Struggling For The Basics

 

Every coin has two sides. All this while we mostly came up heads. But the last couple of months have only thrown up tails. 

When we bought the house, the colony was in the middle of a changeover - from the hands of a struggling private company to the established government agency. Everyone was happy at the change and looking forward to better times. But good times vanished even before they could get here!

Let me list down the trouble areas for better understanding:

Roads

Were in extremely bad shape, with potholes so large that many neighbours admitted to substantial damage to their cars. 

Though repairs, carpeting and even recarpeting were carried out, they created newer issues. Manhole areas were left undone, leaving deep yawning holes where many tripped and hurt themselves. And the smoother roads led to over-speeding.

Water Supply

Was fairly regular but water quality was not good as it was muddy. Tanks and filters required regular cleaning.

Supply frequency reduced considerably, water pressure became an issue and the quality further worsened. There were days of no-show, as a result the overhead tanks became near-empty many times. The accumulated slush at the bottom of the tank got into pipelines and the filter, choking the entire system. 

Electricity

Was always a problem in this colony. Ten years back we suffered; our inverter and other appliances went kaput. 

Nothing has changed; rather the situation has gotten worse. After going through a 10-hour outage from 4PM to 2AM we thought we had seen it all. But the worst was an 18-hour outage that lasted from 11PM to 5PM of the next evening. After that they claimed to have changed transformers, cables and suppliers. But the power interruptions continued on a daily basis.

Sewage

The entire city is together on this one. The millenial city has no sewage disposal lines, and whatever is there for namesake does not work.

Waterlogging for days during heavy rains, with water even entering houses seems to be the norm here. Vehicles start malfunctioning as they are parked in water for days and their parts get rusted. There is backflow into the houses from the sewer, with slush and cockroaches getting deposited in our yards.

Garbage Collection

Has been a problem area off and on. 

Contractors were changed but that did not seem to help as garbage was not collected for days on end. And yet, they were prompt in collecting payments. Rainy days are again no-garbage-pick days.

All in all, the ground realities have been exposed within 1.5 years. Now only time and tide will tell what the future holds...

Then & Now: Front Garden

Next in the 'Then & Now' series are shots from the front garden. 

Now

One of the first things that caught my eye when we came around house-hunting was the possibilities that this lovely patch of green opened up. We had a few trees to start with - papaya, curry leaf, and hibiscus. We added more right after moving in - harsingar/shiuli, togor or wax flower, champa, moringa, tecoma, and a sago palm that we rescued.

Though our gardener propped a brinjal bush at a totally inappropriate location, I'm not complaining because the plant gives good produce. But I did insist on clearing out the patio edging and planting season flowers instead. Also, the unusually dry desert-like climate makes it the right environment for lilies. Have planted quite a few; hope they flower well.

Then

Decidedly unplanned and unkempt, with just about anything growing anywhere, it certainly looked like a gardener's worst nightmare in a lot of ways. 

The lack of fencing meant the street dogs could saunter in whenever they pleased. And those clothes drying on the railings.... Eewwww!!! Still I had the courage to take a chance... and with help from the better half managed to turn the place around within an year.

Going Organic - Part 5

In continuation from my last post on organic vegetable gardening, I thought of giving you a glimpse of the summer garden and its produce. The picture below is the view from my kitchen window; adding colour to the garden is the trumpet vine in the background.

Capsicums and Okra
As our Capsicums/Peppers and Okra/Ladyfingers have picked up pace, this is how the big patch looks. The tall plants in front are the ladyfingers and the bushy ones behind are the capsicums. And the produce is pretty satisfying.

Pumpkin Vine
One of the easiest to grow summer staples, the pumpkin vine can be started by planting seeds in late spring (March-early April). The aim here is not the fruit or flowers; the leaves and vine are also edible. They make delicious fritters too besides adding some much needed greens in the dry summer heat. Is container garden friendly.

Mint
Another summer staple, mint can be started by a mere sprig. It is hardy, grows lush quickly (especially in rains), and smells great.

Can be easily grown in containers. My little patch gives me enough leaves for fresh chutney every week.

Quarantine Baking

The Covid-induced lockdown pushed a lot of us to finally try our hands at things we had always wanted to make but weren't getting around to. For me that one item which I really wanted to try was bread making.

In the early days of lockdown, there was no yeast available so I started by substituting with curd. The hot weather aided fermentation, of course. Yummy garlic bread was the outcome.

Once the first attempt was successful, there was no looking back. Hubby ordered yeast online and baked a neat loaf himself.

Now focaccia, using veggie toppings from the kitchen garden, are my favourite.

Along with bread making, another recipe that everyone loved and chipped in with, was bread pudding. Made out of stale slices, the final result is quite an appetizing dessert.

Though I had been baking vegetable gratin for years, a simple recipe using eggs that was shared by a friend made me take my skills up another notch. While I use white sauce for the inner layers, the egg-cream-cheese mix on the top takes this gratin to the next level.

All in all, the quarantine has been a great foodie party for us as a family, and no one is complaining!

Then & Now: Backyard

I love to do these 'Then & Now' posts as they give a sense of how time changes things. And now that we have completed just over a year at the new abode, I thought this was a good time to indulge in this exercise.

So here is presenting a part of the backyard, just outside our bedroom and featuring the mango tree. 

Now

We all love sitting on the stone edging to attend to our calls. I am trying to green up the background, creating more greens on the walls. But the scorching summer set back my plans a bit.

Then

The 'Then' picture was taken when we first came to see the house. Though we got a large part of the soil covered with stone slabs but I do the prefer the neater look that the place has now.

Going Organic - Part 4

Back to share more about our organic adventures in the last few months.

Come March everything we knew as normal got challenged due to the outbreak of the Corona virus and the resultant countrywide lockdown. Sourcing and consumption of vegetables had to be handled carefully since the bi-weekly markets were off, and vendors were few and far between. In such difficult times our organic produce came in really handy.

Fenugreek and Spinach

The last crop of both these greens saw us through the early days of lockdown. If the veggie vendor gave our lane a miss, the backyard always had an alternative to offer. A relatively prolonged spring helped us enjoy these leafy goodies well into April.

Cherry Tomatoes

Umpteen salads and pasta bowls were lavished by their yummy presence. Again most of April we were blessed by their sweet, tasty goodness.

Garlic

The pods we had planted in early winter yielded tiny garlic. We had enjoyed their leaves through the winter so no regrets at the small size of the bounty.

Peppers and Ladyfingers

May onwards our summer crops took over. 

Peppers and ladyfingers (okra) got off to a slow start due to the steadily increasing heat but their yields were consistent.

A few spells of rain in early June have ensured that the May temperatures aren't coming back, and so we can hope to harvest both veggies till autumn.

May Days

As the lockdown keeps getting extended, we keep our spirits up with these small moments of joy.

Our May mornings be like this....

While May evenings turn out this way....

In between, the sweltering daytime heat melts and merges everything into a ball of sunshine fire!

And so goes our second summer...