broken leg, my foot!

I should've guessed. Our absent driver, Bishu Ram doesn't have a long pointy nose because he's a Chettri, it's because he is in fact Pinnochio...

At school yesterday one of the other mums caught me on the way back to the car and asked where Bishu Ram was. I answered that he had broken his leg so we had a temporary driver, Vasu. Oh, she replied, but I saw Bishu Ram at the Shangri-La hotel ten days ago, unloading stuff for Emily (whoever Emily is). I asked whether or not he was on crutches or were there any visible signs of a plaster cast and she said no, he was carrying some big boxes. Are you quite sure it was him, I said. Oh yes, she replied, he worked for us for two years until he fell out with my husband when he smashed a headlight: nice guy, smart, but he talks a bit too much - yes I know Bishu Ram very well. She also told me that this Emily woman is moving to Pakistan in a few weeks - which probably explains why Bishu Ram said he'd be out of plaster cast within a month.

What a cheeky bugger! Obviously just after earning a bit of extra cash for a few weeks and so fabricating an injury.

So it looks like Vasu, the temporary driver, has now gone permanent. 

The silver lining in the whole sorry tale is that I've used what I saved by only paying for a driver for two weeks in October to buy some cashmere tank tops. It is getting quite parky in the mornings now!

ps - Father Christmas has been on ebay and miraculously found a white chicken (not real) for a mere two quid. Don't know if ebay will also be able to come up with a solution to global warming and personal tragedy/depression for under a fiver, but he has assured me he will try...