Lilian went off to school today. She will be working in the accounts department and doing some admin. There is a lot of government bureaucracy here in India and lots of forms to fill in for pupils. I stayed behind in the Interdev office here where I have been given a desk and Internet access. Eventually got finished by 4.00pm and went out for a walk before Lilian came back. By about 4.30 the light here is beautiful, very soft and warm and the air temperature is a little cooler.

Everybody here seems to be working all the time. India's streets are a cacophony of sound;- a hive of activity a great symphony of hammering and sawing, welding and chopping, buying and selling, building and repairing. Everybody, young and old is doing something! Traffic is constant and mobile phones are everywhere. The latest high technology seems to be able to blend naturally with ox carts and a decaying infrastructure. Labour is cheap here so every store has lots of serving staff, security men and people to simply open the door for you coming and going. Lots of people earning a pittance doing mind numbingly boring jobs and very long hours. It really made me grateful for what we so easily take for granted and the opportunities open to us in the west. It also helps you appreciate the need for authorities to enforce the rules and regulations we find so frustrating at times. Otherwise things we take for granted just don't get done and things deteriorate.

I'm preaching on Sunday, (at least once, I don't know yet) and then one of the staff at Asha Kiran school is being married on Sunday and we have all been invited to the wedding. William the office manager here, tells me that when he was married a couple of years ago there were 1,600 guests at his wedding! Some older friends and relatives don't like to receive their wedding invitation through the post, they find that insulting, and so you may have to travel hundreds of miles to invite them personally!