Yesterday I had the only immunisation I need for India - Hepatitis A. I was also given a large amount of Doxycycline to take to ward off the dreaded malaria. My experience with anti-malarials has always been.....interesting. Back in the day of quinine- based drugs, there were of course, the stomach upsets and nausea. Then came Larium, with its accompanying psychotic dreams, and the stomach upsets. Now I am on to the last option. Which can cause stomach upsets. Its always nice to know what to expect. At least I know I am guaranteed to have an upset stomach, even if I don't drink Indian tap water.

Later on, I was chatting to a student whose little daughter is at that stage where she won't let her mom out of her sight - apparently kids go through a developmental stage where they start becoming aware of themselves as separate beings. It struck me as interesting that we are born with the deep knowledge that we are linked to everything, and to God, and then as part of our normal development, we begin to think we are alone and separate. So through the practice of yogasanas, meditation, prayer and so on, all we are trying to do is come to the state of unity that your average newborn accepts as normal. Seems a bit depressing!

Back to the India trip - a very generous student, who gave me two salwar kameez (loose tunics and pants), has also given me the basics of Hindi. I can now say the three most important things every traveller needs: where is the bathroom, how much and that's too expensive. The last two don't necessarily relate to the bathroom. But who knows? France operates on a pay-per-pipi basis so perhaps I will also spend time in India desperately looking for coins of the right denomination, or failing that a McDonalds. Free clean(er) toilets.