Blair's World

Helsinki and Stockholm

2011-09-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 31^st Finland – Helsinki

We do our own thing here, buying a Helsinki travel card and taking buses and trams around the city. The Finns are a neat people, their city, building and artifacts seem to represent a sparse, efficient and functional style. The city itself is relatively young, bein
g built in the 19^th C and has a heavy Russian influenced. We see an impressive Orthodox Uspensky Cathedral (the largest in
Northern Europe) and the Helsinki Cathedral. It is worth noting that neither of
these charged an admission fee (the only exception in all the countries we saw). We also visit the avant garde Rock church excavated out of the hillside and designed by Timo and Tuomo – quite spectacular. I find and enjoy the monument to Sibelius the famous Finnish composer. Of course I sample the local brew Lapin Kulta

Like the Danes the Finns seem a very contained and contented people, quietly confident. In 2010 the PISA scores (Program for International Student Assessment) found them placed second placed in Math, Science and Reading (in contrast the USA were 24^th, 18^th and 14^th respectively). The culture is to have everyone at the same level, but to have a high level for all. They certainly have been able to educate their children !

Wednesday 1^st Sweden – Stockholm

This is the last day our cruise and we take a conducted tour of a beautiful city cover 14 islands, built in the 16^th C, full of bridges and waterways. We visit the VASA museum where a 1628 built royal ship sank after being in the water for 20 minutes and was excavated in 1961 and restored to its original grandeur and it is a grand ship
. Like the other cities there are majestic buildings – the Royal palace, Parliament and the Royal theatre. I of course visit a couple of churches - a Finnish church the site of all Royal burials and the Stockholm Cathedral with an amazing sculpture of St George slaying the dragon, some fine paintings and very opulent royal pews and pulpit.

Like the Danes and Finns, the Swedes reflect a quiet contentment – none of them have adopted the Euro and all have their individual currencies (Kronas) reflective of the confidence they have in themselves and their country. They also seem to have a more defined sense of being citizens of their country and their need to protect and preserve their culture. But like the other countries they re socialistic countries with cradle to grave care, heavy taxation and a seemingly exorbitant cost of living (we paid $ 30 for a soup and a pint of local beer). It will be very interesting to see if their model will prevail against the more capitalistic American version or the centrally controlled Chinese version. I cannot see them succeeding, but then I cannot see the USA model succeeding either! To me it seems the very aggressive, hard working and modest living Chinese will be the foremost economy in the 21^st C. If this is so then the Europeans and Americans will have a reduced standard of living (much as Great Britain did after the end of their empire), and the Chinese and other Asians will dominate the world and impose their culture on it .

Who knows? Be that as it may these North European countries have majestic cities representative of the level of prosperity they achieved and their support of the arts.

It was a wonderful trip - both from the luxury of the cruise and the pleasure of seeing beautiful, historic cities.

St Petersburg (aka Leningrad) Russia

2011-09-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

Sunday 29^th and Monday 30^th St Petersburg

Since a visa is required to visit Russia, we take the ship’s city overview, with free time and the Hermitage museum tour. St Petersburg is a beautiful city, built along the Neva River with 66 canals and 300 bridges. Peter the Great built the city in 1703 and hired French and Italian designers to give the city a very un-Russian appearance. All the buildings are in stone and have majestic columns with grand stone carved facades. It is probably one of Europe's most artistic and beautifully built cities

In the free time we buy a few souvenirs and eat a nice Russian lunch (Borski soup, pork schnitzel and Hebckoe beer). We also visit the cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan (she is reputed to have miraculous powers) with a grand interior. To the Winter Palace and the Hermitage Russia’s premier collection of art (over 60, 000 exhibits). We spent two hours walking through about six of the more renowned galleries – Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci (a beautiful Madonna and child), Raphael, Spanish and Italian painting and 14 sections of French impressionists. The sensory input is stunning but overwhelming. To really appreciate this museum, one has to see it like we see the Metropolitan in NY, a few galleries at a time and again and again. Not only has the Hermitage spectacular paintings, but the rooms themselves are works of art with lavishly painted and decorated ceilings and walls

In the evening we attend a Russian folklore dancing and singing – heady stuff with an army choir and soloists and about 16 young men and women cavorting in rigorous Russian, Cossack and gypsy dances. The men particularly showed amazing leg and body strength, indulging in impossible gymnastic feats of athleticism

I spend the Monday in seeing the Cathedrals of St Petersburg. First we see the St Peter and Paul Cathedral, built by Peter the Great in the early 1700’s the official burial church of all the emperors of Russia. Then we visit the Church of the Spilled Blood (commemorating the assassination of Alexandria II who was canonized as a martyr) which has 7000 square meters of mosaic figures on its walls with alters of Iconostasis (an astounding sight that left me in open mouthed awe, muttering ‘My God’). It cannot be described and has to be seen to be believed .

Finally we visit St Isaacs Cathedral (relatively new 1818-58) a Greek orthodox church. It has innumerable columns of malachite and the entire surface and dome are covered in real gold (40 kilograms of gold - imagine the value at today’s $ 1800 an ounce – there being about 35 ounces to a Kilogram). The church was built and paid for by the Romanoff family, was badly damaged during the revolution and then restored at a cost of 17 million roubles ($ 5 million). An apocryphal story of Russians adopting a religion is they rejected being Muslim as it did not allow them to drink vodka; rejected Judaism as it would take too long to convert their people and the Greek orthodox was least intrusive (the names of Constantine and Nicholas are the remnants of the Greek connection)

St Petersburg was called Leningrad during the revolution, and had its name restored during perestroika. Many of the palaces and museums were also restored to their former glory instead of being used as barracks and hostels. I feel that the Russians were happy to have their city renamed and restored, but, other than the guides, we met none of the local people so cannot gauge their happiness. The guides seemed very pro new regime. St Petersburg is the most majestic and glamorous city that we have seen in Northern Europe. It also seems very affluent

An enjoyable evening show of trapeze and acrobatic performances by a young couple

Germany and Estonia

2011-09-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

Thursday 25^th Germany – Warnemunde and Rostock

We elect not to go to Berlin as it would have taken too much travel time, so instead we visit the local port town of Warnemunde and then take a train ride to Rostock. A good decision. Rostock is a wonderful medieval town with some very impressive buildings. We start with a visit to St Marien Kirche (St Mary’s Church) built in the 1550’s with a magnificent organ of 5700 pipes, a baptismal font from 1270 and an original Astronomical clock from 1472 that has a zodiac, an eternal calendar and a chime where the apostles rotate and are blessed by a central Jesus (which we hear and see at 12.00pm). There is also an incredible filigree tapestry of Mary’s life. We go on to see an impressive City Hall from 1270, St Nicholas church (now apartments) and St Pietri church. We end the day with a fischbroetchen sandwich and a Rostok beer.

The night’s entertainment is with four English violinists playing with incredible skill and with a lot of humor too

Friday 26^th At sea

A day at sea - wonderful. Eat and drink whenever, with as much choice and variety as you could want. No picking up or cleaning. All the staff so polite, helpful and happy (they have been rigorously trained and it shows) and dozens of entertaining shows to choose from. No thinking, just being and enjoying. Ah that life could be one continuous cruise !

