Escaping the Heat
Keeping Cool at School
Helping in the Kitchen
Flying A Kite on Marina Beach
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Some Recent Photos
Escaping the Heat
Keeping Cool at School
Helping in the Kitchen
Flying A Kite on Marina Beach
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Happy New Year
Tamil New Year that is! Today is a National Holiday in the State of Tamil Nadu and there is, once again...no school. Ellie only went back yesterday after Spring Break!
The month of Chitthirai from mid-April to mid-May is the first month of the Tamil calendar. The month usually starts from 14th April, the day known as Tamil New Year. This is an auspicious occasion for Tamilians (people of Tamil origin) living all over the world. People exchange greetings by wishing “Puthandu Vazthukal” – Happy New Year, with great passion. According to Hindu Mythology, this is the day on which Lord Brahma (the creator of the universe) started the creation of the world.
People rise early in the morning and go for 'kanni' – the auspicious sight. The belief is that this brings good fortune throughout the year. The auspicious things may include gold and silver jewellery, betel leaves, nuts, fruits and vegetables, flowers, raw rice and coconuts etc. The auspicious sight is then followed by a ritual bath and visiting temple to pray for a prosperous and happy New Year. After which, the Panchangam (almanac) is read.
The women decorate the entrances of their houses with ‘Kolam’ (design made with rice flour) and the doorway with mango leaves. Another highlight of this festival is the preparation of ‘Maanga Pachadi'. It is a dish made of raw mangoes, jaggery and neem flowers, tasting sweet, sour and bitter one at the same time. This signifies all aspects of our life and tells us to face happiness and sorrow with equal ease.
The month of Chitthirai from mid-April to mid-May is the first month of the Tamil calendar. The month usually starts from 14th April, the day known as Tamil New Year. This is an auspicious occasion for Tamilians (people of Tamil origin) living all over the world. People exchange greetings by wishing “Puthandu Vazthukal” – Happy New Year, with great passion. According to Hindu Mythology, this is the day on which Lord Brahma (the creator of the universe) started the creation of the world.
People rise early in the morning and go for 'kanni' – the auspicious sight. The belief is that this brings good fortune throughout the year. The auspicious things may include gold and silver jewellery, betel leaves, nuts, fruits and vegetables, flowers, raw rice and coconuts etc. The auspicious sight is then followed by a ritual bath and visiting temple to pray for a prosperous and happy New Year. After which, the Panchangam (almanac) is read.
The women decorate the entrances of their houses with ‘Kolam’ (design made with rice flour) and the doorway with mango leaves. Another highlight of this festival is the preparation of ‘Maanga Pachadi'. It is a dish made of raw mangoes, jaggery and neem flowers, tasting sweet, sour and bitter one at the same time. This signifies all aspects of our life and tells us to face happiness and sorrow with equal ease.
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
A 'bit of a day'
Those of you on FB will know I've been having a bad day!
Ian left for the US for 3 weeks on Saturday evening and after just Day 3 I'm having a bit of a meltdown...it's not serious...I'm still laughing, but I'm just a tad frustrated and I now need to get the events of the last few minutes off my chest!
In a nutshell Ellie is being a little mare.
We have no hot water and no water pressure which makes having a shower or a bath a problem unless you've got 2 hours to spare. (By the way, not as much as the problem we had two weeks ago when raw sewage water started pouring from our taps and into our toilets and we had to shut off the mains supply, then empty and acid clean the tanks TWICE.)
The power to JUST our house went off at 2pm this afternoon and the generator has been whirring away all afternoon guzzling the diesel and I'm wondering if it's going to last the night, which I'm told it is...but hey, I've heard THAT ONE before!
At 9pm I'm thinking that all this isn't quite right so I call Kumar. A plumber is coming tomorrow and he will sort out the water and pressure. But do you know what? This plumber must come to our house EVERY week to 'fix' a raft of similar problems on a rotation basis and I'm beginning to smell a rat. The 'Government Electricity company' who WERE coming tomorrow are now coming this evening ,and, please give them a tip for coming. Woo hoo! If they can fix the problem I won't have a sleepless night worrying about the freezer etc and of course I'll give them a tip.
At 9.15pm THREE 'Government Electricity' men arrive, I show ONE of them the cupboards that they need to look into. The second of them watches and the third stands outside and talks into his mobile phone and hey presto! In just 2 minutes normal power is restored and the generator goes quiet. I take it that the guy on the phone must be 'the supervisor' and as advised I hand over a more than generous tip. He looks at it, counts it, looks me sraight in the eye with utter contempt and declares that he's not satisfied. Well, blow me down! Right there and then I felt I should run back into the house and empty the contents of my purse and give it to him but instead I hesitated a few moments (feeling very clammy in 32 degrees with the mosquitos biting) and then I laughed at him. OK, I thought, so I may be here Home Alone but no sweaty Government electricity worker is going to get the better of me just because he can flick a switch. "You have a good job...a salary and a more than generous tip just for 2 minutes work" I told him. Our head guard on night shift at this point is beginning to get concerned I think because he calls Kumar on the phone, who in turn talks to the supervisor and then the three walk off grumbling into the night.
