Chennai, India

Sunrise throws a fisherman into silhouette on this calm beach where it's hard to believe that less than a year ago, the tsunami swept devastation through this fishing village.







Everyone goes barefoot. I love it. Sometimes I feel more at home here in than in the U.S. Feet bare and flowers in my hair.

The children from the fishing village gather around me as I return home from my morning visit to the beach. They're all smiles, despite the fact that they only have a handful of buttons between them, and most of them still live in tents of bright blue tarp.

Above is Majeswari, a worker at the Rising Star school for children of lepers. She's beautiful inside, too. I was glad I caught this one showing her openness. Below is a guarded-looking Vijaya, one of the children at the school.

Bikes are the secondary means of transportation after walking. They even act as cabs.

Some boys that followed me until I took their picture. I'm amazed with the enthusiasm that nearly everyone here shows for having their photo taken. Funny that Americans - known for their bravado worldwide,
are so much more camera shy than anyone I met in India.


Below is an elderly beggar (far too many of them on the streets in India),
who beamed when I asked if I could take his photo.
I was in such a hurry to capture that smile, that I didn't get him fully in focus.
I don't mind.