Of course not 🤔🤭🤫
They’re for use as props for an adapted story.
The storyteller in me is happy, as is the shopper and the gatherer of clutter.
More to come ..
More clutter?
Remembering MAnjula
The house hosts her presence in every room (and outside).
Sowbaghya and I have kept the Bed and Breakfast as she envisioned it and even have a library named after her.
Our guests love meeting her. she even gets mentioned in our guest book
At least once a year I bring out this image in memory of my beautiful MAnjula. It’s just for a few days. I started by cycling her around Mysore, at other times she’ll be in the memorial garden we created for her in the park or resting in our drive. Otherwise she’s stored in the Garage.
Unfortunately, you can’t please all the people all time. Some people you never can.
My insensitive neighbour complained that the image of MAnjula was outside and should be indoors. It’s a Hindu rule. I know there’s no such rule or if there is it’s often not followed. People remember their loved ones with posters around the streets or images in the newspaper.
He represents the brahminical elitism that can sometimes rear its ugly head (read your ‘games people play’). He’s even complained about the boys and girls sitting on the park benches that I’ve installed. It’s as if the Firangi (foreigner) is responsible for people’s behaviour. His prejudices are mildly entertaining but we generally ignore him.
PS
As AI tells us on the internet
The saying “Guest is God” (Atithi Devo Bhava in Sanskrit) is a core principle in Indian culture, emphasizing the importance of hospitality and treating guests with respect. While the saying is rooted in tradition and spiritual significance, the reality is that it’s not always a practical or realistic expectation, especially in modern life.
You could say that ….
Kaveris next Big Step
Kaveri’s mum Chandrika has decided to change her school.
We understand that she’s missed Kaveri as the school was residential (what they call hostel here) and she would only see her maybe once a month
But it worked. Kaveri settled in and made great friends amongst the one hundred students.
We’ve seen real progress: my hasn’t she grown?
.. Physically, socially and mentally.
We can feel the confidence and assertiveness, developing strong relationships, being theatrical …
But it’s her mum’s choice and it’s a big step.
Kaliyuvamane, her current school, is an open school following its own structure and curricular with students passing their tenth standard (around age 15 or 16) exam to rejoin the mainstream school system. It’s been a success and made a big difference for Kaveri, for many reasons and especially the consistency and continuity. Being a residential school has actually helped.
network
Hence the big step to be changing school and rejoining a private school —one that follows the state curricular— at age eleven.
This one is a day school so Kaveri will be moving back home. That’s the bit that I worry about, without making too fine a point about it.
So it’s going to be very different for Kaveri and we’re gearing ourselves up to guide and support.
Let’s See …
… as MAnjula, would say.
Thanks to the rest of the team from India and from around the world including:
Ilaria, Sarvesh, Sowbaghya, Mo, Trishalla, Lucy, Maria, Eregowda…
and many of the guests of Mysore Bed and Breakfast for your help directly with Kaveri and for your financial support.
…
On a personal level, My relationship with Kaveri has helped me manage my grief in losing MAnjula. It provides purpose and a refocus but as all my friends know it’s been quite difficult managing the family dynamics.
Manjula’s Mysore through its funding, and support from its directors Sarvesh and Stephen and its wider support network, sponsors and will continue to support Kaveri as long as we can.
Kaveri
It’s May and we’ve just celebrated Kaveri’ birthday.
She’s now 11 and she is a star
The past month’s activities included: seaside holiday, skating, swimming coaching and summer camp.
KaverI is now at her mother’s and we hit the uncertainty of whether Chandrika, her mother, will change her school. Kaliyuvamane the alternative residential school she’s attended for two years has helped her grow socially, intellectually and physically.
We can make either options work but the residential school has had the continuity that her home will not provide.
I worry that it maybe beyond Chandrika’s ability if Kaveri is shifted to the day school but we’ll do our best.
Meanwhile
I’m relaxing in Manjula’s Memorial Garden and toying with the idea of revisiting our memoir.
Can I revamp and rewrite? Do
I have the energy and the ability?
Experiencing Mysore
Mysore is a connecting place, social entrepreneurs, community animateurs are forever initiating new ideas to bring us together.
