The Coles in India - August '21 

 

Milo’s birthday

Swapna and Grace

Milo had Neel round for tea and they spent ages playing with the PC box.

It was Milo’s birthday on 15^th July. Swapna and Grace made him a chocolate cake which was lovely. Milo had asked every day for about 8 months, in various modes of persuasion, if he could have a PC for gaming. He was prepared to go without everything to have one, including all future Christmas and birthday presents. He even managed to tidy his bedroom once or twice. He had promised us that he would earn lots of money and give some of it to us if he could have a PC. After much internet research and advice, we managed to find one to buy for him ( there was a shortage here ) He is so pleased, and mealtimes are spent with him chatting in a jargon that Andrew and I do not understand  at all as he discusses his online gaming. It has been three weeks, though, and there is still no sign of any big earnings yet. He says we just need to give him time!

 

Max’s birthday

The cake was rather rather large

Grace and Swapna presenting Max with his flowers

He got a mug that looks like a camera lens

Max was 15 on Thursday. He has achieved so much and is such a kind, considerate young man. He has gone from being nervous and shy to being confident and able to chat to anyone. We are so proud of him. When asked what he wanted for his birthday, he said that he needed a pencil case as he had run out of pens! No big fancy presents for him. He now has plenty of pens (and other gifts too.) He is thinking what he would like with the money he got from everyone.

Swapna and Grace went to town on an enormous cake for Max after the success with Milo’s cake. When they were secretly trying to hide the cake from Max, I happened to see what they were doing and how big it was. So, when I said, “ will it fit in the fridge?”, their eyes widened. I could see their desperation.

Grace wailed “ oh no, we hadn’t thought of that!”

We have two fridges, one belonging to the house which is not in such a good working order, but it does work and it has wider shelves. I set about removing all the beer and wine (emergency stocks in case of a sudden lockdown) so that one shelf was completely empty. Luckily, the cake, on its silver board, just managed to fit in so it was safely hidden from Max.

He had to spend the day online at school, but he had a happy day. He was impressed with his cake although the firework candle was rather rubbish and just exploded.  

 School

 Online school has started on the 2nd August. There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon as the local government is toying with the idea of opening schools like the rest of the world. But then in Kerala, which is the state next door to Karnataka, the numbers are beginning to go up. Now, the people are only allowed cross the border if they have a negative test. The school that the boys go to have gone to great lengths to get the school ready to open and reckon that they can open within 24 hours of the government giving the go ahead. Fingers crossed it will not be long, they have been online for 17 months now. In the paper today it says the local government have said that schools can open from August 23 rd. Fingers double crossed .

 

Micro containment

The numbers of covid are stable, we think, but the local government department, the BBMP, (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) has a new strategy to manage any surge in numbers. We all know that things got out of hand in the last wave and that the government is keen to prevent another dreadful wave but what they have done yesterday is a bit bonkers.

We have had no covid cases in Palm Meadows for 75 days. Then, 3 people have been tested positive within one household and have honestly informed the authorities (which you must do). But they have done what they are supposed to do.

The other night, we all got a message on the community app to say that the house had been barricaded & sealed and the surrounding villas, in front, behind and to the side, had been put in to quarantine until everyone, including staff have been tested. But, even if the residents test negative, they must isolate and “must not walk on the road “. Although it states, the staff can come back and work if they test negative. This would mean travelling on buses and mingling with the general public, but the residents are not allowed out for 14 days! 

Meanwhile, the BBMP will do surprise visits to check on those people. That will keep them on their toes!

Unfortunately, not all Indian people have rational thought  and are sympathetic. There is a lot of blame put on people who get Covid and they are shouted at, or shunned. We had one case before where one household in Palm Meadows were demanding that their neighbours keep their windows closed in case the virus managed to leap through the open window! Luckily, the people on the committee here are very good and will help the family out, getting supplies and anything the 'patients' need. Most people here are sympathetic, kind and will do anything to help others, it is unfortunately the minority who can make others feel really uncomfortable.

I went for a bike ride this morning, like I do every day and I went past the 'targeted' house. There was tape all around the trees, the pathway and house. All the neighbours were being tested by the suited medical staff. I peddled away quickly just in case the virus was pouncing on people as they went past!

Andrew has regular tests and he had had a test yesterday, so as we were reading this message the other night, I was shooting daggers at him because if he was positive then the whole street would be put into quarantine!  (he’s negative, thank goodness) so I think the blame game is spreading!

