[12/03/23: With Andy returning home yesterday, after 2+ weeks in hospital with severe, unexplainable pain, it was good to remember these happier times—with him & Ines, Ruth & Graham].
Taking friends around
Hamara Hindustan (“
our India”, as this is where we grew up together) is one of our very favourite things to do. There is a beauty in the scenery, a warmth in the people, a flavour in the food, a pain in the story, an intrigue in the history, and a fascination in the culture that is too easy to miss.
We did it in 2010 and in 2014 and so there is a certain symmetry about doing it again in 2018. After many months in the planning, we welcomed this intrepid group of enthusiastic friends…
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BENGALURU, KARNATAKA: Ines & Andy (on the left) came from New Zealand, while Ruth & Graham (on the right) came from the UK. Their flights just happened to arrive 10 minutes apart from each other. |
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MYSORE, KARNATAKA: While my preference is to have people discover India as they find it (and so not give too much orientation), sometimes I relent and offer one piece of advice: be ready for all five senses to be overloaded all at once. A great way to ease into this experience is to walk across Mysore and walk through the Devaraja Markets. |
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MYSORE, KARNATAKA: A highlight of any visit to India is ‘the illumination on Sunday’, as one Mysore taxi driver described it to me. Not the Sunday sermon, but the 7pm flicking-of-a-switch to have thousands upon thousands of lightbulbs illuminate the Mysore Palace. We arrived in the gloomy twilight only to discover that some prominent person had died and that there would be no illumination. Without illumination, we resorted to imagination – coming up with the novel idea of a selfie at the gates of the Palace. [NB: for a post on the illumination, see here]. |
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THE ROAD TO OOTY, TAMIL NADU: Oranges, bought the old-fashioned away. We consumed dozens and dozens of them, as they are the ‘go-to’ fruit in December in India. Plus, as my doctor-father taught me, they are so safe to eat because, like bananas and peanuts, they have a skin that can be peeled. |
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OOTY, TAMIL NADU: Yes, food is never too far from the mind on a visit to India, be it the damage you can do to it, or the damage it does to you. Here is the definitive South Indian culinary experience: the masala paper dosa, with Hotel Nahar, a few paces from Charing Cross (?!) in Ooty, being a favourite haunt for us. |
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KODANAD LOOKOUT, TAMIL NADU: After driving through manicured tea gardens, blanketing the Nilgiri hills with a bewitching beauty, this relatively unheralded view opens up. Even the dust’s fake horizon, cannot hide this breath-taking view. [NB: for a selection of my favourite Nilgiri tea plantation photos, see here]. |
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KOTAGIRI, TAMIL NADU: In The Ark at the UESI/IFES Study Centre. We started each day with a portion from Isaiah 40-65, followed by a selection from Amy Carmichael’s Edges of His Ways – and a prayer. It was as we were seated here that Andy & Ines received the news that they had become grandparents for the first time. |
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KOTAGIRI, TAMIL NADU: Just outside the gates of the Study Centre, trees and tea! |
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MUNNAR, KERALA: The tea gardens in this area (especially Top Station) rival the Nilgiris as the best that I’ve seen. But this is another grand view, taken at 6.30 am on my phone, looking South from the verandah of our hotel room. |
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CHEEYAPPARA WATERFALLS, KERALA: Enjoying our holiday, together with good friends. |
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FORT KOCHI, KERALA: The ancient fishing nets, thought to have been brought to the area by Chinese explorers in the 14th century. Kochi used to be Cochin which might come from ‘Co-Chin’, or ‘like-China’. After the Chinese, came the Portuguese, the Dutch and then the British. There is a single church building (St Francis) which served the Catholics, then the Dutch Reformed and finally the Church of South India (CSI/Anglican) communities. And don’t forget the Jewish synagogue up the road, or that this is the general area where St Thomas is thought to have come ashore. |
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FORT KOCHI, KERALA: The milkshake line-up, as we escaped the only rain on our trip. Mine was Fig and Cashew! |
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LANDOUR, UTTARAKHAND: Perched atop a three-storied tea-shop to watch the sunrise over the Himalayas. Neither the owner (arriving later), or the local monkey, were too pleased that we had helped ourselves to the view. |
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LANDOUR, UTTARAKHAND: Graham – a climber of all 282 ‘Munros’ in Scotland and now doing it for a second time – admiring the sunrise over the Himalayas with many of its peaks over seven times the height of a Munro. |
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LANDOUR, UTTARAKHAND: What Graham saw – Bandarpunch. |
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LANDOUR, UTTARAKHAND: Sunset, later the same day and looking the other direction, was special too. |
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LANDOUR BAZAAR, UTTARAKHAND: A (very) close, wet shave for Andy in the bazaar. |
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MUSSOORIE, UTTARAKHAND: With 30+ states and ‘union territories’, there always seems to a local election happening somewhere in the country. Here it is the flag of the ruling party making itself known. |
