The Trip to Chhattisgarh

On Saturday morning, February 7, I realized how really sick I was and that I was not getting better.  Deepak brought me some Cipro and then left for the hospital.  He sent Sundeep, the driver, and the car back to be with me just in case.  After contacting Sunita to get Dr. Gita's contact information I called her and she said to come in before 1 pm.  I did that and she ran an IV drip and gave me lots of medications.  The little clinic at Panscheel Marg is clean, efficient and over flowing with patients and their families.  Deepak sat with me while the IV ran and as the anti-nausea medicine kicked in I began to revive.

He took me back to Abha's place at E22 Def Col where she had Chandermani fix me kitcheri and other wonderful soothing things for lunch.  As usual there was a big group of the Arpana family.  They were all terribly concerned about my health and had lots of advice.  Some time that afternoon I returned to Vasant Vihar and packed a suitcase with the intention of staying 2 nights at E22.  Abha and I had a quiet and delicious dinner of mashed potatoes, creamed baked vegetables and tomato soup.  Early to bed was the best.

On Sunday morning Barbi Mahajan who had invited me out for lunch at Lodhi Garden restaurant, a favorite if extravagant destination, but because I couldn't go she came and sat with me in the sun at E22.  I had had the chance to send a big LWVE message to all members using the wifi which was very helpful.  Also washed my pj's which had not been laundered in two weeks - dried them in the sun up on the roof.  We had a lovely, long visit and she stayed for the usual group lunch.

Jack was due in that night, actually early Monday morning, February 9.  I had been worried about what I would do in those three days between Lori leaving and Jack arriving - I managed to be sick for most of the time which took care of that worry.   Late in the afternoon Deepak returned to say that Abha was very sick and going right to bed and that Laxmi the maid was also sick and that I really shouldn't stay and run the risk of a new bout of illness.  So after we ate dinner he took me back to Vasant Vihar - and agreed that I should be the one to go and get Jack.

Jack's flight had been due at 12:05 am which would have been great but it was delayed 3 hours because there was a blizzard in Munich.  I got Sundeep to the airport (somehow - he had never driven to IGIA before), got him parked and ran to the terminal.  The new parking ramp is massive and about a mile away from the terminal.  I was only at the gate about 10 minutes when Jack appeared.  Thank God we were together again!

Part 2

Having Jack with me made all the difference. I had a car again for the day so we could run errands. There was lots to do and not too much traffic because it was just a plain Monday.

Probably the most fun errand was delivering the shoes to Doma that she had requested when I visited her the first time.  She had the brand, style and size written down so I went online and ordered them to be delivered to Jack in Evanston.  He brought them in the extra suitcase and we had a great time giving them to her.  She was smiling and pleased.  She ordered tea and made us eat biscuits - it would be bad luck if we didn't accept!  It is always delightful to see her, vigorous and healthy at 87.

From my long list we managed everything including taking mother's gold bangle to a gold dealer and exchanging it for a new little diamond pendant.  It was a fascinating process from weighing the gold, to cleaning it, and then waiting for the computer transaction to confirm the sale. 

 

My two brothers, Arum and Deepak with Jack.

 On Tuesday Arun had graciously agreed to treat us to lunch at his house so that was the first order of business. The food was delicious as were the drinks.  Deepak picked us up and after a brief moment when we thought we would go to watch polo with Arun we returned to Vasant Vihar to rest up for our 4 am get-up on Wednesday.

The next morning we were up early and off to the domestic airport with Om Prakash.  It is so new and shiny and very efficient - we had to pack into smaller cases as the weight limit is 30 pounds each.  The real suprise was in Raipur - the new airport is just plain stunning.  And no one seemed to mind when I took several photos ...

 We arrived right on time in Raipur and Ajit's driver was waiting for us with a sign that said "Cate & Jack."  He brought the old Qualis from Khariar which is rather beat up but suited our purposes just fine.  Arriving at the Mayura felt like a homecoming - we think we've stayed there about 6 times now, the first time with dad and all the aunts and uncles, and Marianne, in 1991.  Even though it was 10 am we were checked into our room immediately, thanks to the paid Expedia reservation!

From 1991 - Back Row, L-R: Jack, Uncle Dave, Staff members (5), Dad. Front Row, L-R: Cate, Aunt Dotty, Uncle John, Aunt Maisie, Uncle Tom, room staff.  Marianne must have taken the photo.

