It seems only yesterday that I was writing this for 2018 and here we are again. December , Xmas and the annual newsletter. Time is speeding by. 2019 has been another busy year – books that I read include –‘Why we Sleep’ a timely reminder of the huge importance of sleep in our hectic lives, and ‘This is going to hurt’ a funny but poignant account of an ex doctor’s time working in the NHS hospitals. Podcasts worth listening to include ‘The missing Cryptoqueen’ about a sham cryptocurrency and ‘Tunnel 29’ about some students digging a tunnel to smuggle people from East Berlin to West Berlin. We went to see a screening of Bahubali with a live orchestra at to Royal Albert Hall that was amazing and also saw Beverley Knight perform Stevie wonder songs again – incredible!
We were in Mumbai over Xmas 2018 for my cousin’s daughter’s wedding – it seemed a little too hot to be thinking about Xmas but the Taj hotel (yes the same one that was attacked by the terrorists in 2008 ) where all the wedding festivities were held had gone to town with the Xmas decorations. It looked a little surreal. Nikhil was with us for the wedding but got back to the UK in time for the New year celebrations. Arjun was somewhere in New Zealand enjoying his last month of travelling before launching back into work. There was still no news as to where he would be based, London or Frankfurt.
We spent the New year in Mumbai at our cousins and then in January, Hitesh began some dental treatment in Mumbai, with a view to having 2 implants done. He had the initial work done with a view to returning after 6 months to get the implants fitted.
Arjun came back from his travelling mid January a few days after us, but then had a final holiday planned with Noemi’s family- skiing of course – what else? He had a lot of fun as all her family are proficient skiers, but of course him having all this time off meant he wasn’t going to be joining us for our ski trip! Shame!
In February we celebrated both mine and Hitesh’s birthday – Hitesh turned 60! It was a week of celebrations with going to see a play and dinner on his actual birthday, then he went out for dinner with his golfing buddies and then on Friday, I had the family round for Pizza and chips. What else!
He was touched by the celebrations and the boys had bought him a lovely watch for his birthday as well as a new desk top computer. Well he wears the watch, but I’m writing this on the new computer as he soldiers on with his 20+ year old computer!
By February, Arjun knew that he was going to be based in Frankfurt from March onwards, so we were trying to spend some quality time together before he left again! He was also not joining us for skiing and then as it turned out he moved to Frankfurt a couple of days before his birthday, started work in Frankfurt on his birthday, and we went skiing a week later.
Skiing was great fun- same place again, this time 8 of us. Nikhil and Ha-Na, Bhavini, Aasha, Sunil, Dan (he’s become part of the family now!) and Hitesh and me. And then we had Aasha’s friend Ani and husband Kumar join us for the same week too at the same place. 6 of us were in the same class, with Ha-na, Sunil and Bhavini together and Nikhil in the top class. Ha-Na and Sunil progressed really well and by the end of the week were better than me! The snow was great, the weather was superb, glorious sunshine throughout the week. We didn’t have as great an instructor as Arnaud the previous year, and it was a large group so didn’t learn as much. A few days into the skiing and I fell badly trying to cut a sharp corner during a slalom run. My shoulder was sorely damaged and I could barely lift my arm but I soldiered on realising that you don’t really need your arms or shoulders for skiing! The next day was painful but ibuprofens did the trick and I carried on skiing for the rest of the week. In fact with all the adrenaline, I only used to notice the pain in the nights. Back in the UK, I went to the doctor’s on the Monday only to be badly told off as to why I hadn’t sought medical help on the slopes. Real reason – I didn’t want to stop skiing! She suspected a fracture although I didn’t think it was that bad. A visit to the hospital confirmed it was not a fracture but a rotator cuff injury which takes about 6 months to heal so physio sessions and lots of exercise at home. Lesson learnt to take skiing at my own pace and not race against people half my age!
Arjun and Noemi had meanwhile settled into their new flat. They’d had a short term let for a couple of weeks but now this was to be their place for the next year at least.
It was fitting that Nikhil should be their 1st visitor in April, since him and Arjun are so close. He had a work conference in Berlin and then went for a weekend. He loved the flat – lovely high ceilings and a light airy place. It looked like Arjun and Noemi had settled well into their new place and were loving it. Arjun’s job was going well though Noemi had yet to find something.
As part of Hitesh’s 60th birthday celebration we had arranged a short mini break to Riga in Latvia. We went with Jayshree and Kirit and had a wonderful time. It was a beautiful city but so cold even in April. The highlight was the free walking tour where the tour guide gave us a goldmine of information into the Latvian psyche all with her own blend of sardonic humour.
