Sunday 31 Jan

Sunday end of afternoon here and I have just got up from a 3 hour nap. I think I was a bit short of sleep and the batteries were run down. The sore throat is still there with swollen glands and I need to knock it on the head. Am now taking paracetamol regularly and asked the Ayurvedic doctor for something medicinal to take. He has prescribed a pot of interesting crumbly stuff called VYOSHAADI VADAKAM, which I am to chew every 3 hours. I can already feel the effect.

Haven't felt very busy today, just church, a chat with sisters and then the Ayurvedic treatment.

Get home in time for lunch with the Pentecostal brethren who meet in Babu's house.  I manage to really disturb them all by suggesting that the women sit down to lunch with the men..... Four are handpicked to sit with me and then everyone then eats in stony silence.

When I mention the lack of conversation, Babu explains that normally the men talk a lot. So I suggest they do just that while I start a conversation with the ladies at my end of the table. I start to talk to the women and the men just stare at us and listen in, so I tell them not to listen and to carry on with their own chat. This system takes a while to work!!!  My so-called conversation is a very one-sided affair as none of the women speak English. I won't be doing that again in a hurry. Oh well!

After lunch, I have the pleasure of inspecting the handiwork of Valsa (pastor's sister) who has been repairing the badly made churidars (a really thankless task). She has done a good job of the repair and I can now wear these two new sets. Hallelujah!

I am giving her another new set of materials to make a fresh one from scratch. She is shy and not terribly confident about her skills but she seems competent. I can't help thinking that this could be a new income stream for her in the future with all the volunteers wanting things made.

My next ambition is to show the two little boys (2 and 4) the Duplo blocks I bought for them. The tiny one "Unni" has appointed himself the "destroyer" of everything and tidies away the blocks in the box as fast as he can. But he is up against Gaius (4) and the older girls who busy themselves making tower blocks and creatures and cars. Mum picks Unni up and diverts his attentions.

I have told them that the toys belong to ME and that they cannot take them home, but that, any time they come to Babu's house, they can play with them. This seems to have worked. I am pleased.  The 4 year old really needs something to DO when he's here - and he's here a LOT during the week - as he's not yet at school.

The three hour rest has done me a world of good and I have had some tea and a snack of a couple of appam (rice pancakes). Life is good. I think I hear the volunteers returning. They have all been at Varkala Beach all weekend. Lucky them!

Saturday 30 Jan- Mahatma Gandhi Day.

Phase three of my Ayurvedic treatment starts this morning at 8.30 am. Thank fully, only one single treatment per day for the next week.

Navaro Kizhi 

is the external application of boluses (muslin bags) of brown rice boiled in a herbal decoction and milk then rubbed on the skin all over the body. This is for skin condition and for muscles. It is a cooling process. As the hot "rice pudding" is squeezed out of the muslin bag and rubbed onto the skin vigorously, it cools rapidly and drops the body temperature. The rice flour is a fine scouring substance and cleanses the skin efficiently. The cleaning process involves scraping off the residue with the edge of a palm leaf. Very effective and natural!

Am soon home - within 2 hours (which is a record) - and urging Babu to get ready. We are off on a trip ( a somewhat spontaneous decision on my part) to a hillside destination not far from the city. I feel I am missing so many of the weekend outings that the other volunteers are able to go on, because of my endless Ayurvedic treatments. Babu is keen to build up his repertoire of day trips for future use and is relying on my research and interest.

Destination: Nedumangad (hardly 20 kms from Trivandrum) and Koikkal Palace. It takes us over an hour to drive there as the roads are bad and very busy. 

The stately palace of Koikkal Kottaram represents one of the highpoints of regional architecture. Its museum outstrips any other in the state. The Archaeological Survey of India maintain the building and I get one of their excellent guides to take me through the collections. Their vast coin collection is one of India's finest and charts the development of trade along the Malabar Coast. Most of the exhibits come from digs around the palace itself, including a spectacular cache of Roman gold coins. 

I was particularly fascinated by this wooden coin counting tray which was designed to hold 500 minute metal coins for quick counting purposes. 

Originally built for a local Maharani in the late 17th Century, it is a fine example of traditional Keralan architecture: a bowed triangular gabled roof made of terracotta tiles intricately carved teak features, cool stone floors and dark rooms opening onto a central courtyard for the ladies. There is a secret passage leading out from the courtyard to a safe haven a few kilometres from the palace, that the queen could use as an escape when her enemies laid siege to the palace, a common occurrence in those days.

While exploring the grounds of the palace, I found a very deep bathing tank sadly made inaccessible by a collapsed stone stairway.

The heat of the day is upon us as we leave the palace and we repair to the AC of the nearby swish Hotel Surya. Its "Ponmudi" Restaurant is recommended by the Rough Guide. Very slow and indifferent service, but food is OK.

The plan after lunch is to drive to Neyyar Dam. What we can see of the dam is not beautiful at all, very functional viewed from below in the dry season. The extensive picnic area around it, is very exposed to the sun and dotted about with kitsch figurines. Ugh! We don't linger.

We persevere around it and a mile or so along a steeply rising road, we find the Neyyar Reservoir and get our first glimpse of the Wildlife Sanctuary which spreads over 128 sq kms of forests in the catchment area beyond the reservoir. 

This side of it, there is a crocodile rescue centre and boating centre.

While we were looking at these, unbeknownst to us, the last bus of the day departs for the Lion Safari Park.... 

