we loved the book and now invite friends and our family around the world to create some art.
Decorate a wooden shape and add a memory, a message a wish to Manjula’s Memory Tree.
why not add your own?
In memory of Manjula.
Thanks to Ashok of Arun Fine Arts for creating the shapes.
It’s an important day as the Poojari has read the stars, consulted who knows who and what to issue a hand written decree that today (12th March) is actually Manjula’s death anniversary and not the 23rd as we mere mortals might have assumed. I was on duty this morning making breakfast for two sets of guests one from Belgium and the other from Canada had gelled wonderfully on yesterday’s cycle tours.
After breakfast the real work began preparing lunch for our immediate team and special guest Kanchana.
A BIG thank you to SB for everything, Satish was project manager and his wife on cooking duty. Good to see Vasanth and his wife
Pooja for Manjula was completed by one o’clock then we all went outside and closed the door for Manjula to come and tuck in.
should we allow five or ten minutes? I reckoned ten as she was a slow eater. We then knocked on the door to warn her and reentered. One more turn with flames. I’d forgotten to count and so might have done extra. MAnjula wouldn’t have expected anything different.
then we were allowed to eat. Quite unusually in our house. Men first on the floor, women, the sophisticates, at the table. They clearly had planned to feed the five thousand so a fair amount was distributed to the poor. Of course we’d also sponsored food at the ashram for the elderly residents as we, Tom and Amy have done numerous times.
Lucie got tired just being Lucie. It’s fair to say she was overcome by the emotion of it all. She’s clearly in tune.
as are the water Lilly and today’s innovation the memory tree.
Manjula, our star, we miss and love you, sometimes it’s too much to bear but we have lots of wonderful memories to help us through.
Just arrived, a collection of photos of my beautiful wife and our Mysore Bed and Breakfast family. Also available as a PDF. Why not come visit and see the album for yourself? You’d be sure to feel and meet Manjula too. 🙂
There was a quiet mouse who came to check whether it was worth the risk working for a strange foreign man. Thankfully she agreed to give me a chance. That was ten years ago. It’s not always been easy partly because of her illness and dealing with life in India but this small bundle of beauty, of strength, of fun…. changed my life. For that I’m eternally grateful. We had a wonderful life together.
Today is the anniversary of celebrating our weddings two years ago, in a field on Srirangaptnam Island. Please follow the links to find out more.
Get off me……..
As we approach the anniversary of Manjula slipping through my fingers and leaving for her next life, I’ll post a mix or memories and reminiscences and continue to share with you what a wonderful strong, caring woman we’ve lost.
It could have all gone horribly wrong.
I’ve spent today sorting through digital photos to create a printed album. I was drawn to some videos of Manjula talking to us.
Far from being upsetting I loved hearing and seeing Manjula
I wondered if you might be interested in seeing one or two.
After our engagement in 2015 we decided to visit the U.K. so applied for a passport for Manjula. Our challenging journey started way before we ever set off for the UK and is detailed on this site. The video was taken after our trip to the passport office.
more can be found here with a section on the passport challenge
“Returned to the creek, and life became busy and expectant, and the valley echoed with the sounds of bridge-building and a young woman’s laughter, and Marvellous was suddenly wrenched out of old age like a seed potato wrenched out of the familiar comfort of dark. ….. And Marvellous blossomed, having quite forgotten what an exciting and necessary jolt being needed gave.”
from a Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman. What a wonderful way with words she has.
It resonates.
From the Yindian
Fireside chat, without the fire, ‘cos we don’t need it!
painting by Johanna from Switzerland. Just one example of the lovely, thoughtful kind guests we have.
I’m at the street food place near Mysore Bed and Breakfast with the sugar-cane-juice-man. What’s his T shirt say?
Life is the sum of all your choices.
Now that might prove to be a clue to a key thread of our story
It may however take a lot longer to appear than first thought
its not an easy process or time
In Kannur for our last holiday together. It was also the place of our first. 🙂
oh
you’ll not see such photos generally, bit physical 🙂
I’ve just been to sell the portable oxygen concentrator I bought to enable Manj to go on holiday.
When you meet up with an old friend, maybe after one year of absence, maybe after five years, maybe 10, chances are the conversation will pick up right where it left off, some time ago. Seamless. Timeless. Effortless. Those conversations between old friends are that way. There is no difficulty with restarting the long-held warmth, nor is it necessary to raise your defenses to protect yourself from someone that wishes you ill will.
Old friends are one of the blessings of life.
Steven is an old friend that I just have met. For the first time, but not the last.
If your plans allow to spend time with Steven, you will find that he truly likes people, and from there, his tour by bicycle begins. There will be no canned speeches, no delivery that was practiced to a flat consistency, but a delivery that incorporates the here and now. Be prepared to laugh at yourself, laugh (and contemplate) the “Consistent Inconsistency” of the Indian culture, observed by a sharply witted (and ?proper?) Englishman, that has lived in India for 15 or so years. Expect the wry, dry musings that simultaneously cause you to think.
Although I have been in India three times, Steven’s insight into the life here, starting with a primer of the history of Mysore, to the modern-day living details of the lives of his neighbors, has given me a new appreciation for the real people here. He will tailor your time with him to fit your desires and abilities. (Thanks again, Steven, for allowing a guy with a brand-new titanium hip replacement to get along just fine).
I would not have expected less from a guy from Yorkshire…
Alan Jewell
Me and MYCycle 