Nikhil had a weekend away in Istanbul with his Uni friends and loved this magical meeting place of East and West. He’s really into travelling now and up for new experiences.
Easter was quiet as Arjun was in Frankfurt entertaining Noemi’s family, but due to come home the following weekend. It’s always so much more lively when he’s around.
Unfortunately Nikhil was in Amsterdam the following weekend so missed Arjun’s weekend home, but it meant we could spend more time with Arjun. So much to catch up on and it sounds as if he’s getting on just fine.
Only a couple of weeks and then I went to Frankfurt in early May. I went a few days before Hitesh went to Turkey. It was lovely to spend quality time with Arjun – he had taken a couple of days off and then Noemi was off on Friday. She had found a job with a startup called Oatsome that make vegan smoothie bowls that you can have for breakfast. She had negotiated a 4 day week so she has Fridays off.
Unfortunately the weather was a little unsettled but we cycled and walked to all the main sightseeing places and on the Sunday when the weather was beautiful, we even cycled to this orchard and garden a few km from Frankfurt where you had a lovely view of the city and then came back to the city for a lovely meal, celebrating Mother’s day. Well ours was in March the day we came back from skiing but the Germans and I think the US celebrate it in May!
Hitesh had meanwhile gone off to Turkey for his golfing week taking 24 golfers and as usual they all had wonderful time. Glorious weather, wonderful all inclusive hotel and the gold courses are amazing – a few of them are championship courses where the Turkish open takes place!
Nikhil meanwhile was in New York for some work conference – he’s travelling quite a bit with work, quite regularly to Stockholm and then other places too.
As soon as I came back from Germany, Arjun was also back to London to join Chris and friends for Chris’s stag in Ibiza. He was one of 2 best men and had been warned by Lisa of consequences should Chris be found stark naked tied to a pole or have his eyebrows shaved off etc. What happens in Ibiza stays in Ibiza but Chris came out of it unscathed so Lisa didn’t have to carry out her threats on Arjun!
On 19th May , we had a Navagam reunion at the Oshwal centre and I had committed to go but Hitesh was still in Turkey , Arjun was at his stag do, Nikhil was flying to Stockholm for work that day. So I decided I would drive ( I generally don’t like driving to Oshwal centre by myself) asking Gulab my cousin to come with me. The drive there was fine but coming back suddenly the car started making an awful noise. Luckily we had just come off the motorway so I could pull over. Called up Green Flag, panicking my phone might run out of battery any minute and they turned up an hour later and decided it couldn’t be repaired and I had to be towed home! Unfortunately from where it was parked because it was so busy, they could not fix the towing gadgets so we had to try and start the car and drive it to the nearest side road! Why do these things always happen when Hitesh isn’t around? Luckily we managed to do this and get towed home after which it was a trip to the garage to replace the spark plugs I think. Both boys were more distressed than me as I posted photos of the towing truck!
Bena, my sister had been planning a trip to the US for some time and they were off mid May for a month visiting all the National parks in the US and Canada, with Niru my sister from the US and her husband Manu. They had a wonderful itinerary planned, driving over 9,000 miles. Manu who loved driving, did most of the driving and they all thoroughly enjoyed themselves and came back enthusing about how much fun it was and planning for another road trip the following year.
Nikhil and Ha-Na had booked a 10 day trip to Mauritius at the end of May. They had booked a couple of Air B&B places and had a car so managed to see quite a bit of the island, but unfortunately didn’t go to the capital so didn’t meet up with my friend Indira and her family.
In early June, Shreya , Hitesh’s brother’s daughter arrived from the US – She was here for a wedding and then travelling to Europe. She has always loved the lasagne that I make, (I always now try and make it when she comes) and this time had brought me a really beautiful large ceramic lasagne bakeware! Very thoughtful!
As part of Hitesh’s 60th birthday, the boys had also got him a golf weekend at the Celtic manor for the 4 of us and this was booked for the first weekend in June. Arjun arrived late on Friday night and we left early Saturday morning, thinking we’ll have time to freshen up and grab some lunch before teeing off in the afternoon. But not to be. On the motorway, we had a burst tyre. Different car this time but 2 breakdowns in 2 months! – luckily this time I just had to watch the oncoming traffic , whilst the 3 of them got stuck in with changing the tyre. It meant we arrived in the nick of time so just time to grab some chips. They were playing on the Championship Ryder cup course, but it was quite windy so not easy. I was just walking all with them enjoying some quality time with the family.
