day to day 1

N. has recovered completely. It wasn't malaria thank god, nor was it jaundice as J was beginning to suspect on account of N looking a bit "yellow". Now they are busy gadding about, shopping, inspecting speakers at Heera Panna and looking for book bargains in town.

J and N are still occupied with the Italian visa. They have been given a real run around. Get this, get that. The Italians obviously don't believe in giving all the info needed at one go. Visas are such a hassle for Indians, it makes you want to scream at them: keep you goddam visa and let me just stay home!

Amazing how time flies, doing absolutely nothing. At least it feels like I've been doing nothing. Just going through mail, a bit of translation for Samuel, checking out new music etc. Thinking of putting together new groups. Chatting with Parvati in the evenings about my grandmother.

Yesterday Parvati and I remembered the thief who had come in over thirty years ago, just crept in over the balcony and made his way to the kitchen in the dead of night. My great grandmother who used to live with my grandmother at the time, had been most indignant about the way he had helped himself to a bottle of milk and wiped his dirty hands on the kitchen towel. She seemed less bothered about the wallet belonging to my grandmother, which he ran off with. The amazing thing was that he was caught a few days later, when he tried jumping out of somebody's window on the second floor. He'd fallen and broken a leg and the police had actually retrieved my grandmother's wallet and given it back to her. Those were the days!