I just changed the time of this blog to India time so now all posts will show a more accurate time stamp.
My cousin Rakesh finally showed up this evening and we had a great visit though it was only for an hour. His father was my father's oldest brother. Rakesh is a VP of a major company in India and will be retiring in a few years. He will be building a school and orphanage on the the family land next to the Hindu temple that his father and my father built. We talked about family, work, dreams. An hour didn't seem long enough for someone that I haven't seen in 35 years. But still, it was nice to see him and thank him for letting me use his guest house. I will be having lunch with him on Monday and then again at his house on Tuesday so that I can meet his family.
Dinner was again outstanding tonight. Chicken in a very spicy sauce, dal, chapatis and rice. I think each day they keep increasing the pepper content just to see when I'll cave. So far I'm doing good.
My house boys are slacking off this evening. They always are at my beck and call but when I wanted a beer after dinner they weren't around. I had to walk the 20 feet to the refrigerator and pour my own, can you believe?! So I cracked open a can of beer, poured it into my glass and put the can back in the fridge, next to the second can. I heard the boys go in and out, not paying any attention to them. I go and get the rest of my beer, it's all gone, the second can too. They're hanging out in front of the building, I think they drank them. I'm surprised they drank my open can. Hired help, you can't live without them, and you can't live with them. So I went outside and asked them where my beer was and the look on their face was priceless. How could I get mad. One is running right now to the store to get me a can, and I mean running!
My cousin Rakesh finally showed up this evening and we had a great visit though it was only for an hour. His father was my father's oldest brother. Rakesh is a VP of a major company in India and will be retiring in a few years. He will be building a school and orphanage on the the family land next to the Hindu temple that his father and my father built. We talked about family, work, dreams. An hour didn't seem long enough for someone that I haven't seen in 35 years. But still, it was nice to see him and thank him for letting me use his guest house. I will be having lunch with him on Monday and then again at his house on Tuesday so that I can meet his family.
Dinner was again outstanding tonight. Chicken in a very spicy sauce, dal, chapatis and rice. I think each day they keep increasing the pepper content just to see when I'll cave. So far I'm doing good.
My house boys are slacking off this evening. They always are at my beck and call but when I wanted a beer after dinner they weren't around. I had to walk the 20 feet to the refrigerator and pour my own, can you believe?! So I cracked open a can of beer, poured it into my glass and put the can back in the fridge, next to the second can. I heard the boys go in and out, not paying any attention to them. I go and get the rest of my beer, it's all gone, the second can too. They're hanging out in front of the building, I think they drank them. I'm surprised they drank my open can. Hired help, you can't live without them, and you can't live with them. So I went outside and asked them where my beer was and the look on their face was priceless. How could I get mad. One is running right now to the store to get me a can, and I mean running!
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."
ReplyDeleteThis arose as a quotation by John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834–1902). The historian and moralist, who was otherwise known simply as Lord Acton, expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887: