I’m NOT getting attached.
Category: Life in India
Stop it
Oy, stop eating me.
I’ve just got back from walking Lucie and couldn’t find the kits anywhere.
I’d left the garage door open so they had access to the yard.
Eventually I found one of the whiteys and slowly they began to appear from their hiding place under the washing machine.
I think something scared them and mum wasn’t here.
Now they’re relaxed and we’re bonding through biting.
They haven’t worked out eating their soft solids (meat or fish) without sticking their nose in it. …. hence the dirty nostrils.
We’re all ok now.
Cat Litter
Testing
Next we’ll consult the consumer and the disposal inexpert
Did I mention we’ve got kats?
This week in Mysore
Action
Mysore BnB and Mycycle tours officially reopened. Nicely Quiet with the wonderful team at Indiasomeday helping out
Spain
Like buses, Spanish come in twos. Two workawayers, the first since earlier this year contacted me about coming to work and one turns up a few days later. She’s from the area in Catalonia that I first visited at age six with my grandparents.
Eva (aywa) has already helped as chaperone so that Kaveri could stay here. Medium term she’ll be elsewhere for yoga teacher training but hopefully will be available now and again as chaperone and English (no not for me 😉 ) teacher.
To impress her with the fab ness of Mysore, we went to see a band at the Wodeyar Architecture College.
My new favourite shoes are yes….. also Spanish, from Camper.
On Saturday we went to see a play based on this book. It was organised by Anna Cheria (clearly she’s a mover and a shaker, someone to connect with and a really good sign is that many of our networks overlap). The book is one of my granddaughter’s favourites. The illustrator and his other books are heavily featured in Manjula’s library.
Kitten Wrangler
Kaveri and I let the kittens and Billet Doux into the house for the first time. Fun.
Dog planet was contained upstairs.
Rangoli
We did it, mine’s the worse.
Kaveri’s progress
I’ve started using phonetics books to help her read English. Her understanding of Yorkshire English is improving fast and her confidence in speaking moves on.
Kaveri was collected by mum and dad Sunday eve.
My Reading
More to do
Vaccination, pension, plan our young adults group thing.
Farrell Factoid
A chaperone enables Kaveri to stay here. I’ve given up on needing one when we do our general activities, it’s just too much hassle. Family issues means she currently can’t stay with her grandmother nearby hence the need for a sensible woman staying at my house.
Workaway
….. promotes cultural exchange, hosts offer somewhere to stay and in return the ‘workawayer’ helps out for a few hours each day.
In 2018 and 2019 we had help from workawayers.
Willian, from Brazil, got wet taking Ganesh to the river, dismantled all our Mycycle cycles for respraying, rebuilt them and set up our base on Srirangaptnam.
Dani and Chas, from the UK, decorated, provided general help and support of Manjula at a very difficult but important time.
Thank you guys, you all did a fantastic job, and it was a pleasure getting to know you.
We’ve not hosted workawayers for the past two years but now we’ve officially reopened with the arrival of one of our longest staying guests: Ina, we’re open to possibilities.
They’re all very different, which is part of the wonder that is workaway, and we all learn a lot
Our next arrives this week.
Eva is also multi-talented, (such a long list) a Spanish woman, who has lived in the USA so I’ll have to watch my stupid English humour. I’ve already created a list of possibles including teacher, chaperone, and all round good egg. I hope I haven’t scared her off already.
An evening out
For the Manjula’s Mysore team who helped create the event on Manjula’s Birthday
And a reunion of our holiday in Kannur
And our chance to celebrate MAnjula together.
Simple ritual
I ordered a chai on Lucie and my first walk of the day.
The guy put sugar in the glass, carefully pouring onto it, hot milk. Then hot water in a steel ‘glass’
How’s that my chai?
He promptly threw the milk onto the ground followed by the water and thankfully just about missing Lucie.
I’m guessing it’s a first thing in the morning ritual. I can find out no more, at this stage, given my sophisticated knowledge (don’t ask) of the local Kannada language and the hotel owners grunts.
Another connection with the caribbean. In their case before you take a sip of your rum give a little to the ground.
It’s now back home to finish preparing breakfast for todays lovely guests Eli and James from England
It’s that day of the year …
… when the warriors ask the gods to bless their weapons
In our case the scooter, Enfield and Ambassador
Carefully washed beforehand, so that’s at least once a year.
In the midst of the puja, horned beasts invaded, we have no weapons and in any case they are goddesses . So we peacefully asked them to move along.
On completing the puja, my role was to ride each vehicle to squash the limes, the goddesses returned to eat the offerings.
All the local traders (Hindus anyway) and neighbours got in on the act.
Near calamity
This morning
My brain was missing again
I let Lucie out the front door
There was the bag of kittens on legs waiting for me
Poor billet-doux was in shock. Ran away but was stuck
Trying to get through the gate to escape the black monster.
The bag of kittens squeezed through. I only hope there’s no long term damage.
She’s due within days.
Feeding her spirit
On Manjula’s death anniversary in March and at this time of year we especially remember MAnjula and feed her spirit. Others will remember their own relatives.
It’s the equivalent of All Hallows’ or the Mexican Day of the Dead. Here’s a bit about the Hindu version.
Close friends who could fit it in amongst their own rituals helped by preparing food and joining the puja.
Vasanth and his family and Satish together with Sowbaghya made all the preparations: the food and puja.
Then waited outside to give her time and space to enter the house and feed.
Making plenty of noise as we re-entered so she could quietly retreat.
Only then could we eat with our Special guests Ina, Rhadika and Kaveri.
Then it was time to relax and remember, sharing Manjula’s trademark happiness.
Me and MYCycle 