INDIA BLOG ARCHIVES (9) - 23 Feb 2008

This was posted by me on a/o as Msg# 25955 on 23 Feb 2008 as `Another Indian Odyssey - Pt 2` :

Pt 2: Khajuraho and beyond

From Varanasi then we again took a short flight, this time by Kingfisher Airlines (another growing independent airline, owned by the same conglomerate that produces the famous brand of beer) to Khajuraho. One can `do` Khajuraho in a single day with an overnight stay, but we stayed two nights there, partly to relax after the gruelling few days before. And what can one say about Khajuraho that you may not have read or heard about or experienced yourselves? Yes, the extant temples with their famous erotic carvings are there for all to see, but much would depend on one`s own state of mind, knowledge and the way one is guided through the complex. Our guide was not particularly inspiring and so we had to delve into our own imagination!

And since Khajuraho has been mentioned in a couple of different contexts by others, let me say at once that the infinite variety of positions and possibilities depicted in the carvings, all very visible, is so striking that it far surpasses what Clinton did (or what the CIA failed to do to Castro) with their legendary cigar!. I am inhibited by a sense of decorum from posting pictures of some close-ups of such scenes, but am sure most people on this forum are familiar with them. Since the site was discovered and perfected for public viewing, millions of people must have passed through it, and yet it has retained an aura of freshness and anticipation. We could amble along from one temple to another at a fairly relaxed pace, in perfect weather. Some wanted a closer look around and went up the long steps into one or more of the them; others were happy simply to imbibe the atmosphere and gape at the sculptures on the exterior walls of the temples. While their sensual nature is self-evident, it is mixed with a sense of the sublime as well; that is the essence of creation.

Inevitably, we also thought of our visit to the Ajanta and Ellora caves in 2005. There too is concrete and living evidence of elaborate architecture and carvings, of sensuous paintings and murals on the walls of temples and monastries (Buddhist and Jain) set in caves which were actually man-made, hollowed out of solid rock. Khajuraho however confirms that Hindu mythology has a solid foundation as far as depiction of the sexual mores of the people of that period is concerned - and of course we must not forget the Kama-Sutra, which too has been mentioned in passing on this forum lately!

From Khajuraho to Orcha, some 170 km away - another historical city, a creation of a Rajput dynasty that had ruled the middle kingdom (Madhya Pradesh) during the 16th century. `Orchha` literally means `hidden`, and it is indeed a hidden archeological treasure, in the form of a huge fort complex comprising a number of palaces and temples, combining the best of Rajasthani, Jain and Mughal traditions. There is a pervasive air of tranquility and romance that we could all but breathe from the terrace of our hotel situated right on the bank of the local river on a curve. So again, we were able to relax here before another spell of hectic sight-seeing that awaited us in during the final stage of our tour.

We drove to Jhansi, of the 1857 fame, and from there took the Shatabdi Express to Agra. These express trains are famous for their comfort and hospitality and so we found. In the air-conditioned seater class, we were served fresh tea and snacks in grand style (on journeys of 4 hours or more, full-scale meals are provided). For many Agra was the highlight, and they, we, were not disappointed. There can be no doubt: the Taj Mahal is the eternal monument. It looked more magnificent than ever; it simply shone! This was our third or fourth sighing, and it has certainly never looked better; moreover it is in the process of being cleaned up even more. One cannot but marvel at its creation, its design, its engineering and architectural perfection. Indian tourist authorities have made great strides in preserving and presenting all this Mughal heritage of the country, in terms of access and surroundings. Our lingering impressions, carried over from previous visits, of a crumbling framework are a thing of the past.

I also visited Agra Fort and Akber`s Tomb and was amazed to re-discover how massive and solid they are. There is something to be said for revisiting places after so many years. The memories one may have of them are often compressed into a few selective snap-shots, focusing on only the most obvious features, and of course as the years go by these become even more entrenched. And so coming upon them afresh opens up new vistas. More importantly, we also would have matured, acquired greater knowledge and developed other, perhaps sharper and more nuanced, faculties of appreciation. And so reappraising the past and new bits of the present becomes an adventure and a learning process in itself. That was my, our, experience - and so it didn`t matter that we had been to some of these places. That was true also of Jaipur (though we gave the standard tours of the fort, the museum, the elephant ride etc a miss and instead took a day off to be by ourselves) and of New Delhi, where again the huge scale of Lutyens` creation and of mystic of his British neo-classical archiecture combining elements of the Indian Buddhist, Mughal and Hindu influences comes as a surprise when you go around along its wide avenues to look at Rashtrapati Bhavan, India Gate etc. I spotted just one cow in the midst of the otherwise fairly pollution-free traffic on that Sunday (the old foul emitting scooter-rickshaws have been replaced by modern ones).

To sum up then, I am truly encouraged by all that we saw. The cliche about India booming cannot be over-stated. The creativity and the huge potential of its people are there for all to see. The big cities, Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, are developing fast - buildings, roads, shopping malls, residential complexes, public spaces etc. There is a huge expansion of the infrastructure of rail, road and air communications, as well as of course on the technological front. The 1400 km Jaipur to Mumbai highway is an engineering feat, comprising 6 lanes plus service areas and accessories. The Jaipur-Delhi route is also being improved. On such visits, it is difficult not to draw comparisons with East Africa and to wonder why for example it never occurred to the Kenyans in 40+ years of independence to upgrade the one miserable narrow guage railway line from the coast to Kisumu into at least a double-track, or to similarly to modernize its road network (considering that during the recent troubles we were all reminded of the fact that the port of Mombasa serves a huge hinterland and that most of the goods traffic bound for the neighbouring countries has to travel along a single carriage trunk road from Mombasa upwards over such long distances)!

Even during our visit in the winter of 2004/5 it was apparent, and I had noted, that abject poverty had disappeared. That is definitely so. You do not see many beggars or people with little or nothing by way of clothing. Starvation is clearly a thing of the past. Yes, of course, there are street vendors at every tourist spot, but they don`t hustle you much, and in the same way the stall holders and shop keepers let you be after an initial approach or invitation. So things are changing. This is reflected in the tv programmes also of course. And then, the tourist industry as a whole has become better organized, very professional and most impressive. Wherever we went, there were many visitors, in small and large groups, of visitors from Japan, Korea, Thailand and from Europe and a few from America as well, and so many Indian tour guides speaking Japanese, Korean, German, French etc. Even the old `sing song` English of the Indians has given way to a more neutral form!

That said, of course there are all sorts of social problems and historic imbalances that remain, but these are apparently being addressed at many different levels. As most Indians will point out, India is a country of 1 billion people, and contains a vast mix of ethncities and regional variations. But something has happened - they appear to have crossed a threshold, into a national consciousness of optimism and expectation that is infecting the whole body politic.

