15th January

15th January, to Sekar's house for a meal with five different types of rice

We have been visiting Sekar's home since our very first visit in 1991, when I remember his 7year old daughter dancing beautifully for us. The daughter who was a baby in 1991 was our hostess today for this visit. She is the mother of two children, aged 5 and  2, and is studying for a PhD in carbon nano tubes. Or that is what Andy says she said. Jude also responded as if it made some sense to her. We had a really delicious meal which was rather different from the thali array of different vegetable and dhal dishes which we are usually served. She had been up since early this morning making tomato rice, lemon rice, curd rice, tamarind rice and the sweet dish, pongal rice. All delicious. I've asked her to send me her recipe for the tomato and the lemon as they were especially good and I have in mind the next fund-raiser I may do at home in France.

Sekar is a very fond grandfather, extremely hands-on and gentle. This photo is a bit blurry because these two are a lively pair, bright as buttons. The little boy Krishna did not stop trying to get at my mobile phone to look for a game to play, however much his adults tried to chastise him. Clearly an international grandchild phenomenon now  it seems!

13th and 14th January, a day in school and Happy Pongal

January 13th, in which I learn the days of the week in Tamil and forget how to say Happy Pongal.

We arrived at school fairly early today and were able to see some different games and activities.We also saw more of the period of about ten minutes in the morning when the children sit in small groups with the elders to talk.This is such a brilliant innovation since we were last here. The teachers have obviously gone on developing the work- perhaps also in conjunction with the organiser for the elderly, Rani. I'm just enjoying observing at the moment and trying not to look too Ofsted- heaven forfend! The way they all interact with the children is so kind and so encouraging, which isn't by any means the norm for schools in India, apparently. Next week with Sekar's help and interpreting we will talk more with the staff about the daily curriculum, ideas they have and some reminders from their training ( took place over three days and now 6 years ago!) I did see one teacher holding a child's hand whilst the child was drawing - something I used to see the occasional nursery nurse doing when I first trained as a nursery teacher. It is tempting for a teacher to do this when they are focused on the end product and we will talk again to them about following the child's development and valuing what they produce and the process. After lunch and after the children's midday nap we presented them with their Christmas gift from RUHSA of a new tiffin box each. Each child obediently repeated Thank you mam, or thank you sir. The speed at which they pick up English is amazing. Parents do like their children to learn English even in a Tamil medium school, for obvious reasons I guess.

 Children playing in the new outdoor sandpit. The papaya trees, planted for shade, are only a couple of years old.

The teachers showed us a photo of a child who was in school last time we came and of whom I have many photos, because she was a real live wire. I remember her telling me to sit in the home corner and to be the visiting partee ( granny) whilst she would make me a cup of tea. The recent photo showed her receiving a prize for story telling, at her new school, from the District Collector. Her mother has presented the framed photo to the school to show how grateful she is for the start she had at Patchaikili. Hurrah! As tomorrow is the beginning of Pongal the teachers had decorated the front of the school with column patterns and with the words 'Happy Pongal'. I learned how to say Happy Pongal in Tamil but did not get a chance to practise it because all the children said it to us in perfect English  one by one as they made their farewells at the end of the day.

January 14th in which we survive a trip to Vrinjipuram temple on motorbikes.

Balaji and Partiban came to RUHSA this morning to collect Andy and I for a trip to the temple at Vrinjipuram, which we have never before visited. Despite some small apprehension about cycling helmet-less through the streets of KVKuppam, the journey turned out to be really enjoyable. There were a couple of false starts as  Parti's bike got a puncture so we had to detour to Seetaramanpet to swop with his friend; then a further mile or so on the bike ground to a halt due to lack of petrol ( or whatever goes in motorbikes) Balaji duly siphoned a small amount from his bike, to get us to the petrol station. Upon arrival there however, no petrol available. However, as Balaji explained, once the garage man had realised that English People were on board these bikes, he managed to siphon a water bottle full out of his own bike. Onwards and upwards, always an inventive solution in India! Great way to see the countryside anyway once you have relaxed, as it goes by quite slowly and you also get a nice cooling breeze about your helmet-free head. We went right over the very wide Palar river, which is very much an ex-river. No sign whatsoever of water and we have never seen any in our twenty years of visiting. 

