Shanti Kunj days - tastes of paradise

These are the days of miracle and wonder,
This is a long distance call,
The way the camera follows us in slow-mo
The way we look to us all
(Paul Simon - Boy in the Bubble)

The last 2 weeks have been a long-drawn out taste of beauty.

Asha and her cousin Joanna wake to a new day at Shanti Kunj.

What will the day entail?

A session on the front-porch swing? Note the elegant hats our ladies are decked out in...

Or will it be baking chocolate-chip cookies with Oma?


Maybe it will include listening to Enoch tickle the keys

With enthusiastic contributions from cousin Ashish too?


The possibilities are endless...

When we have the joy of having the 4 cousins together (Anjali badly missed this time) at Shanti Kunj...

There is no end of things that can be done!

We were so glad to have Stefan and Ashish up with us for the first few days of our time with Oma and Opa in Mussoorie.


Writing this from the pre-monsoonal sweat-bath of Thane the whole time seems like some kind of a beautiful dream. And it was. In fact it was the best kind of dream - the lived out one. The one where we knew that all this goodness was real - and that we were living through it!

The dream was as real as Oma's flowers from her 'greenhouse'

And as real as the cherished set of memories that we take back with us. Memories of attempting a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle (almost but not quite completed):



Wer will fleissige handwerker sehn? There is always lots of work to do at Shanti Kunj. The need for construction workers for the building of mountain roadways remains acute:


We also did something that we used to do as kids - stuffing envelopes for one of Dad's mailings. The ambience of the family dining room added much - and having cheery helpers meant it was all over before it even seemed to have started.


The days are just packed.

Some days will have a hike...



While others were profitably whiled away through digging deep into literature. Both the Enid Blyton variety - as well as books read aloud like North or be Eaten! and the ever green library of Tintin and Asterix ....


High culture was greatly appreciated


by an enthusiastic audience:



One morning it was a costume and juice bazaar:


Complete with competent cashier:
Somebody hire the man!

And enthusiastic participants:


To sum up: all in all a fabulous time was had by all.

Many thanks to our loving parents for blessing us with these days of refreshing and joy!
Many thanks to loving Father for His blessings to us His special kids.