Well, this GSE trip is going really well vis uneventful, no serious illness, no significant changes to the itinerery, no losses of luggage, no one falling out etc etc.

Factually, the organisation has been absolutely first class and the hosts and volunteers diligent, most welcoming and truly eager to please us. The itinerery is varied, quite intense at times and meticulously planned. The quality of virtually all of the activities is superb. The only one that overwhelmed me was a morning spent at a Hindu spiritual and service fair; there were 150 stands, none of which I knew, so I could not choose which to miss out, so that I was quickly 'outstanding'!!

The team's presentation started very well, but is a changing scene, as Hannah and Andy, of the 2007 1220 team to India, warned it would be. Owing to the presence of the Californian team at all the Rotary presentations, we are limited to 20 mins max (sometimes we are linited to only 12 minutes). As we cannot cover all the personal aspects and the regional ones, we have to compromise. So, as we cannot please all the audience members all of the time, we are now tending to split the team into two, with one couple covering their personal side and the other two looking at some of the regional features. This, I think, is presenting a fairly well balanced picture.

The teamwork is great, with lovely support for anyone who is suffering( only slight to date, thank goodness). So, thankfully, we have not really had to call on our resident medical officer, Carl. Good job, as I have kept Carl quite busy adapting our presentation as we have gone forward.

I am well aware that we are only half way through the month, so the bottom may yet fall out of the boat but that won't happen with Vittal at the helm (and if I have any say in it!).

As I write this there is the sound of a large firework diplay which Narasimha, my host, tells me is accompanying a wedding. It is 18.53pm, which if one upturns the watch, will tell one that it is 13.23 pm UK time!

Highlights for me, so far, have been my five visits to eyecare unts and a diabetes centre, a visit to the wonderful Hindu Kapali temple and one to the Dakshine Chitra which is a superbly and faithfully reconstructed collection of period buildings from the region. This is not to speak of a morning at a bird reserve yesterday and today's visit to the Cholamandal Artists' village, a group of extremely tallented artists from a variety of fields, many of the works of which I could most happily live with.