Only Connect . . . .
E. M. Forster, who wrote A Passage to India, used that short phrase about the essence of connecting “the prose and the passion . . . the beast and the
Author: David Hassler
David M. Hassler was fortunate enough to have become a relatively rare male Trailing Spouse when his talented wife Sarah accepted a job teaching music in the elementary division of the American International School in Chennai, India, in 2017. His role included, for more than three years there, serving as her everything wallah, but also allowed him time for exploring, discovering, and sharing new places, new faces, and new tastes around Chennai, throughout south India, and beyond. When the pandemic arrived, Sarah retired and they moved to Lisbon, Portugal, where they continue to live and love life. David M. Hassler is a long-time member of the Indiana Writers Center Faculty and holds an MFA from Spalding University. His work has been published in Maize and the Santa Fe Writers' Project. He served as a Student Editor for The Louisville Review and as Technical Editor for Writing Fiction for Dummies. He is currently the Fiction Editor for Flying Island, an online literary journal. He is co-author of Muse: An Ekphrastic Trio, and Warp, a Speculative Trio, and future projects include A Distant Polyphony, a collection of linked stories about music and love, memories and loss; and To Strike a Single Hour, a Civil War novel that seeks the truth in one of P T Barnum's creations. He is a founding partner in Boulevard Press.
Taken for Granted . . .
When you move half-way around the world, you quickly realize how much in our daily lives we take for granted–and how little sense many of those assumptions really make once
First Besant Nagar Walkabouts
After all the unpacking (of cords and plugs and adapters whose functions I can’t quite remember) and setting up and moving furniture and endless shopping trips (for paper towels and
The World Turned Upside Down
In 1781, when the British surrendered to the American rebels at Yorktown, they supposedly marched to the tune “The World Turned Upside Down,” which was no doubt the way they
Up, Up, and Away!
Tomorrow, it will be up, up, and away as we fly to our new home in Chennai, India! Well, after quick stops in Newark and Frankfurt, that is. We’ll be met
Visas and Movers and Shots, Oh My!
Oh, my, indeed! Not to mention TRC’s and PAN Cards and the FRRO–and the Provident Fund, too. Now that we have just a couple weeks before we officially begin our
Monsoon, Mark Twain, and Mindset
A recent post in the Cafe Chennai blog, one of our favorites along with The Better India, really struck me with its eye-opening perspective on travel and what it means–and
Oh, the Places We’ll Go . . . .
We have brains in our heads, and feet in our shoes, thank you very much, Dr. Seuss! But no bang-ups and hang-ups, at least not many so far. So, as we head
Of Bucket Lists and Bittersweet
We all have Bucket Lists, even when we may not consciously or conspicuously dwell on or display them, since having those goals, whether professional, personal, artistic, or simply relaxing and invigorating, is
Namma Chennai! YouTube Videos Celebrating Chennai
Namma Chennai means “Our Chennai” and we’ve discovered several YouTube videos that reflect the widespread feelings of pride and togetherness that are so strong in India and especially in the
