BOOK LIST!

Chowringhee by Mani Shankar Mukherjee a.k.a. Shankar
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya
Raj Quartet by Paul Scott
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
One Night at the Call Centre by Chetan Bhagat
Waiting for Mahatma by R. K. Narayan
White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
The River by Rumer Godden
Q&A by Vikas Swarup (basis of Slumdog Millionaire)

Mahabalipuram

Because I am that person who ended up looking up the safety advisory. I am not more scared than I was before (and I'm still happy to go), but I did come across something interesting:

"Tourists also should exercise caution while visiting Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) in Tamil Nadu as the Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Center, Kalpakkam, is located just south of the site and is not clearly marked as a restricted and dangerous area."

I guess we should be careful not to be exposed to radiation? or not be killed for wandering into private land? It's not very clear...

K

arundahhti roy writes about the current situation in india

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20081222&fname=ARoy+(F)&sid=1

and i think Outlook India where this article appeared is likely to be a good source of news about India

an article on chennai that was recommended to me

http://www.departures.com/articles/beyond-bangalore-three-days-in-chennai

Keralan Temples

My friend Dilip from Kerala gave me this list of temples to see in Kerala

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Here's a list of some temples in Kerala:

http://www.templenet.com/kerala.html

The Meenakshi temple is considered magnificent, and it is probably a 3 hour drive from Periyar Wildlife sanctuary (though Periyar is in Kerala, and Madurai is in Tamil Nadu):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meenakshi_Temple

motorcycles?

The best way to see Pondicherry and its surrounding areas is by renting out a "Pedal cycle" or a "motorcycle" or "ungeared scooter". These can be rented from any of the numerous rental stores. Your hotel should be able to provide the contact to the nearest store. The prices as of Feb 2007 were Rs100 for an ungeared scooter and Rs150 for a geared motorcycle. You will need to provide some identification document as collateral and an advance of Rs100-200. Many of the rentals also provide delivery and pickup at the hotel which is very useful.

Pongal...festival of the sun god

We will be there for the four day festival of Pongal that is Jan 14-17, though we will be in Kerala and it is most important as a holiday in Tamil Nadu. Here is a site about the festival. http://www.pongalfestival.org/

The third day of Pongal is dedicated to cattle.
The Holiday I was thinking of, where everyone wears yellow is the day after we leave, January 23rd. Oh well.