Andy's Tales

2011-10-15T19:19:00.001+05:30

I always wonder where to start when I restart….i guess it’s the starting that is difficult…so here goes.

Oliver the musical in chandigarh…first run-through today…went better than expected…the months of on and off travel and work to chandigarh paid off!....the hospitality was unparalleled…the kids worked hard…some amazing talent discovered…always so rewarding as only we teachers know…that moment when u see growth in someone…and watch the fruition of months of labour…the train journeys to and fro have been good…the train samosas memorable…although not always for the right reasons…and more for the resulting flatulence…the late arrivals into delhi…and later ones when the train gets stuck at sadar bazar for half an hour…on a three and a half hour journey!...the decisions…meru cab or auto rickshaw?...to pay and travel or argue and bargain…the home comings…the re packing for the next trip…the goodbyes….worth it…the show is next weekend…I feel content and confident…I love what I do…

the big five-oh!

2011-08-16T09:28:00.000+05:30

There has to be a website to help restart a blog…I mean where do you pick up from…so much happens and I forget to write…so now…do I just go on?

I am now 50!...the big five oh!...do I feel any different?...of course I do!...not what u expected right?...i got to be on stage on my 50th…how cool is that?...a blessing from the almighty that I am where I am and am doing what I enjoy…a sign from HIM…..TARAMANDAL…my labour of love with a great group of actors and a sweetheart of a director…and probably the best performance ever …on my birthday….

Called a group of old and new friends and had a catered lunch (thankfully not expensive and the yummiest food for a long time….not cooked by me!) in a basement in the main church (cathedral) of delhi….Was so difficult not calling some people but where do I draw the line?...always a difficult proposition that I am sure I shall be forgiven for by the ones who were not there….and I hope to keep being mentioned in prayers and good wishes…it was amazing to meet some older friends…and also to see the various pages of my life come together…

Some day I will sit and write about our Easter Abu trip and the suitcase getting left on the train to Ahmedabad…my visit to Srinagar to do Annie the musical in a school there with kids who had never doen anything of the kind and yet shone….of the great people and food of Kashmir…of great friends made…and enjoyable times had…some day…maybe…till then?...adieu…have a great day!...

2010-06-07T08:15:00.003+05:30

Sorry it has been long...the heat has been oppressive here in fact the highest minimum in 40 years..35 degrees!...Jenny has been working late and with the work on the commonwealth games village near akshardham temple near noida more... the traffic comes from 4 lanes (which the way people drive here becomes 7!) down to 2 and then one because they are building a flyover in the middle of the road just before the damn temple...so it takes very long to get home during the rush..mad traffic...too many cars...Danny has a break now..poor guy has also been feeling the heat...leaves the house at 630 for school...then tution till 6 in the evening then coming home in the same traffic...home by 7 or even 8 sometimes..They started the hols late so was very hot in school...the hols are shortened...they are giving hols during the commonwealth games to ease the traffic...I can’t see it working!

I make sure there is home cooked khana..like always...busy with voice overs...still do the discovery one..and others when they call me...a play in chennai in august followed by a tour with another play hopefully...

I am looking forward to the world cup!...just the diving and pretending to be injured really gets me irritated...a far cry from the football and players we knew....the 'beautiful' game...listening to all the predictions on the TV with all the analysis...but I always feel no team can ever be written off..as on any given day anything can happen...by the way...heard about the Indian cricket team getting thrashed twice by Zimbabwe??!!...a second string...but still Indian team!...

take care out there...remember...what you leave behind is not what is
engraved in stone monuments or metal plaques...but what is woven into
the lives of others...relationships matter above all else!...

2010-03-22T08:03:00.000+05:30

I have neglected my blog for one and a half years now and am in a dilemma. Should I try to capture the huge amount of change that has happened in this period and encapsulate it in one humungous post?...or accept defeat and just concentrate on the present?...so while I am in this presently bewildered state maybe it is best I ramble on.

At present I find myself at a sort of crossroads in my life...is it age?.... it the uncertainty of the future?..having seen people pass on this year?...is it the sheer vastness of the web that is threatening to engulf me?...the gi-normous extent of the reach of the world wide web?...its tentacles drawing me in further till my perception of reality is bewildered?...the thin grey...or maybe red line..... that divides reality and imagination somehow becomes blurred... ‘friends’ in the cyber world....with the ease of communicating with no inhibitions.... are easier to deal with than the frightening, frowning faces in front of me?...whose instant reflection of emotion is evident and literally ‘in my face’?...

So I have become a slave of the social networking site and ‘chat room’!!!...how did it happen?...oh very slowly...it sneaked up on me ...surrounded me and engulfed me...leaving me helplessly bound...I lost a ‘friend’...not due to his passing away...more like passing on...it has left me confused....not broken...maybe a little cracked and frayed on the edges?...I made a new friend...which has left me as cracked and frayed at the edges!...the etiquette of cyber friendship on a social website is a little beyond me...the boundaries blurred...so I wonder when I am overstepping?...becoming obsessive?...dependent?...the result?...I feel I should just give up the ghost...distance myself....and deal with my mundane existence in the realm of reality...see shining happy people around me...and not lose my religion over it!

So there you have it...my present rambling mental state in a nutshell...a nutcase in a nut house?...gosh I need some coffee!!!...promise to be more informative and coherent in future!

september2008

2008-10-11T22:08:00.000+05:30

After a hectic month it feels good to be able to breathe at last…..not to say the month has not been fun, but it was a roller coaster ride!

Rehearsals for another well received performance of ‘Salaam India’ on the 15th, which was a weekday and two days after the Delhi bomb blasts, to a full house, which was commendable. We have performed in Delhi twice before and also in Muscat. Hoping for sponsors to pull us to more parts of the globe where there are NRI’s and Indians who would enjoy this celebration of ‘Indianness’ and just ‘being Indian’!!…..it is very rarely that one gets to work with such wonderful co-actors and a director of Lushin Dubey’s temperament and warmth. There are just four of us and 24 dancers. I always thank ‘The good Lord’ and Lushin for letting me catch a glimpse of this whole new world!

This was followed very quickly by the arrival of my sister, Lesley (here after 18 years), and cousin Leon (here after 40 years!) on the final leg of a journey from Melbourne to the UK and then to India….they barely arrived and were on a plane to Coimbatore to spend a couple of days with her mother-in-law and family. We picked them up from the airport at 12 midnight and dropped them off to the domestic airport at 430. We had a bit of coffee in a hotel to kill the time between the flights. There we were treated to the sight of young jet setters of Delhi and their early morning antics…singing love songs with terrible American accents…. giggly girls and google- eyed boys….lovely dresses…..well, little bits of cloth pretending to be dresses, ‘the emperor’s new clothes’ is certainly still relevant today!....plucked bleached and beautified yet still preserving their dirty knees!... the young men imagined they were a shade darker, with curly hair….on their heads!....and did terrible impressions of African-American ‘boys from the hood’….some were obviously from that wonderful place called….Louis-dhiana??!!.... one even did a terrible rendition of hotel California!….. people-watching is a wonderful pastime that we excel at!....but I felt sad for them as they were not sure where they were coming from or where they were going……or where they were!

On their return from Coimbatore, cousins Bobby Hoffland and son David, and Nicky Hoffland dropped in for some quality time. Lots of laughter and fun, or ‘masti’ as we call it here! Bobby and Nicky had never met!.....their dad’s work had never brought them to the same city at the same time!....but being Hofflands, they found so much in common to chat and joke about!

Les, Leon and myself then travelled to Mount Abu as she ‘had’ to see her godson and nephew, my son, ‘Danny Boy’. The overnight journey was fun and faithful Kishen, the taxi driver, was there to meet us. The drive up to Mount Abu was lovely as the rains bring life to the otherwise bare hills. We spent the day at our friends the Dragwidge’s house and also went to Kitu and Ramona’s house. Marie Dragwidge had made ‘potato chops’, aloo tikkis stuffed with mince, for breakfast, which Leon and Les thoroughly enjoyed, throwing out the last vestige of western ‘sensible’ eating along with them! Lunch was chicken ‘jhal frazee’, another ‘Anglo-Indian’ speciality, which was devoured too! The peace and calm of Abu, the ‘Abu bug’ that bites us all, took a small nibble from Les and Leon too!....they loved it and our friends. As Leon said, ‘I have just met these people and I feel like I have known them all my life!’….to which I replied….”that is India!”….
This was followed by a trip to Asansol to see mum’s elder sister “Aunty Rita, and her nieces Jenny, and Pam, who happened to be there too. As a child, Leon had always met Aunty Rita in Delhi so it was an experience for him to meet her on her own ‘turf’! On the way, we were treated to the sounds of a generous co-passenger breaking wind quite melodiously and with a certain amount of pride in his ability to produce such volume with out any mishap, or ‘drawing mud’, as my sister Lesley calls it!.....this was when I explained to Leon that in India we are truly free, unlike our poor western co-inhabitants of this lonely planet, and release of body gases is done regularly whenever and wherever the opportunity arises….why keep it when you can share it with fellow passengers in an enclosed air-conditioned compartment?...as my Aunty Rita used to tell us when we were younger…’wherever you may be, let your wind go free…..when in a crowd, let it out loud…..when on your own, let it moan….and so on!’….not ones to pass up the opportunity, Leon and I gave a fitting response to our fellow passengers flatulent vocalizations…..Lesley, for some strange reason was red in the face and unable to speak….been away from India too long I think….or maybe just finding it hard to suppress her giggles.