Saturday 27^th Estonia – Tallinn

We tour this quaint walled city 1300 C on foot. We visit the Holy Ghost church 14C, the oldest church in Tallinn with a beautiful alter and nave; a 13C Town hall with a very high spire, St Nicholas 1350C (bombed and rebuilt) with beautiful medieval holy artifacts and a dance of death frieze painted by Bernt Norke; a very opulent Russian Cathedral and St Mary the Virgin 13C cathedral.

We end our excursion with a local beer having had a lovely day in a well preserved 13C town. One is overwhelmed by the profusion of impressive sculptures, monuments and statues and most of them religious (and Lutheran). The conversion from Catholic to Lutheran in these countries was amicable and so the catholic statues and other artifacts were retained

The night’s entertainment is a versatile instrument player – playing six different instruments

Copenhagen Denmark

2011-09-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

Monday 22^nd & Tuesday 23^rd August – Denmark Wonderful Copenhagen (Kobenhavn)

We have an uneventful flight to Copenhagen and take a bus to our downtown hotel, a miniature room and bath, but very central. After a quick sleep we are picked up by our host Christian Hansen and make our way to Roskilde the site of the excavation of 8th Century Viking sailing ships. We are reinforced by a smorreboard (an open face sandwich made famous by the Danes) and a wheat lager. The Vikings had barbaric customs, like having a slave girl linked to the death ceremonies of a chief – she would be gang raped, decapitated and buried with the chief (and we thought suttee was outrageous). We then visit Roskilde cathedral (11C) the burial site of royalty, with a brick façade (no stonework, so different from the other European cathedrals).

Denmark has a population of 5 ½ million, and slaughter 22 million pigs (rearing 11 million for 6 months), so you can surmise that their bacon and ham are exported throughout the world. Christian tells me that a recent survey found them to be the happiest country in Europe (the world) and even thought they are taxed up to 70%, their benefits are incredible – university study is free, unemployment coverage is 4 years (they are thinking of reducing it to two) and of course medical is free and social security is handsome. But it is very expensive and an average family needs $ 100,000 to live comfortably. My question is what do the Danes do to maintain this standard of living and I never got that question satisfactorily answered. I wondered about this in Finland too.

We see other city sites – the #1 tourist attraction, the lovely Copenhagen mermaid (even though she is rather small); the Amelia Borg castle royal residence; the stock exchange with its spire of intricate dragon like tails; Parliament house and an imposing town hall.. This is a sophisticated city with elegant buildings decorated with beautiful stonework figures and arabesques. We finish the evening off in Tivoli gardens, a fun fare park with much to eat and drink.

We are up early next morning and out to Elsinore and the 16^th C Kronberg castle of Hamlet fame (just to remind you that Hamlet was fiction and yet the castle's huge popularity is because Shakespeare associated the castle with him). The castle is authentic enough, controlling the straits of Denmark. The church is very impressive with a beautiful alabaster and marble alter. In the castle basement we see ‘Holger Danske’ (Ogier the Dane) a sleeping giant who will only awaken when Denmark is to be destroyed. On to the magnificent Fredericksborg Castle of Christian IV (1588 to 1648), with very ostentatious interior décor, and lots of gold in the church and the palace rooms. The church has a hundreds of coat of arms of every historical person, including Eisenhower and Churchill. Later in the evening we visit the 16C Marble Church and an 11C Our Saviors church with a distinct twisted spire. Denmark is Lutheran and Presbyterian, but has retained the saints and the Virgin Mary from pre reformation days

I make a presentation to the local chapter associated with operations and APICS on Supply Chain competitiveness. I enjoy meeting the professionals of a country and finding out how they run their businesses and their knowledge of manufacturing.

I am very impressed with the Danish culture - polite and gentle, but quietly confident . Hundreds ride on bicycles and they are very environment conscious (using a bicycle is a common form of transport in all the Baltic cities). I hope they will be able to retain their lifestyle in the coming decades of intense foreign competitiveness

Wednesday 24^th Embarkation on Norwegian Sun for a 9 day Baltic cruise

The check in is remarkably efficient and smooth and within a half hour we are having a buffet lunch. We sail at 5.00 pm and I see the city lights, before settling down to a sumptuous meal of lobster tails and Heineken beer (we are now on a 9 day eating orgy!). It is a large ship with 2000 passengers and at least 1000 crew. I meet the chief chef, a Goan, and he promises to make us a special Xacuti meal. We end a long day with an incredible performance of a juggler – his ability to keep large numbers of pins, rings, and tennis racquets in the air while adopting numerous gymnastic postures is just mind boggling.

Here we go again

2011-08-21T06:40:00.000-07:00

We are taking a Baltic cruise from August 21st to Sept 2nd. We fly to Copenhagen today and after two days in Copenhagen (during which Blair will make an APICS presentation) we will board the Norwegian Sun and steam out! Our tour will cover: Wandemunde (the port of Berlin), Tallinn (Estonia), St Petersburg (Russia), Helsinki (Finland) and Stockholm (Sweden)

Had a bad experience by being scammed by Priceline who promised us two free days of hotel stay if we booked the cruise with them and then sent us a voucher for $ 140 for two nights (reduced by their fees of $ 60+) with which you can probably rent a closet in Copenhagen! I have complained to various websites and publications - probably nothing will happen - and I now discover that Priceline has innumerable complaints of deceptive practices and scams. Sad I always thought Priceline was a honorable company. Oh well small stuff but annoying (I have booked a hotel on the retail market)

We have been reading up on all the cities. We are taking ship tours to St Petersburg (need visas in Russia) and Stockholm (distances). We do not plan to visit Berlin (too far) and will manage the other cites by small local excursions. All very exciting. I am taking my laptop so will try and blog as we go

So till Copenhagen...

To England for a Wedding

2010-11-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

We fly from Kolkata to Delhi to London and finally to Manchester, all in the same day, as we keep gaining time. Rent a car in Manchester and are met by two young friends, Maryanne and John Summerton and spend the night at their place. The next day we motor up to the Ribble Valley an extraordinary picturesque part of North Lancashire where our son Julian is to be married to Julie a Scottish girl living in England. Both are in the TV business, she as a sports event manager and he as a cameraman and editor. The met at Beijing and have done many sporting events together - Vancouver, South Africa and even the Delhi Commonwealth games.

The next few days are a whirl, with us meeting our Julie's parents and family. Spend every evening in some local pub, sampling the ales and lagers and eating pub grub. The wedding is on the 23rd Saturday in a small historic church, followed by a reception tea a local manor house, then dinner in three large modern tents and dancing in a glass house to a soul band. Every part of the wedding is choreographed carefully and exquisitely (mostly by Julie) and moves along without a flaw, with over 150 friends drinking, dancing and having a wonderful time. I leave when the party shuts down at 1.00am. I am quite pensive at the wedding, despite having a terrific time. Am reminded of the tradition of the Tu Ja Chinese community, that wedding are preceded by 15 days or crying. Ah well, I guess I am just getting old. The couple suggest that instead of presents, the guests give a donation to CTR our charity helping the less fortunate in India. - a lovely gesture.

We motor down to London the next day and leave for the USA on Monday. It is so good to be back home after being around the world in 60 days (beat Jules Verne by 20). Till our next excursion, stay well and take care.

Oh Calcutta !

2010-10-15T22:59:00.000-07:00

We arrive in Kolkata, via Mumbai, and find the airports much improved and clean (phenol odor) The formalities are minimal and sensible (nowhere as paranoid as in the US or UK). An example is carrying water through security - they asked me to take a sip the allowed the bottle through.