The only problem with all this stigmatising is that it will stop people getting tested because if they are positive if everyone around their villa has to go into quarantine, whether they have had any contact or not. But, on the other hand, some people did blatantly leave their houses when they had been diagnosed with covid in the last wave, so I think the BBMP really can not win. 

 This was in the last wave where the BBMP sealed two flats with 2 children and a mother in one flat and an elderly couple in the other one.  Metal sheeting was used. The manager of the flats put it on twitter to complain, worrying about if there was a fire. The BBMP went back to remove the panels. But the fact that this idea was even considered, is the worrying part. Luckily, the house in Palm Meadows just has the equivalent of police tape around the trees.

Andy (The Dog!)

 Usually when Andy needs to see the vet, the vet comes to the house and all is well. We wanted to get Andy neutered (still referring to the dog!) so that he couldn’t entertain his lady friends so enthusiastically, but that vet’s surgery is an hour away. There is another pet hospital nearby with a good reputation, so we decided to take Andy there. We had booked his appointment for 11 am on a Saturday rather than a week day because I really needed Andrew with me as there is no way I can lift the boy as he is so heavy.

The problem was that the whole of Bangalore was there with their pets.

Andy was wild. He just saw that there were lots of dogs to play with and cats to chase. It was chaos! In the UK, a visit to the vets is a quite an ordered occasion but not in India. Although, why we thought it would be any different, I don’t know.

Andy had had no food or water for a long time and was so excited about all the new friends that keeping him calm for the two hours that we had to wait was quite an ordeal. Eventually, we were put in a room after he had had his blood test, and he was given his first sedative. He started to get wobbly and sleepy. The trolley he was on only just managed to squeeze him on, we held on to him so he didn’t fall. Then we noticed that the trolley didn’t have wheels. If I was a vet, I would have wheels on a trolley with a heavy unconscious dog on and then wheel them into the operating theatre.

Oh no! When it was time, four men appeared, and they unceremoniously lifted Andy between them and took him away.

Honestly, wheels have been invented and it would be a good addition in this circumstance. Just push the trolley and then there would be no chance of twisting or dropping an enormous dog.

They told us to come back in two hours.

We had a spot of lunch and returned.

All around us dogs were barking, whining, and trying to play with each other. Also, the floor was slippery as it had been raining and people were trying to hold on to their dogs. They ended up being pulled along as they could not get a grip on the floor. A lady with a mop was trying in vain to keep the floor dry by darting out each time someone came in.

After a short while, the vet appeared to say that Andy was ready. The four men appeared with him held upside down semi consciously by the legs and put him on another trolley to recover. (If they had had one with wheels it would have so much easier)

 I dodged the mopping lady and I went to pay the bill. I turned around and found that Andrew and Andy had disappeared. Somehow, they had managed to get Andy out of the building without slipping, down some steps and into the back of the car.

We got him into our house after padding the front room floor with his basket and lots of towels. Andrew managed to carry him on his own He was super sleepy for a couple of hours and then seemed to perk up wanting to go outside. He had a cone 'of shame' around his neck to stop him reaching his stitches, but he couldn’t judge the distance he needed to get through the door or past the table. He spent quite a lot of time bumping into things including trees for the next week. It was very entertaining for us. He was soon dashing about and wanting to go for a walk. I also had to come up with some inventive ways to get him to take his 4 tablets a day. Hiding the tablets in cheese seemed to work the best until he realised what was happening and then he would spit out the tablet after eating the cheese. I then made a mini toast sandwich and put the tablets in there.  This was my back up plan and worked long enough for him to finish them all. He is back to normal now and if any of his lady friends come round to play, we know we can leave them without supervision.

 

The Palm Trees

In Palm Meadows, every avenue is lined with beautiful palm trees. They are very tall. As the tree grows it sheds the older leaves at the bottom. They  will fall onto the roadway or paths.  The gardening team try to go around cutting them all down using a cherry picker, but it is a constant never ending job. But they do miss some and there have been a few occasions where the falling leaves have nearly hit people. They fall with an almighty whoosh too...

They have come up with a simple but clever idea. They have tied a special fabric 'belt' around the top base of each tree. As each bottom leaf turns brown it is held in place by the strap and cannot fall. Now, the gardening team do not have to worry and rush so much. People can walk without having to keep one eye on the palm trees. We can instead focus on our feet and keeping a look out for the snakes that like to come out to hunt all the frogs that are around because it is monsoon.