RAMNIK SHAH
Surrey, England

INDIA BLOG ARCHIVES (8) - 17 Feb 2008

This was posted by me on a/o as Msg# 25835 on 17 Feb 2008 as `Another Indian Odyssey - Pt 1`:

And so we have done yet another Indian trip (our sixth ever, over a forty year span), this time to places that we hadn`t been to before and some that we had. In a little over a fortnight, then we took three internal flights (taking India and Nepal together), one train journey and covered the rest of the large distances by road, all in the north. Throughout it remained cold, and we had to have several layers of clothing on a daily basis, to be discarded as the day wore on. After an initial couple of days in Delhi, we flew by Jet Airlines to Kathmandu. Nepal had been on our itinerary when we first visited India in the winter of 1968-69, at a time when it was rapidly becoming a favourite destination for hippies and other Westerners, but we had to abandon that plan, simply because there was so much else to see. So it had always remained in our sights as a place to visit some day; but now forty years on we found that it has, alas, lost its charm. The mystic of `Video Night in Kathmandu` (by Pico Iyer) is missing; it is rather a crowded, tumbled down mix of unappealing streets, dilapidated buildings and traffic jams. We stayed at the `Grand Hotel`, an oasis of faded grandeur in the midst of narrow back-lanes. The absence of aesthetic sights gave the city a grim air. Everything was grey and dull and there were hardly any modern buildings with attractive frontages. It all smacks of poverty and decay; even the Durbar Square and the Royal Palace lacked glamour. But the people of course are friendly and hospitable. It was also noticeable how small in stature, though presumably quite sturdy, they are. They are also conscious of how much they have been left behind in terms of development; this is very much at the root of the anti-royalist fervour that has characterized their all but in name toppling of the monarchy. We were left in no doubt about this by our very good local guide; he was passionate about `people power` and the need to remove the sycophantic elite that surrounds the King and how ordinary people are looking up to India and China, their immediate big neighbours. While Kathmandu itself then was a disappointment, our trips out into the countryside, to Bhadgaon - the timeless and almost medieval (9th century) Newar city and Dhulikhel from where we were able to see the Himalayas at close quarters - provided a different and more gentle and picturesque perspective of the country, its geography and its people. We also visited the nearby city of Patan, with its long Buddhist history and stunning display of Newari architecture. But walking through its narrow back streets was a reminder of the general backwardness of the country. Of course Nepal is still a haven for tourists who wish to climb the Everest and engage in trekking and other mountaineering activities; so it is not exactly a bankrupt state, but the people there are now hungry for development. We of course stood out among our party of 16, all the rest being white English, and were often asked if we were Indian - Indians in Nepal are a favoured people, and India is admired and respected as a powerful and advanced neighbour, and so Indians are welcomed with friendliness as valued tourists or visitors - after all they have a lot in common in cultural, religious and linguistic terms. This reminded us of what we had found in Thailand, Cambodia, Bali etc in our earlier travels there. We decided not to take the early morning special one hour flight over the Himalayas (at a cost of £80 per person) as we had had a splendid view of the terrain, including the Everest, while our plane from Delhi did a few rounds before being cleared to land in clear weather.

We then took an Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Varanasi. The view from the air on approach to landing was a surprise: it was green pastures, rich farmland and a fairly developed countryside generally - contrary to what I had always imagined the place to be! And the journey from the airport merely confimed this. Although according to our guide, UP is not a rich state, this part of it certainly appeared to be. I was all mentally prepared for two uncomfortable days of ugliness and revulsion. Retreating into our hotel, the Ramada Plaza, after rigorous rounds of sightseeing was thus always a relief, but the squalor in the innards of the bustling complex that one has to traverse in order to get down to the `ghats` on the sacred river was somehow tempered by an extraordinary sense of calm acceptance that seemed to pervade the atmosphere. We trampled down those streets in the early hours, to catch the morning sequence of rituals as dawn was breaking. At that time, there were hardly any crowds and hustlers, so it was an easy passage. We watched the people as they prayed and performed their ablutions, and some who did their puja and yoga, and other forms of exercise (`danda`) etc. That there was an aura of sanctity was not in doubt. We sailed up and down the river in a boat, to look at the famous skyline of Hindu temples, `gopura` towers, Muslim minarets and Mughal domes.

Although being an agnostic and a sceptic, I personally was not moved by any of these, I have no problem with people of (any) faith who wish to practise their beliefs in this or any other way - so I was a mere curious spectator, as I think most of our group were. This our morning tour finished with a walk through the back streets, `reminiscent of those very narrow `gullies` of the Mombasa and Zanzibar old towns, where we had to take care to avoid stepping onto human and animal excrement and to contend with all manner of street vendors and shop sellers who by then had begun to ply their trades.

We also took another tour of the same parts in the evening, when the going was much tougher and the place was teeming with thousands of people and there was much more excitement, hustle and bustle around. We saw live cremation ceremonies taking place, with dead bodies being immersed in water as the first step to being put on the funeral pyre and burnt, several of them lined up, each awaiting its turn, all of this being conducted with a practised degree of professionalism and a commensurate lack of sentimentality (so it appeared to us from our boat off shore). We also saw the `aarti` ceremony being performed on the ghats - an impressive blend of dedication and automotive worship. Again, walking up back towards our transport through the crowds of people who thronged the narrow streets was an exciting exercise in itself, but we managed it somehow. And what about the much discussed polluted nature of the Ganges? We were advised that scientific surveys have proved that its water is bacteria free, with an 0.05% sulphur content, and indeed a sample scooped from the river by my wife revealed its purity!

So what of the Varanasi experience? That the place is steeped in religiosity and ritual is not in doubt; but that is not the same as a haven of spirituality, which to me represents something different. Others may of course see it differently. That said, I have no problem with those millions of Hindus who from a deep-seated sense of faith and belief feel impelled to make a pilgrimage to Varanasi - much as I respect people of other persuasions for whom, say, Mecca, Bethleheim, Jerusalem, Rome, Bodhigaya etc have an equal significance as sacred places which they too must visit at some time for personal purification, confirmation, blessing or salvation!

In the morning we had driven through the huge and magnificent campus of the famous Benares Hindu University. Our guide - an excellent man with complete mastery of his subject whose command of English and communication skill were truly impressive, had studied there, as had his wife who was a practising lawyer in the city - was able to give us a first-hand account of what the university had to offer, its antecedents and vast complex. In the afternoon, we did a tour of Sarnath, a few miles out of Varanasi. This is a Buddhist sanctuary, where Buddha gave his famous Deer Park sermon, reputed to be the beginning or the foundation of the religion, to five disciples around 530 BC. It has now become part of the tourist circuit for visitors from the Buddhist countries in South and South East Asia - and we saw many groups of them. Again, it is a beautiful site: we saw both the Chaukhaudi Stupa and the Dhamekh Stupa, and Asoka`s Pillar. Its peaceful and expansive environs provide an ideal spot for quiet reflection and family visits. Its extant historical structures of the towers and sculptures have remained in remarkable good condition, which gives them a sense of continuity and connection.

Next to Khajuraho and beyond!