I leave the Kolata airport and am shocked - the contrast with the countries we have just visited cannot be greater. A cacophony of auto horns being blasted; unbelievable dirt; stark poverty; garbage everywhere; every sense - ears, eyes, nose, throat, and touch is assaulted - and it is continuous.

We stay with a very old friend Phyllis Jones and visit with many friends and renew old acquaintances. This is the compensation to the external squalor; genuine caring personal relationships (something we miss in North America). I am embarrassed to have to make the sort of observations above, but if I shied away from writing unpleasant observations, then I should not blog! I also visit our charity's administrators and Loreto Entally convent, where we support the education of about 60 girls

India is one of the fastest growing countries and has created huge wealth for many of its citizens. It has however failed to alleviate the poverty of common man (estimated to r. ange from 60% to 70% of the population). The middle class seem to be indifferent to the plight of the less fortunate, living either in self contained communities (with internal supply of water, electricity etc) or in comfortable apartments (far from the starving masses). I have said this before and I repeat - one of the ways in which poverty can be reduced is if the middle class Indian gets more involved in helping the poor - even if each of them help a few. Indians are great intellects, excel in conceptual thinking and are articulate and argumentative to a fault, but they seem to fall short of doing for others. It is possible that the religion of Hinduism encourages individualism over community - there being no plus for helping others? I check this last thought with a learned friend Nagarajan and he assures me this is not so. How then do we explain the relative indifference of the middle class (and upper class) to their very poor brethren (estimated at 60% of the 1.2 billion!). Can someone give me an answer!

In Singapore, just hanging aroound

2010-10-07T02:37:00.000-07:00

Having a lovely relaxed time. Singapore is a hot and humid island, like Hong Kong, with a lot more greenery and more natives (80% Singaporeans, 14% Malays and 6%Indians) speaking English. I blogged it last year so will not say too much about Singapore itself

I have noticed that in the last month our travels, we have not seen the dominant white skin. The Chinese have skin colors from a pale yellow to a dark tan; Hong Kong is very multi-racial with brown skin predominant; Western Australia is also quite multi-racial, and, with us attending Anglo-Indian functions, the predominant skin color was again brown; and in Singapore we are again in a tan colored world. All four countries have smart, hard working people; all the countries are very prosperous and getting more so, and all are very clean and efficient. When I compare them with USA, I have to feel we are not at their level of cleanliness or efficiency. We in the USA have a better quality of life because we have more facilities and have had a head start of at least 40 to 50 years. Our size is another advantage as we are a huge market and the world fights get our trade (as is happening in China). Having said this, I cannot see how these countries will not develop and overtake us. The chief advantage of the USA, others than those mentioned, may be its innovation, its lack of limiting traditions (we continuously destroy and recreate) and having a meritocracy. It appears that these countries are ruled by a government plutocracy (selected and nurtured from a very young age), who do all the thinking for its people (who are told what to do and are these rules are rigidly enforced). Considering their success, this is not necessarily a bad approach (not withstanding the one vote per person democracy of Western countries, only a very few make all the decisions). What is more important is that there is equal opportunity for all, and I am assured that this exists in all these countries (as it does in the USA). So the question remains, will these Asian tigers overtake and subjugate the Western countries?
My view is they will because for the most part, we in the USA do not provide a good secondary education for our children (our education is a 'feel good' system, not a ' must learn' system) and we do not provide societal safeguards to teach our citizens to live within their means. This leaves us unable to compete and in debt! Ripe, low hanging fruit, ready to be plucked and eaten

As before, I indulge in a feast of eating - Singapore has some of most exotic and delicious foods anywhere. I eat Luksa a spicy, coconut based soup with cockles, cuttlefish, seafood and tofu; Hor Fun - large flat noodles in a brown sauce and seafood; Lor Mee - a heavy brown, garlic based duck stew and finally barbecued sting ray with sambal sauce. Most food is eaten in casual hawker type food courts - street food really - inexpensive filled with locals, who it seems never cook at home (why should they?) What a treat

Tomorrow we are off to India and Kolkata

Perth, West Australia

2010-10-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

After resting for a few days in Hong Kong (very hot and humid), during which I meet Peter Moss, a well known Anglo-Indian writer, we come to Perth for the 8th International Anglo-Indian (AI) reunion (a gathering held every 3 years in different parts of the world). What a difference in environment - after 3 weeks in China we spend 11 days in Western Australia. The cultures of these two countries cannot be further apart. In contrast to intense, hustling Chinese; we have relaxed, informal, laid back Aussies. Of course language helps. In 'Austraylia' they speak a sort of English - full of strange words and sounds - but in the main English. Figure out what 'dunnie' or 'pokie' or 'eye candy' means -answers at the end of this blog.

We have a whole week of activities planned by the local Anglo-Indian association and there are about 200 of visitors from India, the UK and North America to join about a thousand of Perth Anglo-Indians (of the 22,000 resident there). This is the seventh (of eight) such conference we have attended - so you know we (I) are AI junkies. We start with a 'Meet and Greet' held in a large park, where over 1000 of us find school friends and relatives after 5 to 25 or more years. Full of 'Is it you' and 'My God you have changed' - a trip down memory lane. The next significant event is a concert, featuring local AI talent - homespun and quaint. We have two events to discuss AI culture and AI poverty in India, which I am involved in. I present our CTR Publishing record of having six books published over the last 10 years, thereby creating another perspective (along with the English and Indian views) on the character and culture of Anglo-Indians, at a workshop attended by about 20 kindred souls. I also present the efforts of CTR ( our international charity helping Anglo-Indians in India ( http://www.blairrw.org/ctr/index.php) , to help the less fortunate AI's in India - in 2009 we have over 300 seniors in 6 cities on monthly pensions and over 250 children that are being educated by CTR - at a symposium attended by about 300 persons. It is decided to form an organization to establish projects for AI's in India to learn skills and be self employed. Great idea. It is also the first time we were willing to talk about poverty and the need to help our less fortunate brethren at our reunions! I also get to spend time with CTR's Australian coordinators - Marilyn Goss of Melbourne, Cheryl Chater of Sydney and Jennifer Busby of Perth - dynamic and self motivated leaders.

We have a fund raiser dinner- dance of AI schools the proceeds of which go to CTR, and we have 700+ dancing the night away and having fun. Our Perth coordinator Jen Busby her team have to be commended. On the last day we have the Grand Ball at the Perth Convention center at which 800 odd AI's dance and enjoy themselves - an amazing sight to see so many dancing on and off the dance floor. When we plan dances in North America we set the size of the dance floor to cover about 20% of the attendees. For AI shows this figure is 80%! I am struck with the realization that one of the defining traits of the AI community was their ability to dance and their enjoyment of dancing.

The reunion was one of the best, well organized, with the volunteers always helpful and service oriented. We meet many, many friends and I take down emails with the intention of keeping in touch

I have another wonderful series of experiences - meeting my family. My uncle (deceased) and Aunt Pearl ( 93 - see insert) came out to Australia in the 1950's and we have many cousins and grand cousins. In addition my brother went out to Australia in the 1960's and we have two nephews and their families. I also meet a girl cousin from my mothers side ( a first). We spend magical time with them, trying to cram years into a few hours, always suspecting that this may be our last such meeting. They were all so loving and we are all so proud of each other. Too bad we all live far apart and meet infrequently, BUT, we did meet, and we did enjoy each other, and that is what we take home.