I told the driver we would just take it easy for the day as Jack was sniffling with a cold and it looked like it would rain.  After a cup of tea we decided to head out to find a chemist to buy some tissues for Jack and some cold medicine.  That turned into a major hike because the big mall at the chowk was filled with stores - all of them selling cell phones and electronics.  After walking around in a huge circle through spitting rain we did find a box of tissues and directions to the chemist which was way down the road in the opposite direction.  While we were in the chemist, where a charming little girl practiced her English on us, it began to pour rain so we waited for several minutes before going back.

We stopped at a sweet shop because I knew I needed to bring the methi from Raipur for the khanna on Friday.  Calling Anil I found he had a friend in Raipur who was already in negotiations to get 1800 gulab jamuns.  I began to panic when he told me that the church said there would be 1800 at the service and khanna.  It seemed inconceivable that there could be that many but that is in fact how many we ended up feeding.  But first I had to connect with the person who was getting the gulabs ordered.  I did and set a time to meet him.  The bill was Rs. 11,400 and I needed to give him Rs. 5000 as a down payment to the shop.

It began to feel like an undoable task - 1800 people was mind boggling.  I was just short of panicking but that wouldn't have helped much.  We ate an early dinner of grilled chicken and chicken sizzlers and decided on Thursday we would drive out to Bisrampur.  I met Anil to give him the money for the gulab jamuns.  Thursday morning after the full buffet breakfast (paranthas, omelets, toast, piles of fresh papaya and pineapple) I called the driver to tell him we were going to Bisrampur.  It was raining on and off but we went anyway.

The first thing of note on the road, after crossing the curvy bridge, was a stretch of 4 lane, poured concrete highway, with a median strip planted with flowering oleanders. 

Finished section of the road, with signs, painted curbs, and regular traffic ... on the way north out of Raipur.

The drive was going well, with traffic streaming in either direction on the double lane highway until we were about half way to Simga.  The traffic came to a complete halt and we discovered, after about a 40 minute wait, that there had been an accident - a tour bus and a lorry.  The driver's compartment in the bus was smashed flat.  By the time we returned in the evening the lorry was gone and the bus was off to the side of the road.

We got to Bisrampur and found the Pastor meeting with the women planning the service for the next day.  I told him we just wanted to look around and see how things would be the next day.   It was drizzling a lot and there was mud everywhere.  The mistries were at work creating the headstone for the grave.  If it was going to rain on Friday it would be a hopeless mess.  My weather forecasting app on my phone said it was going to be clear so we could only hope.


Then we went over to Dekhuna to see Aunty Lily.  I had tried to call her on both numbers I had for her and kept reaching other people, not her.  So after a round-about approach we went to the gate and started calling her.  The dog, who turned out to be "Facebook," started a huge ruckus and soon she came out of the house.  I was glad to ask to use the bathroom.  Aunt Lily kept apologizing that she had eaten her lunch and she had nothing for us to eat.  I told her we had food in the car - we did, some oranges which would have been fine as we had a big meal at Girnar ahead of us that evening.  Her daughter-in-law, Sonu (?) David's wife, came over and said she had left over sambar, then Aunty Lily said she had beans and potatoes, dahl and some rice.  Next thing we knew we were in the dining room with Sonu fixing hot chapattis and we had a regular feast. 

We toured the new addition of Sonu and David's house which was great - big, spacious and very well laid out.  The drive back to Raipur only took an hour and a half.  I gave the driver the rest of the money and he got directions to get the gulab jamuns which would sit in the back of the car until we left in the morning. 

Back at the Mayura at 6:30 Ajit and Pushpa called from the lobby, and we went down to meet them, discovering that Ajit's sister Maya was also there visiting from Australia.  We had visited her, and her family, in Melbourne in 2000 on our 8-nation, 30 day trip back from India to the States.  It was wonderful to see her again.  We went to the Girnar, down the street (which also meant crossing the street which is a hair-raising enterprise) and had rogan josh, nan, doupiaza lamb and for desert, of course, mishti doi (sweet Bengali yogurt).  Ajit had introduced us to mishti doi at the Girnar in 1999 and we have thanked him for it every since.  They are planning on retiring in the next couple years - Ajit is 70.

