Pongal day

January 15^th

 

Today is Pongal and we are invited to Selvi’s home in Tuthitangel.  Mr W thinks he is ok to go forth and eat again, if with some caution, and though Brian has a nasty eye infection which is now affecting his other eye also, he thinks he is fine to come too. I have a quick word with Dr Rita so that I can mention the idea of a handrail for the centre and can also broach the subject of the behaviour of visitors to the centre. I begin to suggest that I might write guidelines, but Dr Rita tells me immediately that our centre must not be treated separately from the others and that what happened must be the fault of the RUHSA person who took the visitors to the centre. She will address that with RUHSA staff. We have a brief conversation about how visitors should behave so as not to interrupt the work that is going on, how they must be sensitive and not act as if they are on a ‘picnic trip’ as she phrases it! 

 Selvi's puja room and her special Pongal pot

We cram ourselves into an auto which is far too narrow and all arrive at Selvi’s feeling somewhat crushed and jolted. She is clearly not at all well and has a band fixed to her head, which it seems contains ginger, which she hopes will clear her bad head. We see in her puja closet the elaborate puja which has obviously been done for this special day, with offerings of a dhoti (to represent her father) and a sari (to represent her grandmother), bananas, coconut, small oil lamps, flowers, turmeric and betel. There are two large sugar canes either side of the offerings, and two turmeric roots, and all of it is presented on a special aromatic leaf (we can’t work out what it is). At the base of the collection of offerings there is the special Pongal pot, in which sweet Pongal rice is made.

Our meal is, of course, delicious, as we have come to expect from Selvi and her mother. We don’t stay for very long after our meal and coffee, because Selvi is plainly not well and has her nephew arriving later that afternoon, who will also require feeding. We go in another (wider!) auto to Poonsolai , to try to see the family whom Pam and Brian know, but alas when we arrive we find that the mother of the family, Alemelu, has gone with other women in the family to the funeral of a family member. Another attempt will have to be made. 

 The simpler Pongal puja offered by the Poonsolai family

On arrival back at RUHSA Pam thinks it might be best if she sees a doctor at RUHSA as she has the beginning of a problem which she suspects could be going to be cystitis. We ask Vartsela where Vinoth might be and she calls him, then when he arrives she says ‘Ah here is the International Visitor Facilitator’! Poor Vinoth has been run ragged looking after our requests, daily some small problem we need him to solve for us. Today I had already sneaked in and asked if he might be able to find us a box of Cadbury’s Milk Chocolate, such as he procured for us last year. Vinoth sorts an appointment for Pam immediately round at the hospital (after she has given him essential details like her father’s name, so that she can be given a number in the system). In a trice a test has shown that she does have an infection and tablets have been prescribed and dispensed. So, now, only me to go down with some complaint and memo to all of us, especially Pam and me, to drink much more water (beware the dreaded kidney stones!) and to remember that it is terribly easy to become dehydrated here. I took a photo of this poster about Pharmacist Day, because it made me think of my own dad, known in Christchurch, our home, as Mr Boots. Pharmacist Day just one day after the birthday of myself and my brother.

Our lovely Vinoth, 'International visitor facilitator' with his two beautiful (and much beloved) daughters.