We had a lovely Thai dinner in the evening and then it was an early night as they had another round booked in the morning. It started off fine but after nine holes, the rain started lashing and even though they braved it for a few holes it was really wet and none of us were enjoying it so reluctantly we decided to call it a day and leave early. It meant we could enjoy our lunch at Pizza express without rushing as Arjun had a plane to catch in the early evening and we made it to Heathrow in good time. It had been a lovely weekend, very thoughtful gesture by the boys and so nice to spend that time together.
Arjun and Noemi were back in London the following weekend as they had given a gift of a London visit to Noemi’s brother on his wedding last year. He caught up with a few of his cousins that weekend but mostly spent the weekend showing the couple round his favourite haunts in London.
Jaini, my nephew Sanjay and Bindi’s daughter, was in London for a few days before going off to see Europe and I had offered to take her to London to see the sights. She wanted to go and see the National portrait gallery – a 1st for me too! And then we walked around Trafalgar square, the Strand, Leicester square, Chinatown, covent garden, Embankment, South Bank Buckingham palace, the Mall and the houses of parliament, in between stopping for lunch and meeting up with Nikhil. London has so much to offer and it was great visiting it with Jaini as she was up for walking and loved all the stunning architecture. We clocked up over 28,000 steps, something like 20km!
Hitesh had not yet been to Frankfurt and we had organised a 2 week trip at the end of June, starting in Cologne and finishing up in Berlin with a week in Frankfurt. I was asking Nikhil to come to Frankfurt as well but it clashed with his annual Glastonbury festival. No backstage passes this time but at least it was dry. A bit too hot maybe but better than traipsing everywhere in the mud. Arjun and Noemi too had tried to get tickets but didn’t get any hence they had that weekend free for us!
Until I went to Frankfurt in May, I had only been to Munich briefly in Germany. I had been pleasantly surprised at how green the country was and how vegan friendly. Cologne was such a beautiful town with the river Rhein and the cathedral. We only had a couple of days but walked around all of Cologne, the old town is beautiful, went to a palace in nearby Bruhl which had lovely gardens , had a wonderful Vietnamese vegan meal at a local restaurant and of course went to the impressive Cathedral. We then had a train to catch to Frankfurt – one of those ICE trains which are superfast and would get you there in an hour, except there was some fire in the train in front of us so we were delayed by about an hour! Still we got to Frankfurt a little late to a lovely welcome by Noemi and Arjun. She had made a Buddha bowl for all of us – delicious, but knowing how hungry Arjun gets and thinking we would all be hungry, had cooked a whole kilo of rice for the 4 of us! So it was vagherela bhaat for breakfast, would have been rice and curry for lunch except we were going to be out for lunch and dinner . The next day both Noemi and Arjun were at work so I took it upon myself to act as the tour guide for Hitesh, and we walked all around the city and the River Main. It was beautiful gorgeous weather this time too, and then in the evening we went for dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant that was amazing.
The next day, Friday Arjun had got the day off and booked us a 3 day trip to Heidelberg, Rothenburg am Tor , Nuremberg and Wurzberg. They hadn’t been to any of these places either so it was a good chance for us all to explore a little bit of Germany. As they don’t have a car, we had hired a car and Noemi drove throughout so we could all just chill and enjoy the scenery. All these places were like fairy tale towns with castles and walled cities and very very scenic.
It was wonderful to spend time with both Noemi and Arjun and Germany really is very pretty. We came back on Sunday afternoon and Hitesh had volunteered to make Chinese, his signature dish for everyone. We chilled in the evening, our last one in Frankfurt as were due to take the train to Berlin the next day. We got up in plenty of time but didn’t realise the U Bahn wasn’t working so ended up panicking and having to get a taxi to the main line station! Still made it to the station in time and then it was a 4 hour ride to Berlin.
Whilst we were in Berlin, Hinesh was in Frankfurt on a work trip and managed to catch up with Arjun. Shame we missed Hinesh by a couple of days.
Berlin is just an amazing city. To think that it has been only 30 years since it was united and before that people were literally dying to cross from the East to the West. There are still remnants of the Stasi era in museums and monuments but it must have been a terrifying place to live where you weren’t sure whether your own sibling or your child was a Stasi informer or not. Today however, it is East Berlin which has the hippest restaurants, literally there’s a street that’s all vegan restaurants. Again we walked around a lot in Berlin and went to all the famous places such as Brandenburg Gate, Jewish memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, Berliner Mauer, the Bundestag. It is just fascinating to realise that the wall went up overnight and cut through streets, parks and a church! There is so much history here.