Asansol has changed a lot from a sleepy ‘one horse’ town, to a bustling 100 cars/min chaotic mini-city. Shopping for the modern upwardly mobile generation, but somehow missing the old-world charm it used to have. We had ‘kati-kebabs’ which we have always associated with our childhood visits. Our cousins Pam and Jenny were there to also trade stories and reminisce with Les. A trip to Loreto Convent where Les studied was a bit sad when we saw the changes to the infrastructure. As much as we hate it, change is inevitable! Aunty Rita was so pleased to meet us all, and many embarrassing childhood stories, all lies, were repeated to everyone’s embarrassment!....know what I mean?

On our return, we spent a day with Les and Leon before dropping them off to Jeffrey and Bella Makhani’s place to spend the night as we were headed to Mount Abu for ‘parent’s week’ the following day and they were to leave for Oz the following day too. Not the perfect ‘goodbye’, but, cest la vie. It was the end of a short, but I hope enjoyable, trip for both of them. I am sure that after being away from home for a month or more everyone longs for their own bed, favourite chair, TV and toilet….i know I do!

Abu was marred by the fact that Jenny spilled hot tea on her lap as we approached the station, and it was only when we reached Mount Abu that we found that she had burns and blisters on her inner thigh. As a result she was confined to sitting with her legs apart and walking ‘as if she had 3 balls’….direct quote from Jenny!...she used borrowed skirts, as she has long disposed of the ones she had thinking she would never wear them. We are grateful to Ramona James and Marie Dragwidge for their contribution of elasticated waisted skirts to the ‘Jenny’s burnt thigh’ foundation. She is much better now and back to her normal striding self.

This year we got to see Danny act on stage for the first time as a Greek, in a take off from the ‘mind your language’ series. He impressed me, and all who watched, with his stage presence, large arm movements (something most actors need to be taught), and his dialogue delivery….not forgetting his impressive painted French beard!...chip off the old block!....the acting, definitely not the beard!

Danny had fractured his toe in August and not told anyone as he wanted to play the badminton finals which he won, both singles and doubles. As he had fractured his toe, he did not run the track events, but managed to win gold in the shot put. We did, however, get to see him march with his house flag as the vice-captain also.

Returned to Delhi to a performance of ‘Salaam India’, the play I had acted in in Feb and August (Muscat). Hopefully we shall be travelling with the play in India and then overseas. Great play, amazing cast and brilliant director make each performance a memorable experience for me and hopefully the audience too!

And here I am, back to grind….the year is reaching its end so fast…time flies as one gets older….HELP!

2008-09-01T13:24:00.000+05:30

Well I’m back from Muscat, where we performed ‘Salaam India’. Getting there was a ‘comedy of errors’ that, in typical Indian fashion, worked out quite well in the end! ! I wish Jenny had been there, as I am always so ‘incomplete’ without her, but the changing dates made it impossible for her to get leave. Even Lushin Dubey, my director and fellow cast member kept saying that Jenny should have been with us.

It all started with the dates being switched as some passports and visa were delayed and the final day was the ‘best’! …….I was in a cab on my way to the domestic airport, to catch the 430 pm Jet Airways flight to Mumbai, when I got a call saying that we were booked onto the Indian (Airlines) 730 flight direct to Muscat, as the production crew had missed their connecting flight from Mumbai when their Jet flight had taken off 2 hours late!.... so I had to ask the cab guy to go to the International airport instead…... We all reached the airport, 4 cast, 10 dancers and the sound guy, a good friend Clarence, to find none of us had the e-tickets! They were with the leader of the dance troupe from Danceworx, run by Ashley Lobo, and he, Gaurav, was ‘on his way’!!! To cut a long story short, we boarded the flight and were on our way to Muscat….yippeeee!

We landed there around 11 pm and I was overjoyed to meet my friend from TTC in Darjeeling after 14 years. Zacharias Jacob, lovingly called Pippy was there with his wife and 2 kids. He has been in Muscat for 19 years! The sponsor, Dr Satish Nambiar, president of the Indian Social Club, gave us a very warm welcome and was such a kind and genuine person that I was shocked…as business men and art do not normally mix and we are from separate worlds, making communication and appreciation so very difficult!..... It then turned out that our ‘escort’, Sanjeev (Sanju2) Manuel, had been taught by Pippy in the Indian School there! What a small world!

The four actors and Gaurav went to the venue where we were to perform the next day…..a hotel called ‘al faraj’?? …..we met our production buddy Sanjeev (Sanju1) Maurya, he had flown in the day before to set up the elaborate sets etc etc etc. He was pooped, but we were so happy to see him as he is such a sweetheart….in a totally non-gay way of course!...The stage was much smaller than we were used to, so we ‘worked’ on it a bit to get the feel.

After that Dr Satish Nambiar, or ‘Doc’ as we were then referring to him as, took us for some ‘shwarmas’, an Arabic shredded grilled chicken sandwich/wrap, which was agreed to be the food of choice by general consensus. I was pleasantly surprised to find that a lot of the little Arabic I knew from my Dubai days returned! We reached the hotel, Al Nahda Resort at ‘Barka’, by 2am, I think, as I had lost all sense of time, and I was amazed to find that we were to be accommodated in luxurious separate suites!

The next day, the buffet breakfast was lavish and I did ‘breakfast like a king’…..I also found that I lunched not ‘like a prince’, but continued to be kingly!......my friend Pippy came over and took me for a drive to see the hot springs and the highest peak in the region, called Jebel Akhdar. We never reached…….. Pippy took a wrong turn!.... we did however catch up on many years of family news! After lunch,we went to the venue for a rehearsal and fine tuning, and before we knew it….it was ‘show time’! Pippy had come along with another TTC friend whom I had not met for 23 years! Terrence Dique…..great to meet them both.

The show went off well; we met the Indian Ambassador before the show……can’t remember his name. ….and many well wishers after. It was an appreciative audience.

We returned to the Resort to find we had to each order our own dinner from room service. My friend Clarence gave me the best possible advice and said to order before going for a well deserved bath. I did so at 1245……had a bath….and was dozing off….. when my meal landed up at 145!!!!

The next day was ‘sightseeing day’!.....the young and energetic dancers were up and raring to go by 8 am…..I had my normal frugal breakfast of a mushroom omelette, two slices of ‘beef’……yes!....beef bacon and beef ham, a couple of potato hashes, a chicken sausage and four slices of brown toast…..hmmmmmm……well I thought it was a frugal breakfast!....the dancers were waiting impatiently for the day to begin. We did eventually get out after lunch, another meagre lunch…..at 130 pm.

The sheer beauty of the surroundings had me spellbound. Dubai pales in comparison. Stark bare hills with the sea as a backdrop, winding roads…..beautiful…. the old souk was wonderful…..I saw a genuine Omani Chinese laughing Buddha, a genuine Omani Natraja statue among so many other wonder ‘genuine’ items…..It was a wonderful opportunity for the whole cast to interact also. Normally in a production like this, the dancers, production crew and actors are separate groups; we made some wonderful friends on this trip. By 7pm, I was dropped off at a petrol/gas station to be picked up by Pippy to spend my final evening with his family…..standing at the gas station waiting for Pippy, with my suitcase in hand, well on the floor, I couldn’t help but wonder if our escort, Sanjeev (Sanju2) Manuel, was playing some cruel joke on me and I was at the wrong place!

Pippy came after 20 minutes and took me home. I had a lovely south Indian dinner, but could not eat as I was getting butterflies watching the time. We had to be at the airport at 930 pm to get the 12 midnight flight back to Delhi. When Pippy called Sanjeev the local host, they had only left the hotel at 920!.....it was 60 km from the airport…..we took our time and reached at 1030 to find everyone in a tizzy. The hotel driver, Abdullah- another interesting character- had not ‘spared the horses’ and got them to the airport in 25 minutes!!....I was now late!......do you know those books or movies where they say….’and they were whisked out of the country….’ Well, that’s how we felt!....Indian Airlines staff moved us from one counter to the next, out the door, into the bus and onto the flight in……15 minutes?!!!!!

I was happy to be home after 2 and a half days out…….. with one week’s fun and worked packed in
We will be performing on 15th and 30th of September in Kamani auditorium Delhi.

The "Beautiful Game"

2008-06-10T10:50:00.002+05:30

The "Beautiful Game"

I started playing football, or soccer, as it is known to you people across the Atlantic, when I was 7 years old in Moscow. Of course as I played with my elder brothers, who are 7 and 6 years older then me, I started playing ‘left out’, literally!...I then graduated to 'gaol-keeper', as no one else wanted to get hit with a ball! I took what I could get and got on with it. From experience I can state that a ball in the “lower abdomen’, as we so politely refer to the ‘soft spot’ of a male, and also in the solar plexus, are the most uncomfortable and embarrassing occurrences in living memory!

In Delhi as a young boy in Mount St. Mary’s School, a good Catholic institution, with corporal punishment in the ‘good ol days’, I played in the ‘under 4’8”’ team, the coach’s son was 4’8”! We were put through the wringer by Mr Kohli, whom I thank for being a tough old 47 year old now!, an hour of exercise, an hour of basic training and then an hour game. This too in Delhi summers where the maximum can get to about 43C! After that, my cousins, the Browns, and I would walk, or hitchhike (those were the ‘good ol days’ ) home to R.K.Puram, which was about 5 Km. My love for the game did not diminish!

