Landing at midnight in New Delhi is exhilarating: and we had plenty to be excited about. This was to be a deal-making and thanks-giving trip. There was a gypsy circus hotel/ashram/herbal healing centre to manifest in Udaipur, there was puja and gifts for Pushkar, and half a dozen speculative calls to make in between. And with the monsoon just starting Delhi felt good.
But it was all to change.
Our regular hotel in Pahar Ganj received us and put us up an air-conditioned room. The next morning we made our pilgrimage to the masala dhosa shop on the corner and started planning the campaign. Varsha was a bit unsettled after the flight so it wasn't too surprising that she was grumpy that afternoon. We all had a fresh juice from one of the stalls at PVR Cinema and then caught an auto rickshaw to Jaya's home in Sakhet. Jaya is another of the Dixit sisters (Prem, Rita, Jaya, and Romulla) and is my first gracious host in India as well as a sensitive painter, meditator, and lover of music.
After the customary generous greetings with Jaya we settled in for an evening of conversation, food, and music, glorious music. Kathy Sokol (David's other co-wife) joined us and spun the harrowing tales of her documentary project in the troubled state of Kashmir. But Varsha wasn't really herself and we needed to fade back to our hotel before the party really got underway. We bid adieu and rickshawed back home through the hot, still hectic streets.
Sleep was fitful, V obviously unwell, and now Caro had picked up a terrible cough (Delhi air?).
A series of vomits, pit stops and coughing fits brought us through to the afternoon rendezvous. Brilliant Jaya walked us through the gardens but saw that we needed comfort so took us to her old haunt, the Basement (now ~DV8), where she met and fell in love with her man Julio back in 1974. Tres romantic and just the atmosphere we needed.
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