Babe and I arrived in Chennai, India around 5AM — before dawn arrived. Short, but exceedingly slow line to pass through immigration. While waiting, we introduce ourselves to Helen, who owns Sacred Earth Journeys, and Carly, the youngest member of our group who has been hired to document our adventure for promotional purposes. Next, heading to baggage claim, Babe and I detour into the women's bathroom where I discover — after the fact — that initials on stalls indicate whether it is a squat or sitting-style one . . . mine it turns out is a squatter while Babe's is a sitter. Just as we head towards the luggage carrousel, I spot my bag and rush to retrieve it. Babe's is right behind! It takes much longer for Helen and Carly to reclaim their baggage. All baggage finally accounted for, we head to the main terminal where we are greeted by Nandi, our Indian guide, and taken to our hotel for tonight — the Quality Inn Sabari.
Check-in is a slow process. While waiting we are given beautiful fresh flower garlands of fresh marigold and jasmine flowers as well as fresh fruit juice, a blessing and a bindi over our third eye to symbolize the point at which creation begins and may become unity. Once registration is complete we are shown to our rooms.
After a brief nap, shower and fresh clothes, Babe and I head to the lobby to join Helen and Carly on an Indian clothes shopping trip. Nandi helps us arrange for a taxi through the concierge, which will stay with us the whole time. First, we head to Pumpkin Tales (37/20 Bheemanna Garden Street, Alwarpet, Chennai), a bakery and restaurant owned by Chindi Varadarajulu, a friend of Helen’s.
Check-in is a slow process. While waiting we are given beautiful fresh flower garlands of fresh marigold and jasmine flowers as well as fresh fruit juice, a blessing and a bindi over our third eye to symbolize the point at which creation begins and may become unity. Once registration is complete we are shown to our rooms.
After a brief nap, shower and fresh clothes, Babe and I head to the lobby to join Helen and Carly on an Indian clothes shopping trip. Nandi helps us arrange for a taxi through the concierge, which will stay with us the whole time. First, we head to Pumpkin Tales (37/20 Bheemanna Garden Street, Alwarpet, Chennai), a bakery and restaurant owned by Chindi Varadarajulu, a friend of Helen’s.
Driving in Chennai is an adventure of itself. It is chaotic and crazy ... besides driving on the “wrong” side of the road, what little lane-striping there is seems to be for design only. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, tut-tuts, bicycles and every other means of transportation possible come at our taxi from all directions! | |
A four-lane road seems to be merely a suggestion as everyone tries to squeeze by each other with horns blaring. Letting go of my critical mind, I begin to see the dance within the chaos. The back-and-forth fluidity of energy. Turn signals seem rarely used and often it seems our driver honks just to to make noise!
Chindi is not there when we arrive, so we head upstairs to the restaurant where we order breakfast. My spinach and mushroom omelette with hot chocolate is delicious! Once Chindi arrives we learn that she is also the driving force behind L’attitude 49, the restaurant at the Grande Bay Resort & Spa, where we will be staying next for a few days, that features an internationally diverse menu with locally sourced veggies and seafood. |
Born of Indian heritage, Chindi is originally from Singapore and later moved to Vancouver, BC where she was the owner/chef of Chutney Villa, a South Indian restaurant. In 2011, she moved to Chennai, opened Pumpkin Tales and joined forces with the hotel group that owns Grande Bay Resort & Spa.
Satiated, we head to FabIndia at the Express Mall for lightweight Indian clothing. The indoor mall is huge with at least three-floors of shops — many of the same found in the U.S. like Sketchers and the Gap. Babe’s and my first stop is the women’s bathroom. There are letters on the stall doors, which I soon discover indicate whether one squats or seat sits on a toilet. And, brilliantly, instead of individual sinks the center of the bathroom is one large sink. Back to shopping . . . after looking in FabIndia twice as well as several other shops, my single purchase is a dress/tunic from another store in the mall. Tired, we head back to the Quality Inn Sabari to sort ourselves before heading downstairs for a 5PM group meeting. |
Andrew greets us all by saying that pilgrimages have been an essential quest since time immemorial. That people journey for a variety of reasons: some to explore virgin land and prove something, others to see something new and different, and many to escape work or everyday responsibilities. However, we are on a pilgrimage — not a conquest, but a surrender. It is very important that our intent be to get out of our own way, so we can partake in a process to destroy all that is limiting us and makes us compulsive so we have the possibility of arriving at a boundless state of consciousness. He tells us that the very idea behind a pilgrimage is fundamentally to subdue the sense of who we are; to become “nothing” in the process of just walking, climbing and subjecting ourselves to the arduous process of nature. He ends by welcoming us to ancient India, a civilization that is 5,000 years old, and wishing us a pilgrimage that resonates in our hearts and in our souls.
Next, we go around the large table introducing ourselves. These are glimmers of who each of us are and what has brought us to undertake this pilgrimage together. My impression is that this will be a most interesting group to travel. Nandi, too, says a few words to officially greet us, and gives us each a present — a statue of Ganesh, the elephant-headed god in Hinduism that is the son of Shiva and Parvati symbolizing wisdom and learning, remover of obstacles, and a sign of auspiciousness.
After such a long journey to arrive in India, we all decide to partake in the dinner buffet and continue to get to know each other!