In the UK, in school, I played for the house team, watched Saturday matches on the ‘telly’, and continued my love affair with football. I even have a couple of trophies from an ‘inter-branch’ tournament that we won for two consecutive years! Darryl, stop laughing!

Back in India, 4 years in Darjeeling kept my love affair going, at times I would play 3 hours non-stop football, one hour with the boys, one hour with the teacher trainees and one hour with the boys from the ‘bustee’, village, who were excellent players! I watched the world cup at Raj David’s house with one boy sitting on the roof to continuously rotate the antenna so as to get a ‘clear’ picture. We would pretend we could see what was happening on the black and white TV, thanks Raj, as the picture deteriorated and we honestly began to think that maybe it did snow in Mexico in June!

In Delhi, I continued to play the game I loved, in Bluebells School, which did not have a field, but where the boys would meet my brother-in-law, Gene, and myself on Sundays on the Modern School field to have a game against his office side!,…..and Mount St. Mary’s School, until an injured shoulder and giving up teaching ended my ‘journey.

So today, I sit and watch it on my telly. The ‘beautiful’ game is beginning to look like an aging actress with wrinkles that she tries to either ‘botox’ away or cover with a layer of foundation, and even a few facelifts too!

I watch, as tall, muscular, Adoniss, with hairstyles to rival ‘America’s next top model’, and tattoos of their names mispelt in various exotic languages, find it so hard to keep their balance and dive through the air at a touch. Their arms fly out like ‘jazz-trained’ dancers, their feet leave the ground like divers at Acapulco, they cry out like broken hearted maidens and then writhe in pain with REAL tears and agony written on their faces at the slightest contact! And sometimes manage to do so artistically even without any contact! They flail their arms like whirling dervishes when an opponent gets near and even ‘go in’ with their studs! They tug at shirts, hold each other’s arms, bodies and other body parts and all this in plain and open view of the referee! And then give an angelic smile when questioned!.....all this in the quest for the closest ‘free kick’ and for the very fortunate, even a penalty kick. These are then surrounded by their team mates and congratulated for their tremendously deceptive skill, unfortunately without the ball at their feet!

I grieve for the referees. They are beginning to remind me of the man in the striped t-shirt who dances on the sidelines of a WWF wrestling match. He is there, but only because he HAS to. The action replays in slow motion must be an embarrassment, as he gives a free kick or penalty, only to realise that the thrashing, ‘dying’ player is a skilful proponent of ‘the dive’!

I was watching an EPL football match from the 1990’s on TV with my 16 year old son, Danny. He was amazed to see that players took a tackle, got up, shook hands and got on with the game. No one dived, pulled, pushed, cried or twisted in ‘agony’ on the floor, not to say they did not ‘shoulder barge’ or ‘slide tackle’, they did! He turned to me and said “Wow Dad, they are really tough guys! This is really fun to watch! What a great game!” and I answered, “This is MY game, the game I played and loved all my life”

The ‘Beautiful Game’ is losing her beauty, and it saddens me.

Dec2007-May2008

2008-06-07T14:05:00.000+05:30

A long overdue news roundup! It’s a long one, so skip to the last 3 paras for the concise version!

It is every ‘free lance’ artist’s dream to ‘get work’, but quite honestly I have been on a mad roller coaster ride the past few months…still waiting for it to slow down so I can get off and clear my head!

It all started in December when I met a fellow voice artist called Shena Gamat in a studio and she asked if I would be interested in doing a play. As I had had a weird experience on my last soiree into the Delhi theatre scene I was a bit hesitant, but she assured me that it was a chance to work with some ‘good people’. Anyway I went along for the audition. I had to act as two different characters, a Punjabi, loud politician and a boy from the slums….. enjoyed both the characters. I surprised myself when Lushin said I was ‘very good’!

The rehearsals started in December 7 days a week. I was worried that I would find learning the script difficult as it was a quarter of the script! 4 actors, each playing 4 characters! I was a Gujarati merchant, an American based uncle come to marry his niece off, the politician and the slum boy. The other actors were a great bunch, Shena Gamat, Ashish Paliwal and Lushin Dubey, director and actor, so we had a great time. I learned a lot from them.

The play was in Feb and a great success, but then maybe I’m biased! It was on a grand scale and I enjoyed the whole experience although it left me in a kind of limbo after that trying to pick up the pieces, it was a definite high!

Christmas was spent as always with our adopted family, the Sethis, Robin, Sharon and Saira, and Uncle Ossie and Aunty Winnie Mascarenhas, a quiet fun time with the normal banter and fun of opening pressies!

We brought in 2008 at Deepak and Pam’s place in Gurgaon. A family affair, with a lot of family!....dancing our way into 2008, poor Deepak had to go to bed after wishing everyone as he had a flight (he is a pilot for those who do not know him) the next day….what is great is that we always feel at home at their place even if we do only meet after months….thanks guys!

Following this, a friend of mine got a job to do promos for a new channel called world movies, international movies with subtitles/dubbed for Indian viewers. The job?...well we went from one media office to the next doing a little skit. We had four actors acting as a Russian girl, an Arab teen, a Japanese girl and myself as a rustic Italian! It was fun as we improvised around a basic script…..I still have to meet an old lady from Delhi and confess that I am Andrew Hoffland and not ‘Paolo Francetti’ as I led her to believe! We travelled to Bombay….oooops!....Mumbai and Bangalore/Bengaluru for this and it was fun!....walking into fast food joints in full costume and character, and creating quite a stir also!.....for some citizens of those lovely cities it will remain a day to remember!

When I returned I got a call for an audition for a movie from ‘Deepa Mehta Productions’, which I thought was someone pulling my leg! The address given was Nizamuddin East. I automatically visualised narrow gullies, lanes, and crowded little houses, so was even more convinced it was a tall story. I found the address and it was a large house. On entering I found it aesthetically and lavishly decorated. A man came to meet me and introduced himself as Deepak, poor guy had a sore throat. I read the script for a judge and he was impressed. Uninformed I then found out that he was ‘Deepak Mehta’, brother (?) of ‘Deepa Mehta’, a film maker famous for various off-the-beaten-track Indian (English) movies…look her up on Google! I went for the shoot and found I was on the set with Lisa Ray…look her up on Google too!.....and Seema Biswas….look her up three!....it was a magnificent event and I think I did well, had a chat with Lisa, who was such a delightfully unaffected person, and Seema, who is a simple and down to earth person!....Deepak was another amazingly ‘at ease’ person….cinematographer Giles Nyugent (got that right?)….and all the other people were amazing, the production crew, a bunch of young people, were also such fun! All in all it was an overwhelming experience!

We, well Jenny, drove to Abu to drop Danny off. His trunk fitted exactly into the back of our ‘wagon R’….we had a laugh with music and ‘masti’!....Easter was in Abu as usual, with our ‘family’ there, the James and Dragwidge gang!.... we also got the news that Danny is the Vice-Captain of his house, and doing a good job of it too!

When I got back I was asked to act in a short film for final year students of a reputed media college. The cast and crew were great, the story, a twister! Enjoyed the energy of the people I worked with and the story, an adaptation of a short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Good luck Anant, Bernie, Lakshmi, Parth and Radhika….hope our paths cross again some time…..the future of cinematography and TV!

We are just back from Abu where we went for Danny’s ‘confirmation’, an important ceremony in Catholic life. It was an eventful journey that left us drained. Rajasthan, where the school is, is in the grip of an agitation by a tribe (?) of people called the Gujjars. They are demanding reservations for admissions and government jobs. They had done the same thing last year and the government had promised some sort of solution. However, as is so often the case, they sat on it and a year went by with no solution in sight. I suppose they thought that if they sat on it long enough everyone would forget. Well, the Gujjars did not. Road and rail traffic between Delhi and Jaipur, on our route to Abu, were disrupted as the Gujjars squatted on the highways and dug up rail tracks. We had to fly to Ahmedabad and then take a 4 hour cab journey to Abu. As a ‘confirmation’ is an important stage in a young person’s life, we felt we had to be there no matter what. We had to wake up at 3, get to the airport by 4.30 and the flight was at 6 am. The bus from the lounge to the aircraft took a circuitous route and I even began to wonder whether the driver could find the aircraft! After driving at a snail’s pace and peering left and right with a really harassed look on his face, he reached the aircraft at some secluded parking area. At Ahmedabad airport our faithful Abu taxi-wallah, Kishan, was all smiles and waiting for us. The drive was fairly pleasant up to Palanpur. After that the road deteriorated as they are building a

new highway…..did that make sense? Well it does in Rajasthan!

We reached the school as the school fete was on. We were knackered! After early dinner we walked down to our hotel and crashed! The next morning we were at the school 8 is for the ‘confirmation’ mass. A simple, meaningful service with a long, but interesting sermon by the bishop…..forget his name. Danny spent the day with us and also met up with a bunch of ex-students, who had come up for the weekend. Then a round of photo-take-outing…some ‘khana’…and we were back in hotel!