Oh well! Never mind....

I do enjoy crocodiles and there are plenty of all shapes and sizes. 

These are freshwater crocs. 

After the disappointment of the lion safari, I take a solo 10 minute walk along the water's edge. 

In the distance, I can see the misty Agasthya Hills and near at hand the coconut trees and a small rubber plantation.

The wind in the palm leaves and the gentle lapping of the waves are soothing sounds indeed for this stressed city volunteer.

There's not much else to see so we start the journey home. 

The road is fascinating and wildly uncharted on the map that I am piloting by. We stop very mile or so and ask our way.

We arrive back in the city by a wholely surprising route. 

It is good to get home at last and look back on a very worthwhile day's exploration.

Friday 29 Jan

Had a pleasant sort of day with Sr. Mercy today. She certainly confides a lot in me and we share jokes and stories about our childhood. We were working on another job description and she never realised just how much she was expecting from this one person. She also agonised over how much more she wanted this job to be. So we talked a lot about this and how busy this person would be, and did she really need to be attending all these meetings and how was she going to manage her time etc.

Then she asked me to edit and review a six month report for a foreign aid agency. Her draft gives me even more background to the charity and makes me ask lots of questions so I can make the text clearer and regroup topics in more coherent paragraphs. I am taking this away with me to work on over the weekend along with a monitoring scheme and a time management study for some of the staff positions.

Catch an auto almost immediately and he puts the meter on! Yippee no haggling!

I've picked up a sore throat, which has been building up these last 2 days -  probably from using a badly washed cup or glass somewhere. There are loads of coughing and spitting people around. It's a miracle I haven't picked something up before.

Anyway am gargling with salt and sipping lime juice. Still popping the Vit Cees and may start Paracetamol. Interesting to see how long it takes to get over it.

Last day for this round of Ayurvedic treatments and I am relieved. The sessions are altering my sense of time and making me so knackered. Yes I am sleeping better at night BUT I am also sleepier during the day! The doctors go on about how I need to "take rest". And perhaps I should have done a lot more of that! All pain on the knees is gone and that is a relief. I am given a special crumbly mixture to take for my sore throat.

No plans for the weekend but have plenty to do - especially mapping out my whole Sri Lanka trip. Blog could also do with a bit of attention. Never a dull moment. 

Wednesday 27 Jan

Last night, all five of the other volunteers came back from their long weekend up in Thekkadi and Kumilli, in the tea plantation hill country next to the Periyar National Park. Really sorry I missed that, but cannot fit everything in!

Two of them are coming in to work at Cheru Resmi for the first time. Poppy (above) and Lucy are the most recent arrivals. They flew in last Friday from the UK, but left almost immediately for the hills. We haven't had a lot of time to get to know each other yet. They are GAPping together, volunteering first in Kerala for a month and then going off on some serious travels.

Babu drives us all over to Sr. Mercy's to check in. I get on with my work while they chat about what the girls will do. Babu knows exactly what the best plan is and whisks them off to work in the Early Learning Centre for pre-schoolers in Poonthura.

For me it's another morning of letters, reports and job descriptions - leisurely and unruffled.

An interesting break happens at about 11 when Babu takes me to the airport to meet some immigration officials. I have been a bit stuck about my travels to Sri Lanka as the new Indian government security rules say that anyone leaving India cannot return for 60 days. I am very concerned about this and haven't been able to book my hotels for fear the whole trip is forfeit. I need to fly back to Trivandrum 24 hours before I catch my return flight to the UK.

Babu has used his network to get me an audience with the "right" people at the airport. After 15 minutes of meeting people and discussing my plans and showing my travel itinerary, several of them agree that I should be fine. I am not totally reassured and ask them for their names. They demur. I explain that it is bound to happen that I will fly back into town at a time when none of them is on duty and I will need to be able to explain to some immigration official that I have already spoken to them about my case. They smile and still don't want to give me their names. It is most disconcerting. Finally the senior man there admits to being a Mr. Krishna! I jot this down on my travel notes. Babu nods that it is time to leave and off we go. Right! Now no more excuses - I need to get on with my SL travel plans.

The second highlight of the day is early evening, shopping for churidars with Lucy, Poppy and Cara in the shops around East Fort. We spend a happy couple of hours near the Temple and the tank exploring Ramachandran's, Aiyappas and Big Bazaar. Tom E is along for the ride and provides a good backdrop of funny lines and chat with the sales staff.

When we get home with all our bags and bundles, we have quite a treat in store. Babu has found a restaurant that does take-away roast chickens and that's what we have for supper, with salad - Delicious! So nice to have a change.

Tuesday 26 Jan

Republic day - A national holiday

In India, every year on 26 January, a grand parade is held in New Delhi. Different regiments of the Army, Navy and Air Force march past. The President of India who is Commander-in-chief of the armed forces takes the salute. There are floats depicting the various cultures of the States and regions of the country. This is the day that marks the transition of India from a British Dominion to a Republic in 1950.

In Kerala, today, it's business as usual. Everyone is in school, at work, shops are open. I am at CRC with Sr. Mercy and she suggests we watch part of the parade on the telly. I am game. It's amazing to watch everyone in foggy, chilly Delhi wrapped up in their winter clothes while we sweat away down South.

The day is leisurely and pleasant, I write a few letters and prepare some lists. Ajitha brings us our lunch and Sr M and I chat.