Outside of Berlin, we also went to Pottsdam a pretty little town which has a lot of castles that are just stunning along with beautifully kept gardens, one of them dubbed the Versailles of Germany. It was only afterwards I learnt that Pottsdam also housed a notorious political prison used by the Nazis and then the Russians and then the Stasi police. On our last day in Berlin, we met up briefly with Bena and Vipul as they arrived into Berlin. It was funny they had booked some time ago and then we realised we would be overlapping by a few hours on the last day.
And so after a couple of weeks in Germany we came back to the UK, but we hope to go back and visit a few more places as it’s a pretty place with so much history.
Whilst we were away, Vijay and Libby, he of the Astronaut fame, (my sister Manjula’s son ) had a baby boy Otis. That’s the 5th boy in the family over the last 2 years, 5 a side team sorted! Just a few more before the full 11!
Arjun and Noemi were also back in the UK briefly for Chris’s wedding and we met the day after Chris’s wedding for brunch at Hitesh’s sister Mina’s house where they managed to briefly see Shreya. She was due to leave in a couple of days and due to our hectic schedules we had hardly spent much time with her.
The following weekend, Chris and Helen our friends from NZ were going to be in London and so we met up with them at a lovely rooftop bar called Pergola near Paddington. It’s amazing that we are living in London but get introduced to a new venue by New Zealanders! It was wonderful to reconnect with them, albeit briefly.
The following week, we had a picnic at Cliveden with Ha-Na’s mum and Nikhil and Ha-Na. She was in London for a couple of weeks learning English and we thought it would be a good idea to meet up with her and take her somewhere. It was a glorious day, Cliveden is magnificent so a great day out.
We also invited her home for dinner as she wanted to try authentic Indian food- I made a full Gujarati dinner and Ha-Na insisted her mum eat everything with her hands including the daal bhat!
Sanjay and Ila were also over here from the US and it was lovely to have them over for dinner and catch up- I think I made lasagne using the bakeware Shreya had brought!
July is always wedding season and we had a couple of weddings but it was the boys who were busier as all their friends start getting married. As mentioned Arjun had come back for Chris’s wedding where he was the best man and then a couple of weeks later he was in Scotland for Dave’s wedding, then back in London a week later for a wedding in Oxford where both Nikhil and Arjun were attending Ayesha’s wedding.
As Arjun was around on the Sunday, we had initially organised a picnic at Hampstead Heath with Nemchand kaka’s family (my dad’s cousin’s family, who we had reconnected with a few years earlier) but as the weather was a bit cold, we changed the venue to Bena’s house. It was great that so many of our kids were there. We took a moment to remember Manjula as it was coming up to 1 year since she sadly left us on 30 July. We all still remember her so vividly, her sunny disposition, her zest for life and her cheeky smile!
And so to August and a year ago that Arjun and Noemi had left for their travels. Nikhil, Ha-Na, Bhavini, Aasha Sunil , Seeta, Anjul, Shobana and Dan had all gone to Essen a year ago to bid him farewell and it seemed fitting that they should all go and visit him in Frankfurt a year later – all except Ha-Na who couldn’t make it, and Aasha was heavily pregnant this time. They had a wonderful time.
But no sooner had they left then Arjun was in Italy for yet another wedding and then him and Noemi were in Mallorca for another wedding at the end of August.
We meanwhile had a golf day for the Dodhia group. It was August and no rain had been forecast but it poured down after about the 14th hole and even hardened golfers such as Hitesh decided to throw in the towel! I was merely a spectator and walking with the different groups. Just sometimes it would be nice to play in sunny weather in the UK!
In September Arjun and Noemi were in Mallorca again this time on holiday with friends and then Arjun had a few days in Naples with his Uni friends. We were hoping to squeeze a long weekend in with Arjun and Nikhil but unfortunately it didn’t work out.
We had Swati and the boys over from Kenya –they are now going to Uni, unfortunately different ones – Ujval in Loughborough and Urjan in Portsmouth. A lot of shopping for their Uni digs and Urjan was off on 15 September, Ujwal a week later. Swati was more stressed than them as we kept assuring her they will be fine.
Aasha was getting bigger – due on Nov 25, and it was time for her baby showers. We had a pizza party for the female members of the family on September 15 and even Meena my niece from the US was here. She’s going to be moving here for a few years.
It was a glorious day and lovely to have jiko pizzas – even without the cheese, they taste great!
