I have given up trying to keep up the daily verbage...it is too much like hard work and frankly the things I have got up to have not been that interesting.
Oscar and Tom arrived from Mumbai on a train. They have enjoyed themselves, but looking at their pictures only seres to confirm my suspicions that I would have not appreciate the cramped conditions, the rather boring scenery and the food ... and so am delighted that I came here by plane, albeit at extra cost !
I have had a very satisfying outcome to the trip from the point of view of my business, and feel I have more or less secured the continuity of Econotest for the best 3 or 4 years or so, and that not even allowing for orders from elsewhere as well as the imminent launch of Econotest Omni into a market where fuel consumption has become one of the hottest topics on the planet!
It has as usual been a pleasure to deal with my Agent here even if we have had one or two tense moments in our discussions, culminating in my threat to return to the UK if their attempts to fleece me of discount did not cease. It seemed to work a treat. as my contract was confirmed within 5 minutes of that phone call!
It has been also a pleasure to have Oscar and Tom join me here for a few days. They have now made contact with my friends Menaka and Puran whose SHARP NGO they will be working for, They all seem to get along like a house on fire, Tom and Oscar enchanting their small some Venky , as well as their teenage daughter Tanya, who we are looking forward to visiting in Paris on her upcoming exchange trip in May.
We went out for a lunch with them on Sunday, after which we had a wonderful walk almost the full length of Rajpath in the evening, all the way to India Gate which was crowded with people all enjoying the relative cool of the evening. We also noticed that India Gate, though similar, is somewhat larger than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and had a but of fun pointing this out to my French friends on Facebook! It was wonderful to see the people milling about, enjoying the evening and enjoying family life. It reminded me of the passegiata in Italy on a Sunday evening.
Last night Tom Oscar and I went out for dinner and a few pints of beer - quite a few pints - to a very nice bar in Connaught place, where we sat outside, high up above the traffic looking out over the city of New Delhi. After our 5th glass of Kingfisher, we spied some camels ambling through the square which gave us a double take moment at our glasses to see what we really drinking. But apparently they come all the way from Rajasthan and exercise the camels in the cool of the evening ...this being in the region of 11 pm !
We went shopping for hats as the temperatures have soared in the past few days and the heat is now oppressive ( didnt find any!) and Oscar and Tom have been out on their own alot to explore what will be their home now for the next 5 weeks.
Tomorrow we are off the Agra and the Taj Mahal, after which on Wednesday I return back to the UK which I have to say I am looking forward to !
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