The temple village is about seven km from KVK and was really quiet and pleasant this morning. No sign anywhere in fact of the loud music and crowds of people we usually associate with Pongal. We did a gentle tour of the very impressive temple buildings, which a small boy with very good English told us dated from the Chola period. Andy reckons that means from about 800 A.D. We saw various shrines to Ganesh and other gods- a whole room of lingams which looked pretty phallic, and seemed to bave something to do with Ganesh's father, who might be called Ishwar(?) Pam is usually our resident expert on Gods of the Hindu religion. We stood before the priest and he gave me some jasmine flowers and then we all had holy ash, vibouti, to put on our foreheads, followed by a red paste, such that Andy thought I looked as if I had been shot. I thought of cousin Marilyn and how she would have tried to avoid this. My resident atheist was quite happy to go along with it, however. 

I would have to record this visit as quite the least stressful and most  hassle-free temple visit I have ever done. It was really enjoyable and as we drove round the whole site finally, looking at the elaborate carvings, Balaji pointed out two large dents in the walls caused by English cannon, some years back I presume. My grasp of history, like my geography, is poor in Europe, let alone with all the complications and colourfulness that India presents! Just nod and go with the flow is my motto and it serves me well! 

            Special patterns for Pongal, just opposite the gates of RUHSA.

Inside that dark shrine is a beautiful Ganesh, the elephant god. Taking of photos strictly forbidden inside the temple.

Back home at Balaji's house we were invited to have a rest before lunch at one and mats were put down on the floor for us. I discovered that though an extra covering doesn't help with being saddle sore, it certainly does help when you are lying on the concrete floor. Lovely quiet nap under the fan. Lunch was then as always super. Santi- Balaji's mum- even ordered a dosi to be produced when she asked me if I liked them and I said yes. A lovely first day of Pongal festival. 

 

Back at RUHSA flat we found Jude who had had some interesting chats with resident students over lunch. A gaggle of young nurses became very giggly indeed at the sight of photos of her beautiful son Joshua! Was he here with her? What a disappointment! Then the Singaporean medical student from Sydney uni whom we have already met told her that next weekend when he has obtained an extra day of leave to add to a weekend, he plans to train to Chennai, fly to Delhi, train to Aggra for the Taj Mahal, then return all the way back by train. That's youth for you I suppose!! 

 

We then tried to skype Pam so that her boys, Parti and Balaji- could talk to her, but we caught her just about to leave the house. She said 'it's snowing here'. My, that was difficult to get my head round! 

 

January 12th, a day in school.

Musical chairs, inspiring visitors and another 'super'  meal.

This is how our days begin, with a wobble as we mount our trusty ancient bicycles and go forth, first over the alarming railway crossing at Kavanur, just ahead of an express train, then along the country road, rutted and strewn with flowers from another funeral, and liberally sprinkled with fresh cow dung. There is a large carpet of coconut husks to be negociated also, and usually at least one troupe of wayward wandering goats, several unattractive dogs and perhaps a gaggle of children who burst into peals of giggles as we pass. Hi, they cry and Vanicum we call back. 

Two and a half kilometres of this road, with my bum by now giving serious grief on the hard saddle, and we swerve nimbly (?) into the coconut grove where the Patchaikili centre is situated, right at the back well off the road, in lovely kind shade. Whatever time we appear the teachers drop everything and come out to escort us in, help us lock our bikes, carry our bags. Not even worth trying to prevent them doing these kindnesses. It is their culture ( as they explain often).

We watched the activities of the morning which included a game of indoor cricket for the children ( too hot outside), action songs, musical chairs and activities in small groups with Rani and Padmini. Meanwhile the elderly folk were busy first of all walking around the plot with Rani, their group worker, and then playing a traditional game with stones and a kind of dice, called Diyam (Pam will correct my spelling). At one point the children played musical chairs - and very amicably too, no squabbling just some fairly fierce competition. A while later the elderly played exactly the same game and with an equally competitive attitude! It was lovely also on several occasions to see the young in groups sat with the elders, just chatting. Equally when the children had ten minutes of cartoons on the television and began to dance energetically to the music, some of the elderly women went into the room te join in.

Since we were last here and it was agreed that we would fund a group organiser for the elderly (Rani) it is clear that the way the elderly interact with each other and with the children is very relaxed and easy. One cannot help but feel that this will be to the benefit of both elderly and young.

                 One of the elderly men chats with a group of children.

Musical chairs for the elderly.

