In Abstentia

Before I start writing about whatever I’m going to write about (which is my way of revealing that I haven’t decided what the topic for this post is going to be even as I type this), I’d just like to say “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

I was horrified to see that I hadn’t written anything on this blog since June of last year, when logging in for the first time in ages just last week. So I guess it’s high time I rectify the situation. The fact that I’m on a train bound for London certainly aids the process – owing to the fact that I’m very bad at sitting still unless I absolutely have to, most of my meaningful reading/film watching and, historically, blog writing gets done on trains. The fact that I take one on average at least once a week means my excuses for not blogging more often are fairly limited. So, I’ll see how I go from here, without wishing to make any rash promises about regular future posts.

The second thing I should say is “Happy New Year” to you, although arguably it’s a reasonably pointless gesture given that a) I’ll have done so in person to most of the people who read this blog and b) it’s, er, March. But I’ve done it anyway, so there.

I think this post is just going to be a “Me” update, just to warm up for longer, more detailed rants about world peace and the price of fish, so here goes:

Well, I’ve had a fab start to 2008. At work, I’m getting some great feedback from my superiors, and I’m really enjoying my job to boot. Without wishing to bore you with the finer details, the nature of my role changed slightly last September upon my return from South Africa, and to my benefit. In short, I’m now a press officer who deals with “issues” based stuff, which can range from RAC’s view on escalating fuel prices, to announcing the loss of umpteen staff as part of the ubiquitous and seemingly interminable desire to restructure our business and fire people. Ho hum. The facts are, though, that for whatever reason I’m far happier standing in front of a TV camera doing a live interview about job losses than I am articulating some fluffy survey about the fact that more motorists are going to paint their wing mirrors pink this summer than ever before (I made that last bit up, incidentally, but you get my meaning). So it’s all good.

In January, I visited India for my good friend Balaji’s marriage to his beautiful bride Renuka, in wonderful Hyderabad. Not only was my first Hindu wedding an unforgettable experience in itself, but I met so many fantastic people who made me feel so very welcome. Touchingly so, in fact. So I’d like to say a fond “Hi” to each and every one of my new friends, who include Ravi (special thanks to you, mate), Sinu, Srikanth, Sowmya and Santhya. I hope you can forgive me for those whose names I’ve forgotten/omitted, and for the most-probably horrible misspelling of those I have mentioned!

Whilst in India, I treated myself to a few days in Calcutta (or Kolkata, if we’re toeing the Dravidian renaming line), which is a fascinating city, and not the hell-hole that most people, including most Indians themselves, portray. Or perhaps I’ve become acclimatised to Indian life, which I don’t think is too far from the truth, as I remember thinking it to myself as I took a quiet moment to gaze wistfully over the Hyderabad skyline from a balcony at Jain Bhavan, the hall where Bala and Renuka tied the knot. Thank you to Sowmya from rescuing me from my daydreaming on that particular occasion, and encouraging me to be sociable once more…

I took the relatively colossal internal flight to Mumbai (three hours!), a city I adore, though I’m firmly in the minority on this (Aldous Huxley famously described then-named Bombay as “the most appalling…in either hemisphere”). Whilst the endemic poverty cannot be ignored, I think it is the most fascinating city I’ve ever visited, and not without its fair share of beauty. I was pleased to help out at a church school for homeless children close by Mumbai’s stately Victoria Station, which was such a rewarding experience. I’ve never met such a wonderful group of children, so proud, dignified and full of hope, though I cannot pretend that waving them off at the end of the day wasn’t an emotional experience, destined as they were for a night spent under a flyover, along with 118,000 other children in Mumbai alone. The beers at Leopold’s that evening had certainly tasted sweeter on previous visits, and dining at the opulent Tendulkar’s certainly put things into a somewhat warped perspective.

So now, I’m back home of course. I’ve plenty of things planned for this year – buying a house, for one (the autumn seems like a good time to me), learning a language (after much deliberation, I’ve decided to learn Hindi, and the course is on order) and if the pennies stretch and the scenario is right, there are tentative plans to visit India again in November. The fact that the England cricket team happen to be touring then is, of course, incidental…oh, and I’m off to the USA in May for my good friend Paul’s birthday celebration, which sees us take in Florida, before heading for a few days in New York. Can’t wait!

I think that’s it for now. I’m just off to Woking as I write, via London for a bit of shopping, to see my sister. We’re heading down to Bognor tomorrow to see our delinquent fourteen year-old brother, who is doing the predictable teenager thing of being easily led by some new-found cronies, a misguided union that has recently seen him arrested for the mild vandalism of a derelict house (“mild vandalism” – is that a recognised legal classification?). The beauty of the story is that, whilst his fellow criminals followed the Chav Getaway Handbook to the letter and scarpered at the first sight of the flashing blue light, Jamie just froze and was alone in the experience of being handcuffed and marched to the police station. A career criminal is hardly in the making, I would estimate J Incidentally, he was let off with a caution, as the police realised he was far more a spectator to the crime than a ringleader…I shouldn’t find the whole thing hilarious, I know, but Joanna and I concur that we’re going to find it difficult to do the whole reprimand thing with a straight face tomorrow!

Bye for now...