While we were in Abu we met with people who had travelled by train from Delhi, and felt like kicking ourselves for panicking, however the next morning when Kishan came to drive us to Ahmedabad to catch the return flight he showed us the local Abu newspaper, which said that all trains to Delhi had been sent back to their points of origin. A vindication that we had taken the right decision.

And so, back we are, 3 weeks for Dan’s summer break of one week. Pray the agitation ends and that trains are up and running by that time.

God bless

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2007

2007-12-24T07:55:00.000+05:30

As we come to the end of another year, another Christmas, the words of John Lennon’s song seem so appropriate:

So this is Christmas and what have you done
Another year over and a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one the old and the young

A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one without any fear
And so this is Christmas for weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones the world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas for black and for white
For yellow and red ones let's stop all the fights

One must ask, why don’t we sum up the general outcome of our lives, for instance, once a year, and consider for what purpose did we live and spend the year?

Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

A quick round up of the year…. Danny goes into class 10, in March 2008, with new found confidence; he is a calmer and more mature young man. Jenny has achieved a personal ambition and has driven the 800 km to Mount Abu. She is still with Emirates and has completed 20 years with the organisation. I am busy, sometimes too much, with voice overs, theatre, some writing and even singing. We have lost near and dear ones this year (Uncle Lesley, Hazel Sethi…..), but as Christians I feel we should be cheerful that their earthly trial is complete. It still hurts though. We have had news of births among our circle of family and friends (the latest Velu!....) and have shared the new parents’ joy. Friends and family have achieved personal goals and targets in their lives (Ivan, Sharon …) and we are always pleased to hear of their success, somehow Jenny and I have always felt thrilled to hear of close one’s success. Misfits in today’s world! At this time we do miss and pray for our families, Jenny’s in Australia and Canada, mine in England and Australia and, of course, Vernie and Mum ( Peggy Morris). We are the ‘last of the Mohicans’!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, peace and prosperity,.

Love,

Andy, Jenny and Danny

june-july2006

2007-11-18T18:52:00.000+05:30

June 2006

About 8 months back……maybe more……I discovered a little lump the size of a marble on my back, near the left shoulder blade. It didn’t bother me, so I didn’t bother it. By Christmas it was the size of a large marble. My mum came from the UK and was after me to get it seen to……strange how our busy lives gives us time to see to others, but never enough time to see to things closer home. My Aunty Rita, Mum’s elder sister……ex Army nurse…. joined the ‘nagging’ for me to get my ’lumps’ seen to. Became a bit of a joke really……Andy’s ‘lumps’!!!!

A couple of weeks earlier, the lump on my back became inflamed and started paining. Went to Dr. Ganesh Kumar, who lives in our flats, and he gave me a course of anti-biotics for a week. The inflammation did not subside and he then referred me to a Dr. Thusoo, the chief/senior surgeon in Max Balaji Hospital round the corner from our place. Went to see Dr. Thusoo on the 12^th of June and he told me that it would have to be removed the following day. He insisted on general anesthetic as it had now become a 5 cm diameter ‘lump’, and he said that because of infection he did not want to have to keep puncturing it with a local anesthetic needle, plus the fact that he said he did not want the anesthetic wearing off and me swearing at him and/or punching him!!!

I was sent for a battery of test that same day……chest X-ray, urine, blood and ECG. Hate blood tests!!! Somehow the pathology people take some sort of masochistic pleasure in not hitting the right vein at the right angle and have to keep fiddling and farting around for the blood to flow…….fortunately ‘shishu bhavan’ was functioning well and flask for the urine sample ‘ranneth over’!!! the X-ray was a real nipple raiser as they made me flatten up against a cold…….very cold!.....metal sheet, take a deep breath……ever tried that with your chest up against a cold metal sheet???.....and then , like a child in a photo studio……no……I was not told to smile!........I was told to go and wait outside in case the X-ray had not come out clear. Like an ‘expectant father’, outside the maternity ward,……..actually, at the exact time my Danny was born……….I was sitting on the pot at home catching up on some unfinished business, but that’s another story………..I waited for the information that it was a clear X-ray. Next was the ECG. Cold goo was spread at points along my body……yuck…..and the electrodes were attached.

I returned to collect the reports in the evening and was pleasantly surprised to find that I am the picture of health! Urine?.....clear, acidic and all the normal bs that they write…wondered if they had mixed up the samples!!! Blood?.....all good……blood sugar 116!!....we had eaten pork chops the night before! Haemoglobin 16.5!! Xray?.....surprise, surprise…..clear! I was geared up for the ‘procedure’, as they politely call it! Was shit scared of the general anesthetic, as I had never been ‘under’ before. The good old World Cup 2006 came to the rescue and helped me forget!

Got up early on the 13^th…..had to finish eating by 6 am! Went with Alex…..ex-student to the hospital at 9. Was ‘checked in’ and then taken in a wheelchair….first time in my life!.......to my ward. Once I was in, the vultures descended…….nurses with needles!......sounds like a horror movie? HATE NEEDLES!! I was then taken to meet the anesthetic man. We had a good laugh as the guy pushing me around got lost! Of course, he blamed the lift for taking him to the wrong floor!!!! The doc was a nice guy and put me at ease…..we started talking football! He had worked in Saudi and knew some of my ex-students who were there. We then took the long route back and I was put on drip. Time dragged on till 1230. they wheeled me all the way to the OT on a gurney…..like the movies……looking up at the corridor lights………into the lift………Alex, like the expectant father this time…….walking at my side…..Jenny was coming later…..into the OT, with Alex waving goodbye…….GOODBYE??!!.......into the OT ……..all the lights on…….injected me through the intraveneous with a cold liquid…….then the anesthetist asked me if it hurt, when I said yes, he started rubbing my hand so sweetly ….…….. nooooooooooo, not like that!

The next thing I knew I was in the recovery room…..amazing!.....no nausea….no

head-swing…. NO LUMP!!..........like getting up in the morning…….with the bad breath!!! I was out by 2 30 pm. I was brought back to the ward……..sleepy. then a couple of bottles of drip and some anti biotic through the intravenous….thank God! And I was fit as a fiddle. “Checked out” at 6 at got home.

The dressing makes it difficult to sleep as I always land up on my back at night……used an arrangement of pillows to make my self comfortable. Bathing is a major exercise…….bits and pieces and in installments! Hair wash? An expedition!

Got the biopsy yesterday……clear. The only bad news is that a lot of fluid had built up and when the stitches were removed they found that the wound was ‘gaping’. So I’m on antibiotics…..still!.... and have to go for daily dressing. They will review the situation on Thursday the 22^nd and might have to re-stitch the wound…….alteration??!!

My stitches are out at laaaaaaast!

After nearly a month of ‘dressing’ and plaster on my back, it , and I, can breathe again… ….the only thing is, can only have a ‘real’ bath tomorrow…..oh boy! The wound has healed. Went yesterday and met the surgeon…..he removed the stitches and I thanked him……also told him I hope not to see him again! He said the same to me…..don’t come back to me please….only to visit, but not as a patient….we had a good time, me and Dr. Thusoo. Lot of banter and jokes. He would be cleaning the stitches with alcohol and when I would ask him what it was he would say……”this is only for cleaning, not for drinking!”, so I told him that a peg a day is good for the heart!....he asked me where I had read that and I told him it was in the Max Hospital Healthy Living hand out! He got hysterical! Not using my back muscles, as per doctor’s advice, means that now I get cramped up when I lift a weight. Using the scooter today after a long time….have to go to Carmel and meet the Princy and then will try to get Dad’s mobile validity extended. The Airtel office is in CP. Monsoons have arrived with it’s pros and cons……cooler, but humid and rain causes water-logging.

Dehradun was fun, meeting all the family after so many years was great! I love the way we cousins are able to just pick up where we left off, even after years. Thanks to the Hoffland family elders and their ability to do the same. All are good, including Uncle Ces and Aunty Pat……..and their little dog. So many old embarrassing story’s of our childhood……courtesy Aunty Es! Danny, my son, enjoyed that part. Mike, John/Steven/Punnu and Keith all got on well with Danny, maybe because he is sporty, like all the cousins are. Kudos to my wife……her maiden venture on to the Delhi Dehra ‘highway’, a glorified two lane road !......was handled with confidence and aplomb! The road……sorry, ‘highway’…… was pretty shitty more often than smooth, and the rule of ‘might is right’ meant that she had flash her lights at oncoming traffic…..let me through…..i’m BAD!!.....and simultaneously honk at the scooters, bikes and bullock-carts on her own side of the road…..get out of my way you ##$% ......as Jenny can do so eloquently without the horn! Quite a commendable ambidextrous feat!! I am proud of my wife!!!- three exclamation marks.

Danny went back to Mount Abu on Saturday. He complained about the trip to Dehra being ‘boring’, but then when you are 14……EVERYTHING is boring! Unless it has pretty young girls involved!! Yet, he WAS seen to enjoy himself with the ‘Brownies’!! getting quite thrilled with all the yarns and nonsense!

