And Then There Were Six

As Anne and I finish (we hope) packing this morning, the past few weeks seem more like an Agatha Christie novel than the normal pre-vacation fire drill. As of five weeks ago, our Northern India trip, so perfectly architected by Prabha, fielded a team of 10. Sadly, the 10th little non-Indian, Peter, encountered medical problems, so that he and Lois are unable to join us. Fortunately, he's in the midst of a miraculous recovery. More bad news arrived on Friday morning, when our 8th not-so-little Indian, and fearless leader, Prabha, failed a stress test (apparently the only time he's gotten anything other than a A on a test in his life), and entered Evanston hospital on Sunday (another life first). The good news is that a stent appears to have resolved the problem, and he's on the road to recovery. The bad news is that he won't be able to join us on our road to Jaiselmer (which, as I understand it, is a leading cause of high blood pressure in Rajasthan). We will miss Prabha and Anita's company and guidance, however, we also know that the best way to thank them for all the hard work they've put into this trip is to have a great time. So, we hereby dedicate this odyssey to our good friends, Prabha and Anita, without whom this trip wouldn't have been imagined, much less possible.