visiting nara @ mulgrave, melbourne

nara, my former colleague from monk's hill, and his wife visit his eldest daughter anu in melbourne at least twice a year, once in april and once in september. this year, they made a third trip in december, to be there to celebrate their granddaughter lara's birthday.

anu, who studied at national univeristy of singapore, is lecturing in dentistry at melbourne university. her husband burka, a german, is teaching mathematics at monash univeristy. they have a son, called karl and a daughter, lara. because the children are part indian, karl is also known as arun and lara's indian name is lathitha.

i had wanted to drop in at anu's place in mulgrave on 14 december but was told by anu told that her father had not recovered from, no, not jet lag, but lack of sleep on the flight to australia.

we visited them the next day. anu and burka had bought a 20-year old house at mulgrave and had it renovated with the help of anu's father-in-law, a 74-year old retired engineer. the flooring in the living room and the patio could easily pass as the work of a professional.

on the day of our departure, by some coincidence, we met again at chadstone shopping complex, where lara's birthday party was held.