 

You can just about see the tie underneath the palm leaves .

 

 Other activities

This is a guava from a tree at the factory, it was very juicy.

Andy loves his crate. He doesn't sleep in it yet, but likes to take all his treats in there. 

One of the many football matches that they had to stay up until 3 in the morning for. 

Both Milo and Max have bank accounts with their own debit cards. Max was embarrassed one day when he went for  a coffee. He had cash but the shop only accepted cards,he had to ring me and ask me to pay with with the online bank. Milo took Andrew out for a drink at the club so he could use his card.

Micronclean India wins two contracts with Covid Vaccine Mfrs. 

There was some very exciting news at Micronclean as the sales team managed to sign up two very important contracts with Indian companies producing Covaxin and Sputnik vaccines. They have had some fantastic feedback from auditors and industry experts that have praised the facility for its excent design and quality. Andrew has even had suggestions that it exceeds some of the manufacturing facilities, so you never know if laundry is scarce then Micron-Vax vaccine production could be a side line! 

As part of the regular dialogue with the British Deputy High Commission Team, they have been very helpful in further amplifying the good news across their media platforms, which has a little more circulation than our blogs! Proud to have this backing from the Department for International Trade for our UK based business. 

 

July

 

July

 

Maids, cooks, dog walkers, gardeners and drivers

We were finally allowed all our helpers three weeks ago and I am blissfully happy. No more sweeping, mopping and cooking, ironing, gardening and no more moaning! 

Swapna has transformed our lives with her cooking. She can cook anything. I am removed from all cooking duties and relegated to reheating the lovely dishes that Swapna makes. The boys have spent most mealtimes joking that the food is definitely not mine as they can eat it!

Swapna and Grace turned up early on the first day ready to do a big clean and to make some meals. Grace gets here at 7:00 and starts her routine and the house is now much cleaner. When I mop it is all smeary, when she does it, it sparkles. She walks backwards and forwards more, emptying and refilling the heavy bucket whereas I can't be doing with all of that, hence her floor cleaning skills are much better.

Swapna had gone to her other house that she had worked for (on that first morning) but the people had said that her job was no longer there as they wanted a live in maid. The people had not paid her either in the lockdown, but she was quite stoical and got on with things. This meant that she could come at a similar time as Grace. They work together at the same time now.

This has worked really well for the past few weeks as it means that by 11:30 I can let Andy wander wherever he wants without worrying that he might slip through an open door or be a pest following Grace and Swapna around.

 Butter chicken ( Max tried some of the beer too )

 Apple pie

Mango cheese cake

 

 

The gardener came back and made a big effort on the first day, cutting the grass and sweeping but I’ve only seen him once more. No doubt he’ll turn up again to sweep the leaves. Although in the lockdown, I did wonder why we bother with him as there was no difference in the garden. Only the grass needs cutting every month or so and we have a mower that we can do it with. I think his days may be numbered….

Our dog walker, Mohammed or Andy’s bestie as he likes to be known, came back too. It was strange because in the lockdown Andy adapted well and didn’t look for Mohammed in the mornings. But now he’s back, Andy is up bright and early and looking out the window waiting for his pal, wagging his tail.

 

The Oven

 The oven decided to break down just as we got this wonderful woman who can cook anything that we ask her to.  The oven had been dodgy for a while. It is old and tired. The shelves inside are not secure so if a heavy dish of food is put on a shelf, it is touch and go whether the dish and the shelf will fall down. This has happened a few times and the food has spilt out. We also had to use a wooden spoon wedged into the drawers at the side and put it across the top of the oven door to keep the oven door tightly closed or the heat would escape through the gap and warm up the kitchen which is already hot  enough anyway.

 The day started off with what we thought was a power cut (which we have all the time, especially on a Saturday or Sunday when we can have guests over for dinner.) Swapna said, after a while, that the power was working elsewhere on the circuit. This was when the power came back on after I had been to the circuit breaker cupboard and fiddled with all the switches. But on one side of the kitchen nothing worked.

So, I sent a message on the app that we have to the community maintenance department as my electrical fixing skills were at their limit.

After a couple of hours, two electricians turned up with one screw driver each, (not bad, as they usually share one between two) and they set about finding out where the fault lie. All the appliances were unplugged and gradually turned on and when it was the turn of the oven, it blew the electrics out.

