New Yorkshire Friends
Category: Manjula still with me
Welcome to Hepworth
… in West Yorkshire, near Holmfirth
Where I find kind friends, beautiful countryside, friendly people with funny Yorkshire accents, great pubs and villages, my favourite beer, challenging hill walks and where it’s a tad cooler than London.
and some oddities
and cows in fields, so unlike South India.
Thanks to Ray and Annie
for housing a hobo from India..,
I’ll be here for a few weeks before applying for a new visa for India, my adopted home.
First Class
Train to Sheffield
So Stephen why first class?
Comfy seat, crisps, orange juice and cake, followed by cream tea: scone/jam/cream, cup of tea and biscuit.
It’s called a no-brainer.
I also escaped a ‘snow’ storm.
What’s not to like?
And these two great characters.
High
Out with Simon yesterday, he asked me how I was managing my grief, after MAnjula had passed to the other side. (Not his words).
We acknowledged grief never goes, is unique and changes, as we do.
Today’s reflection
When you’re close to tears, remember
Someday it’ll all be over
One day we’re gonna get so high
Though it’s darker than December
What’s ahead is a different colour
One day we’re gonna get so high
And at the end of the day, remember the days
When we were close to the edge
And we wonder how we made it through, and at
The end of the day, remember the way
We stayed so close ’til the end
We’ll remember it was me and you
‘Cause we are gonna be
Forever, you and me
You will always keep me
Flying high in the sky of love
‘Cause we are gonna be
Forever, you and me
You will always keep me
Flying high in the sky of love
Don’t you think it’s time you started
Doing what we always wanted?
One day we’re gonna get so high
‘Cause even the impossible
Is easy when we got each other
One day we’re gonna get so high
And at the end of the day, remember the days
When we were close to the edge
And we wonder how we made it through, and at
The end of the day, remember the way
We stayed so close ’til the end
We’ll remember it was me and you
‘Cause we are gonna be
Forever, you and me
You will always keep me
Flying high in the sky of love
‘Cause we are gonna be
Forever, you and me
You will always keep me
Flying high in the sky of love
And at the end of the day, remember the days
When we were close to the edge
And we wonder how we made it through, and at
The end of the day, remember the way
We stayed so close ’til the end
We’ll remember it was me and you
‘Cause we are gonna be
Forever, you and me
You will always keep me
Flying high in the sky of love
‘Cause we are gonna be
Forever, you and me
You will always keep me
Flying high in the sky of love
‘Cause we are gonna be
Forever, you and me
You will always keep me
Flying high in the sky of love
‘Cause we are gonna be
Forever, you and me
You will always keep me
Flying high in the sky of love
We’re gonna get so high
So high, so high, so high, so high
So high, so high, so high, so high
So high, so high, so high, so high
So high, so high, so high, so high
So high, so high
So high, so high, so high
So high, so high, so high
So high, so high, so high
So high, so high, so high
So high, so high, so high
So high, so high, so high
So high, so high, so high
So high, so high, so high
So high, so high, so high
So high, so high
…
A selection of memories
I’m paddling in the tunnel of love layered above me and through the grief gravy.
A mix of happy memories and sadness.
It’s part of life.
Stephen
Buddha
Today I’m on a shorter cycle ride, back to the peace pagoda in Battersea Park
…
Buddhist?
I go with the Marx brothers view that I wouldn’t join a club that would have me as a member.
Maybe I have a slightly different approach and do join lots of things —- Boys Brigade, Sunday School, Scouts, Youth Club, Air Cadets (ATC), Jesus freak in my teens.
But I don’t necessarily stick with one thing or hang around
I’m from the U.K. where I’ve lived most of my life, travelled a bit and now settled(?) in India. I tell people I’ve had five careers having facilitated lots of things in all the sectors.
I’ll discuss politics, religion, Spirituality and philosophy with our guests who think I’m Buddhist. I like what it represents but even Gautam wouldn’t be inclined to join a club.
I live on the Limen, a view that was often discussed with my MPhil supervisor.
…
The Pagoda is in a great location by the river Thames
Last few days.
A few friends got together to say farewell to Farrell.
I’ll be away for a few months so we arranged an early birthday gathering.
Thank you so much to my wonderful friends and yes it’s the young ones I’ll miss the most.
The Directors of Manjula’s Mysore who as part of being a responsible business organised ways to support young people in memory of Manjula
Plus the new addition Kush
And another new friend …
We have a lion at our gate.
Footnote
I plan to be back in January when we’ll share important news. In the meantime I’ll use my exile to explore more countries and myself.
An art conversation and kind offer.
This was my response to the message posted in our local Mysore community….
I’d love it, but I just can’t. To me .. It reflects different dimensions, feelings or moods. MAnjula my wife who sadly died seven years ago would reveal all
These layers.
