Cyclone Jal

Like many would-be bloggers, I've gotten more interested in living and enjoying my life than writing about it in recent months. Time for an update.

Right now Cyclone Jal is pouring down rain and some wind, but I just read a message forwarded by the school from the US Embassy that we are advised to stay off the beaches through Nov. 10. Must mean the worst is yet to come--could reach 70-80 mph winds.

This is our Diwali, the biggest holiday here, three-day weekend. We enjoyed a rooftop dinner Friday night with non-stop fireworks 360 degrees across this city of eight million. Up close and miles away, they just kept on coming. It was quite a show...loud and smokey, however, as the evening wore on, and by 10:00 we were ready to retreat to the the muffled quiet of our air conditioners.

We saw a great concert last night--it exceeded all expectations. I was never really interested in all the tribute band hoopla, but we contributed to a local charity and got some VIP seats for The Cavern Beatles from Liverpool. Wow, what an experience. I never really knew much about the Beatles live shows or even who sang which songs, so it was fascinating. All of them were strong vocally, had studied their stage presence, resembled their original Beatle and had all the high notes and gutteral screams nailed. I wish John had agreed to endure it with us to see his name sake, John Winston. He was clearly the band leader.  Of course they started out with their black suits and bangs, then changed into Sgt. Pepper uniforms, and finally Lennon's white suit and glasses, Harrison's denin, and just a shaggy, less uniformed look. The sound was great, and it's amazing the excitement and emotions those old songs create; I was screaming like a 1962 teenager for effect. The vegetarian brownies enhanced every minute. Acoustic solos included Paul's Yesterday, George's Here Comes the Sun, and John's You've Got to Hide Your Love Away. Ringo even did Act Naturally, a tune I didn't realize was the Beatles.

In other news, we had a fun vacation with my mother in October visiting the Taj Mahal, friends in Delhi, the Dune Resort, Pondicherry, Auroville, and some local landmarks, spas, and restaurants here in Chennai. Except for a couple close encounters with monkeys and overzealous vendors, everything went smoothly. I wish she had stayed a few days longer to enjoy UN Day at school and another weekend with us!

 

John and I will be back in Belchertown and West Hartford from Dec. 20 - Jan. 5, with the before Christmas and after New Year's dates up in Belchertown. Would be nice to have a ton of early snow for good skiing those weeks...