Return to Basundhara

 
Geeta, her house-mother, and Mitali

At 4.40 am this morning a full, dirty-orange moon lit the morning sky in Delhi as we drove to the airport. We spent a not-really-planned night in an expensive hotel due to a loosely connected flight from Bhubeneswar back to Ahmedabad. The vast disparity in wealth distribution in India still baffles us - this one night's accommodation cost about 3 times what we're paying our lovely housekeepers for a month's worth of cooking and looking after us. Fireworks are once again filling the night sky for Dev Diwali, the last night of the holiday season, as I reflect on an amazing weekend in Bhubeneswar, Orissa. We returned to Basundhara, the children's home where Mitali spent her first 21 months.

Sodumini with her charges.

Shosheela, Kate and Mitali.

We were sad to miss Subhadra at Basundhara. She was the nurse Mitali was very attached to and who we had heard was keen to catch up when we visited. An unexpected treat was to receive her phone call the next day and have her visit at our hotel. We were delighted to accept an invitation to dinner that night at her house with her charming husband Silu, who cooked a delicious meal.

We were very keen to gather stories from Mitali's time at Basundhara. We asked Geeta to come into the office with Akshaya whose English is very good.
"Could you tell us some stories from when Mitali was little?"
Lengthy translation, lengthy response....

 "Sorry?"
"What was Mitali like?"

Lengthy translation, lengthy response....

"She liked eggs, dahl, sweet things."
etc...
We were very grateful to spend the time with Subhadra who was able to recall some stories about Mitali. It really helped us fill in some gaps which Mitali may appreciate when she's older.