Sriram and I arrived in Chennai at 5:30 a.m. Because the booking was at the last minute, Lakshmi was on another train which came in an hour or so after us. We went to their home after picking her up. The plan was for me to go shopping then get on a bus to Kanchipuram.

At noon, there had been no motion other than bathing and eating to get out of the house. Sriram's intention was to put me on an evening bus. I informed him that I needed to be in Kanchi at 6:30 p.m. and we headed out in the late afternoon for shopping and to go to a Siva Temple near a Giri Trading.

You aren't allowed to wear shoes on Temple grounds and rather than leave them on the pavement, and subject to being liberated, we left them in the car then crossed over the pavement to get to the Temple grounds. The ground was rather hot and the bottoms of my feet felt funny, sort of squishy. By the time I noticed that I had severely blistered the bottoms of my feet, it was too late to do anything about it. 2nd degree burns from walking on hot pavement. Duh!!! What on earth was I thinking.

I limped my way through the Temple, bought some items and clothing at a local store as Giri Trading was closed and all of my clothing was now dirty. We had lunch then went to Sriram's to await a driver for the trip to Kanchipuram. There was no way that I was going to take public transportation with my feet in the condition that they were in.

Lakshmi made a cool water soak for me with ice cubes and I was able to deal with some of the swelling. Ibuprofen helped as well. The trip to Kanchi was uneventful. I managed to get in around 5ish, take a shower, get change as I only had 500 Rs bills. I called Seetharama and was unable to reach him. They do not speak English at his home in Kanchi were the pujas are performed. I called back later and after dealing with my feet and getting the name and address of the street, arranged for an autorickshaw.

The driver took me to the wrong location, and being unable to speak Tamil, I had a moment of stress before realizing that two of the men coming out of the building were priests that I had met at Seetharama's house. They recognized me as I recognized them and gave the rickshaw driver a piece of their minds before sending him to the right location. To me this was just another sign that I am supposed to be just exactly where I am at the moment.

Finally arriving at Seetharama's at the moment that the puja was completed, I hung out for a few moments before returning to the hotel. That's where I learned that I had been fleeced by the driver in terms of the charge by 30 Rs. To add insult to injury, I'd tipped him 5 Rs. As the ride cost me $1 US dollar and folks here struggle to make ends meet, I can't blame him. It's not just foreigners that are at risk either. The locals are taken advantage of as well.

The driver this morning got lost as well, but we now have that problem remedied (almost in time to leave) because I finally have a sense of where the Temple is and the route as well as what the house looks like in daylight as well as darkness.

I'm went back to the hotel to eat before showering and heading out. However it was important for me to find the internet station, so that I could e-mail you all. Finding the internet station was a chore and a half and I walked here. It seems that each building has an old address and a new one. More about that later.

My back had been bugging me during the morning puja and I felt some stiffness, but did not think much of it. Seetharama was going to take me to one of the local Temples this evening, then we are doing the evening puja at his place. After having arrived at the hotel, I began to feel rather poorly. Hot and cold flashes with cold sweats plus some other symptoms that I'd rather just not write about.

Showering/bathing did not help. I finally turned off the air conditioning and turned on the fan despite the fact that it was 100+ with 90% humidity outside. I had to call and tell him that I would not be able to make it.

At approx 8 p..m., he and Krsna came to see me and brought bananas and yoghurt which was the first food that I'd had since noon. They also brought several liters of water which I will definitely need. I don't care how sick I am, I am GOING to Sivaratri. Didn't travel all of this way just to miss it.

Your cliff-hanger is that a barber will be coming at 5:30 a.m. to shave my head and take off the beard tomorrow. Shocking, I know. I hope to place some calls either before or after that. That will be around 3 something in the afternoon in Calif. No promises, but will do what I can. Ta ta for now.

con't India5