The mosaic tiled floor where I sit as I write is cool in the 30 degree balm of 'the Retreat' where we are making our home for the next 8 weeks. I've blu-tacked the adapter to the power socket and plugged in our power board to power or charge the various devices. Our hosts, Ramkumari and Shivnath, employees of Darpana, look after the house including us. Mitali has fallen in love with the beautiful Ramkumari and spends every available moment with her.
Ramkumari and Mitali
The Retreat is, I gather, part of the Sarabhai family empire. It is situated near an enormous textile museum and shares its lush jungle surrounds. Peacocks and monkeys roam freely. Mitali was up before 5 this morning and we enjoyed a dawn walk amongst the lush green which buffers us against the smog and constant hum of the busy city beyond.
Visitors at the retreat
As Mallika Sarabhai, director Darpana Arts Academy, writes in an email:
....you will be taken to a heritage home in the beautiful lush tropical surroundings of what used to be my grandparents home and is now India's most famous textile museum. The house used to belong to my great aunt who first invited Mahatma Gandhi to come and arbitrate in the famous textile owners and workers strike of 1915. Gandhiji, Tagore and Pandit Nehru have been amongst the many political luminaries who have stayed or dined there. There is a woman caretaker there who cleans. If you wish Nair will organize for her to also cook and shop for you and wash clothes. Darpana is a twenty minute rickshaw ride away.
Mum and Dad came for lunch and were relieved to see us set up in our little oasis - that Mitali had some space and we all had some escape from the bustling city.
In the afternoon, we went to Darpana and met the dynamic Malika Sabarai. We were to join them in the filming for one of their projects. We found ourselves in the middle of a slum witnessing a very convincing enactment of someone being possessed - one of the ceremonies marking the end of the Navratri festival.