Friday morning, February 13 dawned clear and warm.  The weather app seemed to be correct.  We ate a quick breakfast of omelet, toast, bhaji of some kind and more paranthas.  We left at 8 because we wanted to reach Dekhunna to have coffee with Aunty Lily before the service.  There were no accidents so the drive was uneventful other than heavy fog that began near Simga, where the road is closest to the river.  Google on my phone did a good job of estimating the distance (61 km and about 1 hour and 14 minutes).  

That is exactly how long it took so we arrived to find Aunty Lily dressed but the rest of the family dressing.  They (Sandhya and Jerry) had been disappointed to not see us the day before as they were on their way but they stopped in Bilaspur and got an impressive array of things to eat with our coffee.They tasted absolutely delicious and we each had one of each.

We had a chance to call Jenny on Jerry's phone and talk to her in Bangalore where she has a job.  Mom and dad had helped to pay for her college so it's good to know she has a good job.

Then we made our way over to the church - it was a complete transformation, the rain was over, the sun burned off the fog, and the two red pandals that Anil had arranged for were constructed and men were laying down mats so people could sit.  The meal preparation was underway and there were five or six clergy moving around, putting on their vestments and testing the sound system.

It was a magnificent day in so many ways it is hard to describe.  Anil had called while we were enroute to tell us he was going to Raipur to meet the U.C.C. people coming - Jim Moos.  He had not purchased an urn and called me back from a place where he could buy one and got the perfect thing. 

 There were eight clergy - Pastor Kumar from the Bisrampur church in the gold vestments.  The order of worship:

• Prayer
• Hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus
• 23rd Psalm
• Special Song
• I Corinthians15:24-
• John 14:1-6
• Special Hymn by clergy
• U.C.C. Rev. Jim Moos, Called to live for others
• Kiran Lodge, Bisrampur a place of peace and love
• Pastor Vikram, prayer
• Hymn, How Great Thou Art
• Recessional to grave
• Burial and prayers

Seated at the front with us were Anil Henry, Aunty Lily Wany and Kiran Kapur.

Pastor Kumar came with out with me to put the ashes in the urn that Anil had purchased and we brought it in to be placed beside the family photograph.

 Girls from Bisrampur, Ganeshpur and Jhanakpur danced a welcome dance.

 Anil got garlands along with us.  He had been the master-mind behind the rebuilding of the church when it was close to falling down for which we are all extremely grateful.

Rev. Dr. Jim Moos,  Executive Minister, Wider Church Ministries of Global Ministries.

Kiran Lodge, having spent his life as a school principal, in retirement has started a church and spoke beautifully about dad and our childhood together in Bisrampur.

There are many malas and bouquets which later were ideally situated on the grace.

Carrying the urn from the church to the grave.

The service at the graveside.  These are the pastors:
1. Rev.Samsher Samuel 

2.Rev. Ajay Marteen

3.Rev.Aseem Vikram

4.Rev.Nirmal Kumar

5.Rev.Sushil Masih

6.Rev. Shailesh Saloman

7.Rev.Pranay Toppo

8.Rev. Atul Arthur

Meeting Rev. Moos

Family photo with thali and lota gift for mother.

Some of the 1800 who were fed lunch - the khana that dad had dreamt about.

Lighting candles and prayers as the grave was being finished.

Sheila and Khusal Samson, my childhood friends, could not come on Friday but came to the hotel on Saturday to meet me - after over 50 years.  They were as familiar as ever and they said I look like mom!

With Isreal Samson at his house in Bisrampur after the service on Friday.

Lask Week in Delhi

This was the week that we had thought would be our only time in Delhi but when the Madhuban trip was canceled we managed a lot of touring in and around the city.  We saved the Qutab Minar and Tuglakhabad for the Monday, February 2, with Harini Narayanan.  She had taught (and still does) the Cities of Delhi class for me to the IES students and is a geographer with extensive knowledge about the history of Delhi.

It was a fantastic day of history and discovery.  It was cold and misty but that provided new, unique shots of the Qutab.  I learned and saw things I had never seen before.  My declaration that I wasn't going to take any pictures was short lived.    The many hundreds of parakeets begged to be photographed.  We have taken to calling them Mr. and Mrs. Ganguly because of Betsy Woodman's wonderful series about Jana Bibi - if you haven't read them look them up here and you will find Mr. Ganguly, the parakeet, a totally enchanting character. 

