The quote is Conrad Hilton, responding to a journalist's question about the secret of a successful hotel, and perhaps it is also a good answer to the question: What's the most important factor in being happy where you live?
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| The street where I live |
Well, it's not the geographic location as much as the social surroundings. It's the warmth, the smiles and the friendliness of both neighbours and strangers. Here, in Bangalore, a smile makes an instant connection, and if you need help in any situation, then nothing is too much trouble if you just smile, and ask someone.
It's Yorkshire, but with a slightly different accent, - and rather better weather.
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| 753,7th B Main, HRBR Layout, Kalyan Nagar |
This is my home, and my apartment is the whole of the ground floor.
A vast lounge / kitchen / diner and two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a third bedroom that is becoming my snug and cosy study.
The address has something of an exotic ring to it. You can't say "Kalyan Nagar" without feeling that you are ordering the Chef's Speciality in a very upmarket Indian restaurant in London's Mayfair.
"Does your chef put Fenugreek in the Kalyan Nagar? - we had it at the Taj in Mumbai and it was simply stupendous."
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Kalyan Nagar is simply the name of a rather pleasant district of Bangalore. Several thousand locals, and me; the Token White Man. Except for two visits to the Foreigners' Registration Office, I am the only white face I've seen since I left the airport, which is probably one of the reasons I love this location.
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| The fridge and washing machine arrived today |
I seem to be spending half of my time in on-line shopping. I tracked down a site selling reconditioned, second-hand white goods, and bought a fridge/freezer and a washing machine.
I found a sturdy desk for my study and Building Blocks has given me a huge board-room table, and a room divider that nicely separates the dining area from the kitchen.
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| Mountains of cardboard , oceans of bubble-wrap |
The presence of Amazon in India means that almost anything is available, and often just overnight.
The Amazon website says I have placed 45 orders in 14 days, and when I fill James' car boot with another load of packaging, I think 45 could be a significant underestimate.
I've bought chopping boards and crockery, pots and pans and shelving units, loo seats, waste bins, and bathroom fittings, bedside lights and whisky glasses.
. . . and cushions.
Those of you who know me will realise that this maroon moquette on the sofa may be an iconic statement of taste in the Bertie Wooster era, but I'm afraid it just doesn't do it for me.
The matching triple antimacassar and seating mat are now in the storage drawer under the spare bed.
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| . . .this is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the Age of Aquarius . . . |
I found a cotton-and-silk patchwork throw that exactly fits the settee, and the ten vibrant velvet cushions really change the mood of the place.
The Building Blocks' driver-cum-handyman, (- one of Bob Harvey's former careers, - but that's another story -) is spending the day here tomorrow, and together we'll be putting things up and taking things down. By Halloween the place should really feel like home.
But all this home-making and nesting is not the reason I am here in Bangalore - though it might persuade some of you that I was serious when I talked about eventually coming home as a little packet of ashes.
Kids like her, who are born in poverty usually stay in poverty, just like her parents and grandparents through the generations. Without a change in the way each generation values itself, the cycle of poverty will trundle on.
A basic education will enable her to scratch a living, but nothing will really change until she, and her siblings, and the friends she hangs around with, all start to believe that they really can do anything they choose if they study and if they gain self-confidence and self-belief.
I am not here to help James and the team churn out factory fodder, shift workers who are enslaved to Mastercard and Visa. We are working together to create a new mind-set of self-esteem amongst children who believe one simple motto : It doesn't have to be like this.
I want to find another hundred people back in Britain, who are ready to part with just one pound a day to help us build a new tribe of dynamic youth who will change the world. Check out the website, reach for your plastic, or send me an email and I'll get back to you.
Any of these girls could have been the girl in the above picture . . .but then they became students in Building Blocks; - and they're not looking back.
Please join us and be part of the change.
Please join us and be part of the change.
