The good life

I don't know whether to tell you guys this, it will ruin my credibility as a missionary in India, but ....Cas and I have just arranged a weekend in Chonor House, THE place that Richard Gere and Goldie Hawn stay when they fly in for some Buddhist conferences and that's not all we have also booked an afternoon in Bahuysunag village at the Hotel Anand Palace Spa for some intense pampering. I feel SO naughty! So now you know, it's not all work. When I do finally arrive home in my salwaar kameez with nails painted red, henna'd hair and Kohl round my eyes don't shunt me off into a home for the elderly it's because I finally went bonkers in the heat.

On arrival at the play group this morning all the children were eating milk powder from old drawing paper on the floor like little puppies; as we walked in they looked up, they had white noses and a Charlie Chaplin mustache. A couple of days ago one of the mums opened a bag of sugar and all the children crowded round like fledglings with their mouths open, she took a handful of sugar and poured some into each rosebud mouth, the kids loved it. I wonder what Jamie Oliver would say?

Each little child has a smudge of soot on their forehead, at first I thought they had birthmarks but then realised what is was. I asked why they had this mark and was told that the parents thought that their own child was so beautiful that they had to spoil their good looks so that evil spirits passing by would not be tempted to steal their beautiful child away.

We managed to make some play dough last night and took it to the pre school today. On the way to school we bought a bar of 'Lifebuoy" and filled a giant bucket with water from a stand pipe down the lane. All the children came outside to wash their hands before playing with the dough (the Indian workers thought we had gone mad) and the pupils had a great time splashing the water around and making bubbles. Just before we left and had cleared up the children quite spontaneously broke into a game 'stalking tigers', do they know something I don't know?

The primary school pupils have made good progress and can read the basics in English now. Did you know that the Hindi for bear is baloo, I thought not. They really are amazing because they also speak and write Hindi and Sanskrit, they are better men than me Gunga Din.

The ladies in the commerce class have mastered the keyboard and are now working on accuracy and speed. Didn't they do well? Or as they say in Hamachel Pradesh, shabosh (excellent).