Mount Abu Parents' week 2006

2007-11-18T17:51:00.000+05:30

We travelled to Mount Abu on 17^th October for Danny’s annual musical and sports day. Dad, jenny and myself reached the station and were happy we were all together in the same carriage, or bogey, as it is called. Jenny and I were happy to get the two berths in the aisle, top and bottom. We dumped our luggage and then settled in for what was to be………A TRIP TO HELL. Some guy was trying to shove two huge cartons under all the seats around us….either he needed a visit to an optician or he had studied some warped version of physics and maths which allowed for fitting larger volumes into smaller volumes. I was dying to interact with him, to find out more on this theory…..maybe I could fit into my wedding suit after all!!.....when jenny spoiled the proving of his theorem by demoralising his greater intelligence and telling him…..”It is not possible!”…….so sad! Dejectedly, the budding space physicist gave up his future with NASA and moved the boxes out. Then the Ticket Collector arrived. We handed over our tickets for scrutiny. He peered over the rim of his specs at the tickets, then us, then the tickets, then us, for about 5 times, and then dropped the bombshell ‘Sir, this ticket is for 19^th, not 17^th.”. The travel agent had goofed up! Visions of Jen and me being led off the train in handcuffs, with dad having to continue to Abu on his own, staring at the world through the rusted bars of a dingy cell, flashed before my eyes.

Fortunately for us, the two berths we were on were in fact empty! After some ‘follow the leader’, played by Mr TC…..no! not Top Cat!....Ticket Collector!.....and self, we agreed that he would not charge a penalty, would ‘jump’ off the train at Jaipur and organise a ticket for us and we would be ‘good to go’! Somewhere in our conversation I managed to convince him, through a lot of innuendo, that I had some sort of connection with the railway and that Jenny was probably the second in command of the CBI travelling under-cover! He was only too happy to oblige and even kept reminding me that I could get a refund on the ticket at Abu Road station.

After a good night’s sleep on the train, we reached Abu Road, our faithful taxiwalla Kishan was waiting for us, and got a refund on the offending tickets. After breakfast, good high cholesterol aloo parathas!......we went up to the school for lunch with Cliffy and Marie Dragwidge…..teacher friends from Asansol……..no! it is not pronounced like that!...and then for the Musical production of ‘Smike’! Danny surprised us all with his performance, dancing and speaking on stage, no less! Evening dinner was a get together at Kitu and Ramona James’ house with all the jokes and music from Kitu’s seemingly endless collection of video CDs. We wrapped up relatively early, 12 midnight??!!

The next day I went up early to give a round of haircuts to the gents and ladies of St Mary’s, the ‘Barber of Mount Abu’, not to be confused with my compatriot of Seville! Sumptuous lunch at the Dragwidge’s, and then to the field for Sports Day. Danny had already won the long jump and got the silver in the shot put, and now it was time for the track events. He won the B division 100s and 200s quite convincingly and the relays as well. Good strong finishes in all the races. Got the best athlete in B division and we were all pleased. The drills were choreographed by a young boy from Mumbai, Bombay sounds so much better! Some were to Bollywood movie hits, the senior boys did all the usual gyrations and the ‘balle balle’, the crowd erupted in a frenzy of applause, catcalls and whistles…..a lot of fun.

We were worried on the way to Abu Road station as we were waitlisted for the return journey and were hoping the list had cleared and we would be confirmed for the return. Horror of horrors, we found that we were still wait listed and were advised that travelling on the Rajdhani without reservations, that too four of us, would be foolhardy. Luckily, Kishan, our ‘Man Friday’, was able to fix up a taxi, Chevrolet Tavera, to take us to Jaipur and then we were to get another taxi to Delhi… for a PRICE….when the rape is inevitable, they say it is best to lay back and enjoy it! It took 12 hours to Jaipur and we reached early in the morning. The driver was a real Schumacher, but safer than Schumi! On the way we were fortunate enough to stop at a Rajasthani Dhaba, roadside café, not to be confused with its cousin in the western world, pleeeeeease! We had solid, fat Rajasthani rotis, which they douse with butter, and bowls of spicey lentils/daal……amazingly yummy! So were able to get a taste of the ‘real’ Rajasthan! Of course, the next morning we watched the food on its way out too, came out faster than it went in!!! This was at Sirohi…..the names of the towns we passed all had some sort of history and romance about them…….hard to appreciate when you are dog tired and have a numb bum! Sirohi, Pali, Beawar…..a personal favourite…..just say it and see how easily it rolls of the tongue?....nice eh?.......then Ajmer, and …..finally…..Jaipur! We reached Jaipur and were able to get another Tavera quite quickly. Hashim, our driver, did all the negotiations. It turned out the young driver had bought his car the day before, brand new!.......and he kept getting calls from people to congratulate him!......at 100 Kmph on an Indian highway?....dodging cyclists, cows, bullock carts, dogs, pedestrians, elephants, camels……….. the journey to Delhi was another 5 hours…….phew!

Got out of the cab as soon as we reached Delhi, Jenny, Danny and Dad carried on home, I had to catch an auto rickshaw to go for a recording at 11. Work is worship! Would like to have strangled the person who, probably in an inebriated state, came out with that one! A truly memorable journey, a memory for us to treasure for the rest of our lives and hope we never have to repeat…..we were all pooped!

Danny’s holiday was all too short, he ate, shat and played on the computer till Wednesday and then left. We went to Deepak and Pam’s place in Gurgaon on Saturday, had a lovely, simple lunch, and picked up Aunty Rita (Mum’s sister), who came to spend a few days with us. It was great having her over, with her embarrassing stories of what we were like when we were small, that Danny, of course, enjoyed! Jenny was quite disappointed as her leave for Monday and Tuesday was cancelled….one of those things I guess.

Now it’s back to the grind, I’ll be working 830 to 9 for the next two weeks on a project and Jenny is out of the house from 815 to 8.

Take care

Lotsa love

Andy / Uncle Andy/ Sir

new year 2006

2007-11-18T17:24:00.001+05:30

New year 2006

As another year comes to an end, we can look back on a year of sorrow and happiness and remember that it is the troughs in life that allow us to enjoy the peaks. Near and dear have passed away this year. We remember them and the good times we spent with them. Their immortality is our memory of them. This has been an eventful year for us too. My first year as a ‘free-lancer’, after 20 years of teaching was scary and yet exciting. Finding that I have some talent of value was a revelation of sorts! Working in two organizations was stifling and yet such a learning experience. Working on a TV serial that hit a roadblock was a first too. Something about ‘trying to sell it to a station’. Learning to put up with retakes and giggling fits was new too! There are so many avenues left unexplored; it is a novelty that pays!!

Jenny’s aunt Dolly visited with her daughter Patsy and grand-daughter Samantha this year, which helped me to fit another piece of her family jigsaw together, followed by a visit ( a day) by her cousin Billy and his wife, which was another piece! Jenny is with Emirates Airlines and crossed a personal landmark of 18 years service in December this year. Danny has improved on his grades in boarding school with a lot of hard work this year. He was also the badminton champ for the second year running, as well as grabbing a handful of medals in the annual sports day. He was sent with the inter-school team to Nainital to represent the school in badminton. He surprised me with his ability and I was truly proud to see him reach the final. Unfortunately he lost to the host school after a good fight. A proud dad!!

Jenny’s dad had a bought of anaemia, which he has got over now. He has subsequently kept well, by the grace of God. He made a trip with us to Mount Abu for the ‘parents week’ celebrations and enjoyed the outing.

Mum is here after 5 years. We had seen her 3 years back in the UK. Good to have her here. Her sister Rita is spending a few days with us and it has been fun. They are keeping well although Mum has lost the sight in her right eye and her other eye is weak, she is still brave enough to travel to Oz and here to India on her own.

May the peace and joy of the infant Jesus be with you and your family during Christmas and for the year to follow. May the New Year bring peace and prosperity of pocket and happiness to all of you.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Lots of love and God bless from all of us.

Andy

march2007

2007-11-18T17:23:00.001+05:30

Hi all,

Well this is a long overdue message from me, yes les, got my finger out at last, it was stuck for a long time!!

Jen’s dad came back from Canada in September and then made plans to go to Perth in oz. We were surprised at the urgency of his proposed next flight out of the country as he is normally reluctant to travel. On arriving there, he informed us of his plans to marry an old family friend and settle there. Coincidentally, he was married on 26^th January, which is Indian Republic day and also Australia Day!! He is working on his papers to stay on there, maybe a cue for us to move too? We are happy he will now have the companionship he has missed for the last 10 and half years since Mum’s death in 96.

December brought Danny’s return from mount abu for his 3 month……yes 3 month long vacation. As I was helping out with the Carmel Convent musical play, I dragged him along, unwillingly, for the first day and then could not keep him away. My son, thanks to the girls of Carmel, learnt a very valuable lesson in life, that you do not have to be ‘cool’ for girls to like you……you just have to be yourself. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he is witty and quite charming…..that was the feedback I got from the girls when one of them said he was such ‘fun’ and like a ‘mini uncle andy’!.....hope that was a compliment??!!........

Before we knew it, Christmas was upon us. In India it sneaks up and smacks you across the face…..not unlike the way terrorism did with George Bush and the American people. At least in Christian countries it ‘builds up’ to a crescendo, that people in those countries resent so much and dub as commercial ‘hype’. Believe me, that is a much better option. Midnight mass at our new church in Patparganj was a well-organised affair. We walked to church and Robin and Sharon dropped us home. We started Christmas Day with breakfast at Robin and Sharon Sethi’s house; we normally always meet up at Sharon’s parent’s place….Ossie and Winnie Mascarenhas for Christmas lunch and made a point of meeting them. The breakfast was a good high cholesterol affair with a combination of Indian and western yummies! This year, the Roach/Edwards/Mondle family was getting together at Pam’s place in Gurgaon and we were so happy to be there with them. We have always been close and, after all, we are ‘cousins’, and were so happy when Pam called over. Aunty Rita was there too, in good cheer and full of the wit we remember from our childhood days! We had a great time, although would have loved to have met Christopher too. Unfortunately he was unable to make it. The food was a Muslim extravaganza, I made my famous (?) ‘Nihari’ as I know it is Deepak’s favourite! A lot of reminiscing and anecdotes of our childhood trips to Asansol and the fun we used to have. Catching up is always fun.