RAMNIK SHAH
Surrey, England

INDIA BLOG ARCHIVES (7) - 24 Apr 2007

This was posted by me on a/o as Msg# 19568 on 24 April 2007 as `A Himalayan Odyssey - 3`:

And so on Day 7 of our trip, we drive into Sikkim, the home of `Kanchanjunga`. From Darjeeling to Gangtok, its capital, is just 140 kilometres, but of course as all over India, it took us a whole morning to cover the distance, because of narrow, winding roads, with hairpin bends, through however some of the most spectacular mountainous countryside anywhere. We crossed into Sikkim from W Bengal at Rangpo, just 12 km from Darjeeling. Although Sikkim is a fully fledged state of the Indian Union (having become so by a popular vote of the people in 1975, until when it was a protectorate dating back to the British raj) travel into it is restricted for foreigners who need a special permit. Our tour company had already obtained it for us months in advance, but even so our passports had to be presented to the officials at the post; this was done by our guide while we had coffee and wandered around in the pleasant surroundings of the post. Later I saw that our passports had been stamped both with an entry and an exit stamp, alongside our main Indian visa endorsements. And the rationale for this special procedure? Sikkim lies in the sensitive frontier region of India and China and part of it was captured by the Chinese during the 1962 Sino-Indian war. It was only fairly recently that the Chinese recognized India`s sovereignty over Sikkim and now that the Nathula pass has re-opened, it is expected that the travel restrictions will be eased as the security situation improves. Even so Indian bureaucracy scrupulously observes the rules. When 4-5 days later we were leaving Sikkim, at another point, Rhenock, we saw a lone German backpacker being turned away for lack of proper documentation, for which he then had to find a bus or lift to Rangpo!

If the northern part of W Bengal, where Darjeeling and the tea growing districts are situated, is different from the plains of India, then Sikkim is truly Himalayan, in its splendour, its people, its geophysical features - fauna and flora - and its higher living standards and state of development. Because of the strategic importance of the region, the central government of India has been pretty generous in allocating federal funds and services to win over the hearts and minds of the people (a pity they didn`t do it in Kashmir!), and all the evidence suggests that this has been done successfully. Sikkim is being connected to the national highway network, though the difficult terrain makes road-building difficult. But Sikkim is almost underpopulated - relative to its size - while a plentiful rainfall and a fertile soil ensure that it is rich in agriculture, forestation etc. The people are definitely well off here. The landscape is strewn with Swiss-like chalets, bungalows, houses, meadows, streams, hamlets, farm yards and an unending and undulating series of hills and valleys. There is greenery everywhere, and no stray cows!

Driving through these parts, the most uplifiting experience is that of seeing scores of school children (girls in smart western skirts, blouses and cardigans and boys similarly attired in shorts or trousers, jackets and ties) going to or from school or waiting for transport along the main road - as we saw other generally well turned out local people do, much as they would in the English or European countryside. True, in Darjeeling and around, as in most Indian hill stations where there are boarding schools, the sight of smartly turned out boys and girls is common; what we were seeing here were ordinary (ie. state) school children. They were well behaved, curious and friend, and above all respectful. Older siblings held the hands of younger ones, but there were some very young ones, aged maybe around 4 or 5, who were going about in groups unescorted, but completely safe in a clearly protective environment for them. All these children reflected a complete range of ethnic groupings of the population: the Bhutia, the Lepcha and the Nepali - delicate, light-skinned with Mongolian features and their compatriots from `the plains`, ranging from fair to darker brown complexions - and seemed to be oblivious of these differences and completely at ease with each other - and in this respect they mirrored the adult society around them, for during the whole of our trip everywhere, what we saw was complete harmony, with not a hint of communal / ethnic tension of any sort.

Sikkim then is a land of beauty and plenty, of monasteries and meadows (of flowers, cacti and other vegetation in a rich variety of colours), of waterfalls and white water rafting and hot springs, and above all, of panoramic views all over. We stayed mostly in the southern parts, but further up in the north, there are trekking and wildlife opportunities. The people, though generally slim and small in stature, were clearly used to outdoor and physical styles of living, and so tended to be quite agile and sturdy. Sikkim however is very small in size and that perhaps explains its uniqueness in these respects - it is barely some 68 miles from the north to the south and 40 miles from east to the west.

Gangtok is really like a small provincial capital, with a population of only about 50,000. It is a hill town (same elevation as Nairobi, 5500 feet above sea level) where, believe it or not, there are proper pedestrian payements running all alongside divider railings, and so people are used to not walking all over the place, with point duty police who dutifully enforce the rules for motorized traffic. In fact, the main shopping street, the Mahatma Gandhi Marg, is cleared of vehicular traffic and pedestrianised from 5 to 9 pm. Our hotel, the Nor-Khill (`the house of jewels`), overlooks a sizeable stadium and was built as a royal guest house, with the usual amenities, where visiting heads of state, ambassadors and the Dalai Lama have stayed and on whose grounds there is, inevitably, a `Kanchan Garden` where the King of Bhutan used to sit to paint views of the eponymous mountain! One of the highlights of our stay in Gangtok were a visit to the famous Rumtek Monastery, the seat of the head of the Kagyupa order of Tibetan Buddhism. It is situated high up on a cliff and foreigners have to register to enter its grounds - for outdated security reasons - though again for us this was taken care of by our guide. It is of course a live-in institution and we saw young monks in red robes at prayer and out and about.

We also visited the Sikkim Flower Show a permanent exhibition of rare and exotic varieties of orchids, set under cover in tranquil surroundings. More even than in Darjeeling, here it was wet and somewhat cool, and we were caught up in a downpour of rain as we went about the town. As in Darjeeling, so here, the Himalayas, the Kanchanjunga range in particular, remained a distant presence throughout. Our next stop in Sikkim was Pelling, from where we were to have a closer and clearer view of the peaks.

RAMNIK SHAH

Surrey, England

INDIA BLOG ARCHIVES (6) - 21 Apr 2007

This was posted by me on a/o as Msg# 19538 on 21 April 2007 as `A Himalayan Odyssey - 2`:

The very name Darjeeling has always had a romantic feel about it, maybe one unconsciously thinks of `darling`! However, for me the magic of the place resonated back to my teenage years, when I first read about it, possibly in geography lessons and in Indian literature. So it was in many ways a dream come true after 50 years or more to finally get there, but to do that we had to first take an hour`s internal flight from Kolkata to Bagdogra in north west Bengal.

Two of our group of 11 and the Tour Manager could not get on to the flight because of a cock-up over the booking but the two redoubtable single English women were determined not to miss the rest of the pre-planned programme and so the three of them made an arduous journey by road overnight from Kolkata to meet us for breakfast at our hotel the next morning!

At Bagdogra then we were met by our local guide with a coach (+driver and assistant) which was to be our means of transport for the rest of the trip in W Bengal and Sikkim. The guide, Kiran Rai, an Indian of Gorkha descent (they no longer use the term `Nepalese` to describe the majority people of this region who are of course originally from Nepal; to call them `Nepalese` would confuse nationality with ethnicity and as Indians have now become proudly conscious of a national identity as Indians) turned out to be a smart, articulate, informed, educated, likeable and competent young man of just 31 with a very good command of English. He remained most professional and presentable throughout. From Bagdogra to Darjeeling is only about 95 kilometres, but the narrow, uphill, winding road over varying gradients makes it a slow journey - something that applied all through the rest of the trip. After about half an hour on the road, the landscape began to change as we left the `plains` and to ascend the highlands, and so began a whole long series of spectacular scenery - lush vegetation, distant hills, rich tea plantations, magnificent valleys, streams and an overwhelming feel of nature at its gentlest, most fertile and yielding. In the distant background lay the Himalayas - and from this point on they were a constant presence.