After the Qutab visit we had the driver take us to Tuglakhabad,  my first time there.  It is a magnificent think to behold - I had driver by the huge rampart walls on the way to other places but never paid much attention.  We climbed up the huge, stone staircase and entered the Fort.  Lori felt she had seen the scene before in many European painting, especially of Italian landscapes with ruins and forests.  The sight lines are marvelous in all directions.  We were amused by the donkeys who were grazing in several places. Harini said that the city of Delhi relocated the villagers who had been living inside the ruins several years ago but still allow them to let their animals graze inside.  She also told us that for Ali (her daughter's) 15th birthday they talked the guards into letting them set up a treasure hunt for 20 of her friends.  They said it was a smashing success and the kids learned about some of the history of their city at the same time. 

We took Harini to Sagar's for lunch as that was a destination we hadn't managed yet.  Lunch was delicious as usual.  Afterwards Lori and I tried to walk over to E22 Def Col to see Anasari about the increasing recalcitrant Reliance USB internet connection.  I turned on Google Maps and we got gloriously lost.  Obviously GM is not up to following all the wonderfully twisting and turning lanes inside the various Delhi colonies. We ended up having to take a cycle rickshaw to get us back to where we wanted to be - cost Rs. 100!

We had the driver take us to see Santosh at the Niti Bagh chemist so I could put in the order for the meds for Ari.  He was happy to see me - had been following our adventures on FaceBook.  We stopped to see the street dogs at A-17.  Lady had died last year according to the dhobi's son - he is the little boy we had bought a bicycle for so he could get to school.  But Lucy was there - sleeping in the crook of the tree, wrapped up in a red dog-coat. She was sound asleep but gradually woke up and wiggled all over.  She must be about 8 or 9 by now.  Old for a Delhi street dog.

The evening was dinner with Greg Randolph one of my best IES students who lives and works in Delhi now.  He is working with Just Jobs Network.  It is a great concept - adding both quantity and quality to the analysis of jobs in over 100 countries.  He is thinking about graduate school in a year or so.  We met at the Thai restaurant in Priya Cinema market.

That left us with 3 short days to do the rest of the things in Delhi.  On Tuesday we stayed home, washed clothes, worked on the internet, walked and got organized to go out after lunch to Khan Market to do final shopping and meet Arun for dinner.  He had hosted us several times so we told him we would take him to Mamagoto - which apparently was also the caterer at the Delhi Golf Club.  We got him to meet us at 6:30 which for him is pretty early for dinner.  The food was delicious and the bill was almost $80 - not cheap to live well in Delhi.


We had done all our final shopping which was also helpful. 

The next day, Wednesday,  was the only day that Connie McCaslin, the friend of a friend of Lori's could see us, and she invited us to the ACSA club at the American Embassy.  Jack and I had been members when we lived in Delhi and it was very evocative of the old days although they've done massive renovations inside.   I had a salmon caesar salad which was divine.   Connie seems a bit overwhelmed and over worked but she was also recovering was a bad cold.  She drove us home which was very helpful.

Wednesday was the only time that Dr. Uma Chakkarvati could meet us, at 5 pm.  She lived quite close by over by one of the main campuses of Delhi University.  Getting over to her in an auto was not difficult and we had a most productive meeting.  Uma had translated the book by Pandita Ramabai about her 3-year stay in the America and is, obviously, an expert on women's history and topics in India.  She is currently filming a documentary about women who have had heroic lives in India, defending various causes.  It turned out later, when I was finally able to meet with Anandana Kapoor that they are friends - both being feminists, scholars and filmmakers although Uma is in her late 70's and Anandana is in her early 30's.  Anandana calls her "Uma Chuk!"   

Getting back to Vasant Vihar was a chore - it was after dark and all the students leaving campus for the day occupied every available auto - 4-5 in each one.  Ultimately we had to cross the Ring Road - no small undertaking in heavy, heavy traffic although there was a marked cross walk - and coerced an auto driver to take us home.  Reluctantly as he said he had to be somewhere else but I paid him Rs. 70 which was about 3 times what the fare would have been by the meter.