Once again I slip away at 2.30 for my treatments. This routine is good and corresponds quite well to my energy levels. After lunch, I usually feel quite sleepy so this way I get to lie down and be massaged during my "down" time as it were.

Late afternoon, Babu has arranged for the pastor's sister Valsa - who works in a stitching shop - to come and see what she can do to fix my useless new churidars. She doesn't have much English but I think she has understood what I want. I feel relieved that something positive is happening about these.

I feel a little more myself this evening with more energy. The day has not been such a strain.

Sunday - Monday 24 -25 Jan

Sunday is a little unusual in that it is a Jubilee (25 yrs) celebration for Sr. Muriel from the ICM congregation. She has asked a good friend, a Malankara Catholic bishop to celebrate the Mass for us - notice his interesting head garb. Fascinating to see how easily this event is accepted by all. The bishop is urbane and articulate and obviously a thoughtful and inspirational cleric. The Mass is conducted entirely in English.

A great lunch follows and I get to meet some interesting folk - relatives and other guests.

The rest of the day is quiet and uneventful.

Monday starts off completely on the wrong foot.

I try to flag down an auto for half an hour and fail miserably.

I couldn't help a secret wish for the scooter I never did buy.

So I set off to work on foot. I meet lots of children walking towards me on their way to school and they smile and call out: What is your name? and Where are you coming from? We chat and keep moving. I am smiling and enjoying all of this. The day is not so bad after all.

I am inspired to take a load of pictures of things I see along my route.

One of the local Hindu temples is celebrating a festival and devotees have built a bamboo structure over the road and swathed it in cloth and parasols.

It is particularly fetching this morning. Notice the reflection

in the puddle!

A bit further on, another Hindu temple is getting ready for its festival and folk are repairing the sculpted cement work on the external wall. I catch the workers having an early morning chat before starting work.

January - February is the festival season for Hindus and all temples seem to be gearing up for this by spring cleaning, repairing or repainting their property.

They also want the whole world to know they are celebrating their special day so they post large banks of speakers along the roads leading to the temple so they can play ear splittingly loud music all day long. I don't know how the neighbours put up with it.

Still further on, is the coconut plantation where the children play cricket after school. I'll leave that to your imagination!

I cannot resist the decorated truck.

So typical of these large cargo lorries.

Makes me think of the overly decorated jeepneys in the Philippines all emblazoned with the girlfriend's name.

A bit further on, a none-too-clean canal bordering another coco plantation under development looks charming in the morning light.

I eventually reach the National Highway and a service station where I do pick up an auto. I get to work an hour late but that's Kerala time for you!

A pleasant morning's work slips by: I draft some letters, review a report and draft a j0b description. Then it's time for lunch. Sr. Mercy and I always have that together at about 2 pm. We sit and chat about all manner of things staring out at the back garden. It is most companionable and our friendship is growing by the day.

Soon it's time for me to slip away to the Ayurvedic clinic and relax under the tender care of Ambi and Rajani. I often drop off to sleep, especially when I am having SHIRODHARA.

This is the classic Ayurvedic treatment everyone has seen a picture of, with oil dripping from a bowl suspended above onto your forehead.

This picture is not the slick advertising kind of shot but is actually ME with Ambi doing the honours.

The day ends on a slightly less positive note as I collect my churidars from the tailor and they are not fixed. I had a hunch this would be the case, but thought I would give her another chance. Enough frustration, already! I say they are fine just to get the hell out of there and sever the relationship.

I come home and start unpicking them - she's cut the tops all wrong and there is no spare material to make good! Uggh! I'll have to find someone to help me make them alright or I'll ditch them - I haven't got any of my sewing kit with me. So much for that grand idea!

Oh well!

Saturday 23 Jan

Pop in for my Ayvdc treatment today at 8.30 am fully intending to slope off to the pool for the afternoon. I am quite excited about this and the new treatments which start today Pizhichil and Shirodhara.

PIZHICHIL is a massage using huge quantities (4 litres) of hot herbal oil sluiced over and rubbed rhythmically into every part of the body except the head. It is particularly useful for joint aches and nervous disorders.

The time I spend with the therapists and the trainee doctor is hilarious. We chat about marriages, husbands, children and then about Indian ringtones. I ask Dr. Reva to help me get an Indian themed ringtone onto my phone. She has me listen to all the music she has loaded up on her phone and the others have a happy time singing along with the songs. We go through her full selection of Malayalam songs, then Tamil songs, then Hindi songs. Good grief how to choose!? I finally select three and she bluetooths them over from her phone to my phone! The wonders of technology!

Then she asks me to sing a song - I burst out laughing! Here I am covered in oil and lying on my back and she wants to hear my voice! .... I ask her which tune she likes and she says the theme song from Titanic. What next!? She has a music video of Celine Dion on her phone with the words underneath! Weirder and weirder! I tell her I can't see the words without my specs so she fishes them out of my bag.

In between treatments, she gets a sheet of paper and we start jotting them down. Then I belt it out for her wrapped in an oily sheet and perched on the side of the panchakarma bed! We all fall about laughing! Strange doings in that clinic!

Treatments over, they all ask me what I am going to do the rest of the day. So I smugly tell them I am going swimming..... At this, their collective jaws drop and they all say NO NO NO! You can't do that! The doctor concurs insisting that swimming is strictly forbidden during the whole duration of Ayurvedic treatment - in case I catch cold! Gadzooks! Two more weeks without swimming! Help! I really have a hard time absorbing this information! I was SO looking forward to a proper swim today. "Crestfallen" is a good word to describe me at this moment!