We stayed at the Mayfair Hill Resort Hotel, opposite the Governor`s House on the Mall. The hotel used to be the summer palace of the Maharaja of Nazargung and needless to say we had splendid views of the surrounding countryside all round. We spent 3 nights there. The next day`s highlight was a 45 minute ride on the famous `Toy Train` to Ghoom, the world`s third highest station on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, which is one of only three railways on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Am sending a picture of us with the train in the background to Dinesh for posting on the LIst if that is possible.

We also visited Ghoom Gompa, a Buddhist monastery (the first of many during the trip). The following day, we did the early morning excursion to Tiger Hill - which meant getting up early enough to leave the hotel at 5.30 am! Tiger Hill is about 11 kilometres from Darjeeling, but again with all other tourist groups making the epic journey, the road (like all roads, narrow, winding, uphill etc) was already alive with a string of 4x4 vehicles and with many groups of domestic Indian visitors doing the hike on foot, trying to get up to the summit of the Hill (some 2600 metres high) where there is a high observation tower (for the likes of us, privileged ones, who were served hot drinks, while most of the locals gathered around at ground level in the open) to await the promised magnificent views Kanchanjunga and the other peaks of the Eastern Himalayas at sunrise - and we were not disappointed! (We were lucky, for other tourists had spent 3 days when cloud and rain had prevented this). So that was our first sight of my wife`s `namesake` (which film incidentally we had seen only two days before leaving London) and she was of course thrilled, as that had been her lifelong ambition too. The atmosphere around the place was electric, with throngs of people mingling with each other and feeling kind of spiritually upbeat for having made the effort in the chilly mist of the early morning. After a much enjoyable warming breakfast back at the hotel, we continued with a second day of our sightseeing of Darjeeling, visiting the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and the Everest Museum, and later visited a tea estate, which meant descending some 2000 metres down to the bottom of the valley, where among other things we saw the picking of the `first flush` tea leaves - the first in the season.

The general feel of the town of Darjeeling was of course that of a typical Indian hill station, and we walked up and down its narrow, charming streets and shopped and absorbed the atmosphere like all other tourists. On the third morning, we had once again to be on the move, this time across the (internal) state border into Sikkim and that too meant an early start.

RAMNIK SHAH
Surrey, England

INDIA BLOG ARCHIVES (5) - 20 Apr 2007

This was posted by me on a/o as Msg# 19522 on 20 April 2007 as `A Himalayan Odyssey - 1`:
 

For a couple of days after our return, I kept on waking up in the middle of the night momentarily at a loss to know where I was, trying to find the light switch and to remember the way to the bathroom! All because we had been so much on the move within a fairly short time - of just under a fortnight - from Kolkata to Darjeeling to Gangtok to Pelling to Kalimpong (oh such romantic names, evocative of magical places) and back to Kolkata for a day before flying back. This was a thoroughly wonderful trip, satisfying in every respect, where nothing went wrong and which yielded more than we had expected or dared to hope.

The Kolkata we saw was not the `City of Joy` with its implicit message of despair and dire need of the downtrodden, but rather a thriving modern Indian metropolis, with the poor and the well-to-do jostling side by side, yes, and jarring notes of incongruity reflecting such mixture, but nothing like the image portrayed in Dominique Lapierre`s book or the film based on it. True, there were still a few human rickshaw-wallahs, but we were told that they are being phased out; and the three-wheelers are banished to the outer suburbs, as in most other major Indian cities. Most remarkable was the absence of plastic bags and other forms of non-degradable rubbish - they are banned by law and shopkeepers assiduously abide by it. That was also noticeable in the rest of West Bengal as we travelled through the state. Most people in the West believe that they are the true champions of environmental concerns, but all through our trip in the parts that we visited, we found there was a consciousness about ecological issues and that despite its massive problems of social inequality, economic disparities and vast areas of underdevelopment, the Indians, at least at the governmental and entrepreneural levels, are doing their bit to save humanity from misuse of the earth`s dwindling resources. Whether this is true generally across India may be debatable; West Bengal however is of course a special case. If culture permeates Kolkata, its reach also extends beyond, into the region. People are less aggressive and more considerate; one only has to observe how they interact with each other. They have an inner confidence - an equanimity of temper - and even beggars do not press their hands unduly. 

We visited the Victoria Memorial - with permanent exhibitions of artefacts of the British era, including inevitably those related to the independence struggle, and witnessed a magnificent sunset by a peaceful Ganges. In fact, through all the different sightings of the great river that we saw, one thing that struck us was the absence of any pollution and much river traffic - of course this is quite different from up the stream at Allahabad and Varnasi, where the picture is entirely different due to the sheer weight and excesses of Hindu humanity! We also visited the expansive Botanical Gardens which houses, among other things, the 200 year old banyan tree which covers an area of nearly 400 metres in circumference. And we visited the Dakshineswar Kali Temple, the only Hindu temple that we saw on this trip, in a tranquil setting by another section of the Ganges upriver. Our hotel, the 4*Park, on Park Street in the Chowringhree district, was only 200 metres from the `maidan`. We were truly astonished at its size - such a huge expanse of green land at the edge of the urban sprawl of the main business area of the city. Books are available a-plenty around there and I was able to buy some, including Kiran Desai`s `Inheritance of Loss`, partly set in the very foothills of the great Himalays that we were to see and traverse.

Next stop: Darjeeling!

 
RAMNIK SHAH
Surrey, England

INDIA BLOG ARCHIVES (4) - 28 Jan 2005

This was posted by me on a/o as Msg # 5784 on 28 Jan 2005 as `Indian Odyssey - 3`:

To bring this to a close, here are some of my musings:

On Identity and Culture

Those familiar with my views know that I have always distanced myself from India on the basis that as East African Asians (EAAs) by birth (or upbringing) we are not Indians but rather people with an Indian ancestry. In the current jargon, this translates as `P I Os` (persons of Indian origin) as distinct from NRIs (Non-Indian Residents) who are Indian citizens resident abroad, though the Indians themselves include in this category those who were born in India and have since migrated elsewhere, irrespective of their current nationality. (It happened that the second `Pravasi` or Conference on Indians Overseas, had just ended as we arrived in Mumbai on 10 January). The distinction between PIOs (or more accurately Persons of Indian Descent) and NRIs is important, not just in terms of legal niceties but also because of fundamental cultural differences - `culture` here is used in the broader sense of a way of life in societal terms, not just in terms of ethnic or religious heritage. Of course, our EAA identity has since morphed into an adopted and hyphenated British-Asian (or Indo-Canadian or Indo-American as the case may be) variety in the wake of our further migration to the West. And while paradoxically from a global perspective we may have thus become part of the vast Indian diaspora, in India itself we are seen as `foreigners`, which is fine with me, but taking a long view of prospective history, the `Indianness` of the `diaspora` may surely in fifty or hundred years be subsumed into another form of identity?

Why make heavy weather of this? Well, as is no doubt everyone else`s experience, you are constantly asked "Where are you from?", "Where are you originally from" or even "Are you Indian?" and we took pains to point out that we ourselves were not but our parents / grandparents (`baap dadah`) were from Gujarat or Jamanagar and if appropriate then we would explain that they had migrated to Africa ((my father`s had settled there around 1910 and he himself did so in 1915) and that we were born and brought up there and so on. That made more sense, as it put everything in the right framework. We were clearly strangers to Indian ways; we did not look, speak or behave like the natives or even the Indian elite. Our outlook, approach, mannerism etc all were different.

