January 11th. Another day, another invitation ( or twelve!) to dine!

January 11th, Bike, motorbike, more old friends and a beautiful new baby.

After a morning of chores, ie scrubbing at filthy clothes with travel wash in tepid water, we set off early to our lunch engagement. Now that I can access Jude's  more beautiful photos I can show you what our flat looks like. One of the improvements since last visit is the new bedding and curtains. Small things do make a difference. The kitchen here has a two ring gas burner, and in the bathroom there is an electric heater which produces warm water!

                       The view from our back window, over a field. Lots of bird sightings already.

                                             The kitchen.

                                      Living room, with Jude's very tidy billet in one corner.

As we cycled through Kavanur there was a lot of evidence of the funeral we saw yesterday, garlands of flowers everywhere on the road. Padmini, who now has a new house next door to Balaji's, was waiting for us as she was going to help us find Rani's home (I had forgotten how to get there). I asked immediately if we could first go and see Suresh and meet his new one-week old baby girl. Suresh suddenly appeared, as always sporting a very wide grin- perhaps even wider now that he is a VERY proud father. 

His wife Veejay Kumari, is the daughter of Santi, and therefore of the family which were the very first Candle Fund recipients. Their marriage, unusually, is a love-match. Veejay Kumari looked tired but well and happy. She is a nurse and had worked right up until one week before delivery. She will now, thankfully, have six months maternity leave.  They trusted me to hold this tiny tiny bundle, who was born last Sunday. She had just been fed and looked very contented and sleepy. An angel though, as Suresh calls her. They are deciding on her name at the moment, trying to find one which begins with Ka, this being the  most auspicious letters for this date, apparently. At the moment baby Ka thinks night is day and vice versa, but of course this is still very early days. Santi, the proud granny, was very downcast that we absolutely had no time to eat something with them - and even more down cast at the absence of Pam! One could begin to feel very much like a disappointing substitute! However a date has been made for us to go there, over Pongal, next Friday. 

We then had to - quickly, just one minute (!!) - go to Suresh's home and see the wedding photo album. Goodness me what a glamorous record! Veejay K normally lives in this house, but is currently with her mother, just a street away, because of the young baby. Suresh works all week in Chennai. They explained to us that the tradition there is to bathe the baby at a week old - probably tomorrow for his baby- and that after that she will be slung in a hammock cot made out of her mother's wedding sari. Lovely tradition I think. I explained how in England nowadays a father will attend the birth, and that I had also attended my daughter's deliveries of her two children. This is not their tradition, although her mother was there frequently during the labour to give her drinks etc.It didn't sound as though VJ had had much if any access to painkilling drugs.

We were running late by now (what a surprise!) for Rani, and her son Morganraj had appeared to accompany us. Jude, unused to this carry-on, ie Indian time and Indian constant pressure to 'come my house' was worried about time. She will soon get the hang of it! Because before we could set off we had, of course, to go to see Padmini's house and to 'take coffee' and a nice dish of sliced papaya and apple. Then we discovered that we were to be conveyed to Rani's, in Kamanchamanpet, on the back of motorbikes, by Morganraj and Balaji. Balaji did a double run to take Andy. I am getting a bit niftier now at heaving my bod into the pillion seat and Balaji is a careful rider. A pleasant relief also from the pain in the bum that our cycles cause!

A warm welcome at Rani's from her mum and dad whom I had met previously. Lovely food, needless to say. Same same but subtly different. We had just met Indra, who does the cooking for the elderly, at Padmini's house ( and fixed a date for eating with her, of course) and were surprised to see her pop up at Rani's. It seems that they have been friends for a long time, so she came to help with serving us. I must mention that one of the dishes, spicy cauliflower, had been prepared by Rani's son. I don't think I have ever before been offered a dish cooked by the man of the house.

  
After lunch was finished we were ushered to the home of Boona, the new ayah, who lives near to Rani. She is the sister in law of Larta, who is one of the SHG management group. We got away with just coffee, lovely, then home fairly early for some R and R in the peace of our flat.