Thursday was Lori's last day.  We had saved going to Humayan's Tomb for the last day as it was her favorite from our last visit.  Inspite of the horrible air quality (which Connie had informed us about although it was no surprise because breathing was a chore on the really foggy days) it was a clear blue day and we had a car for the day to enable us to do all the last minute things.  I got in for the Indian price again - just Rs. 10 - because of my PAN card.  There is no audio tour yet as there had been for other sites but we used the 14 Walks in Delhi book to guide us around.  We walked all around the back which minimized the number of other tourists making it a much more restful tour.  On the way out we ran into Connie's friend - who we had met the day before and had urged to her to see Humanyan's tomb. 

We had lunch somewhere ... cannot reconstruct where. 



Lori packed and re-packed while we tried to assess if her bag was over 50 lbs.  That reminded to ask Jack to bring the luggage weighing device from the States.   Deepak came at 7 pm to take us to dinner at Sartoria at Priya Cinema market.  The dinner was lovely but turned out to be a bad plan as Lori was sick by the time she got to the airport - throwing up there and on the plane.  I was sick during the night, still went to lunch with Sunita to Chopsticks but was really ill.  By Saturday morning (election day in Delhi) Deepak had to take me to the clinic to see Dr. Gita Prakash who promptly put me on an IV drip and gave me 5 different meds.  More about the recovery and the next phase of the trip in the next post.

The WCTU in Delhi

Sunday, February 1 was our appointed date with the executive committee of the WCTU of India.  Lori had been in email contact with Ms. Vandana Charan beginning sometime in mid-2013 about our wanting to meet with them.  We had been given no other information other than they were meeting and that we would be guests at their meeting.  I had wanted to go to St. James Church (the Skinner church) and it turned out that Temperance House at 24 Rajpur Road is not far.  They are both north Delhi near the Old Delhi train station in the Civil Lines.  We got a car for the day from Hardeep and set out at 8 am for the 9 am service - we were only 10 minutes early.

It was a partially sung Eucharist but the tunes were not singable.  The Vandana and a couple of the other Executive Committee were there also and we gave them a ride over to Temperance House. 

The meeting that followed included prayers, songs, me praying, me and Lori singing "Abide with Me," Lori praying, and many, many photos taken on many, many phones.  Several of the senior members were there with clippings and many stories of earlier times.  There were some older records but most had been destroyed by white ants and the damp.  A lunch of rice, chicken curry, chapattis, and bananas was the meal at 1 pm.   We took a tour of the building which is large and ram shackled, needing lots of repair but still the bones of a grand old building.  

We were given red roses, gifts, a hymn book and asked many times to write down our names and addresses.  We were numbers 22 and 23 on the attendance roster.  We left amid a lot of hugs, kisses and exchange of phone numbers.   It is hard to sort just what we learned but Lori is going to send a follow-up set of questions and possibly write a brief history for them.  We will try and prepare a greeting to put in their souvenir booklet they are preparing for their annual convention.

Returning via the Lotus Temple, which was so crowded we had no chance of getting in - a line of several hundred.  So Lori got a glimpse and we came back to Vasant Vihar.  I wanted to regain some feeling of normalacy so we went to Sartoria for dinner and wine.   To put it mildly it was quite a day.

On giving it more thought we are going to design a brief survey to send to all the members of the Executive Committee to give us more information about how they organize and hold meetings for the WCTU.  We also need to send the photograph and get names for those pictured.  Lori says the materials in the WCTU archive in Evanston have vital historical information about the India WCTU.   There promises to be a continued connection with India through this initial meeting.

Now in India ... Again and Always

The time has been filled with glorious adventure since our arrival on February 16.  The best welcome back ever came from the immigration official with whom I, of course, began to talk to in Hindi.  He asked why I didn't live here now and I replied that it was too expensive to live in two places.  He said the perfect solution would be for me to go to the court with him and he would declare that I was his mother!  We, which includes the official next to him who was signing in to work and eavesdropping on our conversation, all had a good laugh at his creative solution.  Now I have a lovely young Sikh sardar as my adopted son.

Aditya Bajaj, Sonu, Cate and Abha

On Saturday, February 17 we went to E22 Defence Colony for lunch with Abha and Sonu.  It turned into a productive website meeting along with Aditya who does the arpana.org website with Sonu.  Learned alot and made some good decisions even though we were jet lagged.  Deepak learned that Chote Ma was taken to the hospital so he had to leave and Abha's driver brought us back to Vasant Vihar and the guest house.

