Monday 11th Feb - Day 8

Sorry if the pages on my blog are a little, okay, very disorganized and higgledy-piggeldy (excuse spelling) but its a little tricky with limited internet connection, etc. If I had brought a laptop with me it may have been easier, but because of risks, baggage, …. And I’m limited to how many photos I can upload too.

Excuses out of the way, here’s my update:

I have Delhi Belly ! Must have been something I ate at the restaurant last night. Have felt slightly nauseous and have had runny poos (is that too much information ? ). My Aunt has diagnosed it as the first signs of food poisoning. Luckily, my Uncle is a doctor and my Aunt a nurse, so I’m in good hands ! However, if I die I want you to sue them for every penny they have (only joking) !!!

Spent the morning on the roof top garden / floor enjoying the warmth of sunshine and reading books. It’s the first spell of warmth we have had. It was like being on holiday. In the afternoon I went to see a distant relative with my Aunt by car. On the road beside us in the next lane, was a small car, like a Fiat Panda, that looked slightly misshapen. On closer inspection I suspect it has been rolled, but this doesn’t seemed to have stopped the driver from carrying on his business. I am constantly dumbfounded by what I see on the roads.

In the evening, my Aunt and Uncle, from the neighbouring town of Nawansher (I have 2 aunts who live here) invite me to their home. I speak to them in my broken Punjabi, about home and family. It’s a huge house, with about 14 big rooms, no pokey little bathrooms here, in the middle of home improvements. Sandeep’s bedroom is covered floor to ceiling (including the ceiling itself) in posters of Britanny Spears, other pop stars, American wrestlers, comic book – sporting heroes and celebrities alike from East and West. Later, they take me and their teenage sons, Sahil and Sandeep, out to a ‘fast food’ restaurant where I order a spicy veggie burger followed by traditional dishes to be eaten with roti (unleavened warm bread). Apparently, it’s a favourite place for teenagers. The food is nice enough. I spend the night in a spacious bedroom, a little cold at first, have a warm shower in the morning and breakfast and go back to Banga. Everyday, I learn a little bit more about what it is to be Indian. When life is hard, it can be really tough, no NHS or DSS to fall back on. They look to the West for aspirations, but just sometimes, lead a far more colourful existence than they realise.