We are all familiar with the absence of `please` and `thank you` in Indian parlance but Indians also lack in the kind of interactive communication that we take for granted. Everything became instantly formalized or businesslike. Indeed, it was not possible to engage them in eye-contact or casual conversation; they simply do not notice you. For example, if you meet them in a lift or hotel corridor or brush shoulders with them in queues or restaurants or other public places, even basic human courtesies are shunned. Among themselves, conscious of status as they are, strangers rarely acknowledge the existence of each other.

Apart from situations where we were the honoured customers or recipients of service or of private hospitality, social intercourse was simply not on. The only other people that we could easily communicate with at our own level were the other tourists, whether of Indian origin or not. And in this regard, our East African connection always came in handy. We had no difficulty in identifying fellow British Indians with an EA background. Before we left, I had predicted that we were bound to bump into someone we knew somewhere on our trip - and that happened on the very first night of our arrival in Kerala - when Vassant Gajjar (an old college-mate of Kanchan and Bhadras) spotted us in our hotel!

So we were touring the land of our ancestors, rather than a country where we ourselves had originated from. Indians to me are not my brothers, but rather cousins (once or twice removed) - though in typical Indian fashion this could be turned in `cousin-brothers`! At times of course, the locals may have thought we were from another part of India, and in Mumbai dealing with taxi-wallahs was better done in Hindi, but by and large we were treated either as foreigners or as NRIs, even when we spoke in Gujarati in Gujarat. And here is where the Indians characterstic high regard for everything and everybody `foreign` worked to our advantage. They are just too eager to please and accommodate you, too respectful, too easily impressed, too `good` towards foreigners. Is this some sort of an inferiority complex or a candid acceptance of foreign superiority as far as material things are concerned?

On how Indian society has changed

One thing that is very noticeable is the change in the `master`-`servant` relationship and perceptions. Gone are the days of rude, loud commands or disdainful conduct towards employees, minions or those whose job it was to serve others. Now the masters address their servants with respect; `tamme` instead of `tu`, with polite consideration. Commensurately, the fawning obsequiousness of the underlings has been replaced by a new, more self-respecting kind of relationship. As one highly placed individual remarked, this reflected the realization that neither side could do without the other. So respect has grown out of necessity - no bad thing! But as I alluded to in my remarks about Mumbai, there seemed to be a sea-change in attitudes towards the poor underclass. It is almost as if the rising middle classes wish them to disappear from sight. When on the few occasions that we were besotted by beggars, there were efforts made by others to discourage or push them away, and a perceptible air of embarrassment even.

On Irritable Indian habits

A paradoxical example of contrary behaviour, considering how keeping one`s social distance is regarded otherwise, is the tendency of Indians to stand or walk past or mingle too close to you for comfort. I had to sternly tell guys, on more than one occasion, to move away from me while I was using a public telephone or conducting other business They are not bothered about either eavesdropping on your conversation or letting you hear theirs. They are also prone to touch and take what we would regard as familiar liberties. I suppose this comes from living on top of one another in an overpopulated country. The same is reflected of course in the way they drive, ride or move about on roads, which here would be interpreted as aggressive and inconsiderate. What we call respect for space is absent.

On Indians` disregard of individuality

Another facet of the same phenomenon is a lack of comprehension on their part of the importance we attach to individual need, expression or idiosyncracy. At Palitana or the Ajanta caves, there were all these `doli` carriers who incessantly importuned business, insisting that we had to be ferried ("Baba / Madam / Auntie / Dadda / Uncle ... you need it, you please let us carry you".) How does an old English person, hobbling along determinedly with a stick, react if one were to offer them a hand? It was the sheer inability to understand that however slowly or seemingly painfully you may be walking, you still want to do your own thing.

And then how I longed to be able to push my own suitcase or carry my handluggage - but no, it was quickly whisked away from me by anyone out of a whole array of minders. And there were always lesser souls quick on the draw to open or close doors, to unfold your napkins, to do the minutest thing that might require some action, never mind physical effort. At hotel checkins and departures, there were always not one but several members of the staff who performed their alloted task in strict hierarchical order (eg. the gatekeeper only opened the doors, the cases were carried by a porter (someone else having brought them down), and one was greeted or waved off by a third, presumably higher employee. It is hardly any wonder that one can see so many Indian men and women are mis-shapen, obese, wobbly on their feet or otherwise physically unfit! But equally there was an even greater number of people whom we would call `little`, undernourished or at least underdeveloped. (I know this sounds like a rant, but I am allowed the occasional outburst!).

Everyone is generally type-cast or, more cynically, rather caste-typed. They look at you and after `placing` you in a category or class that they think you belong to, determine their actions, behaviour or responses accordingly. You are either veg or non-veg, or Hindu, Muslim or Christian, or rich (by their standards) or lowdown. Nuances of gradation or commonality are too subtle.

On Religion and Religiosity

Wherever we went, we found no evidence of any communal tension whatsoever. In Kerala, we were told that there is roughly an equal number of Hindus, Muslims and Christians and that they live side by side and interact with each other in perfect harmony. We saw no reason to doubt that. In Aurangabad, a traditional Muslim majority area, too, Hindus and Hindu temples were visibly an integral part of society. As it happened, our guide there was Muslim; he was a real expert on the Ajunta and Ellora cave complexes, with their underlying Hindu Jain and Buddhist significance in terms of religious symbolism philosophy and scriptures. Mumbai of course is a cosmopolitan city and people professing different religious affiliations seemed to be at ease. In Gujarat too, three years after the bloody riots, there was nothing to suggest that normality had not returned. Indeed, nowhere did we come across anyone making hostile remarks about any particular religion or community, though regional differences or characteristics were often referred to, but without rancour.

That said, we cannot of course get away from the fact that religion dominates Indian life. It serves as the primary yardstick of individual and group identity. Everyone is defined by reference to it. Symbols of religion abound; in dress, in action and in other manifestations. So this is another paradox; at the political and ideological level, so much is made of the country as a secular republic while at the same time people`s lives are governed by religious fervour. For someone like me, religion is a stranglehold that shackles the free spirit. And yet, we cannot get away from the fact that as in all ancient civilizations, so in India - more perhaps than anywhere else - religion has been at the root of so much creativity, in terms of art, architecture, music, dance and literature. Recently we have had discussion on this forum about the Indians` tendency to magnify and glorify their past; but wherever we went there are extant examples of the most magnificent structures and specimens - temples, statues, mosques, minarets, forts, palaces, paintings, murals, carvings, sculptures and all manner of artefacts, going back to more than a thousand years. Of course, there has been religious conflict as well, with mutual hatred boiling over to the point of genocide and lesser forms of cruelty and destruction.

This then is a facet of India that both fascinates and repels us: I certainly am not comfortable with having to navigate around the religious boundaries and limitations. The only optimistic assessment that one can make is that despite the historical legacy and living presence of religious differences, Indian society seems to accept and be able to live with diversity, with all manner of people being accepted as part of the body politic. There is a growing sense of nationhood.

