Goldfinch Hotel, Bangalore
Friday 1/31/14
A lovely day, starting off with an excellent night of sleep. and then a good breakfast of fresh perfectly ripe fruit, toast and coffee. It was good coffee but tomorrow I'm going back to black tea without milk or sugar; My taste buds have changed since I've been here.
Chandrika and I had lunch at the hotel's Kebab restaurant up on the terrace level. They had several vegetarian entrees as well as carnivorous ones, and I assured Chandrika (who is vegetarian) I'm a happy vegetarian and I'd love it if she just ordered for me whatever she ordered for herself so I could get a taste of new dishes. She made sure I tried just about every vegetarian dish the restaurant offered. It was all wonderful, and Chandrika said the food was truly excellent even by her standards.
We decided next Wednesday, Feb. 5, will be our best day for me to go visit the Tamahar facility where she works and would like me to teach mosaics if I come back next year. Most of the children there have some kind of cognitive impairment, as does one of her own daughters, who was born with one chromosome missing. She's in her late twenties but mentally and emotionally is more like three or four years old.
I asked Chandrika what she thought about the availability of resources for the disabled -- and the caretakers of the disabled -- in the US versus here. She observed that it's not hard to find resources and facilities in the US but being able to afford them is another question. Here in India, the resources and facilities are hard to find, but if you can find one, and find domestic help that can be trusted and relied upon, it's much more affordable.
Muktha and Chandrika are working to improve resources and attitudes in India today that are similar to American resources and attitudes of fifty years ago. I told her it wasn't all that long ago that we didn't have the Americans with Disabilities Act, and that she and Muktha are part of the movement in India that will bring about the Indians with Disabilities Act.
Muktha stopped in to check up on me this afternoon -- I think she was worried I wasn't getting adequate help from the staff here or I was lonely by myself. She said she and 'Srini are taking me out to one of their favorite restaurants for lunch on Sunday, and will bring her son Ragavo. I'm looking forward to seeing him. If he brings the Vick's VapoRub I will make him get rid of it, grin.
I just had a bowl of lemon coriander soup tonight for dinner (I'm still stuffed from lunch), The real highlight of my evening was a nice long bubble bath. I really savored it because I'm not going to be taking many deep baths at home, as long as California is in the grip of severe drought. I have a feeling the two-bucket shower technique I've learned here is going to come in very handy when I get home.
Friday 1/31/14
A lovely day, starting off with an excellent night of sleep. and then a good breakfast of fresh perfectly ripe fruit, toast and coffee. It was good coffee but tomorrow I'm going back to black tea without milk or sugar; My taste buds have changed since I've been here.
Chandrika and I had lunch at the hotel's Kebab restaurant up on the terrace level. They had several vegetarian entrees as well as carnivorous ones, and I assured Chandrika (who is vegetarian) I'm a happy vegetarian and I'd love it if she just ordered for me whatever she ordered for herself so I could get a taste of new dishes. She made sure I tried just about every vegetarian dish the restaurant offered. It was all wonderful, and Chandrika said the food was truly excellent even by her standards.
We decided next Wednesday, Feb. 5, will be our best day for me to go visit the Tamahar facility where she works and would like me to teach mosaics if I come back next year. Most of the children there have some kind of cognitive impairment, as does one of her own daughters, who was born with one chromosome missing. She's in her late twenties but mentally and emotionally is more like three or four years old.
I asked Chandrika what she thought about the availability of resources for the disabled -- and the caretakers of the disabled -- in the US versus here. She observed that it's not hard to find resources and facilities in the US but being able to afford them is another question. Here in India, the resources and facilities are hard to find, but if you can find one, and find domestic help that can be trusted and relied upon, it's much more affordable.
Muktha and Chandrika are working to improve resources and attitudes in India today that are similar to American resources and attitudes of fifty years ago. I told her it wasn't all that long ago that we didn't have the Americans with Disabilities Act, and that she and Muktha are part of the movement in India that will bring about the Indians with Disabilities Act.
Muktha stopped in to check up on me this afternoon -- I think she was worried I wasn't getting adequate help from the staff here or I was lonely by myself. She said she and 'Srini are taking me out to one of their favorite restaurants for lunch on Sunday, and will bring her son Ragavo. I'm looking forward to seeing him. If he brings the Vick's VapoRub I will make him get rid of it, grin.
I just had a bowl of lemon coriander soup tonight for dinner (I'm still stuffed from lunch), The real highlight of my evening was a nice long bubble bath. I really savored it because I'm not going to be taking many deep baths at home, as long as California is in the grip of severe drought. I have a feeling the two-bucket shower technique I've learned here is going to come in very handy when I get home.
RSS Feed