Dear Shyami,

I have been meaning to write since Ms Sumana's passing away but of course kept postponing. It is so sad. It feels like the end of an era. I couldn't make it for the funeral but my thoughts were very much with you.

We all went for Mrs K's funeral service in the chapel last Nov and sobbed throughout the school hymn. Partly for her but I am sure mostly for our childhood and the memories

Anyway, the recent highlight of my life was the great trip to the US of A! Trehani graduated from Mt Holyoke in Mass. so I thought it was high time I crossed the Atlantic. Of course I was with the niece for 1.5 days and then off I went gallivanting in CT (Suba); Mass. (Ruki); New Jersey (Eraj: Peradeniya pal) and New York (Eshy). Had a fabulous three weeks. It was great to visit their homes and see how people live. It is a very pretty part of the US that I was in, I guess, for most of the time. Loved NY, especially the shady tree lined streets in the Greenwich village area where Eshy lives. Brownstones, cafes on every corner, very cute bookstores where I spent FAR too much money, long lazy brunches;

Not much else news-wise. I don't know how well informed you are about us. I meet Udeshi and Desh every Christmas at dinner at Jani's house. You must be knowing about the latest man in Desh's life? Indrani married Namal last December. Quiet simple registration and a great party in the evening. Viren (her ex) and his current partner came and danced happily at the event. Ex parents in law were there too. They are a great example of how to divorce with dignity. It makes things so much easier for the children to know that their parents are friends. We all went on the honeymoon to Kandalama since the kids were going too!

The political situation is of course pretty dire but then you must read about it on the internet etc so I wont go into that. I still travel to Trinco, Vavuniya and Ampara on work but sadly not to Jaffna any more. I miss going there since from 2002 mid 2006 I had been going around 4 times a year. Otherwise, work continues to be good.

Let me know how you and the family are getting on. I did hear from Anush that you had called for a long chat.

Attaching a couple of pics from my trip. Hope you like them.

Love,

Devi