The electricians decided to pull out the oven as it is underneath the countertop. By this time, Swapna and Grace had left so there was just me to direct the electricians. They were busy poking their screwdrivers into the live sockets when the doorbell rang, so I went to answer it, pleased that I might not have to witness an electrocution. By the time I had come back (they were still both alive) but had snipped the wires from the back of the oven so that it was rendered unworkable.  I was secretly pleased because it looked like we needed a new one now. The oven was now stranded in the middle of the kitchen. With a shrug of their shoulders, the electricians said that was it and that we needed a new oven.

I persuaded them to put the oven back in the shell so that it was not in the middle of the kitchen, tripping everyone up. The gap the oven had left, had tiny bits of old food lying there and Andy was eagerly trying to lick every morsel he could, and he was in the way and obsessed with the gap.

The old oven with the bare wires protruding at the back  I  have just realised the electrician wasn't wearing his mask properly. He's wearing it as a chin strap.

 

Luckily, Swapna had made a curry we could microwave or cook on the gas hob so we were safe for dinner. On the previous days she had cooked so much food that we could supply the whole of Palm Meadows. All of that could be microwaved so we had a few days of food if we had to wait.

That night, we managed to measure and find an oven on Amazon. Andrew contacted our landlord who said to go ahead and order one. It came in a couple of days.

We needed a new socket to be fitted so I contacted the electricians again. On the day the oven was due to arrive, they turned up, removed the oven outside the front door (thank you very much) and fixed the socket ready.

But nothing is ever simple in India.

The new oven was delivered later in the day and the delivery driver left it outside (they don’t bring it inside, it’s not their job) so now we had two ovens blocking the doorway outside, one old and one new.

The electricians came back but they said they don’t carry the oven inside (it’s not their job) so I had an oven, a new socket but no way of getting the oven inside for the electricians to connect it up unless they decided that it was their job. It wasn't, so they went off again.

Andrew came home and he brought the oven in. (I’m pleased he decided that it was on his job list.) We unpacked it from its' box but then realised that the oven wouldn’t fit in the space with a plug attached. The socket needed removing again.

So, the electricians had to come yet again, (only one screwdriver now)

This took us to Friday and Swapna had a long list of cooking that she needed to do in order to get everything ready the weekend.

After much deliberation the oven was in place and switched on. The electricians were triumphant and pleased that they had connected the oven. Yay!

Swapna then spent the next five hours cooking every dish she could manage ready for the weekend. I had to stop her at the five-hour mark as she wanted to bake biscuits and cakes and we already had more than enough food.  It was like she was in a frenzy and cooking everything that popped into her mind. She loves cooking.

 The new oven installed and actually working.

 

 

Milo has just told us that his water heater is not working tonight so it looks like we (I’ve) got to go through it all again with the electricians…

 

Tree Planting at Micronclean

 

One of the doctors that has been working closely with Micronclean was pleased to be asked to plant a tree in his honour. This meant that we got to have a trip out to the factory (even though there was still a lockdown, of sorts)

The doctor in question loves the James Herriot books so Andrew bought the book that James Herriot's son had written. The doctor was really pleased with it.

This was only the second trip out of Palm Meadows in 8 weeks for Max and I, and the first for Milo, so we were excited and thrilled to be going somewhere. The trip to the factory means going on the motorway but it is a scenic route through the countryside. It is an enjoyable journey of about an hour.

When Milo goes to the factory, he truly believes that he is in charge and was so excited to sit next to Andrew as Andrew gave a speech to all the staff and to the doctor. Milo was nodding at the right moments and looked like he understood everything. Max is doing a photography course for a school project and he was taking as many photographs as he could.

We went outside for the tree planting and it was all rather pleasant. We had some photos taken and then had the wonderful coffee that one of the ladies makes.

The plants and grass around the factory are growing well.

 Milo helping.

Andrew was recorded talking about Micronclean and what they do. The doctor was interviewed too on camera.

Dr  Pandu is in the middle

Milo in the main chair.

Most of the current staff.

 (That lamp post needs to go !)

 Dr Pandu and his tree.

The Coles always have to have a picnic!

 I haven't found out why yet but when there's a presentation to someone they always have a shawl put on them as they receive their flowers. They keep it on for a few minutes then take it off.

 The blue band  I am wearing has a chip in it so that we could get into certain parts of the factory.

 The photographer wanted to take photos of us when everyone had left.

 

 

 

 The Orphanage.