Sanjay and Bindi were here from Australia and we had a great time catching up with them at Bena’s house the following weekend and then in town over a shushi lunch, where even Bhabhi joined us as well as Nikhil and Bhavini. They’ve had a wonderful time catching up with friends and family here and keep pushing us to go visit them or go settle there. Definitely need to visit them again soon. After the bushfires stop though!
Meanwhile the baby boys keep on coming – This time Dilip’s son Paras’s wife Reena gave birth to baby Rian! 6th one!
Unfortunately it was on the 16 th September that we learned that Manu, Niru’s husband had had a cardiac arrest. It was quite a shock especially for Bena and Vipul who had just spent over a month with them on a road trip. Still, he had been taken to hospital and so we thought he was in the best place. Alas it was not to be. After another arrest a few days later, he did have surgery and we thought everything was going to be ok but things took a turn for the worse and sadly he passed away on 27 September. It was another hard blow on the family. We were all shell shocked, including Niru as these days you come across so many people who have survived major attacks and had by pass surgeries and still living life to the full. But it was not meant to be and a huge loss to the whole family. It’s still hard to believe even as I write this that he’s gone. Life is indeed fragile.
But it goes on. Arjun and Noemi were in Munich for Oktoberfest and looked the part, Arjun in his false Lederhosen trousers and Noemi in her Bavarian dress. This time it was Nikhil who was at a wedding. In London though.
There was a surprise party organised at Vijay’s house in Cirencester in October for Mahesh’s upcoming 70th birthday in December. Yes a few months early, to accommodate Uttam who was going to be in the UK. Somebody let the cat out of the bag so it wasn’t actually a surprise but it was a lovely get together with Seiya and Gunther flying in from Sweden and so many people making the effort to come to Cirencester. It was also a chance to meet Otis, supercute , a very happy baby and also a chance to see their new house. The party was the same day as Noemi’s 30th and she was having a party in Essen at her parents’ house.
Nikhil and Ha-na were in Bali for a wedding and holiday- he was also turning 30 and was going to be celebrating his birthday in Bali. He got some surfing lessons for his birthday and really enjoyed it. Another sport to add to their growing list!
For Noemi’s 30th birthday present , Arjun had booked a spa weekend in Baden Baden from 25 to 27 October and surprise surprise, proposed to her then. Apparently he had been planning this since May, looking at rings, designing a ring and none of us had a clue. Not even Nikhil was in on the secret. Wow! So it’s wedding planning in the new year.
They had been engaged a full week before they actually told us in person when they came to the UK on the 2nd November. It was wonderful to see them both so happy!
So we had Diwali and engagement celebrations all together as the previous week it had been Diwali. We were due to go to India on 11 November, but there was now a flurry of activity to make some pendas and mithai for people coming to visit as well as taking to India.
And so the following week we set off for India, this time for a month. After a few days in Mumbai connecting with family and visiting the dentist we were off to kutch.
A week was spent at Shishukunj school in Bhuj teaching Badminton, I was supposed to help with the English, but ended up spending most of the time assisting Hitesh in the badminton coaching. We had taken about 100 shuttles, about 20 rackets and a couple of nets and it was heartening to see how well received these gifts were as well as our services. Whilst there, we also visited a special needs centre as well as a centre in the slums for kids there to come and learn, both of these are supported by Shishukunj. We had taken a lot of warm clothing to India as Kutch can get cold winters and it just seemed appropriate to donate this to the slum centre co-ordinator to give to those who have nothing.
Whilst in kutch, we also visited the Rann of Kutch – unfortunately the late rains this year meant that the white Rann was anything but a glistening white! Still it was a great experience staying in the tent city, the accommodation all tents and the whole site erected on an annual basis for 3-4 months. Whilst there we bumped into a few cousins from London and Nairobi. It’s a small world!
On the way to Mandvi we visited my cousin Taraben and her son Bhavesh – they have moved here from Bangalore and we had met them about 6 years ago in Bangalore. Unfortunately her husband had recently passed away and she was distraught.
Mandvi the local beach in Kutch is stunning and the location for lots of pre wedding shoots and as well as other filming.
Then it was back to Mumbai again for more dental visits before going to Aurangabad to visit Ajanta and Ellora. These are absolutely wonderful cave temples, Ajanta is Buddhist caves only, but Ellora has Buddhist , Hindu and Jain temples and the carvings are exquisite.
