Netting the Mosquitoes away

Being in India reminded of our youthful days in Hyderabad. We had a lot of mosquitoes, some of them quite fierce. My father would tie a mosquito net all the way around our beds, and made sure we got in and were protected. Often he himself did not have a net. The wet side of getting rain is that we also get mosquitoes. Unfortunately, rain with the bites is better than no rain with thirst.
Delhi right now is suffering from high heat and dry days..just got a drizzle yesterday and today.

Express...Indian Express

Indian Express was the newspaper we subscribed to at home. My father was a loyal Express reader. It was a serious newspaper, and did expose quite a few scandals. There were other papers like the Hindu and the Deccan Chronicle, but we all liked the Express. We would also do the crossword puzzle at times...

Sweet..

I was talking to a friend here - she recommended that I take some Agarwal sweets back home. Reminded me of my father- who always bought the expensive but fine Pulla Reddy Sweets. He always went for quality, even at high prices- put us in the best convent schools and sent us to the best institutions. Always indebted to him.

Water Problems

One striking memory of my youth- my father pulling up buckets of water from the ground level. Our owners did not install a storage tank and a pump. Given the water shortages, the city would release water for a short while and there would be no pressure, and the water would not come through our taps. So our dad had to lower the buckets and we would go down and let it fill, and then he would pull it up. Apart from all his other stressful, physically demanding work, he had to do this most mornings. What a tough life!

Delhi

I remember my father getting excited when my elder sister went to Delhi representing her school in the Model UN Assembly. She had a wonderful time too. Later my younger sister went to Delhi for her Master's degree. Today these memories came to when I landed in Delhi.

Mango kulfi

I went to an Indian restaurant with a colleague and for dessert we had Mango kulfi. My father loved mangoes. He preferred eating the fruit itself or drinking the mango juice. I don't remember having mango kulfi in India. Mango picke, the avakaya, is an extra-ordinary creation from southern India.

Roses

I remember our rental apartment in Hyderabad- on the first floor. In our balcony we had a beautiful rose plant in a pot, along with other plants. Once in a while father would sit in the balcony for a few minutes and watch the kids play on the street.