We started to love Delhi more and more and we were meeting some lovely people.

Our monthly home group meetings were always interesting.  Worship was the first thing on the agenda and then we talked about anything and everything.  They loved reading from the Bible and there was always someone with a God-story to tell.  There was no such thing as a quick meeting.  Food was plentiful and there was much socialising until early hours of the morning.

Something we learnt early in our Delhi experience was, “Don’t go crazy on the snacks.”  They weren’t the snacks we were used to in Mussoorie.  We had Marie biscuits, namkeen and oily pakodas from the bazaar.  These Delhi snacks were heavy; Tandoori  fish, chicken, paneer or vegetables served with all kinds of delicious, spicy sauces.  The mains were served any time between eleven and midnight. We were hillbillies from Mussoorie.  We didn’t eat such things in our house and we went to bed way before nine.  It was hard for us to stay up so late and when we had over-indulged on the luxurious snacks, there was no space for anything else.  Oh yes, there was.  There was always space for hot jelebies and rubri.

During some of our non-home-group social events, some of the men would disappear to smoke some bhang/weed and come back looking slightly vague.  We were also told that partner swapping was quite common at Delhi parties and also quite common for Delhi men to have mistresses.  It was hard for me to imagine why a woman would be happy to be someone’s mistress.  It was all quite a culture shock.

I wasn’t used to talking about brands, labels, Bollywood or politics.  I could do religion but I had no idea who Jimmy Choo was.  It was surprising to me how passionate people could get about Amir, Salman and Karisma.  I knew nothing of that kind of religion.

There was an emptiness about it all.  Some of the couples really weren’t doing well.  Their kids were struggling.  There was confusion about what they believed.  It seemed there were no healthy values to live by.  We talked about bribery, ethics, abortion, fidelity, raising healthy children, husband wife relationships, wine and everything else under the sun.

One thing we all agreed on was that we loved Jesus and we loved to worship Him.  Tony would get his guitar out and everyone would sing on the top of their lungs.  People would cry, repent and pray out with all their hearts.

A few of them were very keen on their “spirits.”  As soon as the formal part of the meeting was over:

The liquor cabinet opened,

And the drinks were poured,

A loud “Hallelujah” and

“Three cheers for the Lord!”

That was the beginning of a new community in Delhi.