Up late, no special breakfast, no tree, of course no presents, just a few token decorations here and there. Babu and I have decided that we need to catch up on our emails after spending so long on the road. He is concerned because another volunteer is arriving on Monday and he wonders if there has been a change of plan. I am glad I have brought my laptop, it is serving us well.While he gets up to date I have a little time to explore. The hotel seems to be perched on a ridge and I want to see the view. A kind waiter takes me up to a rooftop restaurant and there at our feet extends a beautiful patchwork of rice paddies in various stages of cultivation. Egrets soar over the landscape and swoop down on lazy bullocks chewing the cud. Extremely bucolic and exotic.
Christmas lunch is at 12.30 at Shoba's mother's house and Shoba is proud to be cooking for us: Chicken biryani, beef curry, two kinds of salad, various chutneys and sambar of course. It's all quite delicious but just NOT turkey and cranberry sauce! And there is no pudding! Very different!
No special table decorations, or ceremony, the same old plastic table-cloth. It doesn't feel like Christmas at all.
I have a little wander around the house and admire the lovely plants growing in pots everywhere.
There is a small plantation out the back providing a lot of edible crops, lots of herbs and roots, also a fascinating tree with red fruit.
The "chambaka" fruit is ripe at this time of year and I eat several, tart and juicy and most refreshing.
I keep some seeds hoping to grow them somewhere....
Lunch is over by 2 pm and Babu is itching to get going - we have to drive back home to Trivandrum tonight.
On our way, we pass one of the low cost houses that we have been talking such a lot about. Apparently a Mr Baker from the UK was responsible for this idea of using just the bricks and not plastering the outside and inside of the houses. I think I prefer the brick look myself.
Because of the heat we return to the hotel and have a rest till 4 pm - Shoba has come back with, us so she can bask in the Air-conditioned cool of my room and maybe doze off. She has developed a sore throat and is losing her voice. She will stay with her Mum till she is better and then join us in a few days.
Babu and I finally set off. Traffic is interesting as we drive through small towns and hear the loudspeakers blaring out Malayalam Xmas carols and there are long queues in front of every hard liquor shop. Some people are really making a night of it.
Half way we stop in an Indian Coffee House to have a Masala Dosa and a strong coffee. It is heaven! This is an interesting chain of cheap café style restaurants all across India.
It was started by the Coffee Board in early 1940s, during British rule. In the mid 1950s the Board closed down the Coffee Houses, due to a policy change. The thrown-out workers then took over the branches, under the leadership of the communist leader A. K. Gopalan and renamed the network "Indian Coffee House". Kerala has more Indian Coffee Houses than any other state. Their emblem should definitely be the marvelous head dresses that waiters wear. I am definitely a fan!
Eventually we make it back to Trivandrum by 9.30 pm. It is lovely to be home and unpacking out bags (which have somehow multiplied)! Lucky me! I get a phone call from my son James a few minutes after arrival. It is a thrill - a Christmas call! He is suffering from a heavy cold but is taking it easy. Someone is cooking for him. Lucky boy!
Christmas night is nothing special but I am so happy to be back in my own space and enjoying some peace and quiet. I have now got so used to the noise of traffic that I leave window and door to balcony wide open to increase the drafts. Not quite Silent Night - more Ding Dong merrily on high!
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