18th January

18th January, another of the five gives his viewpoint.

At last a chance for Dr Whittingham, esteemed visitor to India, to contribute his first blog. I am trying to concentrate above the cacophony of the zillions of house crows who come to roost every night at half past five-ish in the many tamarind trees on our campus. A bald man, hatless, walks under the trees at his peril at this time. And so a résumé of another day sitting cross-legged (or in my case straight legged) enjoying a delicious meal supplied by the mother in law of one our dear friends, Suresh, in the village of Seetaramanpet. 

At midday two of the lovely men of the village come to RUHSA to fetch Sally and Jude on their Harley Davidsons (well, actually, smaller versions…….) while I cycle imperiously along the back road that leads to the village, shouting Hi to the many people who gawp at the old man on the bike. I pedal furiously, wind in my hair, determined to beat the mechanised duo. However, when Suresh passes me with Jude as pillion he is amazed that an old Thaataa (grandfather) can cycle so fast. They seem to think that a man of 67 should not be cycling in this way.  I then utter a strangled cry as the pointed end of the spring from my bicycle seat decides to remind my left bum cheek of its presence and smile weakly. 

 

We are given yet another warm welcome, fed cups of sweet tea, informed of the progress of the one -day India Australia cricket match, and catch up on the family news. Suresh has a new baby and he works all week in Chennai leaving his wife and daughter at home with his family, so he only sees them at weekends. He does not like this arrangement and next week will move them to Chennai with him, because for six months Veejaykumari is on maternity leave. However, it will be difficult for his wife without the support which her mother gives. But this is what happens to hard-working family men like Suresh. Many educated, local young men and women now work in Chennai during the week living in hostels and come home to their village at weekends.

After lunch I cycle back in a more leisurely way avoiding the bullocks, cow pats and potholes before coming back to our cool flat to prepare for our meeting tomorrow with Dr Rita where we will discuss the finances and future plans for the play centre. Since writing this I am pleased to say the crows have quietened down to a less disagreeable racket and it might be safe to venture out later to the RUHSA canteen for a little light supper – rice and accompaniment of the day !

So for now it’s paarkalaam (see you later in Tamil).