The new year came in while we slept and slapped US ( I mean ‘us’ not the US! Before they come knocking down our door!!) across the face…..we went to bed in 2006 and woke up in 2007 …..as we normally do…..not much on the tv and too much fog to go out to a party where they would most probably play loud Punjabi pop and we would wake up with headaches and feel drowsy for the next 24 hours!

Cliffy and Marie Dragwidge spent a week with us on their way to Mount Abu, and we had a great time…….it is always good having people over who are relaxed and feel like ‘family’. Cliffy and Marie are from Asansol……yes, there is such a place! I have known Cliffy for quite a few years, from the holidays I spent during my TTC days in Darjeeling and they also teach in Mount Abu, where Danny is studying. Cliffy was in TTC 76 77, I think. We made a trip to Pam and Deepak’s place in Gurgaon and met Mum’s sister, Aunty Rita. She taught Marie in Loreto Asansol in KG!! coming back we got caught in a hailstorm and flooded roads, the car kept shutting off, but my ‘champ-driver wife’ managed, as she always does, the air did turn blue though!! Lot of fun cooking……and a lot of laughs!

Before we knew it, it was March and we were getting ready to gear up Danny for another year in boarding school in Mount Abu. As usual, a lot of last minute shopping and new uniforms as he puts on weight during his stay here. This went on till the last day when we went out at 6 pm to buy a new trunk as per the specifications given in the Principal’s newsletter. As we usually use the ‘Rajdhani’ fast train, we are not too sure of the names of the other trains to Abu. Every year the boys go up together on the 11 pm train. Something made me check the name of the train and guess what?..........the train this year was the 3 pm one!!!!!! PANIC!!!!............we had missed the train! When the going gets tough………the dumb sit stunned!!!!.....well for 15 minutes anyway! We called the school and they said not to worry and to get Dan to school at the earliest convenience. We knew that extending his holidays would make it more difficult for him to leave us and then to adjust once he reached. Sooooooooo…………………we called our taxiwalla, who had a car, but the driver was not too sure of the route. As I have done the trip by road 3 or 4 times, I felt confident. So we put the trunk on the roof rack, got into the car and left at 9 pm on Saturday night. Up to Ajmer, the road was a good 6 lane highway……….which then became a 2 lane nightmare-way!!.........trucks and cars playing ‘chicken’ at 120 kmph! I got to see the total eclipse of the moon at 330 am!!.......wow!!!.....after plenty of ‘chai’……to keep the driver and me awake, while Danny slept at the back, and one……..yes……just one wrong turn, we reached Mount Abu at 1030 am, set up Danny’s stuff in his locker, gave the Princy a shock, as I had just spoken to him from Delhi only the night before…………..went to the loo at the James’ house as the Dragwidges were not there, boy, were they shocked to see me! ………….. left Abu at 12 noon, reached Delhi at 3 am the following morning, i.e. Monday morning! A hectic journey! 29 hours on the go! All I can remember is tea, tea and…….lots of tea and …….pee!!!

We have Brian Behrmann and his wife Maureen (Jen’s new step-sister!!) here with us for a week or two. Brian has a good sense of humour and is an interesting, well read and informed person, while Maureen has a wicked sense of wit not unlike ours! Unfortunately they have not been able to move out much as we have been having heavy, unseasonal rain and the temperature has dropped to winter values, again!! Global warming??!!.......I wonder!!

Uncle Rex and Aunty Alice were down for their annual check-ups from Nainital. Anna (Lisa), their daughter, comes down from the US each year to be with them while all this is going on. Dad and Uncle Rex were young bachelors on their first posting to Djakarta in the late 40’s!! If your imagination runs riot???……add another 20 % and you may get close to the kind of mayhem they got up to. Uncle Rex is a veritable ‘chronicle keeper’ of their escapades and adventures…….the ‘official family secrets act’ now, after 60 years, allows him to divulge what has, for the last 40 years, puzzled and intrigued the Ferguson and Hoffland family!! As kids, we loved it when Uncle Rex would visit. Our normally prim and proper ‘dad’ was transformed into a teenager and Uncle Rex would keep us enthralled with his fun and antics…..sorry Anna and Victor…oh yes…………..and the grand-children!!..........gotta tell this one….putting a banana into his mouth sideways ……..and then two chicoos!!!!.......my life’s ambition as a small boy was to be ‘like uncle rex’!!.......guess I’m getting there! But honestly, it is always great to see both him and Aunty Alice. He still hasn’t lost his touch and remains one of my childhood heroes…..hi Uncle Rex and Aunty Alice!!......will be mailing him this letter too……that is another amazing thing…..a man around 80 (?)……sorry……..70(?)………60(?)…..who went into an institute to learn how to operate a computer and be on the internet!!......how cool is that!!!! They are also ‘family’!!

Well?....will end here, hope I haven’t left out anyone or any thing…..

Keep in touch now!

Love

Andy

May2006

2007-11-18T17:19:00.000+05:30

From the 1^st to 3^rd May, we went to the other end of the country, literally across India, to Vishakapatnam and then to a place called Semiliguda in Orissa for Jenny’s cousin’s wedding. The girl he has married, Asha, is a tribal girl who is well educated and her whole family is well placed…not your spearing, raw meat eating, kind of tribal!!

Her father works for HAL in a remote area on the Andhra Pradesh and Orissa border. We flew, courtesy Jenny, to Vishakapatnam and then took a four hour taxi journey to Semiliguda, a one horse little town……more a sort of one dog town!

The humidity as we got out of the airport was unbelievable….I was immediately drenched in perspiration and looked like I had taken a dip in the nearby sea. We waited for the cab to arrive, Asha’s brother had arranged for it as soon as he had reached Semiliguda from Bangalore. No signs for about half an hour, then it turned up….. a very good car. We barely pulled out of the airport when a light drizzle started, which helped to cool us down a bit.

The drive up to Semiliguda took about 4 hours. The scenery was remarkable, rolling hills with red soil and square fields, each a different hue of brown, red and green. Beautiful!

We reached the hotel and were told that Asha’s family was footing the bill….humbling. Jen’s Uncle, Aunty and the sisters of the groom were already there as they had arrived a day earlier. We had to get ready as we were all going to Asha’s parent’s house, in the HAL complex at Sonabeda, to have dinner as it was her birthday. The reception from the family was very warm and we felt at home. After sitting for 10 minutes, two ladies from the family came to Jen and me with water and a basin……they washed our feet, rubbed oil on them and then dried them! We had dinner and I wondered where all the other relatives, who were staying in the quarters on the HAL campus, were. Michelle, Denzil’s sister, took her own sweet time. The food was simple and yet wholesome, the two sisters ate with disdain and disgust on their faces. On leaving at about 11 pm I saw people streaming in… I asked Asha’s brother Robert ..”were they waiting for us to finish?” and he sheepishly answered “yes”….I told him, “you should have told us earlier, we would have eaten earlier and faster!!”….can you imagine that?

The next day was to be the wedding, the cars were coming to pick us up from the hotel in the morning for the reception of the ‘baraat”, and as they could not make another trip back to Semiliguda, about half an hour away, for us to change and return, we were asked to bring our clothes and change at Sonabeda. In the night, I was snoring; Jenny was visited by Julie and Aunty. Julie, Denzil’s eldest sister, was bitching, as she felt it was wrong that we were not being brought back to the hotel to change and even told Jenny….”Jenny you should put your foot down!!”……we had no hassle with the arrangement…the prima donna’s DID! Why the hell did Jenny have to put her foot down, it was their brother’s wedding!

Anyway, we went to the house, waiting in a shamiana…. feet were washed again…and then lunch, just daal, rice and fish curry, yum! You know me and fish, but I managed and struggled through……with a smile!!

We went back and were given the neighbour’s flat to change in. She lives alone and is the principal of the local school, President’s award recipient! There ‘the two sisters from hell’ behaved as if they were Bollywood stars gracing someone’s house with their presence, the poor owner was like a servant…..mirinda, tea, biscuits…….etc. Julie and Michelle decked themselves up, Uncle Cutty wore a long sleeved Khaki safari suit………hmmmmmm. Aunty had a jacket and coat set, but I think she forgot her blouse at home. Gaping neckline!!

No one was bothered about Denzil!! I helped him dress etc. Then the icing on the cake……in his nervous state, poor fellow sat on a plastic bag that had Michelle’s plastic matching bangles for her outfit……all hell broke loose and he was getting a firing from her for being so clumsy etc etc! For Pete’s sake….it was HIS wedding! Jenny and I calmed the situation and Jenny even told the girls off.

