Sadly, we never stepped out of my sister-in-laws home during our 2 days in Chennai, because I ended up with 2 violently sick kids- they forgot what they were told and drank out of the tap in India and you know what that means … So while they recovered from upset tummies, I sketched around the house. Luckily, there’s many beautiful things to sketch around Kala’s home, like these brass figures of Ram, Sita, Laxman and Hanuman flanked by lamps.
I love the dragon-head on this veena. And the intriguing figure on the right a composite of the god Shiva and his wife, Parvati. This half-male, half-female figure is called Ardhanarishvar. 
I enjoyed sketching these three gas cylinders I found at the back of the house. One day, all gas in India will be ‘on tap’ like it is in the US, and then the iconic red gas cylinder will disappear.
One last sketch of an almost-recovered Kavya, reading Tintin.
Tomorrow, we leave for Tirunelveli. To see all the sketches from my trip so far, go to this flickr set.
Amazing!