the best mum in the world!

left; here we are in the field behind the hotel where the flies attacked dhara.

right; mum and dhara painting their beautiful paintings.

this is David our tour guide who showed and told us everything about wine!

talking about the vines, i had no idea how the grapes are farmed, was truly fantastic to hear so much from someone who knows so much!

a belated birthday weekend for the best mum in the world

Last weekend we gave the supremely wonderful woman, our mother Surekha Vyas a very belated birthday present. She began the fun filled weekend on Friday night with a glass of gold champagne on arrival in st pancras. This was swiftly followed by a lovely picnic for me S and mum watching the weird and wonderful fous de basin . The next morning the sun was shining brightly, Roopa arrived early and off we went. The tomcat wasn’t very well so we took S’s car and went from London to kent to sussex to kent to sussex….and ended up at Carr Taylor vineyard in east sussex. We were taken on a tour of the vineryard, learnt lots about wine and then (our favourite bit) some wine tasting!! The wine was lovely, and it was interesting to talk about the different tastes (we didn’t all enjoy the same ones at all, but the one we all agreed one and I think we would all recommend is the carr taylor brut - third one down. Its crisp and quite dry with a very slight fruity finish. Yummy).

We then had a lovely big ploughman’s lunch and went on to do some art. The artist Katie Sollhub was great, and she took us through some different techniques which we all enjoyed trying out.

We purchased lots of wine (naturally- Vyas’s on tour etc etc) went to our hotel drank a bottle then ended the day with a wander round winchelsea (pretty but dull - see pictiure) and a big dinner.

The next was it was ridiculously sunny again, woke early and went to Rye – but the weather so gorgeous we ended up in Camber – golden sands and sunshine.

All in all a fantastic weekend (with thanks to Ben, Georgie, Katie and all those at Carr Taylor who helped make Saturday fab)

Roops – add some photos to this post?!

The best movie going experience ever...........

On Friday night we finally made it to the Inwood Theatre screening lounge, we saw Star Trek, which was a fun movie and does not require you to be a Trekkie fan to enjoy. However the real highlight of the night was the screening lounge, the best movie going experience ever! As W. pointed out, now that you have seen a movie this way, how can you go back to normal movie theaters? Just as an FYI we did have the front seat, and it was the best! So comfy, squishy, relaxing and fun. I am even more excited by the new Potter movie, in the hope that they show it here! Fingers crossed! Jigna

PS: Potter 6 was great at the Inwood!

Introducing Texans to hot tea, one by one

We are British and of Indian origin which means that our hot tea (with milk)/chai drinking is really rooted in our heritage, culture, background, basically in all that we are, (when I say we, here I mean my husband and I). When we arrived in Texas we were astonished to find that some people had never heard of drinking hot tea (with milk), imagine our shock, our horror! 

We have since introduced a few Texans to hot tea with milk (well, okay one). We switched cable/internet service providers, they had to come out to connect it all up and the nice guy that came out, entered our home just as the kettle was switched on (serendipity, happy coincidence, fate or kismet?). As he had never had a cup of hot tea (with milk), we offered him one and he accepted. It was a chilly day (yes they do happen in Dallas, once in while!) and so he really appreciated the hot drink. He really enjoyed it, and we polished off his cultural experience, by offering him a chocolate digestive - we showed him how to dunk. Jigna.

Vital cocktail information:

Vital cocktail information: please refer to Victoria Moore's article/blog on the Guardian website, thank you Ms Moore. Mmmmm could murder a G&T. I dunno why but the tonic water in the US just tastes funny, I have to get the imported expensive kind from "special" shops? Jigna 

Picture credit: screaming-eagles.com/ 2009/03/benny-and-the-nets

The politics of identity

I began to write a blog about, Sikh week at Texas colleges, as reported in the Dallas Morning News, a friend brought in the section for me, (surprisingly I am not a regular reader), it is a very interesting and revealing story. I think we can all applaud this effort to educate people.

