A different face

Living in India means that you often encounter street children begging on the streets or living on the roadside.

We talk about their plight and their life. Some beg,some sell pens or flowers, some play with siblings or carry the babies. Some of us develop relationships with these children and give them support whether it is in the form of old clothes or biscuits or even a bottle of clean water. Others find the experience too much and wind the windows up or simply ignore them. However we deal with them the reality is that rarely do you see sad faces.

Today however  I saw a different one

A little girl, pigtailed, in shorts and a shirt which were grey and grubby, barefoot, walking on the inside of a double carriage way. On the side of the oncoming traffic.This is dangerous but not unusual nor unexpected. Only minutes before I had seen a little child barely of walking age crossing this road by himself.

Her head was ever so slightly looking down and she was sucking her thumb. I dont know why I felt that child's sheer vulnerability through that small gesture but I did. There was something so unbelievably poignant about her need to be comforted and her ability to find this sucking her thumb.

Nutmeg and Mace

And the winner is Mr Anonymous( please dont be shy) ....who said Mace.. which is half the answer of course and the other half is Nutmeg. The picture you saw was of the drupe. It is not a fruit and it is not a nut - it is a drupe and all its parts are used. In some parts of the world they make jam or chrystallized candy out of the fleshy part and then you have the intense red veining called the aril which is dried to make mace which if also a spice like nutmeg but less pungent, a gentler version if you like.

Under the aril is the dark shiny nut- like pip and inside that is an oval shaped seed, which is the actual nutmeg, with very pronounced veining - the inner kind, which you see if you grate one.

They are such beautiful spices and they have been around since the 16th century. They are native to the Mollocus Islands also known as the "Spice islands" and Grenada where the nutmeg tree grew very well became known as the Nutmeg Island and it is even on their flag.

It is said that 16th Century monks used to tell young men to annoint their genitals with nutmeg oil to assure their virility and the other story I found which is such fun is that if you tucked a nutmeg under your left armpit before a social event it was believed to attract admirers.

Now that I know I am not attending any more social functions without my nutmeg tucked away for that extra protection and attention !

A southern delight

My driver comes from Kerala and his family are up in the Delhi visiting and apart from gifts of big yellow fleshy Keralan Bananas I got this. I tasted a corner, I marvelled at its natural attributes, sensual and inviting every way you look at it, I prodded and cut it and I googled it to death. I have the answer but do you ?

Pataudi Palace

Living in Delhi is a bit of a skill and it takes a lot of energy to get it right. Escaping occasionally  is necessary  to recharge those tired batteries and give you a breather but finding places which are easily accessible is a harder task.

Pataudi is one such. It is about 60 kms south from Delhi  which is a reasonably easy journey and it is tucked away off the main road so you might just miss it if you are not careful but it is a bit of an oasis and a lovely place for a day's wanderings or a weekend break.

As soon as you are there you feel the presence of the family who owned it, the Nawab Ali Khan who built it circa 1935 ( aka Tiger ). The current family boasts some Bollywood stars among it. One of them was captain of the Indian Cricket Team which is not a small honour these days. The corridors are full of pictures of eager sports teams competing with others.

The billiard room is an example of how little was undertaken as a small operation. Its size is impressive and the games played there must have been memorable with seating for eager participants and onlookers. 

The colonades at the back give the shade you seek when the weather is not kind and the pool provides a welcome refreshment.

The rooms which are mainly up an impressive stair case are all furnished with period pieces, impressive four posters and luxurious bathrooms.

We spent some time walking in the gardens which have beautiful roses, snap dragons and some family tombs.

Moments of immense joy and pride

There are some times in all of our lives that mark unforgettable moments and yesterday was one such for my family. My eldest son's graduation from Cambridge University, a place close to out hearts and dear to our souls for so many reasons. The day dawned blue - vibrant blue, not a cloud in the sky and we overlooked the lawns of Downing College as the robed young men and women congregated with their families for a picture of the year and then the procession down to Senate house through the cobbled stone streets of Cambridge flanked by historic colleges along the way. A ceremony conducted exclusively in Latin which seemed somewhat archaic but in conformity with the ritual and the 800 year old history of the University.

He has loved every minute of it and it will be a very special part of his life forever.For us that moment was mixed with nostalgia as this is where we met, pride and joy for his achievement and a slight tinge of sadness that it might be a while before we return.

Season of plenty

All these months the heat and the dust have taken their toll on the country, dust covers everything, the grass is looking yellow and there is a general wilting affecting lettuces, humans and flowers.

Yet in all of this it seems that June is also the month of plentiful fruits and everywhere you go you encounter barrows piled high with delicious fruits ready to bring some sweet relief to parched palates. So where on the one hand we have the the heat's strength searing through everything, by the same token and a different strength we see its power to ripen and proliferate.

 

Mangoes, lychees, peaches and cherries from Kashmir, green young almonds which are delicious to crunch and apricots.Enjoy.

The Shimla- Kalka Railway

This is my last blog about our trip to Shimla and it is about the railway. We left Shimla on the Shimla-Kalka train and it could not have been a sweeter descent through the cedar forests.The railway was completed in 1903 so it is over 100 years old and still going strong.

It resembles a toy train and is on a narrow gauge. It has 103 tunnels on its route,102 actually as no 46 was done away with. It toooooot toooots before it departs and it twists and turns through the mountains stopping at white washed stations with mediterranean blue trims and delightful names like Summer Hill and Barog the latter being the name of one of the engineers who tragically gave his life to the railway. The vistas are wonderfully soothing, going from dense cedar forest to spruce and pine and then as we approached the plain more Indian oak and big euphorbia, with terracing on various hillsides and little communities dotted about.The air changes from the cool fresh mountain air to the hotter drier air of the plains but the gradual descent allows for a more comfortable adjustment.

 

The journey from Shimla to Kalka was very affordable and took 4 1/2 hrs. On the day we travelled the train driver was retiring after 31 years of service so we had drums and dancing and he wore garlands of 10 Rupee notes which became more and more as we approached our destination.  It felt like a celebration all the way home.