Home with my tail between my legs and curl up on my bed feeling quite sorry for myself. Babu cook has made me some special basmati rice for a change and I show my appreciation. But it isn't enough to lift my spirits. I watch the DVD of Anastasia to lose track of time. It works!

I ask Babu if we can go out to dinner tonight somewhere in town as I am in dire need of a cheer up! I need some different kinds of food and more protein, I feel I am wasting away. He is happy to oblige and we fetch up at the Hotel Mascot buffet which is excellent. Good atmosphere, lovey staff and an interesting clientele including two dozen Japanese IT trainees living in the hotel, whom we strike up a conversation with, and finally two mega star vocalists from the Hindi classical music scene........ We didn't realise that till they appeared on the front page the next morning!

Friday 22 Jan

Today is the last session of phase 1 of the Ayurveda treatment. I get to wash my hair - this is SO exciting! The doctor has added an extra treatment called JANUVASTI to help my sore knee joint. This involves a ring of dough into which is poured very warm oil which sits there for 30 minutes to soak into the joint with the therapist removing the coling oil and topping up with hot. The picture gives you a pretty good idea! Looks a bit like treacle tart!

I fetch up spending nearly 5 hours there... How do I have time for all this?

The afternoon sees me at Sr. Mercy's for a couple of hours. I think it is mostly to hold her hand and discuss what strategy to use next. I urge her to make two particular calls which produce some good results so now we know what to do next.

On the way home I pop into my tailor lady and have a frustrating time with her and my churidars. She has made the bottoms huge (and said that's the way they need to be - I didn't argue) and the tops way too tight across the bust and in the sleeves. I can hardly get them on, let alone breathe in them so insist they be altered. She is not very adept at getting them to be looser and hang right. After several attempts at ripping out seams and re-sewing, I suggest that I bring one of my tops that fits comfortably from home, as a model. So walk all the way home (10 minutes), walk all the way back, drop it off and then back home again! There are a lot of men just sitting and hanging out on the road side as I walk by and the looks on their faces as they see me cross their bows not once but THREE times, is something to behold!

I tell her NOT to hurry this but to take her time to get it right. She really wants to get it right and fix it so I leave it with her. But I take away the bag containing material for yet another two sets of churidars. I will find someone else for those - a rather frustrating and disappointing early evening!

I get home exhausted and frazzled and hide in my room. But an hour later I have some visitors, Babu informs me!

Manju, an Indian lady from next door and her husband. They are emigrating to Canada in June, and she wants to practice her English and also pick my brain about life in Canada, what to do and how to do it. Manju has a skilled professional visa as a Theatre nurse and is thinking about possible jobs. I promised I would source a list of hospitals in Vancouver for her and send by email. After supper, I take care of that for her. Time flies!

I am feeling slightly caged in these days and long to get away. It's interesting that when I first arrived, I imagined I would want a break after a month and thought I might go to Sri Lanka at that point. But wiser heads suggested I wait till the end and I was swayed by that. The flights are now booked and it's too late to change. In truth this weekend would have been a good time to go if only because Tuesday is a national holiday.... Though what that means is still not quite clear. Maybe I am just thoroughly fed up...... and nothing would make a difference!

Thursday 21 Jan

Really feeling low these two days. Lost my appetite, very little energy, really feeling I have to force myself to do anything. Is this the Ayurvedic treatment taking effect or is it just that I have been here 6 weeks and some things are starting to drive me crazy?

Thursday night I need to get out of the house and away from the tedium and charmlessness of everyday life. I ask Babu if we can go for a drive after supper. He jumps at the chance and Tom E is keen to join us too. I want to do some exploring somewhere near Kovalam - a smaller beach called Samudra. I have done a little research on the internet to find what hotels exist so at least, we have a destination.

My secret plan is to find a hotel with a pool where I could spend the day sunning myself and swimming over the weekend - we check out the Uday Samudra hotel resort and Kovalam Beach Resort. The first is so much better than the second and we find out they do a Day Package for Rs. 550 - (less than 10 pounds) and it includes a buffet lunch and full use of the 3 pools and their gym from 10 am to 6 pm. It's just what I have been dreaming of. We finish off the night by strolling down onto the beach - the wind is refreshing and it has been a real change of scenery. Good for the soul!

Wednesday 20 Jan

The treatments must be having an effect. I feel sleepy and listless all the time. My appetite has dropped and I have to force myself to eat. The sight of certain foods really turns my stomach. I am longing for grilled or roasted meat, uninterfered with vegetables, no sauces, also something sweet.

I have to say that my extremely oily hair is also affecting my mood. And I am a bit short-tempered.... best to keep out of my way!

Aurvedic treatment is first thing this morning. My plan is really not to do very much today and recover my mood and my energy. The usual four treatments absorb the better part of 4 hours. It is amazing to think how I can afford this time - every day.

KIZHI is a massage of the whole body with muslin packets of herbs heated in neem oil. These are called BOLUSES and are as large as clenched fists. The same ones are used for three days in a row then fresh ones are made up. This treatment is for bone ailments, joint ache, arthritis etc.

I am driven mad by my hair so I ask one of my therapists to do what is "allowed" by the doctor - she takes hot steamy towels and wipes the excess oil off without touching the scalp. It feels a little bit better.

