one helluva trip

August 29, 2016August 29, 2016 SF2 Comments

Lipsmackin, thirst quenchin travel …..

…..in a plane, train, open top buses, flash rental car, over and underground, Thames boat trip, friend’s cars, chain ferry, tram, narrow boat, taxi,

and a three week road trip to see the sights of England and Wales, London.

Of which… There’s just too many sights to mention….

passing through Chesterfield, Dronfield, Huddersfield, Sheffield, cities that haven’t been fields for a very long time,

Hereford’s black and white houses from hundreds of years back, countryside of Dorset, Oxfordshire, Warwick, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Wiltshire, Wye Valley, Avon, Bath, steam fair carousel, Kingsclere, Hebden Bridge, ancient standing stones at Avebury and Stonehenge, the white horse, seaside at Swanage and Pool…. phew… no wonder I’m short of breath

burning up the roads or alternatively, gently chugging along whilst at times laboriously stepping up and down the canal,

…… glamping and camping, music festival, hills and dales, breathing in the history, basking in the sun, (amazingly, with very little rain Manjula reckons she brought the good weather), bee hives, art installations, museums, pubs, restaurants, restaurants and pubs, shops, shops, shops, markets, High Tea, Mummies,

so much walking Manj complains of aching legs, cycling (only one of us doing that) visiting old and new friends and family, restaurants, shops, political dialogue, (yes BREXIT was discussed and UKAOs)

’rounding’ as Manjula would call it and its a good job I took Gina’s advice ‘not to overdo it’ on reflection it was helluva lot.. who knows what’s racing around in Manjula’s brain 😉

meeting and staying with BnB guests, on sofas, beds, futon, air beds, camping, absorbing difference, chatting, shopping, eating out, appreciating it’s clean and green and above all and what really matters is ….

… meeting and sharing our time with wonderful, kind, patient, caring people.

As Manjula would often stop and exclaim…. Wow!

Thank you to you all for making this a special life time experience for Manjula.

The best job ever?

August 18, 2016 SF1 Comment

Why is is the best job ever?

I’m sitting here, writing responses to our Trip Adviser reviews. I’m partly avoiding doing the accounts. Lucy is asleep at my feet. We’ve already been for our morning walk. I can hear Manjula in the background. Water is running, there’s swishing and swashing, the team are at it, Manjula gently instructs and actively gets involved. She’s so many good things rolled into one and that includes her tremendous managements skills.

Well it’s a great job because in many ways it’s not a job. It our life, sharing our home, meeting great people, hearing their stories, cracking jokes (which are sometimes understood) and getting the immense satisfaction that people enjoy time with us and have a wonderful time in Mysore.

Here’s just on of our over one hundred reviews and I’ve chosen it because I wasn’t here when the guests stayed.

because we enjoy what we’re doing and we get such positive feedback….

Back at Moksha Manor

August 15, 2016August 15, 2016 SFLeave a comment

this week we’re adjusting back to life in Mysore and welcomed our first few guests who were from the UK and India, Ani from Bylakuppe and our old friend Vinay, Manjula experiences jet lag, discovered what might be a Brexit prequel (there may have been a few) and a keen observation on differences between the India and the UK

Today’s Cycle Tour: we’re back in action

Resting

Manjula is a little rundown, which is not altogether surprising given the mammoth feat of five weeks travelling in the strange country of the UKaos, so we’ve been to the doc and she needs to take it easy and get rid of that cough!

UK and India

Abi, part Yorkshire, part English and part Indian, (what a lovely rich mix? aren’t we all?) is staying with us at the moment and is a researcher into violence against women and mental health implications in Mumbai. (I’ve so told you that we have incredibly diverse and interesting guests!) She came out with a great observation, today, it is of course, a generalisation, but it resonates for me:

at first meeting in the UK people are usually really helpful when they see someone struggling with something whether its a real emergency or just helping with a simple task. Close friends and family by comparison might be more inclined to just leave you to get on with it… not neglect, you’ll understand, but just expect you to sort things out and let them know if you really wanted help.

in India if you’re doing a job, tackling something, often someone (a stranger, or friend) in India will just watch and not get involved, intervene or help unless, of course, its a real emergency. In contrast a relative or close friend would be extremely forthcoming in offering and insisting you took a helping hand, maybe even over do it.

_____

the weird Englishman hoists the flag outside the manor!