Finally there is Australia. Very different - but very warm, climatically and socially. We are fortunate as we stay in the home of Jean and Bernie Andersen, two very erudite and affectionate AI's and the best hosts anyone can have. When not attending activities and meeting with relatives, they show us Perth, its surrounding and Freemantel. In between we discuss Aussie culture, Myers Briggs, Johari's window, philology and almost everything else. They have added immeasurably to our enjoyment of Perth

Another highlight is a visit to the Caversham Wild Life Park, where we see some unique birds and animals. I have so many pictures but will just post three (right to left) - Ellen and Jean posing with very indifferent Kangaroos, a wild and free Cookaburra over the Swan river and a cuddly Koala

It is late 1.00 am in Singapore and we arrived this morning after not much sleep, but I am compelled to complete this blog. So much happened and I have just touched the fringe, We have had such a wondrous 12 days - life is so rich and enjoyable.

Finally the Austraylian words. 'Dunnie' is going to the toilet; 'Pokie' is playing the slot machines and 'Eye Candy' is pretty and sweet girls ('eye' for seeing and 'candy' for sweet!). Just a few of thousands of created Aussie words. Now you know why I said the these folks speak English in the 'main'!

In Singapore and resting, after which to Kolkata

Up the Yangzte, Hang Zhou, Su Zhow and Shanghai

2010-09-25T23:39:00.000-07:00

After spending an evening in Chunking, a heavily industrialized city, where we visit is superstore (like Macy's) with a huge assortment of everything (and we cannot decipher anything), we go down to the Yangtze river and take our ship for a three day river cruise. We have a nice cabin with a deck in a fairly large ship (500 passengers). Cruising the river is relaxing, serenely moving along the China of centuries. Our first stop is Feng Du where we visit the 'Snow Jade' caves and see a huge number of white, green and alabaster stalactites and stalagmites, formed over thousands of years.

We steam past the Qitang and Wu gorges to a small tributary where we transfer to rowing boats (punters) and go up the Shen Dong river famous for its cliffside vertical hanging coffins, an absolutely bizarre custom of the Tu Ja minority community - although why and how they did this is a mystery. Our guide is Miao- Miao (pronounced Meow-Meow) a Tu Ja who sings a duet with the oarsman - one of my tour highlights - punting along the bottom of a wildness ravine. The Tu Ja cry for 15 days before a marriage and sing and dance for 3 days after a death - just pause and think about the profound wisdom of that tradition!

At night we descent 2000m through 5 locks at the huge Three river gorge dam (yes the one that displaced over a million peasants) and spend a few hours at the dam site, before motoring to Wuhan another heavily industrialized city, stopping on the way to visit a Kindergarten school sponsored by Sinorama the tour company. Many adorable Chinese babies sing and dance for us, and Ellen spends time with a teacher and children - nothing is cutier that little Chinese boys and girls

Another domestic flight to Hang Zhou (again very efficient and punctual) where we visit a 1000 year old pagoda (one of the few not destroyed) built to prevent floods (superstition), cruise a lovely lake and visit a green tea garden where we learn the many medicinal properties of green tea. We motor up to Wu-Zhou the 'Venice of China' and explore the city along its many water canals. After stopping Su Zhou famous for its silk, and learning how silk is made and buying a few souvenirs, we motor to Shanghai. - a huge and imposing city (20 million population and 6 million daily subway riders!). Shanghai is the site of Expo 2010, a huge exhibition site - we see the Shanghai museum, explore the city by night and see an incredible show of Chinese acrobats -definitely one of the highlights of the trip - absolutely dazzling and performed to perfection. We end our stay with a visit to old Shanghai, teaming with people and stuff

All through the tour we have eaten food served on a lazy suzy, ten or so dishes, of pork, chicken, beef and some very tasty Chinese vegetables, passed around and eaten with chopsticks (with a fork as backup) - served one free glass of beer, soda or water (sometimes no free water). We have hung out with Elizabeth and John and Alex and Ann - all English speaking Canadians (amidst Chinese and French Canadians) - and their companionship has enhanced the trip. I have gained 5 lhs (alright about 2.2 kg for the rest of the world !)

And so on to Hong Kong, after a fortnight in a formidable (not forbidding) most impressive China

Beijing

2010-09-20T01:02:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Beijing having flown 13 hours straight from Newark, NJ. The airport is new with an impressive curved roof, high strut ceilings and granite marble floors. It is spotless. We are met by our tour guide. Tina, who speaks good English (we are on a 14 day tour conducted by Sinorama Holidays of Canada, at a bargain price - later I hear it is subsidized by the Chinese government to encourage tourism!). I change money at the airport; the ATM swallows my credit card, but I get it back from the bank with a minimum of fuss. We drive to the hotel of a 6 lane highway, bordered with flowering shrubs and green grass. Dinner, as is most dinners, is buffet with numerous Chinese dishes (none to spicy) and I eat a ton (I weigh myself in at 80Kg). Our group consists of 7 Chinese Canadians, 2 Canadian Canadians, 2 Vietnamese Canadians and us, 2 Indian Americans - quite a motley collection.

Our first day takes us to a huge 'Temple of Heaven' complex, built by the Ming dynasty in the 15th century, devoted to the spiritual pursuits of only the Emperor and his entourage. Heaven is the Ying of the Earth's Yang. The Chinese seemed quite obsessed with the concept of Heaven, which appears to be a condition of being in harmony with all natural, spiritual and human elements. The temples have an ascending succession of spheres, ending in a spire and are very graceful. We pose and take a photo on the Heavenly Center Stone. The site is beautifully laid out with all trees over 500 years marked in red - these include many junipers and cypresses. On to a cycle rickshaw tour of old Beijing and then to the 'Forbidden City' - a most impressive collection of building, only for the Emperor (all others were forbidden entry) and his entourage which included his concubines, (Zhudi the 3rd emperor is said to have had 3000, give or take a few) and his eunuchs (so his concubines could be safe). Beautiful large building, with colored tiles in yellow and red and dragon carved eaves (the number of dragons denoting the importance of the inhabitant). All the building were constructed in wood, without nails, using only joints and have names like 'Hall of Preserved Harmony' or 'Heavenly Hall' with Blue being the most important color as it represented Heaven, followed by Yellow, Red and Green. The forbidden city has 9999 1/2 rooms as Heaven has 10,000. The forbidden city opens out into Tianamen square a huge opening dominated by a mausoleum of Mao. Large numbers of Chinese and foreigners walk about in the square and one becomes aware of the population of China. One curious phenomenon is the Chinese fascination with 'long nose' persons (Caucasians) and I am asked several time to pose with young Chinese men and women, for photos with them. I am also propositioned by a young Chinese lady - ah to be young again!

