Outside there is torrential rain. I’ve never experienced anything like it before. It must be hell in the huts. Normal work routines all stop when it rains like this. The children all bomb around getting wet - they love it - and everyone else huddles indoors feeling miserable and cold. It's actually winter here but I’m finding it warm and humid but bearable.

I’m writing these blogs in the evening in the school office which is a short distance away from the guest house. It gets dark by about 6 o’clock (really dark) and everyone in the villages takes to their huts. I’m expecting the electricity to go off at any moment, so have my torch at hand. (The computer has its own generator). My only company is the office mouse. S/he shoots between the door and the cupboard near my feet, so I keep my legs propped up on some boxes.

It’s Divali. Divali is a HUGE festival here in India and all the schools are closed. Jessy and Lourdusamy’s children, Leenus and Lumina, are staying for the weekend, and Maria’s daughter, Mary Jane is also with us. At the moment the three girls are dancing vigorously to taped music under the shelter by the house, and two elderly ayahs from Shanthi Lumine (the children’s home) are sitting cross-legged on the floor watching them.

The journey was fine and my big case arrived the same time as me. What a relief. The second stretch (between Dubai and Chennai – Madras as was) was crowded. I sat right at the back next to a chatty German woman. Amazingly, her son spent a year working as a volunteer at the Wiener Library where my daughter is currently employed. Small world! I was met in the chaos that is Chennai by Catrine, Maria and little Lenci.

As is usual in India, it took ages to get to Kanji because of the traffic and road works and because we kept stopping for drinks, snacks and shopping. The main roads out of Chennai were bonkers - lorries, buses, bikes, scooters, motorbikes, cars, cows, dogs etc. etc. all (bar the cows and dogs) hooting like mad and dipping in and out of each other. The Indian lorry drivers believe that they have a God-given right to occupy the outside ‘fast’ lane. They crawl along while everything else dips in and out honking and gesticulating. However, there was a lovely welcome at the school with garlands and blessings, and rangoli patterns stretching all the way from the gate to the door and even up the steps to the guest rooms.

Because it’s Divali fire crackers are going off all the time, day and night. I was given a bunch of crackers to light and didn't realise that India fireworks have very short fuses and just managed to leap back in time. I mistook the on-lookers’ cries of fear for encouragement! The local temple is lit up with flashing fairy lights – jolly if a tad garish. There are several huge illuminated gods (including the elephant god, Ganesh) outside the temple, and loudspeakers blare out Indian music all the time. Some of the children have new clothes of which they are very proud.

On Friday, my first morning in Kanji, Catrine, Maria and I went to say hello to some of the teachers in the town. We made four house visits, travelling around on the back of scooters. At each house local children crowded in the doorway to gaze at us and try out their English: How are you aunty? What is your name aunty? etc etc. We were given hot tea and coffee (sweet), nibbles (salty) and sweets/cakes (very, very, very sweet). The older relatives here are very tactile and pull you down to sit beside you and stroke your hand. So many people here have medical problems which would be sorted in a jiffy in the UK. Tragic.

In the afternoon I went round the deserted school campus taking photos of the new classrooms and other minor projects. There are lots of newly planted trees and shrubs and flowers - all very attractive. The main buildings are beginning to look scruffy and will soon need painting.

In the evening, because it was Divali, Catrine and I were given special food; one of Chinappan's (Maria's brother) chickens was killed and cooked over a wood fire. This was followed by chips cooked likewise – delicious, but exhausting for Maria who had trouble getting the oil hot enough for the chips. She kept enlisting various members of staff to either hold the umbrella over her head or blow on the fire. The children (lots of them but no space here to explain who they all were) had bits of our chicken and the mangy school dogs had the bones.

There was more visiting on Saturday evening. This time we went to say hello to Maria’s family members living in the nearby village of Koratempett. Again, there was much eating. Then fireworks back at the school in the evening, all lit and brandished with a stunning disrespect for health and safety. The toddlers, waving sparklers, ran around barefoot amongst the almost-expired fireworks, and the adults (also barefoot) nonchalantly kicked the almost-expired fireworks to one side while holding open boxes of crackers with one hand and flaming brands in the other. All very exciting. No one was hurt. Went to bed early (seemed late as it’s dark by 6.00pm here) and slept like a log.

Bye for now. V