Tuesday, December 19

 

 

I wake up about 12:30, wander out onto the balcony, and take a photograph of the lake outside. Anib explained in the car yesterday that the giant sticks have resulted from the weather in the summer; the worst for sixty years. Many of the coconut trees completely shed their leaves, to form giant sticks, and nobody knows if they will revive themselves next year or not.

Irma woke a couple of hours ago and has put the house into shape. We will have our first outoor breakfast and mine will consist of mango flavoured Corn Flakes, with some papaya that Irma chopped.

After breakfast Bruno the dog wll appear and we will let him in while we sit around.

Irma and Naa will take a rickshaw to Divine Supermarket, with Anil’s brother who also has Molly’s husband as his other brother. While they have gone I will have a shower and read yesterday’s newspaper.

Indian jornalism uses a language I only usually encounter in books like Biggles and Fu Manchu. I found this on the front page of The New Indian Express today, in a story titled Burglars On The Prowl:

The recent burglaries in Kochi, in which the gang unleashed terror on the people in residence, have sent a shockwave across the state. Police have intensified their search for the gang which struck at the houses and decamped with the valuables. But the people of the capital city are a worried lot because the Christmas-New Year holidays are here and many are planning to go on tours. The vacant houses are sitting ducks and in the burglars’ line of fire.

Irma and Naa will reappear laden down with shopping bags, and a free fruit cake. We will sit in the afternoon sun on the balcony for a while. As the sun goes down Irma will take a much more interesting image of the lake than I managed to do earlier.

A few minutes later we will notice a kingfisher sitting on a wire below us.