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MEHRAULI, NEW DELHI: The Qutb Minar, a happy place for me. Built back in the 11th century, for a time it was the tallest building in the world – and it is still the tallest brick building. We used to climb to that first floor, but not any more. The door at the bottom opens inwards and one tragic morning in December 1981 some panic spread within the darkened spiral staircase. 45 people were killed, including 30 schoolchildren, as they tumbled down the stairs with their bodies piling up against the door. |
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NIZAMUDDIN, NEW DELHI: Humayun’s Tomb, an inspiration for the Taj Mahal (built seventy years later), is a place of peace, order and beauty in the heart of smoggy Delhi, with its air able to be both ‘seen and tasted’ (Andy). |
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DILLI HAAT, NEW DELHI: India can appear dirty, dusty and drab, until you encounter its flowers, fruit and fabrics. |
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CHANDNI CHOWK, OLD DELHI: This historic, crowded and frenetic street is home to Delhi’s famous street food, or chaat. The dishes are so yummy, be it pani puri, raj kachori, samosa … or, as it is here, aloo tikki. |
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ABDUL KALAM RD, NEW DELHI: Fresh from creating an assignment for students on the ‘fate of women in India today’, provoking them to do their ‘double-listening’ on the way to a topical message founded on a strong biblical-theological foundation – this billboard caught my eye, especially with it being located on a road honouring one of the great leaders in India’s history. |
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GANDHI SMRITI, NEW DELHI: A museum at the place where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. I can think of no single person in the 20th century who had a greater influence for good in the world – and I wish that in the 21st century we adhered to the truth inside this quotation more readily. It is my favourite Gandhi quotation. I’ve photographed it numerous times. As a Christian, I see no redeeming feature in nationalism, or patriotism. |
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JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN: Nothing quite like inadvertently crashing a Bollywood film-set at Amber Fort. |
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JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN: Graham trying his hand at carpet-making, while avoiding the cannabis with which his mentor reeked – or, so he claims :). |
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JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN: The brightness of the colours in what is a desert context is always striking. |
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AGRA, UTTAR PRADESH: In the rush to the Taj Mahal, it is easy to overlook the Agra Fort. That would be a mistake. |
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AGRA, UTTAR PRADESH: Three women at the Taj. |
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NEW DELHI RAILWAY STATION, NEW DELHI: All pumped and ready for the definitive Indian experience: the overnight Rajdhani train from New Delhi to Howrah, in Kolkata. |
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KOLKATA, WEST BENGAL: Only a few hours in this dense and dark city. Always feel the heaviness when we visit. I admire so much those who give their lives to live and work here – like the folks we visited at The Loyal Workshop, which was founded by former students whom it has been our great privilege to know, to love and to pray for. |
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NUWARA ELIYA, HILL COUNTRY, SRI LANKA: We enjoyed a long walk through the fields and the homes. |
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LOVER’S LEAP WATERFALL, NUWARA ELIYA: No leaping took place in our visit. |
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NANU OYA, HILL COUNTRY, SRI LANKA: The rickety old train arrives to take us back to Colombo. |
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HIKKADUWA, SOUTHERN PROVINCE, SRI LANKA: A pilgrimage to the Tsunami Memorial is a must.
After the first wave, people raced to climb aboard a train, thinking it would be safe – but the second wave lifted the train off its tracks and threw it more than 100 meters, with 1200 people losing their lives – at this very site. |
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COLOMBO, SRI LANKA: Against the backdrop of such political turbulence in this nation, we stumbled into Cinnamon Gardens Baptist Church for its Christmas service with its message of joy and peace. The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown. Not that common to have the entire biblical narrative evident at Christmas. It was superb. Nothing quite as exhilarating as being a tiny minority among people of other cultures and languages as they engage God’s word and worship the Living Christ. |
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GALLE FORT, SOUTHERN PROVINCE, SRI LANKA: Barby! |
nice chatting
Paul
Thank you so much for sharing!
Such a land of contrasts.Enjoyed immensely being a FB passenger on your travels:) Blessings and merry Christmas!
epic!
can't wait till it's our turn!!
Thanks, Heather
Your health updates from NZ were among the highlights of our trip around India!
Happy Christmas to you both
Paul
Thanks, Jill
Saw you keeping track with us.
Amazing that the two couples had never met each other previously, but what a great time we had together – with Ines' enquiring mind ensuring there was never a shortage of stimulating conversation!
Happy Christmas, Grandma
Paul
Quaerentia – just give me a date 🙂
Paul