Yes, I am not good at sending emails. But, dear Raphael, I might as well detail the mini reunion held at my place before anyone else does. The 2 couples, i.e. Prabhakar, Leo and their wives and Hector, who came alone because Elvira had jaundice, met at my place Saturday last. Harriet and my daughter, Reena, were here to help me entertain them. Leo, who had an earlier experience here and certainly liked it, arrived a day earlier, on Friday. Prabhakar and Radhika brought along Hector in his car. We had a very nice time, full of nature, an occasional drizzle, and the crickets and birds added to the fun. We had to share all the chores since I do not entertain servants inside the house, but everybody helped willingly. Prabhakar's military quota beer and rum kept us all merry. The two guest bedrooms were vast enough for comfort and attached bath/toilet with generous hot water heated by two 'Gujarat boilers' with the help of firewood galore from the estate added to the comfort. Unfortunately, the weather was not the traditional wintry cold - blame the global warming which is gradually creating havoc in the Western ghats.
We drove in two cars to my brother's estate, 10 kms. away, to visit Redmond who had joined us for lunch. An even larger house, old and traditional, occupied by 4 brothers and a sister (none of them married, hence, happy as a senior-citizen family) welcomed us. My friends got lost in the labyrinth having 8 bedrooms and were amazed at its vastness. We had just enough time to step into the 100 year old coffee plantation before it was dark. They also saw the coffee pulper, but I could not take them to the cattle shed and the gobar gas unit.
On Sunday, after Harriet, Reena and myself returned from 7 O'clock mass at a nearby place, and breakfast of chapathies, bread, butter and marmalade, washed down with home-produce coffee, I showed them around the estate. We had a quick lunch - a balanced Chinese fried rice - before Prabhakar and company left at 1.30. I drove Leo, Philipa, Harriet and Reena to Hassan, 20 kms. away, to put them into their respective buses, seats reserved. And now, here I am all alone once again. Do I regret? Not at all, I love, equally, solitude. We will meet next at Hector's beautiful, large house in Bangalore on 18th December. Till then au revoir!
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