January 7th 2024
Yesterday began with a summons to meet with the Ruhsa head, Dr Biswajit at 10. Ruhsa staff work Saturday morning only, so have a day and a half weekend. A staff meetiing was just concluding as we arrived but we were soon ushered in and served with two nice ‘ no sugar’ coffees. We then had a very interesting talk with Dr B, ranging over lots of topics, large and small, from the effects of climate change and life post Covid ( both affecting drastically the economic situation throughout India) to our prime focus this trip to ensure playcentre equipment is replenished. At the end of our discussion Dr B told us that he had managed to organise purchasing some fish and he was going to ask the canteen to prepare typical food for us from his ‘native place’ which is between W Bengal and Orissa.
We had a lunch date at 1.00 at Indra’s house in Seetarampet so duly set off in search of an auto ( tuc tuc) We didn’t yet have a phone number to summon one but need not, of course, have worried. A RUHSA employee - one of the very many helpful gofers around the site- saw us looking perhaps a bit lost, and within minutes a tuc tuc had been summoned.
Indra lives at the end of Om Shakti Coil street, ( coil means temple in Tamil) which is where many friends have their homes. Communal life here is very very communal. Children especially wander in and out of their neighbours’ houses. If large over-heated UK visitors are coming to visit, people will pop in to watch you eat, to be included in photos, to dandle the baby if she’s looking restive, etc etc. No wonder that baby Sally is such a happy girl. She has literally a whole village participating in raising her!
Lunch was served on banana leaf plates, as is traditional. Indra is one of the two Pachaikili cooks so we know how lovely her food is - and she remembered to go easy on the chilli which is usually very much in evidence in Tamil Nadu cuisine.
After lunch we chatted as well as we could- stretching my Tamil and their English as far as possible. Yet another daughter appeared who is studying at college level, also engineering. Balaji ( who had wandered in by now of course) made the connection with the 100 small bursaries through the One Candle fund ( part of the Bishopston Kuppam link). This fund was the brainchild of Pam Morris, started in the early 2000s, after she had heard the daughters of a widowed Seetarampet woman ( Santi) lamenting that they would not be able to stay on to complete secondary education, for want of money in the household. Balaji reminded us just what an effect that fund had on local families and said it was why Pam is so revered here ( and also very much loved)
Baby Sally being rocked by her mum Priya. I am fascinated to see how all the locals take part in her care. Men equally as much as women- and older children- will reach out to hold her and give her attention.
Our next engagement was in KVKuppam at a home we had never visited before, that of Priya one of the Pachaikili teachers. We had feared that a 4 o’clock tea invitation might mean much more than that ( as ‘one small coffee’ so often means a plate of food too!) Great joy anyway to discover it meant coffee and cakes/,biscuits. We could manage that quite easily. Priya’s husband has a fair bit of English so we were able to communicate well. We learned that theirs was a ‘love mariage’ after they met at college.
We were home by 6 and after a bit of a lie-down under the fan ( it’s how we survive here where it’s hot and humid) we discovered that we were to be served Dr Biswajit’s fish with a lentil dish. It was absolutely delicious!
Back view of a friend watching Indra cook. Both women look so very elegant. Much wearing of yellows and reds at the moment as it’s the season for special temple visits.
Indra’s husband taking a turn with the baby. I love her bangles!!
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