The lock has been broken but otherwise there is no obvious damage. Emirates give me some more dosh to make up for my "inconvenience"... and some taxi money which goes straight into the pocket of long suffering Babu. All's well that ends well!
Home to unpack and check contents - everything seems to be there! I can hardly believe it. That page is closed and now another opens.
Dr. Ajith has provided some pretty rough "Inglish" notes and another Keralan has created a blog and posted the information any old way. Frankly, it's a mess! So I tinker with it and revise it most of the day. It is rather frustrating, if not a complete "bore" because there is some problem with the font size and nature which keeps changing every time I edit something. Grrr! I go on a problem solving site that gives me a few ideas of how to tackle it. But I am running out of steam and my eyes are fatigued from long hours at the screen.
I also know I haven't got some of the bare facts I need to lay out the information in an intuitive manner. So I mention this to Babu. Unbeknownst to me, he has anticipated this state of affairs and has arranged for us to drive 40 kms North to the clinic in Kallambalam (don't you just love these names?) to meet Dr Ajith and for me to interview him and extract some more material. I am amazed at the spontaneous nature of it all and am very happy to go along. The clinic is near a famous beach - Varkala - and I am hoping I might get a view of the sea and maybe a walk on the sand!
We drive up a pretty busy highway to an unprepossessing -almost grubby - clinic off a side street and inside we meet the marvelous doctor. It transpires that as a character Dr. Ajith Kumar G. (G is his last name which nobody uses) is some firebrand. Human rights and denouncing corrupt government practices has been his game for some years now. A student activist from way back. He spoke of lathi charges and being hit on just about every part of his body. Always with a laugh and a sense of humour. He is well read and is a keen artist. He has also taken the time to go and soak up some of the international films screening in TRV these last few days during the Film Festival - more than I can say for myself! I interview him, I tour the facility, take a few pictures (the patient on the Right asked to have his picture taken!) and it's time to go.
The conversation shows no signs of drying up so we carry on as we drive out to Varkala Beach -about 10 kms away from his clinic. Babu and he want me to see the set up there and check it out as a possible accommodation destination for future volunteers who will work with Dr Ajhit. It seems a very nice idea! Pity I am not a medical volunteer! It certainly is a young person's laid back holiday destination with long beach, big rolling surf (at night anyway) and high red cliffs all around and only a leisurely 10 km bus ride to the clinic.
We don't have long to explore and no time for dinner (pity! as the seafood restaurants looked most appetising) as, somehow, we have agreed to drive back into TRV to meet up with some other doctor friends of Ajith's in a roof top restaurant in the Hotel Pankaj in town. He drives us back doing twice the speed Babu normally does. I feel, quite happy with this pace of driving - much more my speed.
The evening meal is interesting - once again a different slice of life - I am the only woman at the table with six Indian men! I think I did their collective heads in! We talk of many things - Arundhati Roy's God of Small things (she is a Keralite and they love her books, I am not a fan) and Life of Pi (I love it, they don't). And then we have a rather heated conversation about the nature of God. It would appear that Indians think most white people do not believe in God! How strange!
Babu is not a drinker so as soon as the food is over we leave. We are both still pretty exhausted from the road trip and so are happy to turn in early. I know I have work ahead on this doctor's blog!
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