My two knees have rather sore joints and so are bandaged up with castor leaves daubed with a brown paste and I hobble back home for a late lunch and a rest.

Sr. M rings up and we need to have a tactical talk with her superior visiting from Tamil Nadu. I am not really in the mood but Babu offer to drive me and wait for me. This makes a big difference as I am supposed to keep both legs straight! Hmmm!

I get a measure of the pulse of the sisters behind Mercy and their level of support for her situation. This is itself is reassuring. They are good brains and are very solution focussed. What action will they counsel? I leave it to them.

Home to a quiet evening and chat with the delightful Tom E. It cheers me up and I am definitely in need of a laugh.

I am at a low ebb this week. Lethargic and tetchy. Not my usual self at all! And not really in the mood to write the blog - so it sits and waits for me to get back in the groove.

Tues 19 January

This morning is peaceful and quiet.

Cara and I take advantage of an early rise to wander round the estate taking snaps before breakfast.

The Lake looks particularly inviting and we see a rice barge or two glide by.

The property is delightfully deserted with hardly a guest or a member of staff.

There are hundreds of birds in the trees and also in a funny birdhouse. (L)

We haven't got time to stay and enjoy it alas. There is much to get done and not much time. We need to set off and retrace our steps into Kottayam. On the way, we catch a few good sights.

A bus stuck in a swamp reminds me of the "LOST" TV series I am such a fan of.

Also I cannot resist the red post box!

Kottayam is a big dusty and dirty city with a LOT of traffic. The news bureau is tucked away and a bit hard to find, but in the end we succeed. Suja is waiting for us with open arms and shows us the tiny office where the two volunteers will be working.

Babu is keen for the volunteers to meet their homestay as soon as possible. They will be staying with Lathika, an interesting woman. A social worker and also the secretary of her political party in town, she houses various lodgers and is very warm and hospitable.

We meet her whole family and tour the house, working out where everyone will be sleeping. There is some flexibility but it is all pretty intimate and cosy. (Will this be too much for our intrepid pair?)

R to L: Suja, Granma, Lathika, her son and Babu behind Tom G. and Cara.

We are given a very nice snack and soon it is noon and time for Babu and myself to depart for TRV.

I did volunteer to take a train back to Trivandrum to be at my Ayvdc appointment on time at 5 pm, but Babu insists that he wants to drive me back since he brought me all this way. Thankfully, the journey home is much swifter. Babu is driving fast (for a change) and NOT answering every mobile phone call that comes through. This saves us a lot of time. Babu does amazingly and we arrive at my clinic with 10 minutes to spare. He is utterly stressed out and shattered.

My Ayurvedic treatment is given with alacrity, but I still make the ladies stay late, so feel I ought to tip them.

Arrive home at 8 exhausted and dismayed at the questionable use of 2 days of my life. I figure there must be a reason for all this.

I'm in no mood for conversation so hide in my room and watch The Inn of the 6th Happiness. I bought this DVD for Babu but he hasn't had the time, inclination or the attention span to watch this. He is too distracted by so many other thoughts and phone calls. It is good escapist stuff and I do like Ingrid Bergman!

Monday 18 Jan

Today should be good but ends up being an amazing OTT repeat experience of the very thing I was complaining about last night!

Having been told that I am to accompany Babu and the volunteers to Kottayam (5-6 hour drive away) and that we are leaving at 9.30 am, I have booked my Ayurveda treatments to start at 6 am. I wake at 5 am and walk in total chilly darkness down the main road to the hospital. This is interesting in itself.

There must have been a crossed wire - my therapist doesn't show up till 7 and I cool my heels for an hour under the gaze of the night watchman. He has no English so I don't even try to converse. Day 3 of the treatments and I am familiar with the drill.

ABHYANGAM is essentially the same treatment I experienced at Sri Gokulam MC about a week ago so I know what to expect. Starkers except for a thin muslin strip over my privates attached to a piece of string round my waist, I sit up on the wooden bed with legs a foot apart. The ladies scoop up warm oil and begin to friction my legs, up and down 50 times, then work the foot and toes, next the back and arms, then I lie down and "all" the front is done vigorously. Next, turn onto Right side and do available limbs then on my front and do the whole back of the body then Left side and massage available limbs and back onto front again. This whole process takes an hour. Then they wrap me in a sheet and let me "cook" for half an hour. I fall asleep from the sheer exertion of it all, though I'm told not to.

Processes over, a bit late, I rush home by 10 apologising for my delay. But I needn't have bothered. Babu is doing stuff with Cara and Tom G. - mobile top ups, meet bureau chief of news agency they are going to work for in Kottayam, and various other things that have cropped up. I accept the delay and have a rest - also get ahead with my blog until 3 pm.

I am still wondering WHY Babu wants me to come along on this jaunt. I am not doing a JOURNO posting and feel slightly in the way. Also I am putting a restriction on his eventual return to Trivandrum, because of my Ayvdc treatment the following day. But he insists he wants me to meet Suja, his coordinator up there, and also some other worthies in the news agency. Also he says we'll have time to explore some other interesting area. There's obviously much more to this than I am catching, so I surrender to the text, pack my small bag and hop in the car.

The journey is tedious and much lengthier than any of us imagined. We stop a few times.

First, we visit Tom E at SNEHA - Dr Ajith's clinic. Cara and Tom G are interested to see it after having heard so much about it and read the SNEHA blog. I take a few more pics to add to that blog.