Our third day takes us to the absolutely amazing Great Wall of China - at Badling (seven hills), built from 500 AD on. I climb a little and then just sit and look at this huge edifice, stretching miles in every direction, along steep hills and down dales and wonder and how its building was sustained for over 600 years. We visit the Ming tombs, but I have seen so much already that I am saturated. We also visit a Jade factory - jade being the favorite precious stone of the Chinese as it is very hard, comes in a variety of colors and is available in China. Ellen buys a bracelet and I buy a small Pixiu - a mythical dragon and lion - a symbol of good luck. On our way back we stop off at the Olympic site and see the Bird's Nest main pavilion and the Water Cube aquatic stadium - both very impressive. Dinner is Peiping Duck, a 7 day force fed duck, roasted and eaten in a tortia with duck sauce. Delicious and crispy without the trace of a fatty taste

Our last day have us visiting the Summer palace - residence of the Dragon Empress, a concubine that produced a favorite son and was regent for half a century - built around a huge ornamental lake. Very peaceful and protected by the Chinese version of a unicorn that prevented floods. We visit a pearl factory and then its off to the airport for a domestic flight to Chunking (pronounced ChinChoon) the embarkation point for a 3 day cruise down the Yangzte river. But that and the rest of our Chinese trip in the next blog

CHINA Overview

2010-09-18T00:46:00.000-07:00

Sept 18th in Hong Kong - I have not had any time to blog during our China trip and now in Hong Kong I have some free time.

China is frightening - it is so dynamic, so purposeful, so efficient - that I think it is inevitable it will take over the world economically and dictate to the world how to live. Anyone under 40 had better beware and be prepared (hint - learn Mandarin). When I think about the way the Western world operates - its pace; its priorities; its attitudes - I cannot imagine how it can withstand the Chinese juggernaut. The only possible escape from this fate, a fanciful thought, is that the Chinese become like the West - work less, spend more, become wasteful and self indulgent. I do not think this will happen in the near future. In China everything seems to work. In our 2 week trip, we travelled by car, bus, plane, ship and rickshaw; we checked in and out of numerous hotels; we ate at many different types of restaurants; we visited innumerable sites, we rambled about many markets and we toured many cities - both large and small. In all these activities, I cannot think of significant examples of inefficiency, neglect, or bureaucratic high handedness/stupidity. Perhaps because we were tourists we did not get to see the real China, but I think what we saw quite a bit of the real China and it was formidable.

Some overall highlights:
The national bird of China is the crane - not the one with a beak and wings, but a power operated cantilever, high above a construction site. There were literally thousand to them, in every city and all over the country side; building high rise apartment and office complexes; building high speed rail lines, monorails, six lane highways and bridges. It was a staggering sight to see the magnitude of work being done on the infrastructure. As we flew into Beijing I noticed that the terminal had about 20 stalls and only a few of them had planes in them. My immediate reaction was that this was a waste of capacity, to be seemingly confirmed by an very sparsely used airport. Sometime along our trip I got it - China is building not for today's needs but for the future (and to cover overloads), so it will not have to continuously patch its existing infrastructure or rebuild every decade!

China is clean and its people keep it so. Everywhere there are waste bins and persons sweeping public areas. Even small towns appeared to have sewage. There is an abundance of water. No one litters. And this condition applies to their toilets too. We toured the old city of Shanghai where there must have been thousands of tourists and locals and we visited the toilets and found them spotless!

Language is a problem and communicating is a problem; but the general person in the street/shop/restaurant is helpful and patient. I did not see much evidence of any form of worship or religion - churches, pagodas, temples were few and far between. There is an easy intermingling of the sexes and everywhere men/women seem to associate casually and romantically. The Chinese are generally slim, well dressed and on the move. The women were very attractive in their above the knee dresses, showing off well formed legs. Men were also well built. Children were so attractive - a chinese baby is irresistible. China still has the one child restriction (with some exceptions) and it is enforced, so one senses there are some heavy control elements in its society. I was informed that men were preferred to women, but I saw no evidence of that in any of the sites or areas we visited. Lastly I saw many instances, particularly among seniors, where an attempt was being made to be in harmony with nature - tai chi, park dancing, playing and scoping a ball etc.

Two aspects of Chinese culture bothered me: they are loud and they are aggressive in getting around (we were quite often pushed out of the way) and this includes their road manners which were scary at times

Next blog will detail our activities starting with Beijing

On the Road again Sept 2010

2010-08-31T11:53:00.000-07:00

Here we are again in Sept 2010 and we are ready to travel,again, around the world - this time from West to East.

We fly directly from NY to Beijing for a two week tour of China; then on to Hong Kong where we will meet our dear friend Phyllis Jones and her son Chris and his family; on to Perth, Australia - the main reason for our trip - to participate in the 8th International Anglo-Indian reunion.

I am addressing technical groups in Hong Kong and Perth. At Perth, I also get to present 'Anglo-Indian Poverty' about our CTR charity's work with the less fortunate in India and our publishing efforts on preserving Anglo-Indian culture for posterity (we will launch CTR's 6th book Women of Anglo-India. Tales and Memoirs )

On to Singapore to be with Ritu and Anil Mehrotra and to present a technical paper and then to Kolkata to meet up again with Phyllis Jones and check out the working of our charity CTR. Finally to Manchester via London, where our son, Julian, is getting married to Julie Brown, in the Ribble Valley, north of Manchester on Oct 23rd (seen here with our grandniece Olivia Rose and grandnephew Oscar)

We will, inshah allah, erect, stooped or limping, fly back to the USA on the 25th Oct. So follow us as we see places, meet many friends, do a few presentations and above all have fun.

Here we are late last year, doing a little jiving

Do also send us a comment from time to time - it is a little disconcerting to be blogging to an empty blue yonder!

The world of security has gone absolutely mad (read absolutely stupid)

2010-01-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

January 5th
Back home on the 30th after a harrowing trip back to the US and had to allow sufficient time to chill. We came through Montreal, Canada, and so were subjected to British security in London, Canadian security in Montreal and US security in Montreal. I wish I could say something kind about any of them, but they all adopted equally stupid processes, with the English and Canadians blaming the USA for confusing, conflicting and ever changing directives. If you travel internationally, be prepared for long delays and the huge frustration in being checked and rechecked, questioned and re questioned. We must have been checked three or four times by each country's security agency. One of the definitions of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result! Well that describes the present state of our airport security. As I mentioned in my last blog the solution is to pre-screen every traveler, have a straightforward process for the majority of us who have a long record of normality and a stringent process for anyone with a dubious record or no record. But such an approach may be too simple (or politically incorrect) and I suspect the millions of us ordinary people will continue to be subjected to the 'intelligence' of 'airport security'. Nuff said
It is nice to be back in the US of A. - we take for granted our comfortable and convenient lifestyle, until we go elsewhere. We are back and settling down after a wonderful holiday. Lots to do. Year end taxes and financial updates. Must look through all the rubbish collected over the last year and try and get rid of some of it. Have started strength building resistance training (must get that additional 20 yards!). Got to get Ellen a good cognitive therapist. And this year we plan to go to Australia for the International AI reunion (and CTR reviews), so much preparation there. Life is too interesting and fulfilling to be lived anything but to the hilt.
Carpe diem

