Picture It...

I had just had a shower and was stepping out of the bathroom, adjusting my towel, when I noticed that the front door was slightly open. At the same moment, I heard a low growl coming from the right side of the room, followed by a hiss.

I looked to the right, just in time to see my two girl cats, Billi with her back arched (making the hissing noise) and Baby crouched down in pounce position (making the growl). There was then a high-pitched screech and a local male cat came whipping out from somewhere, headed for the door. In his haste, he ran into the bowl of dog food, knocking it and its contents flying across the floor. The commotion startled him further; he leapt into the air and landed on Masti, to the left of the room.

Masti, who had up to that point been snoring happily on her mat, jumped up with loud yelp, twisted around, saw the male cat (Billi and Baby are tolerated, but all others are to be chased) and lunged at him. Her tail, which is so curly it reminds me of a cinnamon swirl pastry, got caught in the curtain hanging from the window over her mat.

In the meantime, Billi and Baby converged at a point between where I was standing (with my mouth hanging open) and the male cat by the door, and were both making yowling noises, seemingly at everything in the room.

Masti, discovering that her tail was wrapped up in the curtain, spun around making further yelping noises, and attacked the curtain. The male cat took his chance to run out of the room, smacking his head into the door on his first try, yowling loudly, and then making his exit on the second try.

Billi and Baby ran to the doorway, hissing and screeching at him. Masti spun around to try to follow him and tripped over the laptop cord, causing further crying noises out of her.

At this point, Billi was standing guard at the door, keeping a look out for the return of the male cat. Baby was eating the dog food from the floor and Masti settled back down on her mat, but not before making a few biting motions at the curtain.

It took me several seconds to regain the ability to move, at which point I walked over to the door, shut it, got dressed and then dealt with the mess.

There is definitely some Girl Power going on in my flat, I’m just not sure if I’m a participant or merely an observer.

My Romantic Soul

After two weeks’ driving, climbing and exploring, I slept heavily and long on my first night home. When I did finally wake up, I just lay there with my eyes shut, letting my brain work things out in peace.

A little while later, I felt Tukesh roll towards me, gently touch my hair and whisper “You are so beautiful when you’re sleeping.”

My response: “Why? Because my mouth is shut for a change?”

Indian Change

Coins are scarce in India, so you will often be given a small sweet in place of 1 Rupee for change. I'm used to it in shops and restaurants, but now we're getting it from a government organisation?

This is our change from a toll booth; a 2 Rupee coin and two sweets. At least these are nice ones. They often aren't.

If we have coins, we use them. We usually don't have them because so few people give them. Sometimes, people will just tell you to keep the difference. If it's a shop you use regularly, they might keep a running balance - lose a rupee one time, keep an extra next time. It's incredible how much detail can be kept accurately inside one head!
I've tried paying with sweets as small change, but it doesn't seem to be acceptable that way around