Kids

I always like interactions with kids in India. Met Ameer and Anvar, a couple of boys, probably around 8 years old, on their way to school, , who were so talkative and fluent in English. One of them, in this small Kerala town, is into Spiderman, so he has a Spiderman school bag, shoes and umbrella, “everything Spiderman”. A motorbike passed us, so they commented that wow, that’s a high powered racing bike: “modified”, they said. They go to a tribal government school where they learn Malayalam, Tamil and English. I don’t think they mentioned Hindi, though Modi and the BJP are trying to press schools in every state into teaching it.

Children

New Shoes

I don’t know if I’ve done the right thing, but I just bought a pricey pair of Woodland sandals (3,200 Rupees /$45). For the last few few years I’ve been wearing Keens H2s, which are even more expensive (about $70 a pair) and have the advantage of being waterproof and vegan. But they always wear out for me in the same spot. I had the last pair repaired once but they’ve disintegrated while I’ve been in India, and so I replaced them with a comparatively cheap pair of Bata sandals. But I always stub my toes with cheap chappals, which happened again this morning. The pair I’ve now bought look like the sandal equivalent of an SUV, with TPR soles. There’s a long discussion on the different materials used for soles on Quora (https://www.quora.com/Which-material-is-better-for-the-sole-of-shoes-PU-or-TPR).

The Emigrants

Reading Sebald’s “The Emigrants”. I so much enjoy his writings. His early death was such a cruel tragedy, but somehow reminds me of the stories and anecdotes he writes about:

“Sebald [aged 57] died while driving near Norwich in December 2001. The coroner’s report, released some six months later, stated that Sebald had suffered an aneurysm and had died of this condition before his car swerved across the road and collided with an oncoming lorry.” (Wikipedia)

Rat in restaurant

Enjoyed a meal in one of Thekkady’s rooftop cafes. A very fat rat just walked by the table, or perhaps some tropical creature that resembles a rat?

Thekkady

After a month in Tiruvannamalai, I decided to escape the heat and head up to Thekkady in Western Ghats. No one comes here in June, at least not western tourists, so I ‘m the only guest in this homestay guest house, at a cost of 400 Rs or 5 euros per night. Which is fine with me. I can do my regular work + some reading and writing. There’s a lovely roof-top garden for guests. The temperatures are a nice 25 or 26 in the daytime, and there are lots of showers to keep everything fresh and green. Unlike elsewhere in India. According to the Guardian 43% of the country is in drought. Villagers are deserting their villages and farmers are committing suicide. Twenty-one Indian cities – including Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad – are expected to run out of groundwater by 2020.

beetle

A beautiful psychedelic sky-blue metal chrome beetle emerged on my bed and under my admiring gaze discharged a large drop of brown poop on to the sandalwood-scented white sheet.

Monkeys drop unripe mangoes that hit the roof like bombs. This is not as loud as the staccati bursts of fire crackers exploded during funeral processions.

Peacocks screech out suddenly at any time of the day or night, responding to one another’s calls.

Last night awoke to the smell of burning plastic – just the neighbours burning a pile of garbage in the street. I ran to close the shutters. I had already closed them on the southern side due to the maid’s burning a pile of leaves earlier in the day.

Between 2 AM and 4 AM it’s impossible to sleep. The air hovers around 30 C which the ceiling fan whips into a hot typhoon.

The pre-monsoon evening rains had lowered the temperature for a few days but now it is hot and dry again.

Ecclesia

“In the Roman basilica of Santa Sabina, site of the motherhouse of the order of Friars Preachers, the remains of a fifth century mosaic can be seen. It depicts two women, each with a book in her hand and beneath each is an inscription: Ecclesia ex Circumcisione on one side, Ecclesia ex Gentibus on the other. It provides evidence that even in the fifth century the Church was seen to be composed of two essential constituents: Jews and Gentiles — reconciled by the Cross of Jesus, gathered together as one people by Baptism. ”

I’m proofreading my scan of Bruno Hussar’s book “When the cloud lifted” for republication.

Tiruvannamalai

39 degrees and time for afternoon rest; following lunch with the standard fare of rice, rasam, sambar, gram, a spinach dish, perhaps, followed by buttermilk. Discussion about sadhana and Nehru, with my kind old host.

Shadow and Claw

These days I seem to nibble at books more than read them, so I’m not sure how far I’ll travel with this Gene Wolfe, but the prose is unexpectedly rich. You can tell a good writer.