Bat-a-licious!

On Sunday night, we took our friend Jane out for a farewell dinner at Sunny's, a Continental restaurant off Lavelle Road in one of Bangalore's more chichi areas and one of our favorites.

During dinner, I looked up and saw a small bat flying around the spacious interior. And, I do mean flying around. The poor creature repeatedly flew up to various windows in a vain attempt to escape Sunny's.

I was mostly bemused by the bat-o-batics (I figured the winged mammal would escape eventually).

But I was grateful that Sunny's has a high ceiling. In my cub reporter days, I wrote a feature about bats that included this tidbit: they are the Typhoid Mary of rabies, i.e. the only mammal that can carry the disease and not die of it.

After a while, a restaurant staffer opened the door to Sunny's. Eventually, the bat flew out the door and into the small tree at the entrance door where he (she?) lives.

"It's happened before," the proprietor said with a smile. After the bat made its escape, the proprietor admonished the doorman to keep the door closed.

When we left Sunny's, the bat -- or a relative or friend -- was flitting around the tree.

Just another night in Bangalore.

I'm back!

Hi, everyone, and apologies for the silence. I've been away for a little over three weeks on business (London) and home leave (the New York area), then vacation (Ireland).

We landed in Bangalore early last Sunday and are getting back into the swing of things.

Diane and Jay, who'd been away since mid-June, were pleasantly surprised to find it cooler here on their return. They first arrived in April in the middle of the hot season.

But, even though it's cooler, it's still monsoon season. We're still getting occasional rains and it's so humid drying the wash has been a challenge. We put some of it in the spare bedroom and crank up the ceiling fan.

We expect the monsoon to end soon and to enjoy the best weather -- which the guide books say stretches from September to March.