खिलौना | khilauna | toy

A week after the golgappa episode I have made an almost full recovery, earthquake preparations have been taken down from around Sujan Singh park.

Frequent trips into Chandni Chowk are now accompanied by two members of staff who work within the non-clinical side of the hospital, who know the area much better than I do. I think they are starting to worry that I’ll get lost. Or that my haggling is terrible. Materials are procured in the usual haphazard way of dealing with all, but not completing with any, and is always thoroughly entertaining. I also purchased two ride-on toy trucks for the children’s cancer ward – they already had a pair, but the wheels were broken and would cause periodical squealing that would reverberate around the waiting rooms. The man who sold them to me demonstrated their solidity, without prompt, by standing on them. Below are the only shots I managed to get as they are always in use and rarely still.

I couldn’t help returning to my new friends Neha and Sachin Kohli in Amar market, who have been instrumental in making my stay in Delhi that much better. Neha is an interior designer and I have welcomed their input into making my rented apartment a place where every furnishing is unique, intriguing and has a story. Sachin and Neha have helped me alongside their many ongoing projects after learning about my work at Dr Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital.

I’m steadily building rapport with the gardeners, laundry staff and security here. Below is the man in charge of the laundry, behind him are basins in the floor where every sheet is hand-washed. There is a single dryer managing all the laundry.

Never a dull moment.