On Cultural / Ethnic Affinity

And finally, how do we relate to Indians? More like members of an extended clan where we left the common family home two or three generations ago. The distance is in terms of both time and space. One does not feel connected in any personal or immediate sense; only in terms of an ethnic dimension. Emotion does not enter into the equation; human empathy does. We wish the Indians well of course. Their dynamism has to be admired and their efforts have to be encouraged. We feel proud of their achievement and struggles, and to be of Indian stock - to share a common ancestry and past. But would we like to live, CAN we live there? Clearly not. This is true of even of most NRIs. Have we got India out of our system? Towards the end, we thought we had and that we would not be making a return visit again (even though we already are committed to another trip in October). Now I am not so sure. India in small doses is fine. So after a suitable interval of time, I am sure, (like the proverbial lover who does not admit to desire or the mother who thinks she has had enough of babies) the urge to go there again will return. Let us see.

RAMNIK SHAH
Surrey England

INDIA BLOG ARCHIVES (3) - 27 Jan 2005

This was posted by me on a/o as Msg # 5772 on 27 Jan 2005 as `Indian Odyssey -2`:

Actually, we found Mumbai to be surprisingly clean. Yes, I too had always carried an image of the mirky, stinking and smelly waters around the Gateway of India, but this time there was a complete absence of such pollution. The vicinity of the Gate was well secured and policed. Our trip to the Elephanta Island was a pleasant outing and again everything was very efficiently handled. The stall holders all along the way up the Island were a disciplined, business-like lot and the various groups of visitors were properly escorted.

This time, also, we found few beggars about and those that there were did not pester us much. My impression was that Bombayites have turned on their poor and want them to disappear from the scene. The municipal authorities, having recently demolished a large number of shanti settlements which used to be such an eyesore along the route to the airport, had just started implementing a programme of ridding the city of unauthorized buildings, amidst allegations of corruption and favouritism. But driving from and to the airport, on dual carriageways and flyovers, with skyscrapers and shopping malls lining the streets, you feel as if this is another international city, and that is exactly what Mumbai is aspiring to be. We did not see any obvious evidence of ungainly sewers or anyone actually fouling pavements, buildings or open spaces. This was a particular feature of Ahmedabad also, and most of Gujarat: they have, uniquely in India, a network of underground drains, not gullies open to the sky.

It may be recalled that a few weeks ago, we had a number of exchanges about Mumbai, under `Memorable Indian Food`, a thread started by Abdulrazak Fazal, following which I posted an item, through Dinesh, entitled `Revisiting Mumbai` on 5 December. Well, I am so pleased that the prospect of the visit that had thrilled me so much, even though the anticipation was mixed with a certain degree of doubt and certainty, has been amply fulfilled despite my circumspection at the time. The charm and romance of the Churchgate / Fort and Kolaba areas that had so captivated us on our first visit in 1968 have remained undiminished. The places that we had remembered with fondness, The Gaylord Restaurant, The Sea Green Hotel, The Ambassador Hotel, the Eros Cinema, The Flora Fountain and above all the Jehangir Art Gallery - these are almost as they were 36 years ago, even better. We had a splendid lunch at the Gallery (where the dahi vadaas were a speciality, and still are) twice and likewise twice had a meal at the pizza place at the corner of Marine Drive and Veer Nariman Road. We also managed a thali dinner at Thackers on Chowpati and a western style snack meal in an atmospheric pub-restaurant in Kolaba. The most pleasurable and enduring part of our stay in Mumbai was strolling along Marine Drive, early in the evening and even as late as midnight - one could do so in complete safety and there were lots of single women doing just that. Of course the menace of the traffic is ever present, but somehow people and vehicles manage to avoid colliding. For me Bombay is as exciting as Boston, Bangkok and Barcelona.

Ahmedabad however is a different kind of city. Its crowded squares, roads, lanes and backstreets are not exactly models of order or cleanliness, but we had a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic young man, a PhD student and a local historian, as our guide and he took us through the urban maze to show us a whole lot temples, mosques and other monuments. He pointed out the elements of Hindu influence in the architecture of some of the mosques, and the reverse is true of many of the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist temples. We met up with an old school friend of Kanchan`s and Bhadra`s and we also had the pleasure of being treated to dinner by Dr Kumarpal Desai, a leading academic and authority on Jainism, a most unassuming and hospitable man.

Travelling through rural Gujarat was an eye-opener. I had never imagined the countryside to be so fertile, with large tracts of open spaces, fields, woods etc. There is no doubt that Gujarat has made tremendous strides and is quite prosperous. The roads are generally good. (As an aside, just think of how the road and transport infrastructure as a whole in the East African countries has remained in an undeveloped state, possibly even regressed - whereas in India it is appears to be improving).

Our next stop was Palitana. As we have been saying to everyone, this was not a `yatra`; we were visiting these places out of a sense of cultural history, not for religious reasons. Ironically however Palitana proved to be a test of endurance, of sorts, because the only hotel around there that we had been booked into proved so unsatisfactory that we had to move out and into the Oshwal Dharamsala, where the accommodation was far better. We did the climb to the hill-top of the Jain temple complex very early next morning (though Kanchan had to have a `doli` for most of it). There was an  unmistakeable air of spirituality around the pilgrims – that was curiously lacking at the Somnath temple on the southern tip of Saurastra pillaged by, among others, Mehmud of Gazni in the 12th century.

After Palitana, we had a relaxing two-night break at the Ghir Lodge Sanctuary, with dawn and evening jeep-rides into the jungle to look at game. We were not lucky but other guests did see the lions for which Ghir is famous. While everywhere else one had become accustomed to Gujarat being a `dry` state, here is where I missed the beer most.

From Ghir we went to Gondal, via Junagadh where again there was much to see. At Gondal`s Orchid Palace where we stayed there is a unique collection of vintage cars (26 according to my count) dating back to 1907 through to 2001. We were also fortunate among the other guests staying at the hotel were the Indian director (Truti Majmuda) and American producer of a film which will probably hit our screens next year and so we were taken on a tour of the movie-set at Navallakha Palace which was being especially made up. The film `The Memsahib` is about a Maharajah-to-be at boarding school/ college in Victorian Britain who falls in love with and marries an Englishwoman and how she faces life in India when they return. And the surprise was that the Maharajah is played by Parvin Dabas, the star of `Monsoon Wedding`, whom we also met. Indeed we had a very lively evening at the hotel, with some traditional dance performances which were shot in rehearsal right in front of our eyes.

At Gondal, I made contact with Dr Sanjay Bhagde of Jamnagar (some of whose informed writings have appeared on this forum).We met up in Rajkot the next day for lunch at his in-laws and at his insistence accompanied him to Jamnagar for an overnight stay there with his extended family who received and entertained us most warmly. They had had to leave Mwanza in early 1970s (his grandfather was the local Indian leader Lalji Bhovan Karia) when Nyerere nationalized land and properties. Jamnagar too had changed, for the better, since our first and only visit there in 1968.

From Jamnagar we drove to Bhuj, through the lower end of the Runn of Cutcch. All of Cutcch is fast developing, with a lot of foreign and Indian capital and other resources pouring in. Bhuj is a hotbed of construction works, but while some roads have been upgraded, most of them are no different to the rest of India - dusty, uneven, congested, with no sidewalks or shelter. The post-earthquake buildings (and there are a lot of them) have retained their shine for the moment, but in the next 5 years they too will begin to look weather-beaten, in need of repair and redecoration. We stayed at the Prince Hotel, one of the best, but situated in a grotty looking street with not much of a frontage.