Just as we were about to leave to go for our lunch date at Raghu's house (though Raghu himself is in Thailand working now) we heard that Joseph, from RUHSA was about to arrive with Dr Rita and a group of visitors. This meant that the elderly had to wait to have their lunch and unfortunately this got later and later. However finally when some of them looked as if they might begin to fade with hunger, permission was given for them to eat. When the party of visitors arrived they were very interesting groups, one from Sweden who are associated with Friends of Vellore (Sweden) and the second group were a UK family consisting of a couple and their grown daughter with her husband. The older couple have apparently been working in the slums of Vellore, doing their own quiet mission work. They are very much motivated by their Christian beliefs and she ministers to the people. He is a fomer university lecturer in Diabetic care and that is the work they have done with CMC hospital in Vellore, to try to teach good diabetic care more widely to doctors and in the community. Having spent the occasional torrid day in Vellore when necessary shopping had to be done I cannot but take my hat off to folk who can actually live there. Apparently water was so scarce that it would only be available once a fortnight and when the last drops were to be turned off, fighting would break out. I would have liked to hear more from this remarkable couple. We really did have to leave at this point as we were running so late, but they went on to present a blanket to each of the elderly people as their annual Christmas gift. The children are to be given new tiffin boxes for their lunches. 

Our lunch date was delightful, as we knew it would be in Raghu's lovely family. His mum is tiny and very smiley, called Magashwary. His older brother Parti was there to take lots of photos (Raghu had just sent him a gift of a new camera) and Parti's new bride Saranya served us food, with her mother in law. Her parents were also there to meet us, from Gudyattum for the day I suppose. After wonderful food we were treated to the Photo Album. My goodness, another mega production much like Suresh's which we saw yesterday. Just 453 photos! When I spoke to Padmini afterwards about this wonderful album she said it would be very very expensive and she imagined it would have been funded by Raghu. She commented that Indian weddings are very big and expensive but that this is their culture; you only have once such big wedding day in your life and so money has to be spent on it. I told her that Sekar had refused to do this for his girls but had given them the money for a start in life and their education instead. Padmini knew this, but felt that the way their culture dictated was the right way. 

        Another great new look for Jude and Sally ....

 Raghu's dad, mum, brother, new sister in law, and her mum and dad (left to right)

 

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.

January 10th, first weekend

January 10th, Dr Rita is back and we are given a royal feast.

We had arranged with Sekar that he would do us a tour of the campus, to see all the newer initiatives, such as stall-fed goats. However we encountered Dr Rita, back from her leave, and she then welcomed us warmly into her office. We talked with her for a couple of hours in the end and so were too late for the tour. Dr Rita was particularly chipper because her daughter and family have been staying with her and she had just arranged a huge (65 guest) first birthday party for her grandson Ryan.  She is undoubtedly a very proud partee- grandma! 

We heard briefly about several of the initiatives that are now up and running, all of them very exciting, and about the plans for development of the hospital on site. She hopes that the new Out patients dept will be completed for next January so that the American (part) funders (FOV/ US) who will be in Vellore at that time can attend the grand opening. She expects that Daleep will also be there. So- Pam Morris! - another very good reason for us to plan for another visit next year!  

Andy and I  then set off, as ever in the midday heat ( some visiting English people never learn!) to Balaji's home for lunch. When we arrived we were immediately enthroned upon chairs and garlanded. Rajah and Rani for the day!

The meal then presented was, as I knew it would be, just delicious. It had been prepared by Balaji's mum and his wife Pria and his sister in law Santi. Balaji was concerned that Selvi- former BTC employee and long-standing friend of visiting Bishopston visitors- was trying to get hold of me, so I asked her to come to his house. She brought with her a tiffin box full of the sweet vermicelli milk dessert called payasam, which she remembers me once having declared to be a favourite. Since this day we have always been rather inundated with payasam offerings! We had a bit of a chat about her family, our families, Pam's family etc and then arranged for us to go to eat at her place in Tuthitangel on Tuesday evening. She will want to off-load her woes then, concerning what has happened for her since the closure of BTC..

January 9th 2015. A wonderful welcome back to Seetaramanpet!

