Monday, August 15

Today India celebrates the 76th anniversary of its independence, and the embassy has an open event complete with soup, samosas, pickles, and more.

We arrive on time and say hello to people before standing and listening to a progress report from the ambassador and a reading of the Indian president’s address.

I photograph the flags and the costumes, and the general air of festivity. The latter determinedly resists my attempts to capture it in images.

Later we will chat with a Finnish professor of chemistry and his Malaysian wife who have just moved from Stockholm, where he teaches and researches, to Helsinki. Later still I will go for a walk and listen to a cd I have of Jackie Leven, about whom I remain undecided.