Next we come across a Hindu festival parade and there are elephants. This is one of many parades we bump into today. It's quite a thrill to watch these temple elephants all dolled up in their finery.

Traffic has slowed to a standstill and three of us jump out of the car and run alongside taking pictures.

There are drums and loud blaring music and lots of boys dancing around and following the floats. It's a pretty male crowd I realise, of all ages.

We run into various car loads of tourists - some of the very few we have encountered anywhere.

This parade is definitely a highlight of the day.

Next stop is to grab a quick meal at a Kerala Tourist Development Council (KTDC) roadside restaurant. Before we know it, night falls and we have to do the next 60 kms in darkness.

With my trusty map in hand, I guide very doubtful Babu through some shortcut B roads. He keeps stopping to answer his mobile phone and also to ask the way. My instincts are confirmed and he is amazed that we fetch up where we are supposed to. He muses that I should be giving people map-reading lessons! Good grief!

It has been a very long day indeed and we have not achieved what we had set out to do - which was to get the students settled into their accommodation! Never mind, they get to stay with us in a very nice place indeed.

We reach our final destination The Kottayam Club annex at Kumarakom by 10 pm. The K Club is a stately and well-appointed facility right on the edge of Lake Vembanad in The Backwaters area. We are the other side of the lake from Alleppey.

There aren't many guests staying and they have rooms available. They are large and comfortable. We all picnic in the girls' room on a smorgasbord of fruit purchased from a roadside stall.

Cara is in her element and brings out her Greek fisherman's knife. She cuts and prepares the fruit on dishes for us: guavas and pomegranate, apple and Chinese pear, grapes and bananas, cantaloupe melon and a strange brown fruit she's chosen specially for us to try. It's a welcome feast!

Beds are comfy and in no time at all, we are asleep.

Sunday 17 Jan

Alexis is gone by 4 am. We've said our goodbyes the previous night. He was my first colleague here in the volunteers' house. He made an excellent impression and was a very positive and kind influence on everyone. His absence is tangible.

I head off to Mass at St Anne's and meet up with the sisters afterwards for coffee. Sr. Mercy is actually very poorly and only comes down near the end of my visit. She has a streaming head cold and is feeling wretched. In spite of the positive meeting yesterday, the sheer burden of the whole unsavoury situation at Cheru Resmi is taking its toll. In many ways, I am not at all surprised. I give her a hug and slope off promptly as I have a 10.30 Ayurvedic session.

The team are waiting for me, smiling and encouraging. Rajani (L) is the senior therapist and Ambika is a close runner up. Priya is the short stop in many ways, she does a lot of the skivvy work like heating up the oils and keeping the materials at the ready. Sheela (R) is the pharmacist. They all have a LOT more English than I at first realised and are now happy to use it and learn more new words. They teach me some Malayalam as well. We become good friends.

I will try not to overdo the descriptions of the treatments, but for the sake of curiosity, I will cover them one by one over the next few postings. If you are not keen on this, please feel free to skip.

NASYAM is the first, it involves a short massage of oils into the neck, shoulders, upper chest and face, followed by "sudation" which is the repeated fanning of a cloth dipped in boiling water over the massaged area to make it sweat. Next step is to dribble 5-10 drops of medicated oil in to each nostril with patient inhaling deeply and therapist rubbing the sinuses. Then comes the rather unseemly but very necessary "evacuation" of the post-nasal discharge. This can be extremely productive and after 15 minutes activity leaves the nasal passages admirably clear. Under the circumstances, I find it rather comforting to hear other people snorting and spitting in other parts of the clinic and it takes my mind off the rather anti-social nature of the therapy.

As a general observation, a lot of spitting goes on in public in Kerala and nobody takes any notice. I can't help but think of China and Hong Kong and all the anti-spitting signs we used to see in the 80s when I lived there. Spitting is pretty much a thing of the past in HK now and China was making strides that way. India shows no sign of eradicating the practice.

I am home by 2.30 and today I do take a rest. I have a small visitor, Gaius, whose Dad is the Pentecostal pastor who ministers to a small community in Babu's house. Gaius is 4 and a real urchin, he pops into my room (when it's unlocked) to read my books and fiddle with my things - he loves the wind up torch and the magnifying glass. He and his little brother don't seem to have any toys and so I try to make some fun stuff available for them when I am around.

Plan was to go on a drive this afternoon but this is put on hold, as we are waiting to meet Cara's parents. Yes! We have just discovered to our amazement that Cara's Mum and Dad have accompanied her to Trivandrum. Cara met up with Babu at the airport on her own and didn't mention anything till today. Her M & D are popping around shortly to meet us and check out the accommodation. They arrive at about 4 and we chat about a whole variety of topics. Basically Cara's Mum was concerned about the set up here and her Dad was quite interested in exploring the business scene in Kerala. They have found my blog and are interested to meet me (I am duly flattered). I think Babu and I do a pretty good job of reassuring them and they soon make their way back to their hotel.

Just as the sun is going down we set off to drive to Lake Vellanballi, a local beauty spot. It's too late to get many interesting pictures but the sight of large fruit bats over the open water is worth it.

I must say, I do get a bit frustrated with the unstructured approach to time here in Kerala. We miss good opportunities waiting around for other people whose last minute needs come to usurp any other careful planning. Babu is responsible for a lot of the slippage and I keep reminding him that in pleasing one or two people he is displeasing others including himself. It is always about priorities!

