Tuesday, April 29

I have spent the first part of the morning with Shanti and Saija. I have spent the second part of the morning at Thozhichal anganwadi where Druvika ran through her vast collection of facial expressions, all designed to entertainment and most of them very successful at it.

Now I have leaped out of the rickshaw, leaving Rajeev to take Lekshmi and Simi home and me to walk down to see Archana to find out the next steps in my dental treatment. By the junction, on the way towards Raahath, I see an enormous construction crane parked along the road.

It represents one of the many ways in which India continues to change rapidly to the benefit of many (but not necessarily all) of the local inhabitants but to the dismay of many of the regular tourists who much prefer the “real India” that they saw the first time they came here.