Weddings and summer

Much is happening in the neighbourhood.The trees are full of mangoes,the cats are in heat,weddings are in the offing and the heat is killing.Its that Indian summer when people actually get married in front of sacred fires and yours truly has to be in attendance.
The fun of functions in India are that they are all grand productions,lasting a few days.Everyone dresses in the best silk that money can buy never mind if one is melting slowly in the heat that it creates.Gold is the choice of jewellery and flowers,plenty of them adorn the hair,the home and whatever else.
Our neighbours have wedding in their homes and we have been invited .The husband gets away in jeans and shirt but I have to unearth a silk saree.Now luckily for me I don't have too many and the ones I have are thin silks but nevertheless I am now ready to get soaked.The air will be humid,mingling with the scent of jasmine,incense,and stale sweat.The idea is always to go just in time for dinner,wish the couple and vanish as fast as one can into the welcoming air conditioning of the car.But as duty goes one just has to do this.
Oh how I wish all wedding has to be in the so called winter or at least when the sun had cooled his heals for the better part of the year.How I wish the sacred fires would be replaced with electricity,how I wish the guest dress code was come as you are.....hmmm but I live in a country where the majority has three day wedding as opposed to the one hour church weddings I am used to.I live in a country where woman love to show off their jewellery and the more the merrier,were saree buying is a fine art (the one I have never mastered).I live in a county where the joys of marriage start with noise,fire and loads of family....and as I continue to live here i am off to tie five yards of silk around myself,prepare myself to smile at everyone and hold on to the shreds of dignity despite the sweat pouring down my face.Fortune favours the brave and so does a good meal and goodwill so for the next three hours I will suffer in silence and let the neighbour's know that I mean well...

The germ of an idea

Working for someone and working for oneself are two completely different experiences.For the better part of my life I worked for a company,loved it,hated it,got fed up and quit when I figured I could manage on my own.For the last five years I have been on my own doing things I like,not earning any money but at peace all the same.

When one takes responsibility for someone else it can be a bigger job than a sales target hanging over ones head so for all the years that I looked after my dad and mom I grappled with the demands of looking after old people.Quiet like children they need a lot of special attention and one can get a bit impatient and hopeless once in a while.The experiences of most of my friends in similar situations is that medical care for the elderly in this country is pathetic.In a country obsessed with youth and a population in billions,the elderly and the handicapped both get the wrong end of the stick.Gone are the days when doctors visited patients at home,made housecalls and actually knew their customers.Nowadays the banks know more about us than the doctors.

My mother recently had mobility problems and having searched high and low for a doctor to come home I gave up.It seems we have to live with the problem and not do a thing about it.Her doctor being the gem that she is is trying very hard to give us some support and I am so grateful to her for just trying.Which set me thinking.Having worked for so many years I do have a pretty decent hold of my ideas.I know how to make a business plan,know how to plan things etc.So the germ of an idea comes to me.I need to get down and dirty ,get organised and get hold of a network of doctors and nurses who can and will commit to doing house calls.I want a group of volunteers who can look out for old people in their neighbourhood and I need to work this thing through.

Will the idea take off?.I don't know but having called a couple of services I did find that they were way out of the reach of ordinary people like me.Most old people live on pensions or on the grace of their children who most often than not don't have the time for them.The organisations that exist are for the rich or the very poor.The middle class as usual are left behind.My intentions are good but will they find a voice?.Will I come up against official red tape or what?.Only time will tell but I have an agenda.I am thinking that the church will be my first port of call.Then some well meaning friends,then some more people.Gardening has taught me some patience so I hope this idea will find fruit.If I cant learn from my experience and help people like me cope then life is a wasted exercise.All help and suggestions of course are taken on board.