Brexit a prequel

Today is independence day and we’ve celebrated it by raising the flag (I so wouldn’t do that in the UK!) and led a cycle tour of two and a bit indians. they had a chuckle about the ‘turned tables’. It occurs to me, however, that previous versions of Brexit were examples of the UK leaving other people’s countries, very often without so much as a vote involved. We celebrate 70 years of independence!

and the dogs barking so it’s time for a walk!

our last weekend

August 12, 2016 SFLeave a comment

The Grand Finale

It’s been a blissful mix of fun over five weeks. Well that’s my take on it anyway…

(Manjula’s perspective might become clearer after she’s settled back at home. I look forward to it! 😉 )

…. The last weekend was no exception, with time spent with Poppy (yes Ben and Alice did trust us to look after my granddaughter all on our own), dinner with Emma at Ben’s restaurant (carefully arranged so that he wasn’t actually working there …. doh!) P1060185 and then on what was a our last public day a sunday ‘open house’ at our friend Angus and Gina’s in Brixton. P1060186

If you weren’t there, we’re sorry to have missed you. It was a great event.

Manjula prepares for the final few days with a serious threading at some shop or other….

and we go down Oxford Street to meet Indian (yes, more Keralans’ sending money back home) and have one last double decker bus ride to take in the key attractions: Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square… you name it, we’ve done it.

Saturday was reserved for bonding with the ‘pop’ (aka Poppy the granddaughter). we went to the park, swung on swings, bathed in the paddling pool and made friends.

I was also called upon to do other duties!

and the grand finale: ‘open house’ at Angus and Gina’s in Brixton to say our fond farewells to friends old and new, family and …. guests from that ..

.. Bed and Breakfast.

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at the event, we realised that Gina, Frances, Laura and me (Stephen) first met at University exactly 40 years ago!! blimey! 😉

How is that possible?

All this activity just allowed for one more day for a build up of sadness, a last meal with Angus, Gina and Frances to pack and prepare for the big trip, back home.

So that’s Manjula’s first BIG Trip out of India, we’re now back in Mysore and while Manjula gets to grips with what jet-lag is and I wonder

P1060148

what’s next?

well I don’t know about you but I’m keen for her to share her insights from what she’s seen, heard and experienced and maybe then we can start thinking about a few more adventures.

Life abroad

July 27, 2016August 2, 2016 SFLeave a comment

no no it’s ……. life aboard.

As you can see, It’s a hard life ‘on the cut’

As part of Manjula’s BIG Trip we’ve spent four days on the Kennet and Avon Canal.

Organised by Sally it was an opportunity to test out whether we’re made out for life on the canal. Sally is a previous guest of Mysore Bed and Breakfast who has become a great friend.

Mike, Sally’s parter has lived and worked on or near the canals, all his life. So we had an experienced team in charge helping Manjula and I get a proper introduction to life on the waves!

Manjula’s helping us through the locks to take the narrowboat up and down the hills.

Cooking Mysore specials on board

and taking a well deserved rest!

and Stephen was even allowed to steer the boat on his own, without crashing it and there were only one or two near misses!

There was plenty of time for stops at the Pubs.

Farrell Factoid

In England and Wales there is a network of canals through much of the country. The first to be opened was the Bridgewater Canal near Manchester in 1761 to transport coal. As an integral development of the industrial revolution it became a successful network for transporting goods and living on board. It has a great history and strong community. At its peak there were 6,000 miles of navigable rivers and canals. Now there’s maybe half that number after many fell into disrepair. There has been a tremendous effort to rebuild and reopen after significant investment and the tremendous involvement of thousands of volunteers. It’s now an invaluable resource for holidays and home for many people.

Manjula’s BIG trip

July 21, 2016July 21, 2016 SFLeave a comment

I wake alongside a babbling brook. It’s early and I can hear the trickling of the stream alongside my head. I quickly orientate myself. We must be camping although surely that’s planned for a few weeks later at the WOMAD festival.

It’s Poppy!

we’re staying at my eldest son and his partner Alice’s, who are my granddaughters mum and dad and therefore personal assistants.

Poppy has brought her potty to the living room alongside the futon (I.e. close to the floor) just to the side of my head to have her early morning pee 😉

So that’s me up, empty the potty, wash it out, welcome to Poppy’s world.

manjula manages to sneak a couple of extra hours sleep, her legs are aching after all the walking…..

by now Poppy is an animal! 😉

Chamundeshwari fought the demon

June 30, 2016 SFLeave a comment

It’s early in the morning, a little after 7 am. I cycle up to the brow of the hill and can hear a drumming in the background. Maybe it’s a significant day, a Mela or something else to do with the local goddess.