THE WEDDING>>>>

The church and service was simple and yet so genuine….the singing, with drums was wonderful, both their names were included in a couple of the songs too! Not a wet eye in the groom’s family’s eyes. Julie busy pushing her hair from over one side of her head to the other (ala Rani Mukherjee!), Michelle sitting ‘pretty’( if such a thing is possible!!), Aunty dozing and Uncle Cutty like a carving on a totem pole. The sermon included the fact that Denzil was now a part of their community and could call on the clan for help whenever the need arose, which I thought was such an important and touching gesture. I thought, we should admire Denzil for traveling across the country, geographically and culturally, to marry the girl he loves and then to be accepted and adopted by her family…he was king for that day! After the service the drums started and everyone danced outside the church….made my hair stand! It was cool!

We returned to the neighbour’s house. The two beauties had to change……again!....into ‘evening-wear’ for the ‘reception’. Now obviously, the style of reception WOULD be different to an Anglo Indian one…..everyone has their own customs and traditions….the ladies decked up only to sit in chairs as everyone was wishing the couple. Then a touch of comedy……Julie wanted a photo of Aunty with the couple. This was the time when everyone was going on the stage to wish them, so people were wishing her too…..she would stick out her hand with a potty face and not grip or shake, but just leave it in the air…..on top of that, she was standing in front of the couple……. so every snap of a well wisher will have Aunty standing in front of Denzil, with the potty face and squinting as the video light was so bright!! Julie giving directions for her photographic masterpiece from the hall in her shrill voice, echoed by her mother’s equally dulcet tones!! ‘What men Julie, hurry up!!” ….” Wait men! Those people have to move….go the left, no, to the right! Mama! Open your eyes!”….slight exaggeration! The dinner was a “walk-in-eat-and-bugger-off” affair. Jen and myself estimated about 12 to 15 hundred people!! All that time, Asha’s parents stood at the gate welcoming people. He has an injured back and she is a diabetic! We were then taken to dinner by an aunt to serve and eat….I think the original plan was that the crowd would ‘kha pee ke bhag’ and then the family would eat. The thing was that the family was spoilt, being treated like VIPs all this time……so grumble-grumble-grumble….we were taken to eat, to the front of the line! Simple good food..…Bangla kind of food, phis (fish!), a sweetish mango subji, rice, mutton curry (yum yum!!) and more….nice! Aunty Maureen in the meantime got the runs. Asha’s sister-in-law is a doctor, surgeon and now qualified cosmetic surgeon. She recommended some medicine and even sent it over, but the medical prodigies in Uncle Cutty’s family deemed those to be invalid and did their own prognosis, diagnosis and prescribed their own remedies, which included her eating kheer as she was hungry! Kheer! Please….that would be on the expressway out the other end! Boiled down full cream milk when you’ve got the ‘cheeracks’??!!! Aunty was feeling faint so was taken back to the house and all the little piggies followed her. Jen and I stayed in the hall to represent the family and were photographed and hand-shook more than George Bush….it sort of grows on you! Many prayers were said, hymns sung and tears shed in that time.

We got back to the house for the ‘bidhai’(???? Is that the right word?). Here the groom’s family excelled beyond their normal talent for looking pissed off and glum! The strangest part was when the ‘Mamu” took Jenny’s hand and put Asha’s hand in hers and started the ‘giving away’ ceremony. I literally had to push the two sisters forward to hold her hand! Should have seen the grumpy, disinterested faces! After that, both Asha and Denzil were carried out of the house to their car by Asha’s brothers and relatives. Then we got into the large jeep hired for us. That is when Asha’s and Denzil’s car stopped and the crying, very discreet of course, started. Julie came out with, “Arrey? Now what happened? They are crying!”…………………. it was beyond her understanding why a bride should cry when she is leaving her family!…………… Puhleeeease!

The next morning, they left at 5 am. We returned by taxi to Vishakapatnam at 730 am, but opted for the AC this time as the sun was out and the humidity like a physical barrier. On the way we stopped for breakfast at a little Dhaba, Jenny had originally said she didn’t feel like a South Indian breakfast, but when we saw the hot and fresh idlis….piles of them being taken out of the steamer…….salivate! We had the best idlis we have ever had! They were light, fluffy and hot…plus tea and coffee…. mouth is still watering!

At the airport, we were waiting-list 1 and 2 and were shitting bricks, but each trying to reassure the other not to worry. I was trying to work out alternative routes we could take to reach Delhi…….right across the country!?? Oh yeh! In your dreams Buddy! The flight was ‘full’ so we had to wait till it landed before we could be sure of a seat. We then got the news that the flight had taken off from Chennai and then returned due to some ‘technical snag’………think some one left their lunch box at home.

We got our boarding passes and hugged and kissed each other…..relieved! The flight back was very, very turbulent and we had two giggly honeymooners….she was a real BTBM! Villager trying to be hep! He was all embraced….poor fellow, kept going to the loo…….wonder why??!!! Better than any in-flight entertainment we have ever had!

Denzil and Asha came over for lunch on Sunday. We were surprised to find them to be an organized couple….they have already started investing…Asha is with HDFC and knows all about their investment plans. She will definitely shape Denzil into a man of today. We saw a softer and caring side to Denzil. He was so glad we had been at the wedding! Pray that they continue to be like this…..lovely couple.

Whew! That’s it I guess……

Take care,

Love to all

Andy and Jenny

Abu Trip November 2007

2007-11-17T19:10:00.000+05:30

Hi all,

After much determination, concentration, deliberation, consternation, etc etc, I have finally got my finger, well both my typing fingers out!....keyboard is playing up so will have to do an extensive 'spell check' when I get to the end of this! The 'n' is not working so quite a treat! Well, anyway, we had once made a trip by road from Mount Abu due to a train reservation cock up and had found it tiring but fun. Dad will remember!.....so, since then, Jenny had always wanted to do a road trip to Abu….a daunting 800 km from Delhi……for those of you abroad, the concept of motorways and highways does not exist here as you know them!......a highway here is usually two lanes, one in each direction, that a variety of modes of transport jostle for space on, including bullock carts, cycles, tractors and yes, on this trip even camel carts ad the occasional stray cow!. The trucks are highest in the pecking order due to their obvious size and inaccurate steering columns!.....cars are somewhere in the middle……and the 'Holy Cow' conquers all.

At laaast! Got a new keyboard and am continuing with this report!

800 Km of Indian 'highway' is considered a daunting enough task without one trying to accomplish tackling it in one day!.....that was our goal. When Jenny came up with the idea, the word 'no' did not even arise. We have always believed in living life for the moment so that we do not have regrets later on in life, and as we are in our 40's, the 'later on' is not far away!

We have a new car so we decided to 'run in' the car on a long stretch…..the ideal being…..Delhi to Mount Abu! our route?.....Delhi, Jaipur, Ajmer, Beawar, Pali, Sirohi and then Abu Road. Look these places up on Google Earth or an atlas to get a feel of the distance we covered.

We set off on Friday the 9^th of October at 530 am. We woke up at 4 , got ready and hit the road. Fortunately the petrol pump near our house was open so we 'filled er up'! The road was open and clear as it was Diwali, the festival of lights. We reached the halfway point between Delhi and Jaipur by 8 o'clock and had breakfast at the Rajasthan Tourism eating joint. The choice was veg cutlet and vada sambhar…..each of them vying for the vilest tasting breakfast available, it was a close tie and we are still to decide the winner! We have been spoilt by the veg cutlets we get on the train and when the palate is expecting a certain taste only to be assailed by a complete contrary stodgy comparison……well, it only remains to give kudos to the sweaty railway staff who prepare our meals!....maybe it is the flavour of sweat we were craving for!

We by-passed Jaipur and did not get to see the 'pink' city, which would have been 'time suicide' with the traffic. On the way out we were impressed by the multitude of public conveniences situated along the road, but the bubble of admiration burst very soon when Jen, the strictest 'potty' inspector around, happened to venture into one of them….she came out with a grimace and a string of un-typable expletives! Lucky for me, 2 years in TTC in Darjeeling where, I love telling people this part, the toilets were flushed once every 6 months, slight exaggeration, 3 months, due to water shortage, has left me with olfactory immunity! And as a man, in 'oh so chauvinistic' India, the world is my pee pot!.....contributing significantly to the greenification of the otherwise arid region of Rajasthan. I must admit I did my fair share in this regard!

We by-passed Ajmer too and saw it from a distance. We were in for a surprise after leaving Ajmer, as not only did the dual carriageway give way to the good ol two lane Indian highway, but we also entered an unusual landscape with winding hilly roads crisscrossed by a railway track. The name of this Eden?.....you will not believe this…."SANDRA"…..sometimes spelled with an "E"!.....we immediately thought of our friend Sandra Sousa (nee Lockwood) who as she reads this will giggle…..go on Sandy!......GIGGLE!.....thank you! …….this was just one of the strange, sorry Sandra, names we came across besides a place called Dudu……yes!.....Dudu!.....and also Jardan!...thought of Jordan, Sandra Jacob's son!......but no river, we also crossed the Sukhri River!...Sukhri means dried up in Hindi for those who do not know!..and then the real rib tickler…..Barr!.....my tongue was hanging out!..Then the road took control of us, a bumpy, bone jarring section allowed us to digest our lunch which I forgot to tell you we had just outside Ajmer at a place called 'Maharaja Hotel'….in India a hotel can be just a restaurant with ambition!....we shall probably never find it again as we later found out that 'Maharaja' seems to be a very common name for 'hotels' in Rajasthan! We had a simple lunch of Daal and Roti….which was scrumptious!....back to the bumpy road, this took us to Beawar, onto Pali and then improved before Sirohi. By now it was getting dark and I wanted to stop, but a 'no' from Jenny meant that we kept on rolling. I had last done this journey in March when Danny missed his train and I took him to Mount Abu in a cab. That was in daylight. In the twilight we somehow took a wrong turn and found ourselves on a single, track road in the wilderness with no lights!....not that there were any on the 'highway'!......we drove on without panicking and then realised we were going 'round the mountain' from the opposite direction! We could see the lights of Mount Abu on our left when they should have been on the right! We stopped and asked directions and like one should always do in India, asked many people and took the average of their instructions to get the correct one. After a bumpy and creepy 50 Km we reached Abu Road and found our way to Mount Abu.

