Monday, January 1

 
 
YEAR:  2018 | Tags:  | |
 
 

 
 
 

KS Road, 7:27

 
 

I slept through the night and woke at 7:10 to the sound of sweeping. I tried to locate it and eventually realised that it came from the road outside.

I get up to look and find a gang of men raking tar. The chief engineer stands watching in her sari, and the road roller stands ready for action. As I watch a three wheel truck arrives a drops a small amount of new tar, which a couple of men promptly start raking flat.

Thus 2018 starts with the smell of fresh tar.

Yesterday the blade on my travel razor – another Shark 5 – broke off in the approved manner, so I will start a new blade while deciding that this year I will concentrate on weaving the strands together. Shaved, I will start this year’s 5BX routine while chanting some affirmations I made up earlier.

I will take Bruno for a long walk and then we will spend the morning reading in the sun, breaking off to photograph hawks and do some ironing. Irma will also supply mango juice ans biscuits to the man and women raking the tar.

At 14:12 Irma and Naa will take the rickshaw to Kovalam to do some shopping. When they return I will help unload the treasure, and then we will all leap back in and head to the beach.

We will stop at The Spice Village for a cold beer to find that they ran out of beer last night. The party there went on till 5:00, and the staff look uniformly sleepless.

We will walk down to Udaya’s tailor shop and say hello. Irma will get her new pink sandals from the cobbler opposite, after he gives them a final check. Naa will order a pair for herself and I will wander off to photograph a woman carrying fish to a restaurant in a basket on her head.

After Naa buys two tunics for a college friend from the man next door to Udaya we will walk to Leo where we will drink their last beer. We will then drink their last gin and tonic before walking to Temple Road to collect our rickshaw.