Living with an author

I just finished Jean's book about the illam (it's not on the Kindle, I looked).  She provides an interesting account of how she first came to India, the circumstances which brought her to Nilakottai, how she eventually started the illam with a local man and all of the challenges they underwent.  It was a unique experience, getting to read a book with the author right down the hall, while living in the place where the story takes place.  I wonder if she feels self conscious or if she's used to it.

I enjoyed getting to experience India through the eyes of a poet and it was fun to notice all of the similarities between her experience and mine.  I laughed when she wrote about how one day, when she wasn't in a good mood, she made a snippy comment about how she needed a proper broom and her friend went all the way to town and came back with something completely different.  The brooms they use here are bundles of twigs tied together and I can understand her frustration.  I tried to sweep my room the other day and couldn't figure out how to use it at all.  Every night at dinner I would pepper her with questions: is Subbiah the one who did this?  When did that happen?  She was a very good sport about my inquiries.  I could sympathize with how she felt uncomfortable always being served first and having to get used to the Indian customs.  I'm trying to convince her to write a sequel about everything that has happened since and about the process of building a new illam which will hopefully be undergoing construction soon.