Updates from India 71

Well here we are again, another month passed in this amazing country.

Summer is fading now as the temperatures begin to fall from the high of 46degC we have been experiencing. It isn’t passing without a struggle though. This year it gave us a parting dust storm that lasted over two days. Fine talcum-like dust that got into everything. Breathing became difficult for people in the worst areas, sadly people have died. This was the first bad dust we have seen here; inside the populated area for some reason, we don’t expect this, in the desert yes, but here? Well yes, nature woke us all up again. As always we have pre-monsoon storms, severe gale force winds that bring down any weak trees and heavy rain, maybe an hour, maybe all night. This past week it has rained almost every day for limited periods. This is not yet the monsoon, another couple of weeks before we get the full-on rains that mean so much to the survival of the people of this state (Rajasthan). All our water comes from the monsoon, lakes are filled aquafers gradually fill if there is enough rain. How bad next summer will be for the people of this state is determined by the monsoon. Not enough and wells will go dry and crops will die. Followed by animals and then people.

At this time of year, we are all praying for God to give us the water we need.

Next month we are planning to do a ‘Monsoon’ blog because so many of our friends who don’t have this weather cycle have asked what it’s really like. So, next month by request ‘The Weather’.

Warm Aid will begin again soon collecting money for blankets to help the very poorest in our society survive the coming winter. This year we can because of the help we receive from ordinary people expect to help over 200 people. We hope to expand our efforts into the country villages where poverty and suffering is worse. The slums of our city are under great pressure now because of the coming monsoon, flooding is common, next comes winter when the old, infirm and youngest girls die because they are at the bottom of the list when it comes to family resources. Somehow we must find ways to help them.

If you don’t already support ‘Warm Aid’ please consider making a contribution. We keep strict accounts and always give receipts; we pay nothing to our volunteers. Every single Rupee goes to buying blankets. All other costs are freely given by those that help us. Some of our volunteers drove hundreds of kilometres last year helping the very poor, they gave their time and money to help their fellow man and we are immensely proud of them.

Please, as we say in all our publicity ‘Help us to help them’.

Warm Aid is also taking part in the effort to plant useful trees. We have twenty mango seeds that we will plant in villages this monsoon. We fully support this effort and will no doubt plant many more seeds as we go along.

Comments by Kris

Chris and I have been chatting about all the interesting wildlife that visits our garden and home here in Udaipur. I am so amazed at the variety we have cows, water buffalo that come for cucumber to our gate, street dogs especially Moti who we have known since moving onto the colony when we first came to India. Then there are the vast variety of birds and even owls, lizards, ants ugh, chameleons, frogs which are cute and often wander into the house, the dogs tried eating them but they taste awful and make them sick so they have stopped doing that. Then there is our one-armed visitor, a local young monkey, he has been visiting for some time now and is very friendly, he came a few weeks ago with a broken arm, which then dropped off. 

Yes this is the monkey's hand that was in our tree yuk
And just in case you wondered we did not keep it

Last week as Chris and Amba were pruning the tree branch he broke found his arm in the tree. Thankfully the monkey is managing very well without it. He likes cucumbers and bananas and if there is no one close by he happily reaches down to take them from me, however any sudden movement from others and he is off. The dogs like him especially Bleu who sits talking to him, Chilly just wants to play and chase him. We get butterflies and bees visiting the garden especially when the flowers are in bloom. Then, of course, we have my chickens who are happily living in their coup at the bottom of our garden, just spent the day raking out there quarters and changing the paper that they roost on before monsoon hits and it becomes a bog. I’m sure I’ve forgotten lots of visitors to our garden but they are lovely to see. We have even seen scorpions and snakes which we give a wide berth too, not messing with them and no I don’t feed them. The neighbours think I’m mad for feeding the cows, buffalo, street dogs and monkey but as they’re all God’s creatures I’m not going to stop.

Its cucumber feeding time for cows, buffalo and my chickens, yummy more, please

 

Whilst washing the drive with the hosepipe Chris went splat down the marble slope going up to the workshop and hurt his back, he’s ok but a little sore and achy, ironically he had a ramp built on part of the marble slope out of concrete to make it safer as I kept doing the same thing, but he was standing to the side of the ramp with the water flowing he missed his footing at the top of the marble slope and he slipped.

On the health front, I’ve been struggling with pain management due to the weather changes here and I confess overdoing things on occasion. Now monsoon is upon us soon I will get more pain but I can manage that with long soaks in my lovely bathtub which I still love. Chris has been known to wake in the early hours to find me missing and soaking in the bath when my pain has been bad.

The monsoon is just starting here were currently having pre-monsoon showers and the real monsoon will kick in in the next couple of weeks, everything has already started to turn greener and lusher. We will cover the monsoon in more detail next month with photos to give you an idea of what it’s like to live in the monsoon.

Monsoon protection to keep water out of my kitchen

New monsoon barrier 

I have been experimenting with cooking this last month, as I was getting bored with just having spicy food, so I dusted off some old recipes from my youth and gave Chris a taste of the food I had growing up. We have had meat pudding, leek pudding, sweet and sour chicken, apple pies, meat and potato pies and I yummy. I made Chris some chocolate cornflake cakes, and plan to make some peppermint creams soon. Today I am making dumplings for tea so really looking forward to them unless I decide to change it to Yorkshire puddings. I am also making my own bread, which tastes so much better than the bland bought stuff. Chris plans to make some Mexican chilli soon when I get him the ingredients. At last, I sourced some sultanas in town so Chris is planning to make bread pudding. Chris is a great cook and makes excellent omelettes.

The new semester has just started at college but the first years won’t start for a few more weeks. It’s always exciting to start a new year and encourage the students in their endeavours. The college faculty are holding a workshop for architects next month so lots of planning and organising by the faculty and oh yes more meetings. The timetable will be released soon so we will find out then what days we are working.

We had been planning to visit Shimla but with the water shortages have put it on hold for now and well go at the end of monsoon when there will be no tourists so it will be quieter.

This was my sieve before Chris murdered it
for the mesh he wanted for the bike whilst
I was out shopping. He tells everyone it
was so I could have a new sieve

Amba and her family sitting proudly on her new scooter, now part of our family. We are adopted
into the who family, Aunts Uncles and all!

Well, that’s it for this month,

May God bless you all

Chris and Kris

Udaipur India