Part of me is grateful to Kumar and the Guard for their intervention, but part of me just wanted to be left alone to stand up to these chauvanistic officious men and tell them to GET LOST (read any expletive you like there but I thought I'd keep it clean!)
...breath AND relax!
Ian left for the US for 3 weeks on Saturday evening and after just Day 3 I'm having a bit of a meltdown...it's not serious...I'm still laughing, but I'm just a tad frustrated and I now need to get the events of the last few minutes off my chest!
In a nutshell Ellie is being a little mare.
We have no hot water and no water pressure which makes having a shower or a bath a problem unless you've got 2 hours to spare. (By the way, not as much as the problem we had two weeks ago when raw sewage water started pouring from our taps and into our toilets and we had to shut off the mains supply, then empty and acid clean the tanks TWICE.)
The power to JUST our house went off at 2pm this afternoon and the generator has been whirring away all afternoon guzzling the diesel and I'm wondering if it's going to last the night, which I'm told it is...but hey, I've heard THAT ONE before!
At 9pm I'm thinking that all this isn't quite right so I call Kumar. A plumber is coming tomorrow and he will sort out the water and pressure. But do you know what? This plumber must come to our house EVERY week to 'fix' a raft of similar problems on a rotation basis and I'm beginning to smell a rat. The 'Government Electricity company' who WERE coming tomorrow are now coming this evening ,and, please give them a tip for coming. Woo hoo! If they can fix the problem I won't have a sleepless night worrying about the freezer etc and of course I'll give them a tip.
At 9.15pm THREE 'Government Electricity' men arrive, I show ONE of them the cupboards that they need to look into. The second of them watches and the third stands outside and talks into his mobile phone and hey presto! In just 2 minutes normal power is restored and the generator goes quiet. I take it that the guy on the phone must be 'the supervisor' and as advised I hand over a more than generous tip. He looks at it, counts it, looks me sraight in the eye with utter contempt and declares that he's not satisfied. Well, blow me down! Right there and then I felt I should run back into the house and empty the contents of my purse and give it to him but instead I hesitated a few moments (feeling very clammy in 32 degrees with the mosquitos biting) and then I laughed at him. OK, I thought, so I may be here Home Alone but no sweaty Government electricity worker is going to get the better of me just because he can flick a switch. "You have a good job...a salary and a more than generous tip just for 2 minutes work" I told him. Our head guard on night shift at this point is beginning to get concerned I think because he calls Kumar on the phone, who in turn talks to the supervisor and then the three walk off grumbling into the night.
Part of me is grateful to Kumar and the Guard for their intervention, but part of me just wanted to be left alone to stand up to these chauvanistic officious men and tell them to GET LOST (read any expletive you like there but I thought I'd keep it clean!)
...breath AND relax!
Sunday, 5 April 2009
Seasonally Confused
We all are...
Ellie's school is on its 'Spring Break' for 2 weeks, whilst Luke's school began it's 2 month 'Summer Holiday' on Friday.
Ellie has been learning about all things Spring like and Luke has been splashing about in paddling pools.
As for me? I'm just HOT.
Ellie's school is on its 'Spring Break' for 2 weeks, whilst Luke's school began it's 2 month 'Summer Holiday' on Friday.
Ellie has been learning about all things Spring like and Luke has been splashing about in paddling pools.
As for me? I'm just HOT.
April FooI Indian PC Plod Style
Maybe this post title should read 'Pinch Punch First of the Month', either way I think you'll get the gist!
If there is anything in India that is always consistent...it's pay day, always the first day of the month and you can always tell what time of the month it is by a few regular indicators:-
1) Our staff remind me!
2) The large number of people lying/sleeping on the streets
and,
3) The large number of PC Plod roadblocks.
Yes for PC Plod it is not only their salary time but it's their BONUS time as well. Unsuspecting motorists and motorcyclists are 'pulled over' and given a fine, for what, they are apparently not ever really sure, but pay up they must. It works like this... Every unfortunate motorist that is pulled over is given a fine and if they want a receipt it'll cost them 500rps but if they don't, it'll cost them 200rps! Pinch Punch First of the Month, right where it hurts in the wallet!! I wonder where the unreceipted fines go?
The other indicator are the number of mainly men you see sleeping, or should I say 'sleeping it off' on the streets. Pay day here also means Drink Week and we had a conversation in our car the other day and it went something like this...
Ellie: Kumar, why is that man sleeping on the pavement?
Kumar: (chuckling) He has drunk his salary.
Luke: Cow! Cow!
Ellie: What's a salary Mummy?
Me: When a person has a job they get paid some money for doing their work and it's called a salary and it pays for their food, clothes and houses.
Luke: Cow?
Ellie: Does Daddy get a salary?
Me: Yes. Every month.
Ellie: And does HE drink it all?
Me & Kumar: Much laughter.
Priceless!
