FEBRUARY 8, THURSDAY

DAVID BECKHAM

At Diwali, the Festival of Lights, several months ago, David Beckham, the star British soccer player and celebrity fashion icon came to Virampur. David Beckham came as a UNICEF ambassador to see the UNICEF projects that Hasmukh and Shilpa, his assistant, are implementing in this tribal area. He flew into Ahmedabad on his own private plane and arrived in Virampur with an entourage that included security personnel. He stayed for five hours observing the work being done with women in the tribal area around Virampur. And then he and his entourage drove back to Ahmedabad.

In preparation for this grand visit Hasmukh had bought a case of special bottled Aava drinking water. Two bottles were left over which he gave to me along with a dozen bottles of ordinary Kinley (with minerals) packaged drinking water with a statement, Trust Kinley, by Coca Cola.

Meet, Shipa’s son met me at the Palanpur train station where the train stopped for 2 minutes at 6 a.m. and drove me an hour back to Virampur, the village where my friend Hasmukh Patel runs a large philanthropic extension program from this administrative center for disadvantaged tribal villagers, which also includes a boarding school for two hundred tribal children. Here, out in the countryside with fields all around it is peaceful and quiet. I am being fed three good meals a day by Pravin, a terrific cook who also overseas three meals a day for the 200 children.

I and Hasmukh sat on his porch looking out at the trees in front of his administrative complex and talked. Tomorrow he goes to Ahmedabad to meet his son, Mihir, and Mihir’s wife, Hetvi, and his granddaughter, Prisha who are flying in from San Francisco for the big wedding next week of his niece Mansie. The week will be spent preparing for the huge five day wedding and a family reunion. I will join them in Ahmedabad for the wedding and in the meantime sit here in the quiet countryside, a radical shift from the intensity of Delhi life.

Tea and very thin flatbread at 7 a.m. and at 9:30 a mixture of some soft white grain with onions, peanuts and spices along with a cup of Indian tea, mostly milk with lots of sugar and spices.