Sat 16 Jan

This morning I am looking forward to my appointment at the Ayurveda clinic. It's a short walk away and I am glad to stride through my neighbourhood taking in some of the local colour.

This is a Muslim area of town and this makes a visible difference - the women's dress and the Halal butcher amongst others. I catch this delivery of chickens on the back of a motorcycle in front of the latter. The Oxford School (sic) is a well advertised Muslim educational institution along this road.

In the doctor's office, the blood results have been delivered and all fears of lurking medical conditions have been allayed. I am prescribed a

certain number of brown liquids as medicine - and I am to undergo three different sorts of treatments: Nasyam, Abyangham and Kizhi EVERY DAY for 7 days.

This sounds wonderful until a) I undergo them and fully appreciate these are not all particularly pleasant b) I realise the full extent of the time commitment (4 hours a day) c) I am informed that I cannot wash my hair for a whole week!

On the PLUS side, I remind myself that this is precisely what I had always intended to do while in Kerala - to find out exactly what Ayurveda was all about and whether it would solve some of my deep seated health issues. I surrender to the system and begin the journey.

The therapists who actually handle me are kind and have a little English, so I cope not too badly. However the fact remains, it is QUITE embarrassing to remove all your

clothes in front of strangers and pretend it is the most natural thing in the world!

Thank God I am no stranger to "acting". Part of me wants to burst out laughing and the other part of me feels like I would rather be somewhere else. I find closing my eyes helps me live with the contrast of being naked when everyone else is wearing a sari and an apron!

Pictured Right: Dr. Reva, Priya and Ambika and the panchakarma bed...

At the end of the four hours, I spend an inordinate amount of time washing all the oil off my skin and begin to feel the awfulness of having quite a lot of oil in my hair that I am not allowed to wash out. Uggh!

Home by auto by doctor's orders. Apparently I am in a weakened state and need plenty of rest!

I humour her, though I don't feel weak at all.

In my absence, another volunteer has arrived: Cara, from Germany. Of Vietnamese extraction, Cara speaks English and has come for a journalism posting. I introduce myself and we have a little chat but Babu and I have to rush out to an appointment. We have agreed to accompany Sr. Mercy and her "side" when they meet the new lawyer. We are quite a large crowd and we all squeeze into quite a small office. The talk is mostly in Malayalam language but I get the gist of it all. Advocate Murli is an interesting chap and he listens well, asking good questions. He is conversant with the laws governing charitable societies and makes some good points. We all feel we are in the right hands, and we have Advocate Sudheer to thank for this. Having been briefed by us on Tuesday, he is present today and summarises our case for Murli, saving everyone's time. Murli says he will use him as his second. The meeting has gone well and we all leave feeling elated.

Back home to regroup - this evening the excitement is that Alexis is returning from his last few days at Varkala Beach and the medical posting at SNEHA. He is leaving for the UK tomorrow at the crack of dawn and we are all going out for a farewell dinner. I suggest we go to the rooftop at the Hotel Pankaj. Nice view and nice food. Good conversation - we get to know Cara a bit better - we are going to miss Alexis' wonderful way of including everyone in the chat and asking thoughtful intelligent questions. Sadly, I don't think to take a picture of this gathering!

Friday 15 Jan

The day is a complete change, and I need it! A little work from home in the morning for Sr Mercy in the comfort of my AC room followed by some badly needed retail therapy.

I catch a lift uptown with Babu and Tom G. (doing a placement at The Times of India) and make for Rose's opticals and some unfinished business.

The specs I collected on Wednesday cost me Rs. 7,200 (approx 90 pounds) which is roughly the same price as I pay in the UK. When I tell this to Babu casually, he flips out and

starts a rant that goes on for two days. He calls the owner and tears a strip off him telling him we are all penniless volunteers and what was he doing selling us frames that are so costly etc etc etc.

After much argy bargy (and Babu is good at this) it is agreed that I can return my specs and get the same lenses remounted in a cheaper pair of frames. So today that is the mission.

And cheaper frames I do find starting at Rs. 390 (roughly 3 pounds).... Amazing! I settle for something costing Rs. 620. (under 10 pounds) and am promised that within the day they would be ready (but more on that later).

Happen to pass by the DC Book shop - a place I have been wanting to get to for some time.

Go in for a guidebook to Sri Lanka and come out with 8 unrelated but still most desirable books - a Paulo Coelho, a Malcolm Gladwell, a Kiran Desai, a Malayalam language primer (3 copies actually), two books on Ayurveda and some short stories about Kerala. No guidebook!

Next mission is to find some churidar materials. I am running out of Indian style work outfits and those I bought in Ootapalam are great but legs have shrunk and look silly, seams are breaking up and the material is fading fast in the continuous use and wash.

After asking in a number of small shops, I am referred to MAHARAJAH, a few blocks away on the main MG road. This place is billed as a Wedding centre so it is doubly interesting for me to explore! Quite a few older men clutching a younger girl by the hand in an "un-fatherly" manner and leading her to a counter of garishly decorated materials, clusters of women - granny, Mum and daughter - handling bolts of cloth and discussing relative merits. I was quite the oddity and got plenty of stares - but smiled at everyone politely.

I have difficulty finding the sort of material I need and there is very little choice in that range. My trouble is I don't have brown skin, black eyes and black hair! The colour schemes most

shops carry don't suit me. To be safe, I always ask for variations on BLUE and PURE COTTON. This particular combination is not very common.

