March 2023 update

We continue to celebrate and recognise beautiful Manjula with …..

Next…..

Is Manjula’s fourth death anniversary and …

We’re already … Meeting and preparing with crafts and more books for Kaveri’s second Summer Holiday.

And Manjula’s library is getting used…

Kaveri and Manjula’s Mysore

Manjula wished to be reincarnated as a tree as it protected and supported people. I was keen to develop projects that reflected Manjula’s open heart, and kindness. Manjula’s Mysore, our new company, aims to reflect that approach and so Manjula continues to give

The reason why Kaveri has featured so much in the postings is that Manjula’s Mysore (MM) is considering her for an educational scholarship.

We wish to identify a young girl with the potential and to provide opportunities that weren’t available to Manjula.

Meetings held by Kanchana and Sowbaghya with her family, the holiday in Kannur, given by Manjula’s Mysore, and the school holiday activities organised by Stephen has provided ample opportunity to get to know Kaveri.

There are many similarities between Kaveri and Manjula’s early childhood. I’ll not detail them out of respect for Kaveri and her family’s privacy.

We’ve now met all Kaveri’s family and the MM director’s with Stephen’s support consider her eligible for an education scholarship.

We’re now looking into what that will mean in practice with a view to finding an English medium school for Kaveri for the next academic year in 2023.

Footnote

Kanchana is a social worker here in Mysore, Stephen qualified as a social worker in the U.K. in the early 80s. He’s since worked managing grant and developing community projects and partnerships for trusts, government and multi-national corporations.

Stephen is Manjula’s husband.

The Directors of Manjula’s Mysore are Tanuja and Satish friends of Manjula who were instrumental in supporting and remembering her after she died.

Satish and Tanuja, long term friends and supporters of Manjula and our life here in Mysore, together with Tanuja’s husband and daughter.

Sowbhaghya and Sarvesh have helped as part of our wider team.

Kaveri and Rhadika

Grandmother suggested I charge as a taxi. 🤭😉🙂

On an action filled day.

Went rounding with Stephen uncle, for a drive around the base of Chamundi Hill, playing in the park (for one of them anyway) , a stop for pani puri

before the grand finale (which wasn’t) ginormous Ice creams.

The ice creams were too much for the girls and they couldn’t finish. Each cost almost a daily wage.

Wrong impression.

At her grandmother’s place Kaveri showed me her school work.

She has exams over the next two days and her English is improving.

The teddies (gift from Poppy my granddaughter) are tired as is the old man. We even fitted in a tandem cycle ride.

I really enjoyed my time with Kaveri and Rhadika

It’s that time of year

The big fella is out and about with his mum Gowrie

Later in the week we’ll do the usual puja and a few days later immerse him in the river Kaveri.

I am getting a bit attached although we do already have at least five Ganesh’s in the house plus the two we’re looking after for Steven Heath.

Water

We all need water, obviously.

Lucie has a regular stop in a ‘paddling pool’ at a neighbours house. Jains in particular will leave out water and food for cows, birds and dogs.

One of our big problems locally is there just isn’t enough water for drinking or agriculture, let alone industry. So you’d think we’d be a tad more careful with it? Nah….. The re is a massive dispute with the neighbouring state. The Kaveri river passes through Karnataka (our state) before reaching Tamil Nadu, there’s insufficient water so do we find a way to share the problem? Nah, we’re first in the queue so we take what we want. This is a worldwide problem, look anywhere: California, Australia, wherever, same problem.

What is is about us? We know the problems, we know we need to act but do we, not in any significant or meaningful way. As highlighted in this insightful book our empires collapse for many different reasons but almost always because we do t recognise what’s at the end of our collective noses and do something about it.

Water is of course a massive problem around the world.

Same here in Mysore.

Close to where we live new borewells are being drilled because that house needs it, of course. Let’s look after our own.

So who cares?