Greetings everyone !  Welcome to this edition of Journeys and Jottings. This is my last editorial for 2015 and it begins on a sad note. December dawned with floods in my hometown, Chennai and left many people dead, stranded and in dire need of food and water. As the rains hammered the city, breaking down the walls, it could not break the spirit of the people. People joined hands and started praying for Chennai, but besides that, volunteers flooded the streets, picking up people, organising food , giving them shelter. Some of us sent supplies from Bangalore and it was heartening to see so many trucks, cars heading to Chennai and Cuddalore. The national media was barely concerned but it was social media, mainly Twitter that brought people together. The city and the state will soon be back to normalcy but not before humbling man and his ego. Climate change, unregulated urban planning and loss of natural habitats like lakes and rivers have probably led to the floods but nature is eventually the master.

A normal day on the Marina Beach

As travellers, we visit so many countries and cities and often talk about the sights and sounds. And everywhere we realize that people make places . In Chennai too, it is now the people – from all walks of life who are helping the city and their own people. My humble salute to them.

The blog on the other hand has been a bit silent with several travels  – Bhutan, Andamans and Mumbai last month leaving me with precious little time to write. Although I am travelling again this month as well, I am going to complete the posts . There will be stories on Indonesia and Singapore besides Germany’s Christmas Markets and in India – we will read about Mumbai. Have a good month people and pray for Chennai.

In the next year we will see more travels and travel stories, besides some giveaways on the blog. Have a lovely December and enjoy the travel stories. See you soon in another edition of Journeys and Jottings in the next year.