Saturday, December 29

Last night we found a second cat eating the dried food we had left out for Halo. This morning, when I got up at 7:30, I found both cats asleep on the outside sofa. I did another two hours writing before anyone else got up, and finished the first chapter and started the following two.

In the morning we showered, cleaned and ate breakfast. Then we spoke to Uday about going to Kochi by train. He said that he would organise the trains and hotel for us. We walked to the beach using the Temple Road route, stopping to buy samosas and banana fritters. We then stopped at a tea shop to buy teas for presents. In fact Irma led us through two hours of bargaining after which we owned new clothes and a hand decorated linen tablecloth.

Now I am at the end of NUP Beach Road, looking out to sea. Soon we will have lemon sodas at the Hotel Sea Face, delivered with the slowest service in the history of waiting. Later, at home, I will iron some pillow cases in sweltering, humid heat.

In the evening, after the regular thirty five minute power cut, we will watch Vishnu Som on NDTV lead a live programme mourning the death of “India’s Daighter”, the 23 year old victim of gang rape in Delhi two weeks ago at a hospital in Singapore. Delhi is filled with silent protests, and what seems to be an unprecedented uprising by the normally docile middle-class.

I will phone Jack to wish him happy birthday, and get his voicemail as I did twice on Christmas Day. I will leave another message threatening to phone again at New Year.

At 21:30 it will start to thunder, and we will have a monsoon-like storm that will last untill 23:00, when we go to bed. It will wake me up twice in the night.