So this is Christmas

2009-12-25T12:42:00.000-08:00

Dec 25th. We attended mass at the local church from 10.00 to 11.30, where some lovely corals were sung and a nice homily was delivered by the pastor, who reminded us that 'a bad day was a good day in disguise' (Christopher Reeve). On we went to the Halfacres (our nephew and niece) for distribution of gifts and dinner. There were so many gifts, that it took us over an hour to distribute and appreciate them - both the recipient and the giver enjoyed this activity. Remember we have one grandniece (Olivia Rose 12) and three grandnephews (Harvey, Oscar and Joseph - triplets 10, so there was much excitement- the essence of Christmas is children and from them, an experience of pure love and pristine happiness. Then children grow up and become teenagers and adults and their sense of wonderment and joy is replaced with judgment and cynicism. Too bad, but that seems to be the way of life.
We also had our son Julian and his girlfriend Julie which made the party complete. After many a wee dram and many a tot, we had lunch, prepared by Julie Halfacre, our niece. Here we are at Chez Halfacre's where we had a traditional English Christmas dinner. After dinner we had a quiz on soccer, Coronation street (a British soap) and English politics - my contribution was nil ! Finally around 7.00pm we wound our way back to Squirrel's Nook after a wonderful Christmas. I write this sipping mulled wine and feeling that 'all's right with the world'
Dec 27th. Today we attended the famous 'after Christmas sales'. One has to be strong and fit to participate, let alone benefit from these sales, as there are hundreds of persons, all very seriously trying to find a bargain. The stereotype of a very polite Britisher was exploded; although to be fair, there were as many east Europeans, Indians, Arabs and islanders as there were British. Really not much to buy - London and Europe are very expensive as compared to the US and the variety is limited. We end up buying a few odds and ends and quite a lot of interesting combinations of biscuits (cookies) and chocolates (candy) - condiments are probably the best buy in the UK (excluding the beer and single malt, of course)
We travel home day after tomorrow and just yesterday some Nigerian tried to blow himself up in a plane bound for the US, so the airlines and national security have already stipulated more detailed checks of international passengers. More suffering with questionable results. In the hysteria over providing more security, we are failing to improve security and are just spending a lot of time and money on sophisticated devices. We must adopt an ABC approach and identify a small number of 'A' terrorists and would be terrorists, track them relentlessly and only do random checks on everyone else. Obviously I am hallucinating in thinking anything like this can be observed. Enough - next blog in the US of A

More snow and gridlock

2009-12-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 22nd
Yesterday 21st we went out with friends to a local pub for food and a few beers. While there, it began to snow and over the next hour we had a couple of inches. This was enough to bring the entire road, rail and air systems to almost complete stop. It took us over an hour to travel a couple of miles - with gridlock at every roundabout. Then after meeting other friends at the local mall, we tried to take a bus back home to Purley at 7.00pm, and waited for over half an hour in vain, only to be rescued by my bro-in-law who drove down to pick us up (either the buses were stopped or they were all stuck somewhere). This morning's Daily Mail (for one) had 3 inch headlines, "WHY CAN'T WE LEARN TO COPE IN SNOW?" Ah well!
We are out again this evening (you think we would have learned our lesson by now) this time for Vietnamese food in Clapham Jn with Paul and Etsuko Mongomery
Today 23rd we went to a pub in Epson Downs and celebrated my sis-in-law's birthday - see what a big gang we were

Its snow in London

2009-12-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

We arrived here on Tuesday 15th night and on Wednesday morning it began to flurry and everything came to a sort of halt. Of course by midday it had cleared. We went into London on Thursday, and, after lunch at M&S with Hazel and Helen, walked down Oxford Street and Regent Street looking at the window decor and the street decorations. Quite festive. We ended up at Trafalgar Square where we heard carols in freezing temperatures. After an hour, we quit and came back to Croydon where we had dinner with Nigella and Brian Kennedy at 'Tiger Tiger' a pub with very, loud music and a curry special - a curry and a drink for £4.99. I had a Madras curry and several lagers - Kronenberg followed by Stella's - beer in the UK is robust, unlike our watery US beers. Then on Friday it really snowed -two to three inches - and everything really came to a halt. Here is what 'Squirrels Nook', the quaint cottage where my in laws live, looks like. We cancelled our program to go into town and hung out at home the whole day, so I got caught up with this blog. Our niece and godchildren came over and hung out for a while and enjoyed them. Tomorrow its carols at St Paul's cathedral and I am looking forward to that.
Sunday 23rd. Attending the family service carols service at St Paul's cathedral was a wonderful experience. St Pauls holds over 2000 persons, we went early and were among the first in, so we had a place very close to the choir, under the dome's massive cupola. I was in awe of the grandeur of the size, the stonework and the painted ceiling. St Pauls was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the mid 1800's, but service at the site has been going on since AD 604 (per the cathedral's brochure). The choir was Cantate - young men and women - the only choir to win a gold medal at the World Choir games in 2008. The conductor was Michael Kibblewhite, one of the UK's best known choral directors. With this ensemble the singing was exquisite. But enthralled as I was with the music, I was even more impressed with the service, where the dean asked the audience not to quieten their children, because God was a little child and he proceeded to hold a little child above his head and asked all parents who had little children to do the same. He then asked the audience to observe a few moments of silence and listen to the 'sounds of the children'. It was magical; silence punctuated only by children's cries, and calls and murmurs.
Today we went to a local church for a children's Christmas celebration - another wonderful fulfilling experience. Over 50 children, including our grandniece and three grandnephews, participated in singing Christmas carols, reading appropriate passages from the bible and enacting the Christmas story. Another exquisite, soul uplifting experience. Christmas seems to be quintessentially English, and they seem to celebrate it so uniquely, with such a pronounced focus on children

Christmas in the UK

2009-12-13T12:58:00.000-08:00

We have been to the UK at least 2o times in the last 30 years, and yet, we have never spent Christmas in there. So this year we decided to be with family and friends in England and are quite excited to be doing so. We want to spend a typical English Christmas and we perceive this to mean English church services and carols at St Pauls and Trafalgar square. We also want to see the lights at Oxford and Regent streets. I read somewhere that the theme this year is Dickens so I want to see where that leads us

Back Home

2009-03-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

March 8th
Ellen has not been to well and after a setback in Kolkata has struggled through our trip. Maybe the tour has been too long. In Singapore she shows signs of more fatigue and I decide to cancel the rest of our tour (Cambodia, China and Hongkong) and return to the US
We fly back via Hongkong - 14 hours with a 13 hour time difference, in our favor! We come back to have our clocks put forward, so we loose an hour of the 13 gained!. Ellen is more comfortable at home, but we will check her out thoroughly. Health is an all consuming priority

Thanks for following us and your many comments. The most memorable events of our trip are all associated with the affection and kindness we received throughout our tour. We are truly blessed to have the quality of friends that we do. We are still in one piece and inshah allah hope stay that way for a while

Singapore and the Far East

2009-02-27T22:27:00.000-08:00

February 28th Singapore
The first thing that you notice in Singapore is the cleanliness and seeming absence of pollution - noise, dust and auto fumes. The trees and grass are green (not brown with dust). We travel 18 Kms to the house of our friends (Anil and Ritu Mehrotra) without a single traffic jam (an incredible experience after traffic jams on every journey in India)
March 6th.
I continue to be amazed at the efficiency, orderliness and discipline of the Singaporeans. And they appear to be very honest and civic minded. My friend tells me they are conditioned by rigid rule enforcement - Singapore is a 'fine' city and one is fined for every infraction, even petty ones like crossing the road at a non crossing spot. I sat in a bus tour and observed about 100 persons pay their fare using an electronic card - so easy to cheat - but did not see a single defaulter. I think Singapore must rank as the most efficient, the cleanest and the most orderly city in the world. I go around trying to find defects in their system and cannot!
Finally I discover that they do not have any provision for seniors; seniors have to live with their children or have to be financially capable of looking after themselves. Discussions with several persons confirmed their thinking that an individual must prepare for his senior years and those that do not have to pay a penalty!
We attend a night safari and a laser show. I to on two city tours. Really the first touristy things we have done on this trip. I eat an incredible variety of food including Katong Laksar - a spicy, seafood soup; Fish head curry - a spicy, south Indian style curry; Carrot cake - neither carrot nor cake, but a radish and egg concoction; Black pepper crab; Fish ball noodles; and many other delightful dishes. Eating food is a Singapore occupation and I fit right in!
The name Singapore comes from Singa - lion and pura or city. The symbol of the city is the Merlion - a mythica,l hybrid lion and sea monster - and here is one of the best versions of this icon