This is the home, of the goddess Chamundeshwari, her temple and effectively, her woodland garden, the hill is one of the most sacred in the whole of South India.

As I get closer, I realise it’s not what I first thought.

The ‘drums’ are the sound of the diggers breaking up the stones as part of the redevelopment of the hill top.

The hill takes its name from Chamundeshwari the local goddess (aka Durga) who lives on the hill which is just behind Mysore Bed and Breakfast. You can just about see the temple Gopura in the main picture in the far distance.

Chamundeshwari is famous for dispensing with the demon: Mahishasura after which Mysuru or Mysore is named.

It looks to me that there is a new demon that she’ll have to deal with and the demon is development.

A few days later I join a walk up the hill to find out a little more…..

Hundreds of people walked up the hill as part of a demonstration against the planned development. For those of you who’ve visited you’ll realise its a bit of a mess up there. God knows what it would be like it if wasn’t a plastic free zone….. so there is no doubt the need to do something

But does it need a new guest house? (there are already two that are not used), a shopping complex? a mulit-storey car park? and a four lane highway? In our view all these plans will devastate the hillside, damage its bio-diversity and make matters so much worse but do the local powers that be give a damn?

Hence I think there is a new demon in town that the Goddess needs to sort out!

Its that magic word development that they keep throwing around. Politicians use it as a catch-all phrase to defend all sorts of unsuitable decisions. Are we against development? by which they must mean progress… well erm yes, if it means destroying the lungs of the city and decemating the woodland, yes if it means worshipping and promoting growth regardless of the consequences.

It has the potential to be an amazing place, not least for the views of the city.

But for that to be realised, we must have: some participation of the people in this thing called democracy, an end to mindless development and some sustainable and practical proposals to deal with the problems. These are currently unfettered illegal growth, litter and too much traffic. These are practically and relatively easily resolvable with the right approach and many local organisations have come up with suggestions. In my view, it isn’t about grand schemes as they will not work and are, in any case, designed for the short term gain, with money going into a whole range of pockets and the needs of the people and the environment completely neglected..

This will be an interesting story to follow to see how local politicians and the civil servants manage to properly manage the conflicting priorities and show how well they are suited to representing the interests of people and the environment whilst maintaining long-term sustainable development when and where its appropriate..

an invitation arrives……

June 26, 2016 SFLeave a comment

No it’s not from the queen to invite Manjula to the UK!

It is however related to royalty…….

This very week Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the latest in the long line of Mysore Maharaja’s (a previous one was amongst the richest in the world) will be married this week.

The previous Maharaja died a couple of years ago and there was no heir to the throne. This being India there are, of course, flexible ways to deal with such problems. So after a dignified period his widow the Maharani chose to adopt a relative to be the Maharaja. He’s already been crowned and this year gets wed!

The invite to the wedding because that’s what it is, was received by our new friend Dr Pai.

It’s told that a Queen from a neighbouring state, after losing a battle with the Wodeyars, cast a curse on the royal family that in future there would have no children so no natural heir to the throne. The law was therefore changed many years back to allow them to adopt the next Maharaja.

Here’s Dr Pai with his personal invite to THE event.

There is always a back story and in this case, a member of the Wodeyar family is challenging the adoption in the courts, nothing straightforward eh?

Rewards

June 16, 2016 SFLeave a comment

I have three rewards!

No 1 is sharing the absolute joy of Manjula who seems to have won the lottery! Well she has got a visa for the UK… in her terms its a VERY VERY BIG win.

Rewards 2 and 3 are the beers I’ve brought from the US and tonight my celebratory tipple will be the first since I returned from my amazing holiday in the US and Canada, with my youngest son Oliver.

But this affair has been a long and arduous journey, firstly (four months) sorting out the inaccurate and inconsistent forms of Manjula’s ID before we were able to apply for her first ever passport (three months) and the grand finale: two applications (six weeks, at least they’re fast!) for the UK visa

But all that quickly and quietly recedes into the distance as the appreciation of Manjula shown by the intensity of feeling bouncing around our home at the moment 🙂 makes it all worthwhile!