Starting from the left Her smile, shining like the sun would infect everyone she met. The middle is her action, being there always helpful and determined. The third her calmness in whatever situation. The style reflects her embracing the tradional and the modern. Wrapping it all up would be her attention to being present and attentive.
I can’t take it as I’ve just moved and already have too much art
https://meandmycycle.com/2026/05/08/behold-beauty-in-so-many-ways/
…
The full message …. posted to our local WhatsApp group in Mysore.
Dear Art Lovers,
This is not an easy message for me to write.
There is a piece of art that has been a meaningful part of my journey for a long time. It has quietly shared my space, witnessed many chapters of my life, and carried a presence that words often fail to describe.
However, life has brought me to a point where I can no longer hold on to it. While letting it go is difficult, I feel that this piece deserves to continue its journey with someone who truly connects with it and appreciates it from the heart.
I don’t want to place a price tag on this artwork. Some things cannot be measured by a fixed number. Instead, I would love to hear from those who feel genuinely drawn to it.
If this piece speaks to you, I invite you to send me a personal message sharing:
• Why you feel connected to this artwork.
• What story, feeling, or memory it awakens within you.
• And what amount you would be comfortable offering for it.
Over the next few days, I will read each message with gratitude and care. My intention is not simply to find a buyer, but to find the right home for this piece—someone who will cherish it as much as I have.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and for honoring the journey of this artwork.
It is a canvas painting on a wooden frame.
Dimensions 28 by 58 inches.
Welcome to 179
We’ve shifted from enlightenment street (Moksha Marga) to
Yes, she’s most definitely with us
Images of MAnjula are all around the house, as is her memory wall,
Billet-Doux and messengers.
and her latest portrait from our favourite artist
And lots of Mangoes
Helping us connect with our new community
…
We’re at
https://maps.app.goo.gl/eyHFxUAiRUaQd7RW8?g_st=ic
The mouthful of our actual address is…
No. 179, 10th Cross, 2nd Main, Gokulam 3rd stage, Mysore – 570002
Signs
Losing (of course— we don’t lose them and they’re with us always) a loved one opens our minds to all sorts of possibilities.
On my grief journey. I’ve had some surprises.
Manjula, as a Hindu, believed in reincarnation. I supported her and completed the rituals to help her spirit find its new body.
I’ve read many books and gained support in trying to understand what might happen after death. But …
After watching this Netflix documentary I complained to Manjula that I’d not seen or heard a sign. Maybe I’d missed it.
The very next day, I was standing, with a friend, on the rug in the centre of the downstairs lounge at our old house.
A dragonfly (acknowledged as a potential messenger from the ‘other side’) flew in.
It tightly circled the two of us — one — two — three times as we stood in the centre of the room. It then landed on the ‘M’ (on Manjula’s pennant) on the wall nearby.
I opened the doors and windows and encouraged (arms flapping) the dragonfly to leave the house.
The next morning Sowbhagya found the dead dragonfly on the wooden cabinet, underneath the framed photo of MAnjula where we hang flowers and lights in her memory.
I’d failed to get it to leave.
…
This year we’ve moved to a new house. It’s extra challenging as the previous house is the one MAnjula and I had shared for nine years.
Most of the furniture had gone and so this was one of the last removal trips.
As I walked across the room there was a crunch underfoot.
It was the cow head that had been hanging between the two pennants. It had fallen on the floor and I’d broken it again as I stepped on it.
I looked up to the place it had fallen from. The two pennants were completely reversed and facing the wall.
How is that possible?
…
Seems like an acknowledgement, a message, a sign to me. Who knows?
…
I generally have an open attitude. A belief that anything is possible. Life is complex, much of which we don’t understand and there are layer upon layer to discover.
Clearly. I’m open to the signs.
Thank you MAnjula.
Maybe Billet-Doux was one too.
Billie too
A teeny tiny kit came to sit on my lap on a visit to the local chai shop.
I guessed — she wanted to be adopted.
I wasn’t prepared to, so I gently shooed her away.
Later that evening, the first image you can see on this video appeared on my Facebook page. It was from exactly five years before when MAnjula and I had adopted a ginger cat.
We called him Billie, only to discover he wasn’t male so we changed it to Billi reflecting the Hindi word for cat.
He disappeared one day and never returned.
…
The next day after the photograph appeared I went out to find the new kitten.
It seemed like a message from MAnjula to adopt this new kitten in memory of ours, that we’d lost.
I announced this to my Facebook friends and called him ‘Billi too’ as a play on ‘two.’
…
Some of them were not impressed with the name as it clearly was a message from MAnjula and this should be acknowledged in the cat’s name.
So I callled her Billet-Doux which means sweet (or love) letter in French as it was a love letter from MAnjula.
Was this a sign?
How cool!?
…
The video also includes images of Billet-Doux and her kittens.
Manjula continues to be with us in many wonderful ways.