Kolkata aka Calcutta

2009-02-01T21:38:00.000-08:00

Feb 1st. We arrive in Kolkata and take a prepaid cab to the Birkmyer hostel on Middleton row. We lived in Cal for five years before emigrating to the USA in 1976. So many memories (of my well spent and misspent youth) come rushing back - filtered and muted by the passage of time. Am back in the Anglo-Indian world and for dinner we have Tomato soup, Beef Jalfreize, boiled potatoes and bread and butter ! Walk a few hundred yards to Park street and look at Mocambo, Mags, Trincas and have a cup of coffee at Flury's. Make contacts with all the movers and shakers - Barry O'Brien, Michael Robertson, Philo Eaton to name a few. Will be having many lunches and dinners over this next week and living in a different world (with quite some time spent in the charity CTR projects)
Thursday 5th. Have now spent 5 days in Cal and they have been very busy, but for the most part gratifying. Cal is as dusty and dirty and congested as Delhi. The whole city seems to be surviving on a quarter or less of its basic requirements- space; road capacity; electricity; water; housing; etc. It has to explode and collapse into chaos- a view confirmed by some caring residents of the city. Almost every road is jammed at all times and journeys of a few miles can take hours and one ingests huge amounts of dust and exhaust fumes. But off this topic that so dominates my daily living experience

We spent a day with CAISS - the Calcutta charity that administers our senior pension program and our day scholar education program. I meet and spend quality time with the leaders of the group. We dine with them and one of their committee members cooks an excellent panthey cowsway. They are so dedicated and sincere that I feel humble but exhilarated in their presence - these are some of the few on whose shoulders the world rests.

We spend a day with Loreto Entally an orphanage where we have 40 sponsored girls. We order a Chinese lunch for all of them and they love it. Chat a lot with the sisters -more folks on whom the world rests
The central issue with both these charities is that over 90% of their funding comes from abroad. We inform CAISS that unless they do something drastic, as our generation passes on, their funding from CTR will cease (as our children are really not involved) and poor AI seniors and children will be stranded. In the case of Loreto there is almost no alumni support! Closely related to this issue of funding is the lack of local support, particularly in the form of donations. Almost every organizer and leader I speak to informs me that the Indian and Anglo-Indian culture does not include giving to others. This is not an abstract concept, but a hard reality. I request these organizers to lay aside their politeness and their sensibility and discuss this issue openly. Awareness is first step to any possible change in behavior !
I welcome your views on these observations. We must start an international dialogue and include Indian Anglo-Indian community as well. I talk to many Anglo-Indian leaders and they also shake their head and confess that the Anglo-Indians are not inclined to be charitable to their less fortunate brethren!

I have detailed discussions with Barry O'Brien, the West Bengal MLA, on this topic and other issues related to the future of Anglo-Indians. I find him refreshingly open minded and full of energy and ideas. We promise to partner on mutually beneficial community projects
I will post photos when I get to Ketti in a weeks time, as I write this from a hot and crowded internet cafe
February 18th We have left Cal and travelled through Bangalore, Yercaud and are now in Ketti a town in the Nilgiri hills, close to Ootacamund

Bangalore - We have a pleasant stay in Bangalore, meet many Anglo-Indians and witness a pension distribution in the slums of Lingarajapuram. Like Delhi and Kolkata, Bangalore is bursting at the seams, and, apart from the omnipresent filth and debris, there is huge dust, noise and gasoline pollution. Travel is an exercise in endurance.

Yercaud - 3500 feet. Travel 216 Kms (135 miles) in 4 hours, up the Shevroy hills to Yercaud to my old school Montfort. I am going back for the first time in 56 years (unbelievable). I am so excited to see familiar sights - the hairpin bends, the big lake, the coffee plantations, the orchards - all having some significance to my school days. Montfort is an oasis of peace, cleanliness and tranquility. There are over 1000 boarders (versus about 400 in my time) and many new buildings have been added, but, what impressed me the most, was that many of the old trees - pines and gul mohars - have been preserved. The school has grown without destroying these monuments to the past and it shows there can be growth without destruction. One pine tree was about 20 feet when I was in school and it is now about 150 feet (well 56 years of growth!).

Given my experiences so far, my expectations were low, but I am so impressed with the state of the school - it is clean, neat and quiet. The principal has worked wonders - he is a martinet, but this means well justifies the end. It helps that the weather is a cool 60 F. We spend a pleasant couple of days and proceed by road to Ketti .

All through my travels my adverse comments on the physical conditions of India represent only one aspect of my experience. We have also been pampered and looked after throughout our stay; a form of life the we have almost forgotten (certainly not used to). We have had servants in attendance meeting every form of creature comfort. For example in Kolkata we had Giasuddin, a bearer, who could get us almost anything at a moments notice - tea, food, washed clothes, newspapers, beer. Ellen had a pedicure and massage in the room. Of course our beds are made, our rooms swept, the bathrooms washed and we hardly ever lifted a little finger. Such lovely, utter decadence in this the 21st century. And this lifestyle followed us in Bangalore, Yercaud and now in Ketti.
Another aspect of our experience has been the easy friendship and fellowship that has been extended to us by so many on a day to day, hour to hour basis. Of course we (me particularly) are lapping it up. Carpe Diem

Ketti - 6800 feet

Laidlaw College, where my bro-in-law Winston Gardner is principal, has a beautiful campus, lined with tall eucalyptus and pine trees. There are about 600 boarders, and, like Montfort, the school is immaculately clean and very quiet.

I play golf at the Wellington military course and at the Ootacamund club - climbing up and down incredibly steep slopes like a mountain goat, only this one pants and puffs - enjoying the majestic sights and the tranquility of the scenery. I do not disgrace myself and the Kingfisher 19th hole helps to soothe my aching limbs.We eat royally pampered by my sis in law Joan. Ah that one can live this sort of life indefinitely!

