.