This school year has found us in a new apartment in the area of Chennai known as Besant Nagar. Besant is an upscale neighborhood and includes the popular Elliot's Beach, a much smaller version of the huge expanse of the more centrally located Marina beach.
We have an unrestricted view of the ocean from our bedroom balcony, where we can watch the sun rise in the morning. Even before the sun comes up, many of the fishermen are already out, setting their nets.
We have an unrestricted view of the ocean from our bedroom balcony, where we can watch the sun rise in the morning. Even before the sun comes up, many of the fishermen are already out, setting their nets. 
Like anyplace in India, this neighborhood is an interesting mix of people. Within this affluent community are two fishing villages, where families live in small concrete houses or thatched huts and the only plumbing is a small trench dug in the sand. 
We call the fields along the beach that we overlook the pooping fields, because every morning you can see dozens of people using this for an open latrine. Though the "public" beaches are relatively clean, it is indeed unfortunate that there are not more free public facilities, and better education, to protect the incredible resource that Chennai has in the miles and miles of undeveloped beaches. 
Despite the pooping fields, living on the beach is very nice, the sanitation issue is just one example of the many things you have to take in stride when living in India. The trade off is we can open our big double doors and get wonderful ocean breezes cooling down our apartment, watch the incredible lightning storms roll in, the fishermen riding their small boats in on the waves, and even see the occasional dolphins playing in the surf. 
