Unhappy times?

Things dont seem to be going smoothly. not much work, which means not much money. Investments seems to have depreciated! can you imagine, doubt if any property investment has managed to depreciate in these times in India that too in NCR! but we seem to have managed that!wondering when things would get better, if they would at all! life looks bleak

a clickclicking day

had a click clicking day, went out & clicked pics not many of them great, what with a dying battery & a full data card.Got the hang of it though, down to what to wear.was at the GK park

A K Hangal passed away, an Amul ad missing

A K Hangal passed away today, there seems to be no Amul ad commemorating his life unlike that of Dara Singh & Rajesh Khanna! unfair!! 

Rainy days & the manual scavenging bill

Days are rainy grey, no after shower sunshine to add the sparkle, but its better than the scorching heat.The monsoon deficit has been come down to 16% for this year.Terrace clogged, water seeping through the bedroom ceiling & wall. Need to fix the water drainage outlets.The standard method here seems to be calling a plumber who sends in an unskilled laborer who cleans or rather tries to unblock the pipe manually. I plan on using Drainex

Thinking of which, the Indian government has finally banned manual scavenging, manual cleaning of septic tanks & other sewers (read more here), which is excellent news! It has become a punishable offence........punishable with a jail term mind you....Weather the job is given out by an individual or organisation. As yet no hue & cry over job losses. Wonder what that means, if the workers are happy they don't have to do it anymore or if they are too illiterate & unorganized to put up a fight.

Either ways it is a great step forward. Manual scavenging is dehumanizing work.
The Indian railways, which still has miles & miles of tracks that are filthy from the open toilets that the trains still continue to use, seem not too happy with the idea though.They have filed for a exemption. I would say its high time they stopped using more than a century old technology (or rather lack of it :)) & upgraded to bio-digester toilets.

While looking for the right terminology I came accross this excellent site Go Green Solutions Though privately owned they seem to be associated with government projects. Sounds great even for residential projects

We check in to Tallital Guest house

Room, KMVN Sarovar TRH, Tallital 

 We check in to the Tallital guest house & are pleasantly surprised by the rooms,well proportioned & clean.The balcony is a dream overlooking the lake.

We move the red chairs outside in to the balcony & sit there sipping tea, watching the mist settle into the lake

Balcony, KMVN sarovar TRH, Tallital

A trip to the misty mountains

Sorting images is a task, takes ages & heart rending decision making.so here are some I decided to keep.And the story ofcourse

Having taken the 6.15 AM kathgodam Shatabdi from Anand Vihar Terminal railway station in Delhi we got to kathgodam by about 12.00 PM.Picking a cab was a task with many haggling & forcing you into their cabs.we took one for 400 Rupees about 25% more than we should have I suppose.The Road to Nainital is beautiful even in the monsoons, misty mountains & green, at times coniferous, forests.The driver was ill tempered & grumpy & persuaded us to have some chai at the chai shop he's fixed up with

Kathgodam to Nainital by road

Road from Nainital to kathgodam

Once we got there a steep climb awaited to the KMVN guest house at Tallital.City living non exercising us reached the reception with out luggage breathless & red in the face.We were lucky,it was the monsoons & nobody came to the hills just then.The room I confirmed from the railway station was there ready for us.

The difficult to please A could not believe his eyes when he saw the balcony.It was large & had a lovely view of the lake.The room was beautiful, may be not the best in terms of interiors but clean & well proportioned.

View from the balcony, KMVN guest house, Tallital

Mist in the mountains

Nainital is beautiful in the rains. Its misty one minute & then its not, mist in the mountains is one of the most beautiful things in the world. A bit ghostly in a Ruskin Bond manner.We stayed by the lake on the mall road.  We could see the lake from our balcony framed with mountains & with swan boats in them. And when the night fell a hundred lights lit up the mall road.

For the second & third day we moved up to Snow view, The old British Governer house, having lived through a rough restoration the structure retains some of its colonial stateliness.The wood panelled floor & ceiling dates back to the British times, so does all of the structure, with its thick, load bearing walls, deep windows with shades held in place by curly wrought iron metal work.The restoration was thankfully limited to the finishes.The place is set in a pine forest & a beautiful winding road takes you down to the mall road.

A lovely trip

More on the trip & pictures soon

Luka leaves

Luka's left. For a better world I hope, where he can chase butterflies & play in the mud & has a soft cushion of his own in the sun.
He had distemper & went undetected. Sort of shakes my faith in the work being done for dogs. wonder where he contracted the disease, most likely after he came into the hands of his well wishers. Feel bad I was not there for him when he most needed me, after all he was almost my dog, Had spent majority of his life off the street, about 12 days with me.

Despair

A despair ridden day.

Luka is sick, admitted to a hospital (Paws).Have offered Ayesha to keep him if he required a convalescence period.Hope nothing happens to him.I will be heart broken.seriously considering keeping him.
Tried to try today, did not work.Got a scan done, follicle growth too less.so no hope this month either.I am starting to lose hope.  
I can see the worry in mummy's face too.I told her its probably just the time.she is brave in that manner & a fighter. 
I do hope it is time & that it comes to an end soon, coz it has gone on for too long.

In the mean while I will exercise, eat right, read up lots n lots on preparing to get pregnant. and leave the rest to him
after all all you can do is what you can

Time for goodbye

Its time, Luka will leave tommorrow, Ayesha will pick him up.The lady who wanted a nail count does not want him. He knows he is leaving, he is sad, does not leave my side,does not eat too much, refuses to go on the jahapanah walk as it is far away.I take him down to to the colony green spaces to do his thing. He holds his hind leg up, as if he is hurt, though cant really see anything.

It is a sad business keeping a dog for a short while, specially when it is somebody like Luka.I do not think I'll foster anymore.

Parting gift

Its been rainy again, the spider lilies are in full bloom in Jahapanah scenting the air.mushrooms sprouting on tree trunks.The earth is dark & wet,the millipedes working overtime.Its miraculous what a little water can do. Luka walks unleashed in the evenings these days. He chases squirrels & the quarrelsome brown birds called titars.he looks younger now, almost puppy like.stands up to be hugged if we hug.He's a sweet dog.

Amits blood sugar seems to be stabilising.been normal in the past 5 days. Its Luka's parting gift to us. He might be adopted. The man wants him for his mother, a sweet thing to do & Luka being the gentle dog he is I think he will do very well. Counted his toenails for Ayesha, supposedly the lady is superstitious about dogs with 20 toenails, they tend to be aggressive she says.The lucky Luka has only 18.Am really glad for him.It would have been painful to let him go to a shelter or back to the streets  to find his way back.

Luka goes for a walk

A & Luka go for a walk

Luka poses for the picture

reluctant walk back home