Jo’s Blog

We remember birthdays (God organises those). We remember anniversaries (Here, we think we are in charge.) And, in some very lucky families, we remember the day when the divine and the human come together in an impulsive, very lucky moment; the [...]

Last week, I went to meet my next-door neighbor. He retired from the Indian Forest Service a few years ago and one of his last posts had been as the Director of the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy. It’s right here in Dehradun, but he [...]

This evening, I spoke with my husband on the phone. We had been chatting for a few minutes before he said “I’ve got good company here in the compartment.” Up until that moment, I had forgotten that he was on a train, heading to [...]

Everywhere I go, I hear the same thing: “We can’t find staff. Where are all the good people, the qualified people, the people who can write, think creatively, analyze?” It’s the same all over the country – at least [...]

A few nights ago, I met an old friend in a coffee shop in New Delhi. Stephane is a French architect, living and working in India for the past 15 years. “It’s really strange in India right now, don’t you find?” he asked me. “I’ve never seen it [...]