Sunday I asked Hardeep to send a car and Ajit, one of the old IES drivers came for us in an Innova.  I had asked for a small car but Hardeep is Hardeep and he thought we needed a big car.  We went to church at the Cathedral Church of the Redemption for the sung Eucharist.  It was freezing cold, around 40 degrees and even colder inside that old stone cathedral but it was still good to sing the service and remember the refrains.  We spoke with Mark Tully who was also headed to the Literature Festival but going by train.

Having the car gave us the opportunity to go the the National Museum and the National Gallery of Modern Art.  Both were spectacular - better than ever, with an audio guide at the National Museum that was truly excellent.  The jewelry gallery was finally open much to my delight ... and the day got even better when we went to the Museum of Modern Art.  There was a large Amrita Sher Gill exhibit with excellent explanations and panels about her life.  Saw many pieces I had never seen before.

Then in the Jaipur House side of the museum there was an installation done by a collective of artists called Untimely Calendar - they are the Rags Media Collective.  There were various artists from the group giving gallery talks and one of the guards called us to go here one.  While standing there listening suddenly Adam Grotsky - the Fulbright Director here in Delhi and an old friend - saw me.  He and his wife Olga were also there as it was Sunday afternoon.   Such a lovely coincidence.  We walked out with them and had Ajit take us to Nizamuddin West to the Turtle Cafe to have a lunch.  We also bought two quiches to eat on the road the next day.

The evening was a delightful entertainment at Arun's place.  The wine, food and company were all such a pleasure.   Arun tried his best to get us to download WassUp but I don't think either of us succeeded.  The gorgeous Persian carpet that his father has purchased years ago is all refurbished and is really a gem.  It was lovely to see all his furnishing from his flat on Frognal in London - reminders of happy events all those years ago.

We were all ready to go to Jaipur on Monday morning and after there was no driver we called Rajiv.  Apparently we had planned to go on Wednesday, not Monday so I asked if he could find us a room in Jaipur for Tuesday and reschedule the driver.  By late morning he had the new plan in place.  In the meanwhile Lori and jumped into an auto and went to Dilli Haat and then INA Market.  Good shopping both places.  Then Lori wanted to ride the Metro so we went to Connaught Place, getting off at Rajiv Chawk with several thousand other Delhites.  In Connaught Place we had tea at Kwality's then looked in at The Shop.  Walking down Jan Path we saw Doma which seemed just the perfect benediction for our day.  She wanted to see a picture of Dad and all I had with me was pictures on my phone.  She asked for a pair of shoes which I managed to order on line that night and Jack is bringing so she will have them next week.

The next morning we left for Jaipur with Kishore.  We had lunch packed with us so the long trip did not seem so daunting.  We left after 10 and reached Jaipur about 4 PM.  We got to Diggi Palace and picked up our Delegate tags but the schedule and bags had not yet been delivered.  We stayed that

first night at Man Singh Palace along with a hundred or so German tourists.   They tried to upgrade us to a room that was a suite but it only had a king sized bed so we were demoted to a regular room which was fine.  Wednesday afternoon we moved to the Country Inn and Suites which was a really wonderful place to stay.  I told Jack, "Think Peoria."  There was an outdoor, roof-top pool but way too cold to swim and a nice gym.

 The next 4 days were filled with talks, music, poetry, famous faces, and much to absorb.   It was colorful, brain straining, over-stimulating and a grand adventure.  I will list all the session we attended ... it began with music from Sonam Kolra and the Sufi Gospel Project where she sang her version of Gandhi's hymn "Abide with Me," and then "Alleluia."   Then this is the list as I recall:

• Key Note by Vijay Sshadri, Arvind Krishan Mehrotra and Ashok Vajpeyi
• Seven Deadly Sins in Our Time, Bhabha, Vajpeyi, Esther David, Eimear McBride and Maita Gokhale
• Early Triumphs, Eleanor Catton and Eimear McBride
• A House for Mr. Biswas, Hanif Kureishi, Amit Chaudhuri, Paul Theroux, and Farrukh Dhondy
• The Empress Dowager Cixi - The Concubine Who Launched Modern China, Jung Chang
  

