Sacred Cows

Starvation in North Korea and Sudan

If you haven't heard this account of North Korean defectors on the BBC World Service, have a listen: stories of starvation, cannibalism and public executions.

(The link expires after a week, so apologies if you click after that.)

There's only one book I've read that has helped me understand what's happening inside North Korea, and I highly recommend it. Personal and gripping, Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Korean citizens over fifteen years—a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il, and a devastating famine that killed one-fifth of the population. Demick brings to life what it means to be living under the most repressive totalitarian regime today—an Orwellian world that is by choice not connected to the Internet, where displays of affection are punished, informants are rewarded, and an offhand remark can send a person to the gulag for life. Demick takes us deep inside the country, beyond the reach of government censors, and through meticulous and sensitive reporting we see her subjects fall in love, raise families, nurture ambitions, and struggle for survival. One by one, we witness their profound, life-altering disillusionment with the government and their realization that, rather than providing them with lives of abundance, their country has betrayed them.

Organic arsenal

Did I say SLOW boil?? In two days, the temperature has become as hot as my first red chilli! Even though I'm resisting using the air conditioners, it won't be long before I give in. It's already so toasty, the water in the taps comes out hot! I'm writing this from my rooftop office which, even with all the doors open, is the consistency of a sauna.

So in my quest to take back the terrace garden... I've just expanded my organic pest control arsenal and wanted to share tips with any of you losing the war against mealy bugs and the like.

All three tips require almost no effort, little cash and are super effective if you're an organic gardener like me (or more accurately, striving to be one!)

The Mouseproof Kitchen, by Saira Shah, a review

Long before becoming a mother herself, filmmaker and author Saira Shah was deeply attuned to children. As a war correspondent, her unsentimental but searing films, Death in Gaza and Beneath the Veil, showed the effects of children living in extreme conflicts. 

The misplaced bravado of Palestinian boys brainwashed by ideas of matyrdom and the haunting fear in the green eyes of young girls in a distant Afghan valley brought home the tragedy of their circumstances.

Saira's delicate telling of their stories remains vivid.

Her first novel, The Mouseproof Kitchen,  blends the real life story of her own daughter, born profoundly disabled, and the story of a fictional Type A couple, Anna and Tobias, coming to terms with a life they never bargained for. 

Synopsis

Anna is a planner. So when she discovers she’s pregnant, she prepares for a perfect new life in Provence, France, with her perfect new baby-to-be. Anna’s partner, the easy-going Tobias, shouldn’t have too much difficulty tagging along;after all, he’s a musician who rarely starts his day before noon. But all that changes when their baby is born severely disabled.

Anna, Tobias, and their daughter, Freya, end up in a rickety, rodent-infested farmhouse in a remote town in France; far from the mansion in Provence they had imagined. Little do they know that this is the beginning of what will become an incredible journey of the heart; one during which they learn there really is no such thing as a mouse-proof kitchen. Life is messy, and it’s the messy bits that make it count.

Review

 I couldn't leave this book in the next room, much less stop reading it. The first chapter describes the birth of Freya, elfin, beautiful. As Anna experiences the pain and then the intense joy of meeting her new baby, reality begins to intrude on her perfect moment. Like so many mothers, Anna's new baby is the culmination of years of longing, meticulous planning that inevitably ends in failure month after wretched month... and then, finally, a longed-for conception. Freya is the collision of dreams and needs... her coming gives Anna the illusion of a perfect beginning to a perfect new life.

Indian Spring – on the slow boil to summer

 

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While the rest of the world is slowly emerging from toe-numbing temperatures, we’re already breaking into a sweat here in India, usually by 9 a.m! Spring in Delhi is on the slow boil to summer, with the last displays of  hollyhocks and dahlias before the sun begins to scorch. In a few short weeks, mornings marked by cool breezes under the swoosh of the ceiling fan will be replaced by the drone air-conditioners in sealed, concrete rooms.

Two years on, I’m still finding it difficult to adjust my gardening bio-rhythms to India. In London, it’s only in March that I even begin to think about planting, pruning, mulching... Yet in Delhi, March heralds the abrupt end of a short, lovely growing season which packs in salad leaves, herbs, tender blossoms and an early sowing of summer okra, eggplant and chillies.

Return of the Pests

I’m still deeply envious of anyone with even a postage stamp size of earth here in this mega-city of 15 million. Oh to be able to break out the fork and create beds, sow carrots and spinach in open ground!! Our first and second floor flat has generous terraces... but in the extremes of tropical weather, container planting becomes even more challenging. Last year, most of my new plants were attacked and nearly wiped out by mealy bug – a cottony, impervious white sap sucker that is impossible to control.