When we reached the school the boys were having a surprise fireworks display courtesy of Brother Miles Allum, the boarding in charge, and no, he was not shouting at them! Danny found us out, or should I say 'smelt us out' and came running to us. Like all parents do, I normally take everything Danny tells us with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of disbelief; however the fact that he was instrumental in his house swimming team winning the gold medal in the relay was true! A surprise for us as we were not even aware that he was a swimmer….Cliffy Dragwidge, who takes the boys for swimming, told us that Danny's house was coming second and he was the last swimmer. He was so angry, that he jumped in and overtook the other swimmer! While we were there we even watched as his house won the inter-house cricket, 'hit out or get out' cricket! He is the wicket keeper and also bowls! We were not able to spend much time with him as it was not an 'outing' weekend but spent most of our time on the premises so kept bumping into him and vice versa. He is well settled and they are gearing up for the final hurdle at the end of the month. He should be back with us by the 7^th of December.

Jenny also did a trip into town with Marie and Cressida Dragwidge and Kitty James, thank God Kitty went as she was the only one who knew the way! Cliffy, Jenny and I also went down to Abu Road, the railhead for Mount Abu, to drop off Cressida, Cliffy's daughter, to the railway station on her way back to Mumbai. Jenny wanted to get a 'feel' for the drive down to Abu Road.

We left at 8 am on the Monday and started the drive back. When we had last done the road trip together we had had our dinner at this great place called Baba Ramdev Hotel….yup 'Hotel'…but not 'Maharaja'!.....there we had eaten traditional Rajasthani grub, masala daal with ghee poured over the chapattis, which were rough and crude atta, a cholesterol cocktail! Jen has always wanted to eat there again, so…..we decided to have breakfast there. Strangely if we had had our dinner there on the way to Abu we would have taken the right road, as it is on the way!....ah well….cest la vie!....we could not take a gamble with a high cholesterol breakfast so stuck to a semi- scrumptious fried stuffed paratha each and then half more each…… just for pure gluttony value! On the way we stopped off at 'Sandra'…..remember? ……and took a foto!....at Ajmer we met a school friend of Jenny's from 25 years back!..Judith Alexander...had some tea with her family…the ladies lied and told each other they still looked the same!.... and then we drove back to Delhi. On the way to Abu we had to go slow as we were running the car in, but coming back Jen didn't spare the horses! We did get stuck on our way into Delhi as there was a long string of trucks at the border, the weirdest thing is that the trailer trucks all look the same….from the front, like red fire engines!...the road was full of them going and coming as the route is the one used by trailer trucks from the container depots in Haryana, Indian state, to Surat, a port.

We had a great time, as always with our extended family in Abu, the Dragwidges and the James….late nights and laughter!...we had planned this trip on the spur of the moment and also as Jenny and myself had told Marie Dragwidge we would drive up …..and just so she would not call us 'bullshitters!'……so when we tried to book hotel rooms they were all full as it was 'season' time in the hill resort…..Christopher (Kitu) James came to our rescue and put us up for the duration…thanks Kitu…. We did have one scary night when we heard 'wild' animals shuffling outside the house, either wild animals or maybe car thieves….only to find it was our friend the rare, wild, two horned, Abu bear that resembles and shits like a buffalo!.....well that was the evidence we found in the morning all around the car the next morning!

We have decided that even after Danny leaves Abu we shall continue to visit our friends, and revel in the beauty and tranquillity of an unusually pristine hill station.

All I can say is that Jenny deserves three cheers for the achievement….I am a proud hubby!

I hear you let out a sigh of relief as you get to the end of this 'report', I know that it is quite long, but then……so was the journey!

Love to all

Andy

easter2006

2007-03-10T13:02:00.000+05:30

As promised, have got my ‘finger out’ and doing some typing!

We got back from Mount Abu on Monday. Spent Easter there…… Had a great time with Cliffy and Marie Dragwidge from Asansol who are teaching there, Christopher and Ramona James, he is the estate manager, and a friend of theirs, also from Asansol, called Russell Dias and his wife Michelle. All these people combined to a fun-filled and relaxed Easter break for us. I must admit that when I was told that Russell worked in Saudi on the rigs I expected a loud mouth snob…..couldn’t have been any further from the truth! I have yet to meet a person who can be so down to earth and accommodating! Russell drove us into the jungle twice…..at 2 and 3 am in the morning, hoping to spot some wildlife…… 13 people in a Scorpio 4 wheel drive…..country western music…….kids, adults…..the lot! On the second night someone spotted a ‘bear’ in the bushes…..we approached carefully….some even felt nervous it would charge….then we panned the torch and saw a buffalo to the left chewing cud…..we then realized that we had come upon the very rare and elusive horned bear of Abu! So easily mistaken for a buffalo!! Of course there were many sightings including one a polar bear!

Good Friday mass and the Stations of the Cross were combined. They were held on the field. Luckily Jenny and I always wear our track shoes while in Abu. Met Ivan Menezes

He, Maria and his mum had come up for Easter to be with his son Marlon. One day, forget when, I was walking across the field with Cl;iffy and saw Marlon playing football. So I was telling Cliffy who Marlon was when this plump boy waved out to me and called me ‘Andy’! it was Ivan playing football with the boys! Catching up on memories of his time in Abu! He kept talking about you, Gene, and the time you spent together in Abu. He had a ball being back in school.

Saturday, Junior (Cliffy’s son) and Kitty (Christopher’s daughter) took the gang of kids ‘fishing’ to the edge of the lake near the school. I have told him that in future when he wants to go fishing I shall give him 50 bucks and he can go the market and pick up some fish from the shop!! Anyway, they went to the lake edge. By dusk the parents started panicking…..no sign of the fisher people! The mothers were standing on the dam…..the one near the school…………when they looked over to the other side and……………….. guess what?................those two nights of fruitless wildlife searching were made all the more painful…………the ladies on the dam…..near the school…….saw a leopard resting and sunning itself on a nearby rock!! The fisher folk returned and all were chastised for being so late………and catching no fish either!!. All in all it was, I think, an adventure that they will remember…..I know I would if I was their age….rock climbing…helping each other over tricky bits……..thanks Junior and Kitty!

Easter Sunday mass was a break away from the normally convenient Saturday evening 8:30 pm mass we have had in the previous years. This year it was at 5:30 am! A brother from Delhi had come to Abu to make the Easter experience more ‘meaningful’. We had to get up at 4 am and then walk to the school at 5 am. As the sun rose….the mass was on the field…..we listened to ‘aasthoma sa ….’ The raga(?)…………. we had to close our eyes……………………….. and that’s when I realized Cliffy’s son let out a snort ……………………...laughter…………………...I had dropped off to sleep and let out a loud snorty snore! The monkeys came to mass too and were doing their trapeze act from one tree to the other just above the altar…..definitely a more ‘meaningful’ experience! We then went into the chapel. For the normal kind of Abu mass with singing and the skits. After mass we were all given breakfast by the school. Pau Bhaji and coffe. The Grub was excellent……I met Neeru Thapa, who has taken over the kitchen this year, and told him I was planning to go to town to have some Pau Bhaji (i never eat it in Delhi…..can’t stand it…..but somehow the Abu one has a fantastic taste all of it’s own), but the stuff he had made was even better than the town stuff…..excellent! I had met Neeru about 4 years back, before Danny joined St Mary’s. he used to be the F&B (no les it is not pronounced like that!!) in charge at the resort our school kids were taken on trips to.

Danny has made a name for himself as the Badminton champ and probably the school goalkeeper. Everyone from the Princy to the brothers and teachers all spoke about him being a good goalie and he will most probably go the interschool tournament being held in Chandigarh this year, last year it was in Nainital. Study-wise he is working hard, still has a problem with Maths and Hindi, but scores high in the other subjects. Bro Miles, who studied with Gene under Bobby Hoffland, is his class teacher and only had praises for him. What a change from his days in Delhi.

Jenny has been busy with work, Emirates has opened an office in Cal. I am acting in a musical sponsored by Times of India , music by Loy Mendoca of ‘Shankar Eshaan Loy fame’ , will be meeting him after many years, knew him as the music teacher in the school I used to teach in and we also went carol singing together with his wife and Mike Brown many moons ago. The musical will be in Delhi in July and Mumbai in August/ September. Still have to go for the first rehearsal.

Well…..what started as a simple news round up has become a chapter from a novel! So, better sign off before you go to sleep!

Take care

Love to all from Jenny, Danny and myself,

Andy