I set off for Chennai on Saturday morning leaving Thomas (for the first time) and John in Brussels. A week in India on my own was not I thought I particularly relished. I am of course dreadfully missing my boys. I have heard that all is well on the home front though and so I have ventured on to wrap up the last bits of work on my thesis research - namely tell all those people who provided me with data what I found. So far so good.... I have had two highly constructive days in Chennai, managed to fit in some wonderful Tamil meals - thali, dosai, poori etc and stay at the beautiful old Madras club. This building, which evaded my on my previous visits, is one those classic old colonial clubs that have been beautiful preserved along with the stuffy atmosphere and extremely strict "bearers" - one step wrong and you're out (I noted one poor man ushered out on to the terrace while using his mobile phone - obviously not permitted in the billiards room!). It is however probably the quietest place in Chennai - a feat that is difficult ot achieve in any Indian city - and I was awoken to the sun rising over the river and the call of some as yet unidentified tropical (?) bird. I have now moved on. Jet Airways transported me here to Hyderabad this afternoon, having given a couple of presentations this morning and I now await the next stage of my travels. More tomorrow.....
