Later

Monday, August 29, Chennai

5:33 p.m. India Time

Today has been a tough day for me. No sleep, no nap, packing, misunderstandings. Raja has gone to get the boys at the airport. They went through a sacred ceremony with their family in Pune, and part of it included getting their heads shaved! I can’t wait to see their little bald pates.

Going to the bathroom on the train today was quite an adventure. Ahead of us they had only Indian style toilets, so Raja was kind enough o go all the way to the back to check for me. There wasa western style toilet back there, so I went to the back of the car. The train was shaking so much that I had to hold on to every seat, and at some point my dupatta slipped off! I looked back through the door but couldn’t see it, so I just went on. It was tough to go with the train rattling like crazy, but I made it. And, miracle of miracles, there was toilet paper, running water, and even soap in the bathroom!

On the way back, I saw that a kind girl had picked up my dupatta. I thanked her and went back to my seat. I spent the entire trip blogging and barely looked out the window.  When I got back to the house, I lay down for a little while, and then Raja and I talked for a while. Something I did a while ago really hurt his feelings, and I feel very bad about it. I can’t take it back, I can only wait to see what he feels about it and deal as I can with the consequences.  That’s what taking responsibility for your actions is all about. It’s easier said than done.

I packed a lot of my stuff, and darn, there’s a lot of stuff.  I’m going to need another big suitcase, because otherwise we’ll have too many and/or they will be too heavy.

I had a nice talk with Aunty over my coffee, partly about religion and faith and partly, again, about her life. She is so fascinating! She told me that, when she was in medical school, there were a total of eleven women in her class. She also told me that it was around the time of the Pakistan war, and she felt inspired to join the military. She went for rifle training and came in first in her class! She was going to be a paramedic, but that was about the time she got married to Uncle, and his family didn’t really want her to join the military, so she dropped it.

I think she is really fortunate that she has such an amazing memory, and so many good ones! She really had a very good life. I hope that, when I’m her age, I can say the same, even though I feel I’ve had a much slower start.

I’m still very tired, physically and emotionally. I haven’t eaten much today, and I just don’t feel like it. I will eat dinner with the guys when they get home. I want to go to bed kind of early and get up in the morning. Tomorrow I hope to go to a temple, and tomorrow evening I will take the family out for dinner. Wednesday on the way to the airport I’ll stop and buy sweets. Indian sweets are absolutely to die for.

On the plane it will be movies and sleep, movies and sleep, maybe some reading, some writing, and movies and sleep. Soon I’ll be home again and sleeping in my own bed. I will miss this beautiful place. Even the difficult moments are important. I mustn’t let them taint the beauty of this journey, my love for this place or the people here with me.

Until tomorrow, be good.