Arrival in Chennai

I landed in Chennai at midnight, after traveling for 24 hours from New York. Exiting the airport into the warm night was a welcome relief after the last two months of frigid winter weather in New York. It's my first visit to India, and I'm on the advance team with the President of Concordia College, Viji George and his wife, Janet, to do some groundwork for the arrival of our party of a dozen travelers. We're all connected by living near Concordia's campus in the leafy suburban village of Bronxville, and will spend the next two weeks on a whirlwind tour of India and Bhutan, part of the College's Travel and Learn program.
Viji George is no stranger to Chennai, for the city (previously known as Madras) is his hometown and he is greeted warmly wherever we go. We begin the day doing some College business at Concordia's brand new India recruitment office. Maybe one of these schoolgirls in their flowing pink uniforms will be among our students one day!
At the office, we meet three local artists who'll visit New York this summer with a pilot International Artists Residency that we're setting up at the College. These three painters are very excited about the opportunity to exchange ideas, cultures, and techniques with American artists, and to see in New York City's museums the originals of some of the masterpieces that have inspired them - paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Monet or Gauguin. We're also looking forward to seeing their uniquely Indian interpretations of our American landscapes, and their sketches of our friends and family. Most of the five artists who've been selected for this program have never traveled outside Asia, so it will truly be a cultural exchange, and hopefully not too much of a culture shock!

After lunch at a Chinese (!) restaurant, Janet George and I scope out some of Chennai's main sights with the help of Pearl, who works for the government of Tamil Nadu and is married to Concordia's representative here. More on those sights when we visit them with the group...

I get some downtime for a moonlit swim in the outdoor pool at our hotel, the Taj Coromandel, and now await the late-night arrival of a few more of our group.