Category: 2014 India
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15 December 2014
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16 December 2014
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16 December 2014
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17 December 2014
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20 December 2014
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23 December 2014
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24 December 2014
THE SEAMSTRESS OF GUDUR
Our Indian relatives have a strong tradition of giving gifts… -
24 December 2014
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24 December 2014
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24 December 2014
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25 December 2014
LOST IN TRANSLATION IN GUDUR
After the Christmas service I walked around in the courtyard… -
25 December 2014
SEVA JYOTI LEPROSY REHABILITATION CENTRE
After Christmas lunch, cousin Joshua asked if we’d like to… -
27 December 2014
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29 December 2014
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31 December 2014
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1 January 2015
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2 January 2015
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3 January 2015
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4 January 2015
An octogenarian, Padma’s mother, Mercy, doesn’t think she’ll be able to make the long and tiresome trip to India for much longer. But she reckons she’s still good for one more trip to bid farewell to the homeland and extended family. Mercy wants to ensure that the family’s Indian heritage is never forgotten so she has invited her grandsons, Joseph and Xander, and her son in law, me, to get better acquainted with the extended family in India.
We’ll begin the farewell tour in Chennai but only as a stopover as we then travel up the coast to the home of Mercy’s youngest brother, John, to attend the wedding of his granddaughter. Then we’ll ride the rails and travel to small towns in Andhra Pradesh where we will visit the extended family and spend Christmas with family in the town of Gudur.
On the third week, we’ll leave Mercy in the hands of family and we’ll fly north to Dehli and the Taj Mahal. Then off to the far northern state of Kashmir. We’ll fly into Srinagar and then drive up to the Himalayan hill station of Gulmarg where we’ll try some downhill skiing in one of Asia’s most remarkable ski destinations. We’ll then spend New Year’s Eve on a houseboat on Dal Lake and start the new year with a dawn boat ride on the lake to see the floating markets.
For Joseph and Xander it will be their first trip to India and their introduction won’t be as tourists but as visiting family.
For me it will be the culmination of a trip first planned 37 years ago. When I was 19 I studied Eastern Religions at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. I became fascinated in Hinduism and all of the religions and culture of India. I spent several months planning a trip from south to north of India. I got as far as Sumatra on that trip and never made it to India. Finally I get my chance to see India.
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NO WHITES IN NELLOR
Today we made an ill-fated trip to Nellor to try to do some shopping. I say ill-fated because the Christmas Eve crowds were so bad we just couldn’t get anything done. We went into a clothes store and this manikin proved to be the closest I had come to seeing a white person in 10
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SANTA COMES TO GUDUR
Padma and I were at cousin Joshua’s house when Xander ran up and told us to come along to see Santa Claus. We all piled into a minibus and drove through the streets of Gudur till we reach a dark and poor neighbourhood. We got out of the car not knowing what to expect. A
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THE GIRL ON THE BIKE
It was dusk and Christmas Eve so I went out of the house for a stroll in the street. I was standing at a wall watching some boys play cricket in the fading light. A man and his granddaughter were also watching and I greeted him. After a while it was too dark for cricket
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THE SEAMSTRESS OF GUDUR
Our Indian relatives have a strong tradition of giving gifts of clothes to visitors. As a result we have all received wonderful gifts we can wear. They didn’t quite get the size right for Padma however. No problem as just down the road lived a seamstress. We entered a dark alley lined with tiny closet-sized
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KAVALI TO GUDUR
Joseph got some first hand experience with the dangers of travel in India when we travelled from Kavali to Gudur. We were running late and Joseph needed to be back to Gudur by 4.30 for his sitar lesson. Cousin Joshua was riding in a separate car and was about to leave so Joe grabbed a
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CHEBROLU
On this trip, we never know what the family has in store for us. We just move when we’re told to move and eat when we’re told to eat. After we visited the cemetery I assumed we would head home but we started heading out of the city. I asked Sampath what’s going on and
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A WEDDING IN KAKINADA
Padma and I jumped out of bed at 7.30 as we were told a car would drop by at 9.30 to pick us up and take us to the wedding. Lots to do to get organised. But we must have been so exhausted that we had forgotten we were in India. It was more like
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A CHANGE OF PLANS
You always need a contingency plan when you travel in India. Our plan was to arrive in mid-morning and check into a comfortable airport hotel and just recover from the flights. The next morning we were to catch an early morning flight to Kakinada via Hyderabad and have a relaxing afternoon to rest prior to
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CANCELLED!
Today was supposed to be a fairly relaxing day with minimal travel. A day of rest prior to the wedding. All started out fine but the tide quickly changed when we arrived at the airport. We checked into our flight and the attendant acted as if all was fine and on time. When we arrived
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