On Thursday it was pouring rain so all the sessions were moved into the 2 inside venues and cut to half an hour so more sessions with less content - 

• Pirates of the Indian Ocean - Real and Imaginary, Neil Rennie and Samanth Subramanian
• Of Beauty and Truth, SR Faruqi and Bilal Tanweer with Sukrita Paul Kumar
• Masterpieces on Jain Art, Saryu Doshi with Alka Pande
• The Library at Night, Alberto Manguel in conversation with Chandrahas Choudury
• Anecdotes of the Past, Indira Ganesh, Pankhuri Arora and Smita Vats, ITIHAAS
• Writing Back, Sahar Deligani, Kamila Shamsie, Meena Kandasamy, Eimear McBride with Ramita Navai

We met Ashok and Sonu Bhojwani for dinner with their friends Alok and Praveen at Niros in Jaipur.  We had special Amritsi fish and brain curry - delicious and a lot of fun conversation.

Friday we did 3 morning sessions and then toured Jantar Mantar and the City Palace:

• A Revolution is Brewing, Sangeeta Bandopadhyay, C. Mrunalini, Sukrita Paul Kumar with Malashri Lal
• Wanderlust and the Art of Travel Writing, Paul Therous, Charles Glass, Samanth Subramanian, Sam Miller, Brigid Kennand with William Dalrymple
• Shadow Play: The Art of Biography, Jenny Uglow, Jung Chang, Mark Gevisser, Kate Summerscale, Lucy Hughes Hallet with Sharmile Sen

Friday evening we ate at the Kebab Factory at Country Inn - 6 different kinds of kebabs as hors d'oeuvres and then a main course and 3 desserts - gulab jamun, ras malai and pista kulfi!  It was a splurge and a feast.  Marvelous young men waiting on us.

Saturday morning we met the guide and went up to Amber Fort.  It was a great tour - and Vikram the guide added  just the right touch.   He took the trick picture of us in the Sheesh Mahal - I was photo bombing!

Probably our favorite museum came next, the Annoki Museum housed in an old, completely restored haveli.  It is a marvel of reconstruction, appropriate architecture and well displayed items from the cloth weaving and printer processes.  We sat with two artisans, one who made us small printing blocks and the other who demonstrated block printing.  They were both serious and skillful.   Our return to the Literature Festival was very complicated because the past Indian President Kalam was there speaking and the police had cordoned off all the direct streets to Diggi Palace.  Kishore finally, after several false turns, dropped us with Vikram and we began to run.  We went about a mile to get to the entrance which was jam packed with students trying to enter and police trying to keep them out.  We exerted (I exerted) white privilege and started spouting Hindi about how we had to reach the inside by 2 pm - we pushed and shoved, finally picking up a "guide dolphin" in the form of a tall young Indian man who just said "follow me" and forged the way for us.  We directly bypassed the security check and stumbled into the hotel grounds just before 2 - and went in to have a delicious lunch of sarso ki sag and mukhi ki roti along with Jenny Uglow and her husband.  

The three afternoon sessions were:

• The Writer and the World, V.S. Naipaul with Farrukh Dhondy

  

  Our view of V.S. Naipaul - from a sea of people, probably around 800 others.

• Cities and Their Shadows, Navtej Sarna, Esther David, Yatindra Mishra (cities being Jerusalem, Ahmedabad, and  with Indrajit Hazra
• Narrative: Putting the Story Back into History, Gilbert King, Jenng Uglow, Gary Bass, Jerry Brotton and Kate Summerscale with Swapan Dasgupta

The next morning Lori was dropped off at Annokhi to shop (which she did very successfully) and I was dropped at Diggi Palace for one last session -

• The Spinner of Tales, Chetan Bhagat

We started back out to the highway at about 11 AM.  We drove through Amer again and saw a whole parade of elephants getting off of their work shift ... so serene, slow, enormous.

The drive to Neemrana only took a couple hours and we stopped part way to eat the salad and sandwich Lori had bought at the Annokhi Cafe.  Delicious.  We arrived at Neemrana in a crowd of others as this was the 3-day Republic Day weekend.  The strong young men hauled our suitcases up several lights to our abode at Hari Vilas.  It was far too cold to swim much to my disappointment but we walked over a mile or so to view the famous step well, we each had a massage, went to a yoga class,  listened to two young Hungarian men give a flute and piano recital, and ate dinner with a charcoal brazier beside us in the outdoor dining room.  Lori got to see some of the Republic Day parade on TV and I captured one shot of the two "new best friends."  A perfect if short visit. 

