Chennai, India

CHENNAI

As we sailed into port, we were greeted by numerous small wooden fishing boats; a normal part of these fishing boats' routine was to frantically avoid collision with the many large commercial and tourist ships sailing in and out of Chennai

KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI: this wildly popular Hindi film was playing while we were in India; three of us went to see the film, and at 35 cents a ticket, what did we have to lose? While I did not understand the language of the movie, Hindi, I still fell in love with it

Find out more about this and other Hindi movies by producer Yash Chopra, and even purchase Hindi DVDs with English subtitles, at  http://www.yashrajfilms.com

THE SACRED CITY OF KANCHIPURAM

This sacred temple dominates the town of Kanchipuram

On the wall of this temple's entrance is an enormous, beautiful painting

Elaborately carved pillars support the ceiling of this temple without the use of cement or other binding material

An ancient, sacred willow tree is the physical and spiritual center of this temple

Ornate, exquisite carvings adorn a large portion of the temple

Outside in Kanchipuram, shopkeepers attempt to attract people to their wares; shops like these are quite common in India, and a good number of people living in the city make a living selling anything from food and clothing to electronics and religious items, often in the same store

THE SACRED CITY OF MAHABALIPURAM

A tranquil outdoor temple near the beach; unlike landlocked Kanchipuram, Mahabalipuram is a coastal town south of Chennai, near the old colonial city of Pondicherry

The beautiful carving known as Arjuna's Penance

Ancient temple ruins

DALIT VILLAGE: DALIT LIBERATION EDUCATION TRUST

The headquarters of the Dalit Liberation Education Trust, a non-profit organization in India devoted to helping increase awareness and the quality of life for India's sub-caste, the Dalit; the Dalit, or Untouchables, have endured hundreds of years of discrimination, abuse, rape, and murder with little to no protection from the Indian government until recently

Visit the Dalit Liberation Education Trust website for more information about this noble cause

A candle-lighting ceremony we took part in

A poster illustrating the oppression of the majority by the upper-class minority; this is not only applicable to India

DALIT VILLAGE: RURAL TEMPLE

On our way to the Dalit village, we stopped at a rural temple where festivities for the Tamil New Year were in full swing

Indians love to have their picture taken; when a group of children saw I had a camera, they stopped me, signaled for me to take a picture, then proceeded to call all of their nearby friends in for the photo-op

DALIT VILLAGE

This man asked me in halting English to take his picture; few villagers spoke Hindi or Tamil let alone English, but he had some training from Christian missionaries in the area

The Dalit children were full of hope and energy, despite their overall plight

SASers interact with the Dalit children

A view of the village from our overnight accomodations (a flat open-air roof of the village leader; these wells are critical to sustaining life, but at the same time they are often contaminated with disease and result in the deaths of countless Indians each year

These girls watched us and giggled from afar

We went on an educational trip to the fields that are the livelihood of many villagers; these children followed us in pursuit of getting their pictures taken

A village baby: what will his future be like? Will the horrors inflicted upon Dalits in the past be present in his own lifetime, or can tolerance and love overpower centuries of prejudice?

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