Birthday Cake in Varkala

Now that we were alone in India, Ippy explained to me some of the principles she adopted while travelling.

Each year as she removed herself from everything familiar to her usual life back in Wales she took the opportunity to change many of the habits she accumulated while living there each summer.

Each new trip was a new beginning, a way to reset the clock so to speak. 

Back home Ippy enjoyed Party Mode as much as the next person, staying up late and filling her body with the usual stimulants, alcohol, sugar and such.

With the arrival of Peter and co. so soon after she herself had arrived in India, she had not yet begun her detox but now they had left Ippy explained to me how she planned to start her yearly deep clean.

Our new room was located in the Jairam Cafe at the far end of Varkala's cliff walk near to Black Beach.

Peter and Ippy had walked past the entrance a few times during their morning walks but had never walked down the narrow entrance until Nanda had mentioned the wonderful rooms they had there.

In the courtyard below our room was a Yoga Hall where Nanda was studying yoga with Ramesh.

We swung gently in the hammock on the balcony listening to the soft chanting and breath instructions as the sun filled the sky.

From this day until we returned to the UK, Ippy planned to eat sparingly and healthy.

No more alcohol or any other stimulants, plenty of fruit plus she invited me to join her for her daily long walks, Tai Chi exercises, afternoon meditation and long swims.

It sounded like a challenge and I, Felurian Fox just LOVE a challenge!

We met up with Nanda after she finished her morning yoga class to talk about her plans for the next few days.

Emma, her close friend from the UK was arriving the next evening and Nanda wanted to make her a Birthday cake. 

She asked if she could use our room to prepare it as we had more space than she and Ippy happily agreed.

Nanda also introduced Ippy and myself to Ramesh suggesting we join the yoga class each morning.

Ippy, although relatively fit for her age, suffers from tight leg and ankle joints and worried that she would be unable to perform the new set of exercises Nanda described. 

Nanda said Ramesh also gave great massages designed to loosen any tightness and a plan began to form.

While Nanda had been staying inVarkala she had been helping out a lovely man she had met through Ramesh called Baloo. Baloo had an amazing little craft shop high on the cliff. 

As Baloo couldn't leave the shop to eat each evening, Ramesh and Nanda brought food to him and together they would share their evening meal sitting on the floor surrounded by the beauty and calm of the shop.

Nanda said we should join them and we arranged to meet up at 6pm at the shop.

With the rest of the day to call our own and our morning walk already completed, Ippy settled onto the balcony to make a mobile with the various things she had collected. 

Ippy just loves to make things, she has a philosophy to leave behind a small piece of herself in any place she visits spreading a little love and kindness as she goes.

In the Marigold Hotel where she had stayed with Peter and the children she had made an orange peal mobile that swayed gently in the soft breeze that blew through the courtyard. 

Here on our new balcony three empty hooks hung from the ceiling asking to be used!

We gathered all the bits and bobs Ippy had accumulated during her morning walks with Peter. 

Bits of fishing line, fraying rope, unusual bits of wood and an assortment of drying fruit peel.

One of the first things Ippy had bought when she arrived in India was a sharp knife plus a steel plate. 

Shiva at the Blue Moon had found her some large needles to add to the craft collection and we were ready.

As the sun rose in the sky Ippy created her new mobile, slicing the orange peel from our lunch into pieces and then threading them onto the separated nylon strands that had made up the frayed fishing rope.

A few hours later she hung the completed creation from the first of the empty hooks.

We sat for a moment or two admiring the way it turned gently in the breeze before cleared away the left over bits and pieces ready to make another mobile another day!

With the place all clean and tidy Ippy shared a saying she tries to live by. 

“Try to do something nice each day without being caught”.

We looked around our room and balcony for ideas then Ippy popped downstairs to retrieve the brush and pan stored in the open passage way that ran beneath our room next to the stairs.

For the next hour we swept and scrubbed the tiny drops of paint from the cool floor tiles until the place shone and Ippy was covered in a sheen of perspiration, then feeling happy, and having not been caught, we returned the brushes and pan to their hide away below and popped to the Black Beach for an energetic swim!

We dined that evening on take away massala dosa and cooling water in the company of Nanda, Ramesh and Baloo, discussing massages and yoga classes, Birthday cakes and Emma's imminent arrival!

Baloo is possibly one of the most open hearted people I have had the good fortune to meet.

Not only is he an amazing artist in his own right, carving stone into the most detailed sculptures both large and small, but he also has a talented family who paint iridescent pictures with glow in the dark tinted paints, making his shop an incredible place to visit and one of the most fascinating places to dine in!

Our meal that Ramesh and Nanda had picked up from town came to less than 50 rupees each and yet it was as good as anything I had eaten on the cliff top. 

Baloo invited us to eat at the shop any time we were free and with smiles all round we tucked into our evening meal before spending a happy few hours just chatting about life.

Having completed our first day of detox, Ippy and I looked forward to following it up with another but when Nanda arrived with all the chocolate and goodies the next morning to make a Birthday cake we knew we were going to fail!

A borrowed cooking ring was placed on the floor of our room, butter was melted, spices and chocolate was added until a thick chocolate sauce began to form. 

To this we added crushed biscuits, stirring the entire thing with a spoon, trying to keep everything inside the pan.

With the cooking done Ippy dug out the steel plate she owned and together they moulded the delicious thick chocolate goo into the shape of a butterfly. 

Orange segments and banana chips decorated the wings and spare chocolate sauce coated the top. Left over mixture was rolled into Butterfly eggs and placed around the plate.

We sat back to admire our masterpiece …... then licked every finger, pot and utensil clean, enjoying the chocolate, spices and goo as we giggled happily away!

When Emma arrived later that evening she was delighted with her cake and the most amazing Birthday Party began.

Ippy looked apologetically at me,

“I think I may have a problem with this years detox!” she laughed as she reached for another beer!

I laughed too and reached for another piece of cake, there was always next week!