Our excursions into the villages within a radius of 80 to 100 kms of Bhuj were the real highlight: we visited several where there is a thriving cottage industry of intricate embroidery, carving, dyeing, pottery and other forms of handicrafts. The village folk were very welcoming and thrilled that we `foreigners`, particularly my wife, could speak to them in Gujarati and Hindi. The Mutwa family of Banni particularly come to mind. Cutcch is now used to many diasporans who come there seeking their roots. We made acquaintance with one Ismaili couple from Toronto who were staying at our hotel and who had been most touched by the experience. There are others who come out of a renewed sense of religiosity. At Gondal, for example, we met a South African Indian family from Durban, who apparently are devotees of a certain guru and who have been going there every other year; he is a renowned lawyer and we found that we knew one or two people in common across the world!

Bhuj to Aurangabad - gosh, what a contrast from the dry sparseness of the desert to the rich, almost semi-temperate, greenery of the Deccan plateau and the magnificent Ajanta and Ellora caves. And finally back to Mumbai, where one more reunion was awaiting Kanchan - an old school friend whom she had last seen 45 years ago!

In the last part of this account, I shall be offering some conclusions.

RAMNIK SHAH
Surrey England



INDIA BLOG ARCHIVES (2) - 24 Jan 2005

This was posted on the a/o forum as Msg# 5685 on 24 Jan 2005 under the title `Indian Odyssey - 1`

I have adopted a new title for this series.

To echo Karam, India has indeed a fascination that grips our imagination. It is, as countless other writers have observed, a paradox - it can beguile and bewilder, charm and chasten us and can evoke a whole plethora of other emotions and reactions. Towards the end of our month-long trip, we were ready to come home of course (as anyone would be) but not out of boredom or disillusionment, but simply because it was time.

Our first 10 days in Kerala were in the nature of a relaxed holiday tour. The people of Kerala are so civilized - gentle, self-assured and respectful. At Varkala, our first stopover, we were to witness a tranquil scene at the beach in the evening twilight: local folk (individuals, familes and children) just sitting, talking, playing volleyball (with one or two white tourists joining in - something that we saw elsewhere too), watching the sunset and gazing at the sea waves - much as any small town seaside community. A week later the whole place was to have been transformed by the Tsunami (ps> see Msg# 5220 appended below). The trunk roads had a continental (ie. European) feel about them - orderly traffic, proper signs, traffic lights or cops that controlled the movement of vehicles, people and vehicles keeping to their correct side, no cows and other animals clogging the way - such a contrast to Ahmedabad and other cities and towns in Gujarat for example.

Right through, from this auspicious beginning, there was no mistaking that India has indeed changed. All that is being said about India, in company with China, as fast developing and being global economic players to be reckoned with is true. We found obvious improvements in the infrastructure and service sectors generally. Whereas 10 years ago, even in the best of hotels there used to be problems with running water, electricity, plumbing, telephone and other services, now these can be taken for granted (any interruptions are quickly remedied). The use of mobile phones and IT is very widespread - as is that of credit cards. Indeed, every credit card transaction that we did (in hotels and stores) was efficiently and speedily concluded, with instant automatic authorization. Money changing is no longer a hassle - both officially and on the side. Air travel too is greatly changed. We took several internal flights and were truly impressed with the absolutely first-class service that we received from Jet Airways. Airport procedures however are slow and cumbersome, but meticulous. Documentation is repeatedly checked and scrutinized rather tediously and in detail, but minute offending articles are detected with ease through x-ray.

There is no doubt that the vast Indian middle-class is up and on the move, with even local people saying they have never felt so confident about their progress and future. There is an obvious sense of professionalism and pride about the way everyone does what is expected of them. Taxi drivers said there was no point in cheating or causing bad feeling over small sums of money! There were occasions when one was wrong-footed trying to tip employees which they simply declined, indicating that they were simply doing their job - some were even sort of horrified! Shopping at outlets such as Metro Shoes, Rhythm House, the Asiatic (mutliple store) etc or other, smaller, shops, was again very dignified and satisfying. Even stall holders and roadside vendors give a good service, with wrappers or bags for little things that you may buy. Gone are the days of the tattered and dirty Indian currency notes: one can handle them without soiling your hands.

But all is not honky dory. Yes of course India has made tremendous strides and (as much as has been said about China) the slumbering giant is at last awake, but the problems associated with massive poverty and disadvantage in the villages continue to affect a huge underclass of people and resolving them will remain a mammoth task. This time, we travelled through a great chunk of the countryside, both in Kerala but more importantly in Gujarat (and around Aurangabad), by car and saw how the rural population lives. At that level, by our standards, life is primitive. The greatest single factor is the sheer number - there are just too many people everywhere. Just as dogs sit shit and defecate everywhere and cows amble around aimlessly, so do people - they have no regard for their own safety; vehicles have to navigate their way round people (walking, standing, darting across without looking, regardless of anything or anybody around them). It is not even fatalism; it is a kind of automatism - they just don`t care. These are people on the lowest rung of the socio-economic scale, but in the villages they abound. And of course there is dust and dirt everywhere. We could be staying in the best of hotels but the reality outside their cloistered environment was grim. All through our travels, I longed for the moment when I would be able to step outside our hotel and walk on a proper, paved, sidewalk - and I knew that the only place I would be able to do that was in Mumbai, and so it was - ah, what a pleasurable climax it was as I took my first free strides along Marine Drive! More on that and other things later.

RAMNIK SHAH

Surrey England

=====================================

Msg#5220

RE: [orientalia] 8.9 Magnitude Earth Quake strikes Indonesia

Posted By: • dinit4

o Tue Dec 28, 2004 12:56 pm |

Here is a forwarded message from Ramnik Shah:

-----Original Message-----

From: rkd@... [mailto:rkd@...]

Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2004 12:01 AM

Subject: Alive and Safe in Kerala

Dear All

Just a few quick lines to say that we are alive and well

here, having just escaped the effects of the earthquake and

tidal waves that it created. We were on our way from Cochin

down to Kovalam while the tragedy was unfolding - but we were

complelely unaware of it until after we reached our hotel the

Travnacore Heritage Resort and looked at the tv. Although

both to the immediate north nnd south of where we are the

coast was hit and there were hundreds of casualties, our

particular area of the shoreline was miraculously untouched.

Just now, we are waiting for transport to go to the airport

for our flight to Ahmedabad - that is when the next major

part of our tour will begin.

Kerala is beautiful, serene and its people are most

civilized, cultured and hospitable. Glad we came here. For

anyone who comes to India for the first time, this would be

an excellent point of entry - we have been in all sorts of

places - hill station resorts, Cocounut Lagoon and Cochin etc

and everywhere we have found the experience quite

overwhelming.

More later.

RAMNIK

Kerala, India

===========================================

Postscript to Indian Odyssey -1

The following was posted by me on a/o as Msg#5722 on 25 Jan 2005 in reply to some responses to the above:

How extraordinary!  I can recount an almost identical experience about the lack of any facilities for disposing litter. We too had stopped by the roadside (this too was actually in Kerala) because my wife wanted to go to a chemist and our guide had spotted one. Well, she came back excitedly telling us how cheap medicines were in India. But then she handed me some rubbish to put away and unable to find an obvious receptacle for it, I went back inside and asked the bemused shopkeeper to dispose of it. He simply shrugged and threw it right out. 