January 9th 2015

Today's first key missions were police; bikes; internet connection and so Vinoth, the Administrator, was our first port of call. The usual Dickensian foolscap ledgers have to be completed, for RUHSA purposes, and then ditto at the police station, this time with (ghastly) passport photos attached. All offices in India seem to have piles of these dusty ledgers, even when there is a computer system also operating. 'That would scupper Ofsted' muttered Jude, at the thought of the obscure and mysterious paper trail a visiting inspector would find himself mired in, if transposed to India. We have discovered that there are two Ambaragans now operating as gophers in the main offices, and the younger one accompanied us to the station and then sorted three bikes for us. He appeared outside our flat saying 'Bikes, bikes ready, helicopter' - a joke I think, but I couldn't see how else he had managed to get all three to us so quickly, by himself! So finally to the internet connection, the latest miraculous development. We have previously only been connected via wi fi when in the RUHSA main building, but now, thanks to a smart young computer chap, we can connect via a cable into a small box on the wall and into a USB port in our laptop. Ooh, I've just realised I shall be able to keep abreast of the Archers whilst in my bedroom! The wonders of technology.

We had already had serious amounts of queries from the direction of our friends in Seetaramanpet about ' When you come my house?' so, bikes now being ready ( if a little long in the leg for me and short in the leg for Andy and hard on the bum for all of us) off we set at last - in the heat of the midday sun, of course.  As the last time I was on a bike was three years ago, in KVK, and in that time I have not become more adroit, agile or slim, I felt myself very much wibble wobble, fat lady on a bicycle, but gradually gained some confidence having got all the way to school without falling off. The natives as ever do call 'hello' as we breeze by, answering them with ' vanicum' and there is much mirth, probably at the extraordinary sight of aged white folk unsteady on bikes. 

At last however, arrived at school, and what a welcome!!! Rani and Padmini the two teachers were outside waiting for us and both flung their arms round me and we hugged and kissed, with great emotion. They then introduced us to the new ayah, a replacement for Sarida, whose name is something like ' Boovani' but she appeared to say Boona would do. I must clarify this. Then they introduced us to Rani ( always handy when they double up on names, one less to remember!) who is the woman who looks after the elderly and does activities with them. Inside the building, where the children were sleeping and the elderly were finishing lunch, I met Vimula, who is the SHG woman who takes it in turns with Indra to make the food for the  elderly. 

We were - inevitably and very touchingly- then presented with flowers from the garden, made to sit down and then we did our masala Tamlish conversation, using the English they have, the Tamil we have, and native wit and mime. We were then served with a delicious meal, cooked by Vimula, but with extra dishes specially brought in by Boona, Rani and Padmini. I had tried to explain to  Jude about how they will constantly want you to eat more and will load up your plate whilst you are distracted, if you are not very firm. Their hospitality and generosity is so amazing. Sekar arrived with Joseph, the other RCO who helps supervise the centre and we had more chat, cups of coffee, and then the first tentative attempts to get a date for coming to everyone's house to eat. Fitting it all in is a bit of a work of art, but again, what a problem to have, to receive  too  much kindness!

After we had watched the children doing dance and songs and movement, we left to go to Balaji's house, for the second Great Welcome!!! Since we were last here Balaji has married so this was our first meeting with his lovely young wife, Pria. She seems young but apparently quite happy and settled in Balaji's home and she has some English. We also saw his lovely mum and dad, and his sister in law Shanti and her daughter, who is now four years old. Then Raghu's elder brother, Parti arrived, full of smiles, and Raghu's tiny smiling mum and his dad. We took coffee and said no to any food, but did have to accept apple and pomegranate offerings. We got away without further food by arranging lunch with Balaji's family tomorrow, Saturday, and lunch with Raghu's family on Monday. As Jude and Andy ( who had both had a second night of not sleeping too well) were flagging, in fact nearly nodding off as we all chatted and caught up with news, they then went home and I promised to be no more than five more minutes, just to pop into Raghu's house to meet Parti's new wife. Andy had muttered darkly about not being late- cycling in the sudden dropping dark is no fun- but he need not have worried as Balaji insisted on taking me home on his motorbike whilst Parti cycled. As we roared out of the village Balaji's cricket playing chums all turned to laugh and wave. Cannot imagine what was funny about the sight of me precariously balanced and clinging on for dear life to Balaji! 

For the benefit of Pam and Brian who are not with us on this trip, alas, I must record that everywhere we go we are asked about them, how they are, if they are well, when they will come etc etc.It is not just we who miss having them, it is their dear Seetaramanpet family too. I have shown them photos of the Morrises in Argentina and they are very impressed by you on horseback, Pam! 