 

After the success of giving food packages to people in the surrounding villages, Andrew went to visit a local residential home for orphans, children and adults who are physically and mentally challenged. Andrew took more food packages and had a look round. Apparently, the home is run purely from donations and these are hard to come by.

Andrew is going to go back when the lockdown is finally over to see if there is a way of helping them. Meanwhile, we will we see what we can do. The boys are raiding their books shelves, cupboards and old toy boxes. 

 

 

 

Lockdown

 We still have a night time curfew and the weekend curfew was lifted last Saturday. Food shops and essential services are allowed open until 9pm and restaurants are allowed open until 9pm too. There is a curfew at 9pm (although food deliveries are allowed 24/7)

We are waiting to see what will happen next week but the cases have dropped dramatically.

The vaccination drive is going well, and the hospitals are reporting that they are coping. The government is reminding everyone to be on their guard to prevent a third wave.

 We were a bit shocked to discover that our Covishield vaccines are not recognised in the EU even though they are produced from the same place as AstraZeneca. It is just called Covishield here. Apparently, it is supposed to be sorted soon. Fingers crossed or we will never be allowed in to Europe again. Although, as long as we can get to the Maldives, then that is fine! 

 The papers are saying that the hospitals are getting ready in case the third wave targets children. There are differences in opinion from doctors as to whether this will happen.

Meanwhile, there is more debate now about the need for children to go back to school. It has been well over a year since most children entered the school gates (March 2020).  We are waiting to see what happens next with everything.

 ADDA

This the app  that we use to communicate in the Palm Meadows community. It is useful especially if there is a snake sighting (two last week, one cobra and one viper and our friends had a snake on their upstairs window ledge!)) or something that needs to be discussed.

The cobra caught last week two lanes down .

 

Last week we had a terrible incidence where a dog slipped his lead and attacked one of the gentler dogs who was walking on his lead with his owner. The poor dog needed 13 stitches in his ear.

The injured dog owner posted the sequence of events and what had happened. The committee had to get involved to ask the other owners to pay for the treatment and to keep their dog muzzled when he is out (as they claimed they could do nothing about what had happened.) Apparently, the dog is from a farm and so is not a calm dog, appearing aggressive and obviously liable to attack if he gets loose.

 All seemed to be sorted but then various people started to give their opinions. One person suggested that all dogs be banned from walking inside the complex, (joggers too) and that dogs should be walked outside of Palm Meadows and not in the lanes here. I could envision all the sensible people rolling their eyes at this suggestion. It would be extremely difficult, as you would have to walk your dog through the lanes of Palm Meadows to get outside so that would defeat the object. The messages started to go back and forth (dog lovers versus dog haters). It can get quite personal and some of the comments are rude -and stupid!

The topics can go on for days. Most people do post sensible solutions and opinions but some suggestions can make you laugh out loud at their ridiculous nature.

It does provide entertainment though.

The Weather

It is monsoon season and last month we had quite a bit of rain in the afternoons and it was cooler with a strong breeze.  In the past couple of weeks it has been so hot and sticky and there has been little rain. We have had to put the air conditioning on at night again so that we can sleep comfortably. But it made me think how lucky we are that we have the air conditioning, sometimes the fans are not enough.

Weekend away 

We managed to go away for the weekend just gone.  It was close to the factory again. We stopped at a small farm that had a swimming pool and only two guest rooms.  The chap has spent a year building it and we were the first guests.

 There were two beautiful Macaws in a huge cage. They spent a lot of time saying "hello".

Andy and the bigger boys.

 There were no mosquitoes so we sat outside and watched a film

 This was actually on a small hill that we walked up to watch the sunset.

 Andy went off his lead for the first time.

 He also dug his first hole and he laid down in  it and then his friends copied.

 The pool and the setting were beautiful.  

Milo and I spent most of our time in the pool. It had warm water and was quite large. The weather was very warm and calm.  We went on a few walks and we let Andy off his lead for the first time. He was such a good boy. We went with some friends to the farm and Andy just follows their dogs (they are bigger boys) He had such a good run around and came back whenever he was called. As there was a lockdown /curfew for the weekend it meant we had to get there because 7pm on Friday night. We stopped for three nights, coming back on Monday morning when the curfew was lifted. For one twenty minute window I wondered how it would be to be build a place like this farm with a swimming pool. Then as we all talked about it, the rules of India, the paperwork, the fact that we are "foreign", we decided it would never happen.

We just have to hope they open the swimming pools soon!