 

Later through our travels, we had other similar experiences. One street vendor who sold us the `maddaaf`, when we handed it back to him, simply threw it aside, though to be quite frank at another time the guy put it back in his cart. When we were visiting the villages around Bhuj, our local guide - a very mature, learned and likeable man whose main job was that of a PWD engineer - when we had finished our picnic lunch simply screwed up the bag containing the remains and flung it right into the wooded area lining the water station where we had stopped. On Marine Drive in Mumbai, I saw a couple of walkers by deliberately dump some unwanted things right over the parapet into the sea. Elsewhere, there was casual neglect adding to the general squalor. Civic sense is a luxury that presumably only the better off can afford!

RAMNIK SHAH
Surrey England    

INDIA BLOG ARCHIVES (1) 5 Dec 04 - a foretaste

This is the first of my archival India Blogs (the rest to follow) posted as a forwarded message # 4824 from me on the a/o forum on 5 December 2004 under the title "Revisiting Mumbai":

Abdulrazak`s exchanges with Dhiren, Bhadra et al about Churchgate and its various mouthwatering eating establishments have evoked memories of my own which I think are worth sharing (this for another reason also, which I will mention shortly). These go back to our very first trip to India in Dec 68 - Jan 69. That was our `grand tour` of `desh` - the mother country. We were in our late 20s, care-free professionals with no children and were spending a huge amount of money on an extended tour which lasted 7 weeks in all - five of them in India. We spent quite a few days in Bombay and instantly fell in love with the victorian grandeur of Churchgate. We stayed at the Airlines Hotel initially, then moved to the Nutraj on the Marine Drive, and eventually ended up further along the Drive to a much modest hotel, which was I think called `Green` or ` Sea Green` or something like that.

The evenings were exactly as described by Abdulrazak - one could stroll up and down the Marine Drive - all the way up to Chowpatty Beach even - there would be families and respectable folk taking their `constitutionals` or just milling around. We did a lot of exploring of the surrounding areas on foot (being younger and fitter then), as well as of course hailing those ubiquitous yellow topped taxis for longer journeys, for shopping etc. There was simply no sense of danger or discomfort. I remember once we had gone to see a play at some theatre in the evening, and when we came out - this must have been around 10 pm - found ourselves stranded, all the taxis were hastily being taken up, and we were left without any transport. So we just walked back to the hotel - along the suburban railway line, in the dark, a distance of probably some 2 miles or so. I don`t remember being frightened. There was nobody around to hassle us then. The various places that Abdulrazak mentions - we did go there - the Gaylords Restaurant, the Top of the Town (which was on a corner, I think at or beside the Ambassador Hotel), the Purohit (for our `Gujarati thali` lunch or dinner).

Why did we fall for Bombay, and the Churchgate area in particular? I think partly because it reminded us of London and England - the architecture, the buildings, the hustle and bustle and the freedom and anonymity afforded by the crowds. By that time, we had been back in Kenya (after studies etc in England) for some 5/6 years (and that at that age is half an eternity) and were feeling a bit constricted by the narrowness of our lives there. So there was an element of both familiarity and curiosity about Bombay. We were also of course influenced by literature, both in early Gujarati and later English. By that time we had also done our touring bit - the ancestral parts, Rajasthan, the Golden Triangle, the South etc, though we had to cut out a great deal (Nepal, Calcutta, Ceylon etc) even though we were flying everywhere, because India we found was too huge to cover in a single trip - and so were ready just to soak up the atmosphere and dynamism of Mumbai. We used to go to the Jehangir Art Gallery almost every day for coffee and there would talk to some of the elitist young things who used to gather there. We even tried bus travel (BEST, I think was what the Bombay bus system was called) by the London type red double-deckers (another point of favour for something that was familiar). There was a cinema more or less opposite Churchgate Station, where I remember seeing `Rachel, Rachel`, the (in those days) controversial film about lesbian love, starring Julie Andrews I think, suitably edited for Indian audiences of course. On the other side was the cricket stadium. And oh, there was a restaurant that has not been mentioned by either Abdulrazak or anyone else, that also we used to go to: it was called `the Volga`, near the Flora Fountain, I seem to remember. It was the exotic name that had attracted me; the food was ok too. We also used to walk along or through the Maidan (can`t remember its name), near the Municipal buildings. Sunday in Bombay reminded us of `Sunday in New York`, not the city (we had not been there yet) but the film of that name, a romantic comedy.

From today`s perspective, of course, the Bombay of those days had a gentle and cultured charm. So much so that I feel I must recount a couple of experiences that I have I am sure mentioned in the past. While we were staying at the `Sea Green`, we managed to see a motorcade carrying the Shah of Persia (as it was then called) pass along the Marine Drive with the Chief Minister of the State who was, I think, Morarji Desai then, sitting beside him in an open-topped car. Now, we were standing on our first (or second) floor room`s balcony, just overlooking the street and the sea. There was no security of any sort (oh, those innocent days) and could have taken a pot shot at the VIPs if we were assassins! But then, never mind provinical Mumbai, why on the same trip, earlier when we were in Delhi, we even managed to get into Rashtrapati Bhavan just like that! What happened was that we told the taxi driver we wanted to go there - he poor soul thought we were some important people (English-speaking lady and gent dressed appropriately!!) who had invitation to go there and so deposited us at the invited guests` entrance, where we were admitted without much ado and we then found ourselves in the Mughal Gardens at the back. We were walking abut there and admiring the place when suddenly somebody noticed and called out to us ... and so we were politely escorted out of the place! Funnily enough, two years later, in 1971, when I was a delegate at the Commonwealth Law Conference, I was among those who were officially presented to the President of India in the same garden and so saw the Gardens a second time.

So whenever I think of Mumbai, it is by reference to the Churchgate, the Gate of India, Colaba, the Maidan and the Marine Drive etc. That focus was enhanced by a fortuitous stop over for a night and a whole day at the airline`s expense in Jan `71, en route back from Delhi. That time too I stayed at the Airlines Hotel. Then 25 or 26 years later, when we were going on our second major trip (revisiting India after 28 years), in Dec 1996, again we were fortunate to have a night`s stopover at British Airways expense because our plane could not land in Delhi and was diverted to Mumbai - and again managed to see the familiar parts of Churchgate, albeit from the taxi on the way to the Taj Hotel where we had afternoon tea. I was also reminded of the beauty of the city earlier this year when I attended the SOAS appearance of Vikram Chandra, whose `Love and Longing in Bombay` I had read a few years ago and who read from his new unpublished novel, also set in Mumbai.

And now, we are going to be visiting it again. We go off on our big India trip in exactly a fortnight. I specifically asked our tour organizers to select a hotel in the Churchgate area and they have booked us into the Marine Plaza Hotel. It will be for only a 4 day stay out of the total of 4 weeks, at the tail-end of our trip, but the prospect is nevertheless exciting. One has to be realistic and not expect too much; because not only will the place will have changed, but so have we of course. Abdulrazak makes the same point, but we still hanker for the glory days of our youth.

RAMNIK SHAH

Surrey England