I then started to think about this Cif (by Sunny Handal in the Guardian), regarding the politics of race and identity. I am concerned that often in our effort to reclaim,claim, explain,define etc our identities we distance ourselves from our shared humanity. This also coincides with my firmly held belief that I don't think we should be defined by just one aspect of our personalities. Whilst certain aspects of our identities may be more important to us or others in defining us, it is vital to look to ourselves as a sum of our parts rather then being defined by one characteristic, especially when you consider that the one characteristic, may be something that we have had no control over i.e. our race, gender, place of birth etc.

This leads me to another point after a certain age, religious identities are usually chosen, and so it is not the same as a racial or gender identity, which is something that you are born with.

I think that the differences do not have to mean "everything". Those differences can be what you pin your identity on or they could not be. Maybe that is a sign of a "progressive and open" society, that the differences I choose to identify myself with, are chosen by me and not enforced upon me.  Jigna

2 very different books

well I haven't posted a blog for quite some time - for which I have no explanation really, although I moved house and also changed jobs that was a while ago - i think its fair to say i've just been lazy.

The other week I finished reading George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London which I absolutely loved and recommend it highly to you (yes, I know most people have read it, where have I been? I dunno)- its a brilliant and smart account of his time of being penniless and hungry, both in Paris and in London: but as its Orwell of course thats not all it is. It is a non-damning commentary on society, the way we treat the homeless and the poor: i say non damning because he doesn't preach really, its his recollections, his memoirs. But he is sharp and has strong opinions about how we as a society ought to support people (in a non preachy way!) - he always struck me as common sense sorta chap. Supporting people to support themselves where possible - and just support people because they really need our support. not our damning of them.

Its fairly embarrassing that in 2009 we haven't moved on so much in London - ok so we don't have 'spikes' in the same sense as they did in the 1930's but we still have homeless people who are hungry and cold and alone. In London. In 2009. Not that I expect everything in the 21st century world to be fixed or anything (yup, am waiting for Obama to sort that bit out), but we all know that deprivation and poverty in the city of such wealth is just rubbish. In my cynical moods I really wonder if the bankers and city folks have just lost all perspective in relation to the value of money and how much impact such small amounts for food, water and shelter can make- given the sums of money they deal with, the value(s) of their homes, the capital in their cars, the amount they have invested, the amount of credit they have (or had) access to. The big bucks have really skewed the way that people (often people who have the power, money and influence to really change things) have the big bucks skewed their ability to see the difference they can make? But we all know its not only rich people who can make a difference (although perhaps this recent downturn and recession might impact on the way those financial folks view those less well off then themselves?).

There have always been rich people and poor people. There has always been philanthropy, to varying degrees. But there hasn't always been such an expansive welfare state as we have now in the UK, and I believe in it - but its not fully functioning because too many people fall through the net. Too many people get lost in the bureaucracy, too many people aren't eligible or able to access support. Its complicated, and I don't profess to know that much about it - but what are we doing wrong? and why exactly aren't we investing in more social housing? why did anyone ever think it was such a great idea to encourage people to buy up social housing - was that really going to eradicate or help the housing problem? This book has challenged so many assumptions that its easy to make about homelessness and poverty in a really human way - even though its based in the 1930's its relevant.

Another book I just finished is one my friend gave Chris gave me for my birthday, Tom Holt's The Portable Door - I absolutely loved it. I don't think it will be to everyones taste - you need to be into the slightly fantastical and weird to like this book, its brilliant and I look forward to reading more about J W Wells and Co. Goblins and craziness, twists and turns, imp reflecting surfaces and more. really great escapism. I really like getting book and author recommendations - so thank you Chris! A whole new world of Tom Holt for me to discover!!

As an aside, i think its worth noting here that mum has a such a key role in all things literary for the Vyas sisters. So many of the books, authors and genres I love are down to my mum and the choices of book she has given to me and my sisters over the years, which have shaped our own buying and reading habits - always unique to suit each of us and our preferences and interests. I love her so much for that.