The Botanics has now become a paying proposition. We were more than a dozen on Sunday and foreigners had to shell out Rs.50 each while locals paid Rs10. There was even a parking charge. I think we can get around it if we reach there before the guardians at the gate do, but am not very clear on that.

After so many monthly meets at the Botanics, Peter, Rosie and Bhaskar still managed to get lost and had to walk the perimeter of the Botanics from the outside to reach the right gate. So they just managed to join us on our return to the Banyan tree and didn’t get much out of their Rs.50!

Hhoward and Shanti are back after a lot of back breaking labour on the cellar of their house which got flooded because of a burst boiler. We got horror stories of mildewed walls that can be cleaned with bleach I’m told. Bhaskar was back from Bangkok where he’s obviously slimmed down on Thai food. Howard and Shanti successfully got his goat by telling him instead he’d put on weight!

Rajesh Poddar, his wife and daughter did double the walk we did as they are regular early morning walkers. Howard and Shanti back from snowbound lands were recounting the pleasures of being snowed in and sitting by the fireplace reading. Shanti is delighted to be back to a cultural capital where there are all sorts of possibilities of outings. They, Peter and Rosie went to the Flower Show at The Horticultural Gardens after. And they and Lilly went to 15 Park Avenue the new Aparna Sen movie that very evening while I spent the day at the TARA Telefilm Festival at Nandan.

We saw truckloads of villagers in town for the Rally and there were mile long queues at the zoo.

Siddiqui gave invites for next week’s Vintage Car Rally.