DELHI
– the pivot of our trip thanks to the generous hospitality of our friends and London neighbours Ravleen and Amo and their son Josh. India as at least a holiday to visit them, and possibly as our first retirement destination, was hatched as a plan at their farewell party in the de Beauvoir Arms in January 2016. We were not sure when we would be retiring but Amo has a 3 – 4 year posting to the British High Commission in Delhi. As it turned out, India is our first retirement trip
We stayed with Ravleen and Amo in the diplomatic quarter of New Delhi, a very gentle and civilised introduction as I mentioned in blog no. 1. We also stayed with them either side of our trip to Agra – after which we bid farewell to Alison M and Roberto – and we had a few days exploring: Connaught Place, India Gate, the National Gallery of Modern Art, Indira Gandhi’s house (now a memorial museum), Lodi Gardens. We even went to a street of interiors shops looking at (but not finding) a rug for our Folkestone dining room. Transportation was a mix of Uber, tuk tuk and the metro, the latter was clean, cheap and fast and when we travelled it not crowded. We were surprised and impressed
The National Gallery of Modern Art is housed in a former palace, light and airy and the history of Indian art from the 1850s to present day is laid out chronologically. After a class of school kids disappeared we had the the place to ourselves – such luxury! The art was, as one would expect, varied and variably challenging. Our guide book said photography prohibited, the museum permitted it, so we photographed a few instant favourites as keepsakes
A rare image of Jesus
Las Ramblas, Barcelona 
Udaipur
Indira Gandhi’s home is a museum of her life and family and i found it very moving (I have no photographs – photography forbidden). The place where she was assassinated, in the garden, is marked by a crystal walkway. Our guide book describes the family as “India’s Kennedys” – a description with resonance, so much political ambition, so much death
A walk round Lodi Gardens in the late afternoon was a delight. Trees filled with kites, atmospheric tombs and mosques, people promenading to take the relatively clean air
Pollution in Delhi is a serious problem. It was so bad around Diwali that fireworks were banned. As the air cools in the winter months it becomes worse, at times the air quality is so poor that official government advice is to stay inside and construction is halted . . . at least on publicly funded and high profile projects. We were lucky during our several days stay over three periods – the air quality was not at dangerous levels and it was pretty pleasant walking around
The evening before we flew to Darjeeling we met Karen and Richard Lintern for dinner, the first evening of their trip and a valiant effort on their part as they arrived that day and had already visited the mosque and fort in Old Delhi and the bazaar . . . We dined in splendour at Indian Accent after Ravleen secured us a table and we failed to record the meeting in a photograph. We have promised to catch up in London to compare notes, unless the as yet unplanned part of Andy’s and my trip mean we cross paths later (blog no. 19 discloses we did!)
Our return from the south, from Kochi, gave us one full day to explore further before the flight home. There is much still not visited in New Delhi but we felt compelled to visit Old Delhi, to have a taste of Indian life outside the genteel diplomatic and wealthy quarters. an Uber to the metro station, a ride on a clean and empty train, and we emerged into the mayhem we had grown accustomed to when travelling in Rajasthan. It was cool – mid December nearly – but clear skied and sunny. The streets were once again a riot of noise, carts, cycle rickshaws, people, cables, animals and rubbish. I loved it. I think I have become acclimatised. It was a very comfortable temperature to walk around and we bought hand made paper (if I lived here a would have a cupboard full, on the other hand if I lived here I would not need a cupboard full!). It was from one shop on a street of many and varied stationers. The wooden fittings were beautiful and the owners allowed us to ignore the very obvious “no photographs” signs and even instructed one of their boys to take our picture
We visited the Jama Masjid mosque, the Red Fort. The mosque complex is huge and it seems very much a part of Old Delhi life: its inner courtyard a place to take a break and have lunch even for those not praying. The sky overhead was filled with black kites
A walk through Chandni Chowk was colourful and noisy with tempting textiles, jewels and flowers (all resisted!)
And then to the Red Fort. Alison M and I visited in May 1985 but gave up – too busy, too dirty, too hot. In the cooler December air it was spectacular and enjoyable to walk round and imagine life in the fortress under Shah Jahan, whose tenure was brief, and his son Aurangzeb (Shah Jahan founded the fort but family betrayal and rivalry was settled when Aurangzeb had him imprisoned instead at Agra Fort)
We ended our day in Old Delhi looking for Skinner House, where our lovely friend Bella (whose 90th birthday we celebrated a couple of days before leaving for India) grew up. We knew its approximate location near St James’ Church and had a picture from a news article about it in 2013 but failed to find it, and although we asked a couple of local shop keepers and residents they were unable to help. It would have been a fitting end to the day to be able to photograph it and show them to Bella but it was not to be
Our last evening and a fantastic meal at Bukhara, Christmas decorations abound. Are we ready to go home? Probably not, there is so much more to explore. Are we happy to go home? Most definitely. Although we have been away just over nine weeks it feels like we have had little more than a taster and that India is a country which will keep on giving. We discuss a possible itinerary for a future trip: Mumbai, Pondicherry, Kochi biennale, another great national park . . . .
With a final word of thanks to Ravleen and Amo (in their absence – Ravleen already in London, Amo in Mumbai for work – we have their apartment to ourselves our last night) we bid au revoir to India and fly home. Stand out memories: the colours, the mighty forts, amazing temples, the noise, the smells, the people, the birds, camels, elephants and of course the wonderful tiger, the list is long
Until next time, Namaste
ALISON