Back in our snug guest house in Vasant Vihar both Jai Prakash and the dog were happy to see us back.  My favorite picture of the trip got taken that afternoon of Republic Day - Lori called me to come and see these two sitting in the tree outside her window.  The next day, Tuesday, we decided to do some of the walks listed in the book that was my gift at the Literature Festival.  Deepak sent Om Prakash and one of the Arpana vehicles to take us around which was a huge help.  First we went to the Indira Gandhi Museum then we did the Lodi Garden walk and I learned a lot about the gombads (tombs) that I had not known.  Then we walked down Lodi road to Safdarjung's Tomb and did the walk through there as well. 

Wednesday (Jan 28) we decided that it was the day to do Lal Kila (the Red Fort) and Jama Masjid.  I also had the brain storm to get us tickets for Beating Retreat and, of course, Rajiv was my "go to guy" who knew where to get them - at a tiny little kiosk at the Jantar Mantar.  So the day was organized around the marvelous audio tour of the Red Fort - where the kids running the audio tour told me to take my PAN card and get my Rs. 230 refund and pay the "Indian" entrance fee! - and getting to entrance V-1 by 4 pm to get seated for Beating Retreat.  It was wonderful as always - wispy clouds, sun setting behind the ministry buildings, the combined bands playing Abide with Me (Gandhi's favorite hymn).  Om Prakash was right where I told him to be to pick us up (we could not take phones with us but of course everyone had one except me!).  And this was what we saw as we left ...

Thursday (Jan 29) we decided to go to Sanskriti Museums which one of Deepak's friends had told us to visit - they are on the Gurgaon Mehruali Road in the neighborhood where Jack and I had purchased all our furniture.  They are exquisite museums.  One of "Everyday Culture," one of "Textiles" and my favorite, "Sculpture."  

Lori had seen the DLF Emporia mall on the way to Sanskriti so we decided to stop there on the way back.  We found all the very high end retailers and lots of places to eat.  We stopped at The Big Chill to indulge in desserts - I had a hot fudge sundae with Oreo chocolate ice cream and Lori had a cheese cake, chocolate mousse, cream brulee "thing."  Yum.  We shopped in a fancy "food hall" that was started by a Norwegian guy - most notable were the fresh blueberries for $10 a pint.  I bought fruit chat - now I need more guavas - I've eaten all I bought in Jaipur!

Friday morning we stopped at Arun's place in Chanakaypuri for coffee in the garden ... then on to Khan Market for various errands and lunch at Turtle Cafe.  Then the long, tedious drive down to see the Arpana School in Molarbund but we actually got there earlier than planned.  We stayed for about 2 hours and Nabaneeta gave us the full overview and tour.  So impressive.  I took almost 50 pictures so it's hard to choose the best shot.  Here's a good one ...

The last chore of the day was to have Om Prakash take me out to the Centaur Hotel by the airport and give Bubbles, the driver from Woodstock, the 3 completed kneelers to be delivered to Rev. Erik Templeton.  All accomplished in just over an hour because we went at 7:30 when the traffic had diminished to a slow roar.  

Saturday was another day of contrasts in time and history.  We took an auto to Arun's and he took us in his car to take us to the Delhi Gulf Club ... a delicious Indonesian lunch and chocolate cake from Mamagoto - then a long walk around the golf course with Arun, following foursomes from green to farway to tees.  Gorgeous day for a walk among the ruins on the course - Lori had read about the history of the Brits.

We took an auto to Hauz Khas Village, which I realized I had probably not been to see since 1993 with Arun, Jack and Marianne.  It was swarming with teenagers but I got two pictures.  Here's one of Lori by the Lake.  This was a good Saturday afternoon adventure even with all the teen-agers.  The history of Auz Kas is well described in our 14 Walks in Delhi book making our investigation of all the structures very interesting.  We found a taxi driver, finally, who agreed to take us back to Vasant Vihar for Rs. 200 which was a lot but at least we got home!