An Indian Christening

Last weekend we were quite busy weren't we! Which was a very good thing seeing as though after 3 weeks of Ian being away I was reaching the end of my tolerance threshold and it was therefore good to be busy with the children entertained.

Against all the odds and in a hair raising story a friends driver, Cruz and his wife were safely delivered of a baby girl last November. They named her Cinderella.



Cruz proudly invited us all to attend her Christening and we all made our way to St Thomas Mount Church in the searing heat. The church was packed, no A/C but there were alot of fans to waft the heat around a bit. The whole Mass and service was in Tamil and I think I managed to catch and understand about 3 words...Jesus, Disciple and Monday(?! maybe I didn't quite catch that one after all!) Despite us all rapidly dehydrating and glowing brightly the children were all very well behaved, but maybe that was also because so many of the congregation around us were paying them all SO much attention.



Here is the proud Mother in her beautiful Sari with the adorable Cinderella. We have only really been able to speculate on the choice of name, you don't like to appear rude by asking outright, but my friend and I surmised that after marrying and being disowned by their families (he converted from Muslim to Catholicism) and after 10 years of trying to have a baby and a hell raising pregnancy it all ended like a fairytale for them.

Ellie's take on the name was somewhat more pragmatic...

Ellie: What is the baby's name?
Me: Cinderella
Ellie: CINDERELLA? That's a princesses name. Is she a princess then?
Me: Errr well, not exactly.
Ellie: Look Mummy, Is Cruz a King? No. So he can't give his daughter a princesses name.
Me: Why not?
Ellie: Because he's NOT A KING and so his wife is not a Queen. Alright?
Me: Daddy calls you a princess sometimes.
Ellie: Yes, and I keep telling him...I'm a pirate NOT a princess.

My Best Friend

The Indian schools are having their 2 month summer holiday at the moment and Balaji, Pushpa's 9 year old son has come to the house for a couple of days because he likes to play with Luke and they've both had a ball and have got on like a house on fire. Luke disappears from sight when Balaji is around and when he does reappear he is absolutely shattered. They zoom around all day long doing all kinds of boy things much to Ellie's disgust and Balaji is now a firm fan of Cottage Pie and Spag Bol!

Double Deckers

Last weekend I took the kids to the British Deputy High Commission for a meeting of the Double Deckers Club. A once monthly meeting for British children living in Chennai to enable them to keep in touch with some of our national traditions, customs and events. This months topics were HRH The Queen & William Shakespeare's birthdays and St Georges Day. The kids had a great time and Ellie's highlight was making a birthday card for The Queen. The afternoon was rounded off with a 'Street Party' (inside with A/C and a good job too!) with all sorts of yummy British delights which the adults got to polish off!

Two More Sleeps...

...and a party for 40+ in our garden tomorrow evening until Daddy finally gets home!

Yay! We've missed you!

Mango Mania

In the UK we are so used to having the pick and choose of all fruits no matter what the season and I honestly thought that living somewhere tropical would mean an abundance of tropical fruit year round. Not so, whilst Pineapple, Papaya and Bananas are consistently available there are definite seasons for the likes of Strawberries Mangoes and Melons.

Right now we are entering Mango and Melon season, thank goodness because we were beginning to get bored with pineapple and if Ian sees another piece of Papaya I think it could be grounds for divorce (he doesn't like it very much!) The shops are full of Mangoes and the streets are full of Watermelons.


We have 2 large Mango Trees in our garden, so large it's hard to get a perspective! One is here in the background and has an abundance of green mangoes. The other has none...the Male tree apparently. We've made Mango chutney twice (the first lot was left out and went mouldy - oops!)


There are an amazing number of different varieties of Mango which came as a surprise, sweet, sour, large, small, green and yellow is my level of understanding so I won't try to kid you that I know what they all are because I haven't even begun to try and ask!


The Roads are currently lined with piles and piles of Watermelons for sale. On the left is a pile of Tender Coconuts for drinking.


Shopping at our favourite fruit and vegetable shop.

With all this beautiful fresh fruit available to us, what do you think Ellie & Luke are eating the most of...well for Ellie, as usual just strawberries and grapes (imported!)...Luke? Bananas ONLY! I GIVE UP!

On The Roads of Chennai

When there isn't a general strike the roads and traffic in Chennai are congested with every conceivable mode of transport to say the least. You don't half see some sights and as there doesn't seem to be many laws enforcing safety, half, no actually make that MOST of the time you see things that leave your heart in your mouth. Like the family of 6 on a motorbike, or the small baby sleeping across the petrol tank of a motorbike, while the father who is wearing a crash helmet zooms down the Toll Road. The buses so overloaded that there are people hanging onto the windows on the outside, or, even lying on the roofs! Here are some photos of some of the sights I've seen. The quality isn't always good because they've been taken from inside the car whilst on the move but I think you'll get the picture!


Overloaded Lorry from the Front!


And, from the back!


A Rush Hour Lorry Load of Coconuts


On the way to Work Perhaps?


On the Way to School - I didn't manage to snap this one from the back but there were in fact at least 20 children on this truck all in their school uniforms!


Banana Anyone?

An Unexpected Holiday

School is closed today.

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi has called a Bandh (a sort of general strike) to protest peacefully against the killing of innocent Tamils in Sri Lanka. Most of the offices, businesses and shops are closed, there are no buses, no auto rickshaws. (Click on title for BBC link) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandh

We have been warned that episodes of civil unrest may occur, so the advice is that it's best not to go too far. Of course, the 'World's Largest Democracy' is currently in the throes of a general election and here in this State voting doesn't start for a few weeks but there is alot of campaigning and canvassing going on and the 'common man' is an eager pawn for both the current regime and the opposition.

School is also closed again all day tomorrow! For parent teacher conferences! What's wrong with Parent Evenings?