You need to understand about churidars. There are very baggy (and comfortable) drawstring trousers then a dress over the top with a slit at both sides for maximum movement and then a "dupatta" scarf to complete the look. You can have them made out of the same material top and bottom and you can dispense with the scarf. But ideally, the trousers have a design that matches the dupatta and the dress' design is a variation on the theme in the same or harmonised colourways. Some of the women you see sashaying about town look absolutely

stunning in very interesting contrasting designs that are most attractive.

After exhausting three salespeople, I do fetch up with three sets I can live with. Then a thought.... "I need some plain black churidar trousers to wear under some nice tops I have and I also need a plain white top to go over some nice trousers I have picked up". A little more phaphhing about and at last, I am equipped to visit a dressmaker! That's the next hurdle!

Cannot resist stopping by a few more shops and pick up some gifts to take home. Find a khadi shop and pick up 4 jubbas for myself and the men in my life. (Who are they? - you might well ask! Keep guessing!)

Stride on down to Big Bazaar and pick some toiletry and food items. This truly is that last stop!

By now it is 3 pm and I have had no break, no lunch, no drink of any sort for 3 hours - silly girl - and the day was hot! I certainly feel faint! Carrying my four bulging sacks, it's time to hop into an auto and make for home.

Back at Deepam, Babu cook's lime juice never tasted so good! The day is only half done. But both Toms are ready to start their weekend trip to Cochin - it's another world.

After a rest and some computer work, I wander ten minutes down the road for my second Ayurvedic "guinea pig" experience - this time, at Dr. Chandran's Ayurvedic hospital. I meet Dr. Veena - a woman in her mid 30s, daughter of a rather famous Keralan professor of Ayurveda, Dr Chandran. Her English is good. She and her trainee, Dr. Reva, give me a good session, taking my history and establishing what type I am - [Pitta dominant with Kapha secondary traits]. This careful diagnostic questioning is a far cry from the Gokulam experience of a week ago.

Dr. V is concerned about a number of things and asks me to get a blood analysis done before she can prescribe any remedies or massage treatments. Good grief! Now I need to find a lab and get the report so we can continue tomorrow.

In India, I have found it is very difficult to get closure on anything. One thing usually leads to three consequences and a seemingly straight-forward action takes 1-2 weeks to complete, and that is if you don't get bogged down in the details. The need to keep focussed is never greater than when you are here.

In a way, I find it makes it harder to relax when I know there are always a multitude of things I should be doing to advance such and such an idea or initiative. Not very restful!

So at 6.30pm, a time when I really feel like putting my feet up I change again into street clothes and catch an auto to the lab. I never like blood being taken but I grin and bear it and it is soon over. Then, since I am in full martyr mode, I reckon I better cross town and pick up the specs, to close that loop!

But it is full blown rush hour and it's dark. Friday night traffic is horrendous and pretty much at a stand still around East Fort, the area where I happen to be. I decide to walk North up the MG Road and am making faster progress than any vehicle. I keep well into the side of the road watching carefully where I put my feet lest I fall into a pothole or through a broken drainage slab. Before too long, I find myself walking alongside a stream of very dark skinned scantily clad gentlemen - Hindu pilgrims making their way to the temple for an evening's bathe. They are all wearing black lunghis round their waists and beads or flower garlands round their necks, some holding hands, all barefoot. They are heading up to one of the entrances to the Old Fort. I try not to invade their sacred space.

Thankfully an auto has just dropped someone off and is free. I haggle a ride to Statue Road (Rs.40) and hop in. Within a few seconds, I recognise in my driver a soul-mate. He drives like me, aggressively, competitively, nervily but efficiently and safely weaving in and out of every small opportunity that opens up, never hitting a thing (which is always a minor miracle). I grin broadly and really enjoy the ride. As we near our destination I ask him if he will wait for me and take me home, he accepts and we bargain another rate. It is more than it should be I know, but it's worth it.

Within a few minutes I have picked up the new specs and received a huge wad of cash as refund of the balance and we are on our way again.

I suggest we take the back roads to avoid the infernal gridlock. He is happy to oblige and knows them well. Thank goodness I am familiar with the city by now and know where we are, so I can relax and enjoy the ride. He takes a left turn too soon and "Guess what!" we are back in gridlock! He does his best, ducking and weaving, overtaking in the oncoming traffic lane. I am laughing and enjoying the ride and feel completely safe!

We hit the heart of the traffic knot at East Fort (again) and I suggest we take a short cut through the Fort to get off the standstill MG road. And of course you can guess what the problem is - outside the gate, queues of pilgrim coaches (like the one above) trying to get in - and - inside, another 50 pilgrim coaches trying to manoeuvre through the narrow lanes, parking anywhere, at odd angles, blocking little streets and oblivious to anyone else's need to use the same road!

In and amongst these coaches and the impatient hooting traffic are pedestrians, some of them recently disgorged pilgrims, wandering like lost sheep slowly this way and that, dangerously into the path of coming cars. The constant sounding of the horn is deafening.

Totally unphased, my driver is hugely resourceful, and finding a crack to squeeze into aims for a tiny lane that no large vehicle can get into. Motorcycles are streaming past us in both directions. Within minutes we have left the chaos behind and we are well on our way home.

I feel as though I have been on a thrill ride at the fair! What a high note on which to end to the day!