This was a picnic to remember, if only for the range of people who came. From Lakshmi, age 12 months, to Mummy, age 91. In-between: five more children, all under nine,  two more oldies (81 and 86), an 18 year-old beauty, three young things in their 20’s, two in their 30’s, two in their 40’s and dear old me, representing grace, wisdom and the under-rated quality of balance at the glorious age of 50.

We went to Dr Kalhan’s farm, which we have always loved but which seems harder and harder to get to these days. There is the awful traffic, the appalling post-monsoon roads and the sheer enormity of the task of catering to all the different special needs this particular crowd contains. But we did it! And we had a blast.

Dad got to meet Sebastian, we all got to meet Bridget, our new volunteer speech therapist (whose eyes alone simply dazzle us), Lucy regaled us with stories of her first trip to India 16 years ago and Shelley entertained the boys and helped look after Moy Moy.

But I have to say it was those boys who stole the show. Their absolute delight at being in cold water on a hot day was a joy to behold and made us all remember how simple life really can be and how easy it is to be happy.

Boys are fun to watch.  These guys were simply fascinated by the engineering concepts of flow, pressure and movement.

Here they have just discovered an overflow pipe from the kiddie pool to the outside. What a thrill!

Now they can put objects (sticks, leaves, rocks) in the poolside of the pipe

and then race back to the outlet to see them come through!

Sounds so simple and unimportant in the telling. In the doing (and the watching),  that moment was all there was. It’s why we have children, and how we stay human. They keep us alive to the joy of being here, right now, in this moment.