After we came back from Aurangabad we flew to Ahmedabad with my cousin Dilipbhai, Bhabhi, Chidrupbhai, as well as Dilipbhai’s son Naman, his wife Rupal and baby Tattvam, who is 20 months old and an absolute joy to play with. By the time we went to Ahmedabad, Tattvam had got used to us, especially Hitesh and loved playing football, volley ball or any kind of ball with Hitesh, loved sitting with him to read or watch him draw! In short he was Hitesh’s number 1 fan! The 5 day trip to Ahmedabad was a wonderful bonding time for all of us especially Tattvam and it was lovely to see Dhwani (Dilipbhai’s daughter) and husband Mehul. We went to a few sights around Ahmedabad including Akshardham, Chaitanyadham, visiting the old town and walking on the Sabarmati riverfront. The highlight for Tattvam was visiting a farm with hundreds of cows – he loves cows and was on cloud nine whilst there with the cows.
We also went to visit my cousin Mansukhbhai’s family in Anand, the first time I met this cousin –and then visited the Statue of Unity – the statue of statesman and independence activist Sardar Vallabbhai Patel. At 182 m tall, it is the world’s tallest Statue, double the height of statue of liberty. It is an impressive feat and they are still creating other attractions around the area to include trekking as well as white water rafting and gardens so it will be worth visiting in a few years again.
In Mumbai we always spend time in Santa Cruz with my mama’s family and santa Cruz east with my cousin Chandubhai’s family but this time we also went to Bhiwandi to meet my other cousins from my masi’s side and their families. It was lovely to connect with them and they all really appreciated that we went there.
And of course we went to quite a few restaurants. Naman and Rupal always have a few restaurants lined up that are vegan and Jain friendly and this time we went to One Roof , Me time art Café, Little Italy and Asian Street Kitchen.
In Germany Arjun and Noemi got a baby puppy – an Alsakan Malamute called Mogli. We haven’t met her yet, but they’ve been sending videos of her regularly. She looks quite cuddly and fluffy – she’s coming skiing with us in March so hope she stays that way.
Meanwhile back in the UK, Aasha gave birth to yes you’ve guessed it a BOY – Ishaan. He’s looking so cute.
The month flew by and soon it was mid December and back to London – just in time to vote in the elections ( resounding majority for Boris so it looks like Brexit is happening, whatever that may entail) but back to wet cold Britain and so I promptly fell sick for a few days. Now fit and healthy ready to celebrate Xmas with the boys – sadly Noemi and Ha-Na will be with their families but we have a skiing holiday to look forward to next March where we can also celebrate Arjun’s birthday. It’ll be the 6 of us plus Dan (I said he’s become part of the family) and of course Mogli.
I continue with yoga and walks – this summer we had the added benefit of Palviben a lady from India taking yoga in the park; so we were doing this on top of our normal yoga and it was a wonderful addition to our routine. You felt one with nature doing yoga in the open air and we all felt so energised from her positive attitude, her willingness to share all she knew and her total dedication to the practice. She would even practice in the covered area when it was raining, we wouldn’t be so brave!
And then we would also go on our walks, so the summer was very busy. I particularly look forward to our Tuesday walks with Kirti who again is so full of energy and its nice to walk and have a good catch up at the same time.
I continue to have our monthly meet ups with the Sahelis – 12 of us ladies each hosting a lunch on an annual basis, so we meet up once a month for some delicious home cooked food, catch up on what’s happening with each other and discuss all sorts of topics from politics to religion to arts and crafts. It’s always great to catch up with and learn from such talented creative ladies.
Hitesh continues to coach badminton as well as being busy with his soft furnishing business. He is getting busier and busier with the badminton coaching. I saw first hand how good he was when we went to Bhuj to help at the school.
Nikhil is very busy with Klarna ; whilst I was away in India, someone had opened an account with Klarna in my name and placed an order from Halfords; Nikhil thought it was quite ironic that he who works for Klarna should get his application rejected a few times and a fraudster could trick them into thinking I was opening an account!
Arjun is likely to be in Frankfurt for another year and enjoying the challenge.
Both boys continue to play squash, Nikhil plays in a few leagues and Arjun has joined a squash club in Frankfurt and also plays in the league there.
Earlier this month they were both down here to play in the Harrow squash tournament. Alas their reign is coming to an end as Arjun lost in the semis and Nikhil in the finals both losing to the same boy!
So we look forward to 2020, meeting Mogli as well as Noemi’s parents and our skiing holiday. Oh yes and wedding preparations although Arjun tells me the German custom is to let the kids organise everything!
Wishing you all a wonderful Xmas and a peaceful new year.
Hasmita Shah 