In the past week, these much feared fiery days of Sirius have been a damp squib.  First, showers from a cyclone system and then more thunder showers from nowhere. Forty plus temperatures are now down five or six points, making things rather pleasant.

Caretaking is more mentally exhausting than it is physical, although there is plenty of physical work. But the constant vigilance lest some minor sniffle or swelling turn into an emergency is mentally exhausting.  Since I don’t trust allopathic doctors, I am the physician of last resort and that responsibility gets exhausting too.

Food from outside can be dangerous in most places in India. That fact alone should cast doubt over the narrative of the BRICS as the saviors of mankind in anything more than a geopolitical sense.  There are just so many things that need fixing here, from the sewage system or lack thereof to the constant brown-outs, despite energy surpluses that have the state exporting electricity.

Lightning fried my modem, a thing that I hadn’t suspected could happen. Apparently, it’s not enough to switch the computer off; the phone line has to be pulled out, as well as all the electrical plugs. On the good side, I could walk a couple of streets and pick up a replacement without a problem. And the connection itself is good and relatively inexpensive.

But outside, there are still the greywater gutters everywhere and the mosquitos that swarm out of them. And ubiquitous dog poo, courtesty of the animal crazies who’ve passed laws preventing stray dogs from being controlled in any way.

It could all be so lovely, what with the rounded hills on the horizon and the spectacular tropical foliage. But in proportion to the increase in urban construction has been the decrease in good taste. The houses of a few decades ago are still attractively designed and painted. The newer ones are mostly eyesores. Neon pink paint is not unusual or gold painted ornamental gates. But the gutters rarely get covered.