Goats and kids

I have written earlier about staying in Kerala with my maternal aunt.I remember the visits as idyllic times.
 It was an old-fashioned farm. There were many cows and milk was sold. There were many hens too and maybe eggs were sold too, though I can't remember.  I remember that more than once, when I went to stay, my aunt would buy a pregnant goat, so that when she gave birth I could have goat's milk.  But my big thrill was having the kids to look after.  I was usually allowed to be there at the birthing.  Once the goat had 2 kids and I think on another occasion there were 3 but the memory is probably false.  It was lovely watching the kids being born and then watching them stand up on unsteady legs.  But in about a minute they would be jumping around.  I remember the first such goat I called Milly and the kids were just Milly's kids.  My aunt showed me how to milk the goat too and I was allowed to milk the goat--occasionally I guess.  The kids were my friends and I loved playing with them, with them running around behind me.
I stayed with my aunt there on numerous occasions from when I was about 4 and for quite a while when I finished high school at almost 16 and many more times in between.  But to write about the times there requires many blog posts.

Hill Road, Bandra, Mumbai

When I was around 4, we moved from Napean Sea Road, in Mumbai to Mt.Mary Road, now apparently called Hill Road.  It was a huge British Bungalow, opposite the St. Stephen's Anglican church.  I used to often walk across by myself, to church to go to Sunday School.  At that time Hill Road did not have much traffic, especially on a Sunday.
So I was thrilled when my niece, who had just started working in Mumbai, said she had found a bed-sit for herself on Hill Road, very close to St. Stephen's Church.  I looked it all up on Google maps to see how much it must have changed.  I last visited Hill Road maybe i 1999.  I am now looking forward to visiting her some time to renew my acquaintance with the road in it's latest avatar and certainly to slip into St. Stephen's as well as Mt. Mary Church.

The beach, summer and music

I love jazz, Latin music, Hawaiian music, and a lot more too of course.  But whenever I listen to Latino music or smooth jazz, into my mind comes pictures of a tropical beach, and this sort of music floating out in the background, blending with the soothing sounds of the ocean.  As I think back, I have a vague memory of going to a beach in Mumbai, possibly Juhu.  I don't remember it being very crowded.  My physical memory makes me feel I may have been around four.  In the background there is a beach front restaurant, and the music floating from there was that kind of music, relaxing and part of the sun, sand, sea and palm trees.
As I grew up and into my teen years of course it was all about the Beatles, other Brit pop groups, Elvis and Cliff Richards.  But on my 15th birthday my eldest brother, who was in the US by then, sent me an Astrud Gilberto album and I just loved that album and there was no turning back.  Even now, when I hear smooth jazz, especially Bossa Nova, the feeling is almost visceral and whenever there are summer breezes blowing, even at home, I want to listen to jazz.
I have not been back to Juhu since we left Mumbai in 1961.  I wonder what it is like now.  But for me, it is forever linked with that kind of music.