Eye of the Storm

Over the last three weeks I have witnessed every kind of weather - snow storms on arrival in Manchester; wind and rain in Yorkshire; bearable sunshine in Spain; torrential rain in Spain (NOT on the plain....); sunny mild weather in London; and finally searing heat in Bangalore. Last night, we added another weather phenomenon to the list: CYCLONE! I kid you not, we were hit by the edge of whirling Cyclone Nargis. It began with a little lightning, some thunder, then torrential rain which left parts of the city under 2.5 feet of water, but the worst was the wind which sent the rain every which way, most of it, it seemed, into every room of our apartment. Yes, the window sealants are THAT good here... One room (a little less well sealed than the rest) was full of hailstones by the time I got to it, and I seriously felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz as things were whirling around outside. The most shattering effect? It knocked out our satellite signal TV for the last 10 minutes of my nightly fix of Seinfeld.

It all reminded me of my favourite email of the year, following the much heralded 'minor' earthquake in England a couple of months ago:

"Not often I send these types of things out but with the uk earthquake last night it really makes you think...

With all the news on TV lately about the hurricanes that America is experiencing, the typhoons in China, flooding in Switzerland and recent mud slides in South America, we shouldn't forget that the UK has its share of devastating natural disasters too.

Attached is a photo illustrating the damage caused to my uncle's home from the
earthquake that occured last night.

It really makes you cherish what you have, and reminds us not to take things for granted.

Do take care of yourself and be safe."

Surviving Flying

So, after five days 'missing in action' my luggage from BA finally arrived.  Not a word of warning or the promised phone call, just a slip through the door to say it was in the recycling bin!  Thank god it wasn't recycling day...  Suffice to say my claim for five days of necessaries is lodged with BA and we can only wait with baited breath to see what they deem necessary or not.  The fact that I had traveled from a country currently celebrating temperatures of 100 fahrenheit and above, to one that was lucky to reach a half of that, one would think that a coat and boots would be 'necessary' items.

My second flight of the fortnight was to Spain at the weekend with the wonderfully cheap and sleazy EasyJet.  Not only do they charge you $10 to check a bag in (versus carry-on), they have a free for all seating policy that causes mayhem at every turn.  What DID amuse me greatly on this flight was the pilot's welcome announcement, his introduction of the staff, who are there for our safety, and how we should pay attention to the safety demonstration.  Normally that's enough, but he added, "Statistically it's proven that survivors are made up of people who paid attention..."  Funny, but scary at the same time.  As if sensing our fear, he continued with a quip for young children:  "For the young children on board, yes, we are nearly there, and will be nearly there for the duration of the flight."  Hilarious!

Humour AND luggage that arrived at both ends - what more can you ask for from a flying experience!!!

Back in Bangalore

So, after a whirlwind tour of Europe, I am now back in Bangalore where it's wet and windy and not at all pleasant! Despite the torrential rains in England, we managed to survive a whole week without rain; in fact, we actually got sunburnt at this year's Great Yorkshire Show, one of the only agricultural shows to go ahead this year because of the weather. It was a great change to see cows, goats and sheep in fields, vs. on the streets as they are in Bangalore! We were then lucky enough to have dinner at the fabulous Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, always ranked as one of the top restaurants in the world. It was quite an extravagance but worth every penny for the theater that accompanies each course, the fabulous food, and the stunning wine. We stayed over in Bray at Redroofs at Oldfield, which I believe will have been flooded shortly thereafter as the English rains headed south to Maidenhead. After that, I headed off to Paris for a couple of days (where it DID rain), then took the fabulous overnight train to Madrid, and finally onto the Costa del Sol where, as my friend Sue puts it, we stayed for a few days in 'a diamond in a pile of XXXX!' The weather was glorious, so it was down to earth with a bump when I got back to rainy, cold Bangalore. I can never remember how long the monsoon lasts here, as we get it once on its way north, and again on its way back. The only thing we can be thankful for is that, so far, we aren't having it as bad as the rest of South Asia where almost 20 million people have been displaced because of the rising flood waters. Let's hope it subsides - everywhere - soon.