If there is anything in India that is always consistent...it's pay day, always the first day of the month and you can always tell what time of the month it is by a few regular indicators:-
1) Our staff remind me!
2) The large number of people lying/sleeping on the streets
and,
3) The large number of PC Plod roadblocks.
Yes for PC Plod it is not only their salary time but it's their BONUS time as well. Unsuspecting motorists and motorcyclists are 'pulled over' and given a fine, for what, they are apparently not ever really sure, but pay up they must. It works like this... Every unfortunate motorist that is pulled over is given a fine and if they want a receipt it'll cost them 500rps but if they don't, it'll cost them 200rps! Pinch Punch First of the Month, right where it hurts in the wallet!! I wonder where the unreceipted fines go?
The other indicator are the number of mainly men you see sleeping, or should I say 'sleeping it off' on the streets. Pay day here also means Drink Week and we had a conversation in our car the other day and it went something like this...
Ellie: Kumar, why is that man sleeping on the pavement?
Kumar: (chuckling) He has drunk his salary.
Luke: Cow! Cow!
Ellie: What's a salary Mummy?
Me: When a person has a job they get paid some money for doing their work and it's called a salary and it pays for their food, clothes and houses.
Luke: Cow?
Ellie: Does Daddy get a salary?
Me: Yes. Every month.
Ellie: And does HE drink it all?
Me & Kumar: Much laughter.
Priceless!
Monday, 30 March 2009
Snake Update
Hmmmm...the large Rat Snake is still on the loose but is being kept at bay by the guards who I have put on an hourly 'Snake Patrol'. They seem happy they have something other to do than fall asleep and open and close the gate but, as yet, they still haven't caught the culprit.
However, they have competition in the snake catching stakes and I'll hedge my bets on who will win this battle and it'll be the latest visitor to our garden.
A couple of days ago I was horrified to see what I thought at first was the most enormous rat I had ever seen sniffing around on one of our window ledges and then I saw its long bushy tail and thought...that ain't NO rat. Straight onto the computer, Google and Wikipedia and I deduced with my powerful sleuth like determination that it was indeed a Mongoose. Where there is a snake you will eventually find a Mongoose, and Mongooses fight snakes for sport. Even deadly Cobras. But we haven't had one of those...yet.
However, they have competition in the snake catching stakes and I'll hedge my bets on who will win this battle and it'll be the latest visitor to our garden.
A couple of days ago I was horrified to see what I thought at first was the most enormous rat I had ever seen sniffing around on one of our window ledges and then I saw its long bushy tail and thought...that ain't NO rat. Straight onto the computer, Google and Wikipedia and I deduced with my powerful sleuth like determination that it was indeed a Mongoose. Where there is a snake you will eventually find a Mongoose, and Mongooses fight snakes for sport. Even deadly Cobras. But we haven't had one of those...yet.
Turtle Soup
Last week we got a last minute tip-off that some day old baby turtles were being released...we dropped everything, jumped in the car and bombed down the East Coast Road.
Here's the David Attenborough bit...The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle commonly lays it's eggs on the shores of the Bay of Bengal but the eggs are endangered by predators such as rats, dogs, seagulls and crabs.
Volunteers patrol the beaches between January and March and once a turtle is found laying her eggs and she returns to the sea the eggs are carfully dug up and moved to a protected hatchery and buried one foot deep in the sand. Approximately 40-45 days later the turtles begin to hatch and they are gathered and released into the ocean when they are just one day old.
The batch we released was small, about 30 or so turtles but I have heard of as many as 100 being released at one time. The little black cuties were about 1 1/2 -2 inches in diameter and were quite active. At high tide we took them down to the sea and gently set them upon the sand to begin their life journey, they must make their own entry into the water. Those that survive their journey will return to this very same beach in about 15 years time to lay their eggs...I hope they make it back!
A wonderful and humbling experience. I cried when they disappeared into the waves and Ellie has hardly stopped talking about it. If I now ask Luke about Turtles he holds out his hand and points to his palm while chattering away about something that begins with 'T'.
Here's the David Attenborough bit...The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle commonly lays it's eggs on the shores of the Bay of Bengal but the eggs are endangered by predators such as rats, dogs, seagulls and crabs.
Volunteers patrol the beaches between January and March and once a turtle is found laying her eggs and she returns to the sea the eggs are carfully dug up and moved to a protected hatchery and buried one foot deep in the sand. Approximately 40-45 days later the turtles begin to hatch and they are gathered and released into the ocean when they are just one day old.
The batch we released was small, about 30 or so turtles but I have heard of as many as 100 being released at one time. The little black cuties were about 1 1/2 -2 inches in diameter and were quite active. At high tide we took them down to the sea and gently set them upon the sand to begin their life journey, they must make their own entry into the water. Those that survive their journey will return to this very same beach in about 15 years time to lay their eggs...I hope they make it back!
A wonderful and humbling experience. I cried when they disappeared into the waves and Ellie has hardly stopped talking about it. If I now ask Luke about Turtles he holds out his hand and points to his palm while chattering away about something that begins with 'T'.
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