Chennai Feb 23rd

We leave the cool climes of Ketti and fly to Chennai - many degrees hotter (it was 97F yesterday), but much cleaner. Must comment that flying in India has been a very pleasant experience and the airlines and airports have been efficient and courteous. I have a whole series of meetings planned here - both to cover our charity projects and to meet budding writers. Meet and have dinner with Harry MacLure editor of 'Anglos in the Wind' and his wife Jillian - lots of stuff to discuss as Harry and I have similar interests.
Chennai 27th - We have had a hectic 5 days in Chennai, starting with a writer's meet, where 25 AI and interested writers gather to talk about our next book 'The Anglo-Indian Woman' and discuss the five book CTR has published. There are several youngish men an d women and this is encouraging
I visit Tea Cup Ministry, Vine Trust and Smile Cares - all organizations administering our CTR programs. It is quite emotionally draining to see the poverty and the degrading conditions under which many of our community live (my coordinators take me to several slums to see how the seniors live). There are occasions of joy too, where children sing and Sharon Emmett of Smile Cares arranges a wonderfully enjoyable evening with seniors and children.
This is the end of our India trip and I leave with such mixed feeling.
Clearly there is no more hospitable country - where one is treated with such affection. I cannot think of one instance - and this is not just the Anglo-Indian experiences - where anyone was rude or disrespectful to us. These are kind and considerate people on an person to person basis.
Having said this, one has to be aware of the huge poverty that hangs over everything - far more unsettling than the filth, the noise and the pollution. There has been progress, but in my view, this has not reached the common man, who is still in a primitive struggle for survival.
I don't know what can be done. No one seems to have a good handle on eradicating poverty. In my simplistic view I see the middle class being disinterested and uninvolved in the poverty around them. But I must accept this is a superficial view and almost unfair to the group that we spent so much time with and who have lavished so much time and care on us
In the final analysis the problem is too large for me to understand let alone suggest solutions. We have to do what we can at a micro level and let go of the rest. Inshah Allah.

Oh INDIA

2009-01-24T08:34:00.000-08:00

Delhi 15th of Jan. Coming back to India is always a shock to me, no matter how much I prepare myself. I review the comments I made when I visited in Jan 06 and find nothing seems to have changed. Road conditions are chaotic; garbage and unfinished construction debris and is strewn on almost every surface; there is little grass and the dry season has made the whole area very dusty so that there are no green trees or leaves - they are all brown. Power outages are constant - 8 to 10 hours a day ; the city is running out of water; everywhere there is quiet desperation in the faces of the millions of city dwellers - all battling for life at Maslow's first level of food and shelter. Anyone who lives here has got be very tough - physically, mentally and emotionally - to survive the constant daily struggle for seemingly everything. I am with middle class friend and ask many questions of 'why' and 'how', but there are no answers, only wishes and hopes.
The middle class (about 20%) have benefited from the economic boom of the last decade and they live fairly comfortable lives with servants, enjoy a good social life and eat well. Not many of them appear to be involved in the plight of the poor and I cannot blame them because they are very concerned with their own grasp on the slippery economic pole.
We have all our meals with old friends and it there is an abundance of affection and fellowship. The Indian cuisine is excellent and very affordable and we enjoy the exotic tastes of kebabs, biriyani, curry and rotis

Lucknow 23rd - It is now the 30th and I have spent a week in this very relaxed city - what's in a weeks delay in posting this blog? We have been having diners with friends almost every night. Here one is invited at around 8.00pm and dinner is served around 10.00pm - giving me most uncomfortable nights - but this is a small price to pay for the delicious food we eat. In the afternoons my friend Rajanish and I sip gin and tonic - an old British planter drink - and follow it with a light lunch and a power nap. Some life eh?
My visit is following its usual pattern: in the first week I am outraged; by the second week the sheer load on my senses dulls them. I start to see the conditions around me, but they do not register as strongly. By next week I will probably be as immune to my conditions as most of my friends are - it is a reflex mechanism to maintain ones mental balance. Lets see.
I continue to ask questions about India's plight without getting many answers - corruption and hindu culture are the common reasons cited
We leave for Calcutta tomorrow. Our visit to India has an interesting pattern. In Delhi and Lucknow we spent our time with our Indian friends; from Calcutta on, most of our time will be spent with our Anglo-Indian friends and on our charity. The twain does not seem to meet!

Jan 31st Today is my birthday, but I am too old to tell you how old I am! Lying in bed this morning, I thought I may not have made a full disclosure of the life I am leading - particularly since I bemoan the condition of India. The fact is I am living and eating in very colonial conditions, far from the madding crowd. In Delhi we frequented the venerable Delhi Gymkhana- in Lucknow it is the Mohamed Bagh (with the Army Surla club thrown in for good measure) - both shadows of its British grandeur, but still impressive with liveried bearers and portraits of the imperial past. Otherwise our friends live in very upper middle class comfort, and we enjoy their unlimited hospitality. So there we are - the spirit is soaring, the flesh is weak. On to Calcutta - I mean Kolkata

A Quick trip through London

2009-01-24T04:16:00.000-08:00

Jan 8th to 13th - On our way to India we stopped off at London for a few days to see family and friends. This was our first trip to London in Winter and it was cold and damp and deary. We spent most of our time in Purley where our relatives live and enjoyed our lovely grandniece and our triplet grandnephews. They are all into Wii and I had taken them a 'Big Brain' game that challenged them (and me!). We went into the city once and met friends, including Alison Blunt (Domicile and Diaspora) and Jayani (a research student)
I was also able to meet Glen Duncan the Anglo-Indian author of the best seller 'The Bloodstone Papers' in a local pub, where a few (!) pints of bitters ensured for stimulating conversation on race and ethnicity.

On the Road again

2009-01-01T18:22:00.000-08:00

Jan 1st. Here is a photo of the family. After a hectic Christmas season - spent with many, many friends giving and receiving love and friendship - we are getting ready to hit the road again.

We are visiting India to check the CTR projects in Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai and also to see relatives and friends. The last time we visited India in 2006 I blogged our trip. This time we are going via London and then after India, we are going on to Singapore, Cambodia, China and HongKong. We have to pack in the next few days and this is a daunting thought - so many climate changes and presents for so many friends. We also have to set our affaris in order as we will be away for 12 weeks. I need to get into a Pooh frame of mind - detached calm, curious and just being. I encourage all to buy and read 'The Tao of Pooh' by Benjamin Hoff. I need to go back to it myself and savor the feeling of inner quietness it bestows on its disciples . So for the next week, while I am tearing around covering numerous household affaris for three month absence - travel final schedules, mail, TV, bills, newspapers etc - to survive, I must start to practice Poohcraft again

I hope you will enjoy our journey (as many of you did before). I see things from a different perspective. If Pooh prevais I will not whine too much!

Will post again before we leave - Jan 8th

Blair

A little about Blair

2008-12-29T18:10:00.000-08:00

Hi there

This is Blair and welcome to Blair's world. I am an American originally from India and belonged to the Anglo-Indian community (a hybrid community of English and Indian heritage). After living and working in India for 30+ years, my wife Ellen and I migrated to the USA in 1976 and have been here since. I spent the last 25 years working as a manufacturing manager in various corporations, and after retiring in 1999, I joined Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, as an Industry Professor of Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering. I now am only doing part time teaching

Some years ago (1998) we set up a charity (CTR) to help poor Anglo-Indians in India. Today we have branches in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, London, Toronto and NJ, USA. We provide monthly pensions to over 300 seniors and sponsor the education of over 180 children. Check out our website at http://www.blairrw.org/ctr/index.php

We have also set up a publishing enterprise, CTR books, to record the culture and way of life of the Anglo-Indian community before it becomes extinct. CTR books have published 5 books - Anglo Indians, Haunting India, Voices on the Verandah, The Way We Were and The Way We Are - with a sixth 'The Anglo-Indian Woman' due for publication in July 2010. Details of the books and how to obtain them may also be seen on the CTR website above

I live in an Adult community (finally have become adult), with my wife Elllen of 46+ years, in Monroe Township, NJ, near Princeton University and play a lot of golf, but my passion remains administering and growing CTR

Please email me with questions or comments

Blair