Sriranjini Simha kindly invited me to experience mysore. Well I have been doing that for twenty years, initially on holidays and now as resident with our own business. But joking aside this was an invite to a new initiative that is actually called ‘Experience Mysuru’ and I’m so pleased I checked it out.
I’ve always thought that the Mysore city feels more like a village, by that I mean : it has an intimacy, interactivity, on a human scale. Well ‘Experience Mysuru’ reflects exactly that. Mysore has a well deserved reputation as a cultural capital that was fantastically represented last night..
The ‘showcase’ was curated to reveal through the senses of taste, hearing, smell, touch and sight and included: yoga and meditation, ancient board games, percussion, storytelling, dance, music and singing. To be more precise — Chande: the pulse of Karavali, Bharatanatyam, Carnatic music and Kamsale— come find out for yourselves what it is.
I can’t say performers, yes they shared, their skills, they entertained but it went beyond that. Each person introduced their activity to ‘get beneath the skin’ they fitted all this in to just 120 minutes and it was not crammed. It was exactly right, the timing, the diversity, the interactive-ness, the rich content, their expertise, I’ve got to know Mysore a bit over the years but this brought me to so many new layers and levels.
Well done team, we’re rightly proud of our heritage and this was a great way to share with young and old, local and not so local, and I’ll be back..
Thank you Kim Kanchana Ganga, Tanushri SN, Shrimathi and her team, Pranav Athrey’s-Pranav Athreya, Suraksha Dixit, Tejashri Murphy, Pushpa and her team… plus the managers and organisers behind the scenes that put it all together and made it go so smoothly…..
More info
http://www.experiencemysuru.in
0091 8105318650
Info@experiencemysuru.in
@experiencemysuru.in
The venue was the amazing The Heritage House in Saraswathipuram
…
I’ll write separately about Mysore – Mysuru, about the city’s name and history but this is not the place.
Our annual trip
I’m away with Kaveri for a few days with Naveen and his mum Sowbaghya.
Manjula’s Mysore supports their education and now we’re on holiday together.
Button Madness
A new summer school holiday activity — Button Masala.
Incredible creativity and innovative design from cloth, button and rubber band!
A great addition to the swimming, summer camp, reading, storytelling, crafts, skating, seaside, badminton, cycling, TV and phone that’s become a staple of Kaveri’s school holiday
A really cool event presented by the creator of Button Masala —Amuj Sharma and supported by Sri Vidya MR of the Anubhuti Trust.
Love
Marginalian
Comes up trumps again with great literary, political and philosophical connections.
I like her quote from Simone de Beauvoir
What then is love? Not much, not much; I come back to this idea. Sensitivity, imagination, fatigue, and this effort to depend on another; the taste for the mystery of the other and the need to admire… What is worthwhile, is friendship… this profound mutual confidence between [two people], and this joy of knowing that the other exists.
“The ancient Greeks, in their pioneering effort to order the chaos of the cosmos, neatly taxonomized them into filial love (the kind we feel for siblings, children, parents, and friends), eros (the love of lovers), and agape(the deepest, purest, most impersonal and spiritual love).”
I decided that we would continue Manjula’s sunshine goodness, sharing her love, through events and activities for young people.
The most obvious example is our continuing support for Kaveri.
Hanging around
As kids we were all embarrassed by the lounge wall used to feature family members through the ages.
Now I’ve created a family corner here in Mysore
How embarrassing!?
My sister Claire used to tease me — that the main picture was saved for me …
No thanks …
I’ll manage without it.
The great escape, Kittens blog
Billet Doux, it’s hard, there’s no respite. Squeaking Kits, half the time biting instead of sucking, I keep nipping out for a break.
I’ve explained how it happened and to ensure it’ll not happen again she needs to stay home until the kittens are weaned and she can then have the op.
She’s managed wonderfully looking after the six
Instinct and what she learned from mum has worked. But she’s not got how it happened and how to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Am I expecting too much? My English not clear?
I’ve started restricting her so she can’t get out of the yard. Or so I thought. Today, second day running she’s legged it again. It must have taken her a nano second when my back was turned.
This is not good.
So new tack
Less of a prison ….
Next I’m going to change garage into a Palace for a Queen (within reason) and as the kits get older, only allow supervised access to the yard. Makes it sound like a prison?
Me and MYCycle 