Another perfect day, tiring but rejuvenating in so many ways.

Mr W said ' If that photo goes on Facebook there'll be a divorce!'. Can you see from the bottom photo why I might find life out here rejuvenating?!

2015 Visit to K V Kuppam, Sally and Andy and Jude

January 7th and 8th 2015

After a gap of too long, three years, since our last visit to our Indian home from home, Andy and I are back for three weeks in the village, followed by a week in Kerala. We have Jude with us for her first visit. Jude has been a regular follower of this blog when we have visited in the past and therefore has some idea of what to expect, although of course nothing can ever prepare you for the full- on reality of India!

We flew in to Chennai on 7th January and found ourselves first of all queuing to hand over our Ebola check-list and to have our temperatures taken. Then we encountered our first Indian-size mammoth, slow crawling queue, for immigration. An hour later we were through. We got a taxi then to the Central station, quite a hair-raising experience. Over the last ten years even locals say that Chennai has become very much more nightmarish.There has been so much construction and at the moment the centre seems to be dominated by huge flyover structures, designed to carry the new metro. As the taxi driver said, here there is too much of traffic. A bit of staggering around Chennai station under the weight of our rucksacks, being sent back and forth to ticket counters finally had us in a nice air-con railway compartment. I slept most of the way, lulled by the rattle and chug of the not-very-express and the constant  cries of the vendors ' Cotlets, biryani, chappatis, coffee coffee coffee, chai, biscuits, icecream' as they walked up and down the train ceaselessly. Two kind Indian men, our neighbours in the compartment, made sure to find us Katpadi on their satnavs and to help us off with our baggage, too heavy too elderly English travelling gentle woman!

On arrival at the tranquility of RUHSA, even more greened under the care of Rita's Self Help Group women, we found no one in Mr Immanuel's ( now of course, Vinoth's) office. But no problem ( of course, wobbling of head side to side, there will NOT be any problem) Vinoth was summoned from a meeting and soon we were ushered to our new quarters. This is in the block opoposite to the one where we have always stayed and has only one bed room, but we have asked for an extra bed for Jude ( we didn't fancy the idea of her being in the hostel on her own!) and now we are very comfortable. The view is out to fields which feature some interesting bird life - bright green parrots already seen- and wandering goats, chickens and a few people.We retired weary to bed around 7 in the evening and promptly fell sound asleep. Naturally this then meant we all woke in the small hours, and listened to the trains passing ( though no where near as noisily as they do when one is in the opposite accommodation) 

Our first full day was a slow one, as we were still recovering, of course. The phone in our room rang early and it was our old friend and guide Sekar. I was so delighted as I had wondered if by now he would have been retired. During the day he took us to the canteen for our lunch, where we discovered a very much nicer place than it had once been. A new SHG has taken over the cooking, which was delicious, and the whole place has been revamped, nicely decorated with clean new tables and chair. We think the grotty roadside Paul's Hotel will not be seeing much of us this time! We did go and see Paul and his brother Seganamy, both of whom gave us a warm welcome, and we bought bananas and coffees from them before leaving with vague replies as to when we would be eating there again...

Sekar introduced us to Dr Bishwaji, who is deputy to Dr Rita in her absence. We had a very interesting talk to him about the work that is going on now. He is from Orissa, a very poor state. He told us in particular about a study RUHSA are doing to see what impact the use of mobile phone technology can have on educating women in the villages about cervical cancer and smear testing. They have tried, in one village, to send out information via mobiles, and to offer to answer questions also. This is a means of getting directly to the women, circumventing their husbands, and helping them to learn that they can take an active role in their own health. They have matched this with another village in which they are giving information in the usual ways but not via mobiles and they are just in the process of analysing the data. 

First day back, some old faces full of smiles ( Vartsala the secretary, Ambaragan (he and Annandan now senior Hostel boys!) and another early night for us all, to catch up with lost sleep and to help us digest all the new experiences. Twenty four years now since our first visit. No wonder we have to take things a bit more easily!

 Our accommodation this visit. Top floor flat.

Cleared space where once was Mr Immanuel's quarters, the Post Office, and the shop/ telephone booth. They have recently begun to build a new Out Patients' department here for the hospital. More doctors have recently been attracted to work here, including student medics from abroad. Vinoth has shown me photographs of

all the site development which is happening e.g the hostel rooms, the canteen ( see above) which are all being upgraded. Not before time some of us would say!