Just to remind you of my most recent posts…
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April 3rd, 2019 
I’m back in Delhi after a fab trip to Shanghai, and in the 2 weeks we were gone, spring has given way to summer.
And how.
We are already in the mid-30s during the day, and as I type, mozzies are chomping away at me.
Such horrid things.
I am feeling most unprofessionally weary of some of my staple blogging topics – politics in particular – with the old home country (the UK) and the new home country (India) are both up to their eyes in political shenanigans.
I am so Brexit-ed out it’s not funny, and as for […]
Click to continue reading Pottering amongst the birds & the bees
March 26th, 2019
First of all, a bit of quick scene setting:we’re holidaying in Shanghai, where our son Hari lives.
Since I now have a connection with this fabulous city, I follow quite a few Shanghai Instagram feeds, and in the space of 2 days, I’ve met 3 of my Insta “friends”, so had some definite fan moments!
Take, for example, the amazingly knowledgeable duo of Tina and Patrick, who run the feed @historicshanghai, and who are helping me ID some of my old photos.
Quick explanation:
I’m on a mission to digitise the thousands and thousands of transparencies that I took […]
Click to continue reading Of memory lane & Insta friends
March 11th, 2019 
India is officially in election mode.
The general elections were announced yesterday, and so now, let the clichés roll 😛
“The world’s largest democracy” is the obvious one. To be fair, that’s not actually a cliché but a statement of fact, but there it was in every report I read in the papers this morning!
To be fair, the statistics are pretty mind-boggling.
“The number of eligible voters is almost 4 times the number of voters in the next largest democracy, the United States, and it is also more than the entire population of Europe. About 84.3 million people […]
Click to continue reading And we’re off!
March 8th, 2019
And no, I don’t mean the driving!
I’m talking about genuine wildlife seen up close and personal, right here in the big city.
2 days ago I was running in my local park, which is, admittedly, a bio-diversity park.
Over the years, I’ve had smashing sightings here of nilgai (blue bull), & I see jackal on nearly every run.
As for the birds – you can’t move for peacocks in the park, which is utterly wonderful.
But this was a very different sighting.
I spotted a small crowd of men, mainly park workers & 2 men out walking, and […]
Click to continue reading Wild Delhi
February 28th, 2019
Praying for good sense.
Praying for cool, clear heads.
Praying for an end to the ugly jingoism that has been on display these last few days.
The 70-year old bitter enmity between India and her neighbour Pakistan reached new lows these last few days, as these 2 volatile, nuclear nations seemed to be inching ever closer to conflict.
Last week a suicide bomber with alleged links to Pakistan killed more than 40 policemen in India, in Kashmir.
India
view full post » […]
Click to continue reading Praying for peace
February 19th, 2019
It is 36 years since I first visited India, flying into what was then Bombay, on a sunny January morning in 1983, eager & ready to start work.
From the second the plane touched down, I was hooked.
Intrigued.
Instantly in love with the sights and sounds and smiles and colours of India.
I would soon meet the young man who would, nearly 5 years later, become my husband.
We moved away from India for work, back to India, away from India again, until Himmat’s retirement in 2005, when we moved back here for good.
Our forever home.
We […]
Click to continue reading Cry, the beloved country
February 9th, 2019
They say God works in mysterious ways
I would posit that the cops in Gurugram, a satellite town of Delhi, act in even more mysterious ways.
(Gurugram used to be known as Gurgaon until – also mysteriously – the name was changed, just like that).
Anyway, back to the mysterious policing methods of our cops.
Read on:
My goodness me, that is some fine strategic thinking.
“…thus luring vehicle lifters to take a chance and steal these vehicles. The police will keep an eye on
view full post » […]
Click to continue reading To catch a thief. Indian style
February 7th, 2019 
…I went to Manderley again.
(And yes, well done to every one of you who finished off the quotation!)
Although I only arrived from Mandalay this morning, the quote was too good to ignore, and the spelling be damned.
And it’s not just poetic licence making me dream of Mandalay, it’s the damn Delhi weather. As I write, bundled up in 2 layers of fleece, it is absolutely throwing it down, and even hailing in some parts of the city. It is cold, windy, grey, and rainy.
Yuck.
Give me the blue skies and warm sunshine of Mandalay any […]
Click to continue reading Last night I dreamt…
January 22nd, 2019
On a scale of totally wonderful wedding anniversary wishes, this one is a perfect 10 🙂
Sometimes, India makes me laugh out loud with delight, & these charming wishes did just that!
January 18th, 2019
In January 1983, round about the 18th/19th/20th, I flew to what was then Bombay for the first time.
First time in India.
And it was love at first sight.
I repeat, love at first sight.
I hadn’t thought concretely about dates and anniversaries and such like until I landed in Mumbai last night. Driving into the city alone late at night, in a rattle-trap-y un A/C taxi, the way I had done all those years ago, and it all come back to me. The sounds, the buzz and – yes – the smell of Mumbai.
And it made me […]
Click to continue reading Happy 36th anniversary to us, Bombay meri Jaan
January 7th, 2019
I made a New Year Resolution to digitise all my thousands upon thousands of transparencies.
Back in the day, before digital photography ruined my livelihood, I used to work for about 20 different photo libraries around the globe, supplying them all with photos. So I have a mammoth task in front of me, in terms of numbers of images to be scanned and, naturally, emotional trips down memory lane.
I’m sharing some of the images on my Instagram feed @decadeography, and others I’ll share with you here.
Like this cracker from late 1980s Delhi.
Talk about wordy advertising 😛 but with all that passionate and tantalizing […]
Click to continue reading Anyone for a coddling grip?
January 6th, 2019
It’s not even 10 o’clock in the morning and I am already feeling bereft.
Downcast.
An empty, undecorated void in my heart and, most glaringly obvious, in my home.
Today, 6 January, is the day I take down my Christmas decorations.
We did it on this date in my childhood home, on the basis that 6 January is when the 3 Kings are supposed to have arrived to see the baby Jesus. I never quite got it why all the jolly decorations had to come down on the very day royalty rocked up, but there you go. Traditions are […]
Click to continue reading So farewell, then, gorgeous fairy lights
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