I was about to write about my uncertainty, flying around god knows where but I looked up and saw precisely where we’ve got to on the sodding map. Rather too much precision if you ask me.

So, over the Danube, looking down on it through my two huge Boeing 787 windows. It’s a real pleasure after being stuck in Cambridge for so long even though at least a year of that time was wasted because of my fears and not inconsiderable laziness.

Before take-off we sat about for an age as something had gone wrong with the ‘plane next door so it was surrounded by fire engines blocking our exit.

The main purpose of this flight, apart from getting me back to India, is returning equal part Muslim/Hindu people to their homeland. And their babies!

I wish flights were more like bus rides as I’d love to get of to see the Middle Eastern Louvre and we are just flying over it so…parachute folks?

I’ve had a full day even if I discount the flight…

I was slightly concerned about all the Covid stuff, the up-loaded certifications, the VeriFLY and Aarogya Setu and Suvidha portal all so very official, all so beauracratically precise. In the end the men-in-the-street, aka the officials at the entry points (passport/anything to declare desks) couldn’t have been less interested, assuming that anxiety would have driven people to a righteous degree of efficiency.

The winking transporter

Mukesh Ambani’s house (we might call it a sky scraper?)which has over 1,000 staff (500, security).

The hotel has an arrangement with a local technical college which trains blind students to be masseurs. One of these men sorted out my weary bones this afternoon, he was brilliant. I asked him his name and was told it was Deepak and that it meant ‘light’. Deepak, with a wry tone suggested there was a large dollop of irony to his naming.

I did wonder if these booksellers lived in their stacks, whatever they all appear to have a distinctive, bright yellow copy entitled Do Epic Shit. I’m left wondering if this is in either the self-help or heath section…I the author has, whichever section, been heavily remaindered.

This young man asked me for a selfie, I agreed of course whereupon he took me in a sort of headlock and gurned to the camera which, by now, was hovering High above us. I grinned awkwardly.

Sugarcane juice is v popular

Supper at Olympia Café which is decidedly down market but serves up great tasting food (if you avoid the lengthy section involving brains). I had channa with chapatis, a plate of sliced up red onion, halves of lime, a plate of a pale green, lime-ish flavoured sauce, fresh lime soda (‘no sugar, no salt’) and a bottle of chilled mineral water. Just perfect, exactly what I wanted/needed. I followed through with falooda, ice cream and passion fruit seeds. My bill was £1.80. It only slightly occurred to me that I could well have charged them as I was the close focus of all ten waiters throughout, and I mean close…

Then I walked around in the truly balmy evening not bothering terribly about the requests for money/food/uncle’s shop/drugs etc., it’s just part of the Mumbai show.

Very tempting…

Taj Hotel on the ‘prom’

Enough. I have to try and figure out/remember just how this bloody Journo thing works…

Breakfast was a wonderful hybrid, Indlish/Englian if you will. I ate curds (yoghurt)with pineapple and two finger-sized bananas followed by poha and upma, both grain-based, typical breakfast savoury mixes eaten with a green coconut ‘chutney’(no heat, just fine ground coconut and herbs) delicious, alongside a mug of breakfast tea and half a pint of water Mellon juice. I’ve returned to bed.

Remembering that coconut milk is reckoned to be jolly good for the stomach/digestion/whatever I had one from the man at the top of the road. So very pleasing to find good for you married to utterly delicious and cheap. My coconut had semi-solid flesh in it so a man at the same stage offered me his malai (cream), the gelatinous lining that is justifiably prized. Very kind of him.

I was walking to the General Post Office, my morning’s task, passing by people, posters, oddities several of which I couldn’t photograph. Close by Flora’s Fountain was a girl, perhaps twenty, draping her washing on railings whilst her not quite still a baby slept on the pavement. I gave her a Rs 400 note, rubbing my stomach and indicating the child. I think she understood.

I’ve just found the snapshot and can see immediately why I gave her the money - the accusatory look in her eyes ain’t just me being over-sensitive for sure. The following picture is the one I took whilst pretending that it was the one I wanted anyway. She knew…

The P.O. is a vast piece of Victoriana inside which is a large room labelled Philately. The counters are manned by four women, \240though they’re clearly not to be trusted as there are also four men hang around looking slightly lost. The glass-topped counter displays celebratory stamps, first day issue envelopes etc., I started making my choices, forgetting that each section of the counter, each two foot section of identical products i.e. stamps, has its own saleswoman, who in turn has her own male ‘guardian’. Each thing I bought had to be entered, fully described, into a huge ledger with separate bills made out in triplicate by each of the women. The men shuffled around, peered over their shoulders, thrust sets of stamps at me, misjudging my tastes by light years - ‘sir, sir these are military stamps, very important man Deepak’, ‘ah, 2014 World Cup sir’ etc. A caramel-coloured overall came in at this point and dropped a spoonful of what resembled lumpy brown sugar into everyone’s right hand. I’m sorry to say that a sense of self-preservation triumphed over good manners.

Pawpaw and water melon must be v cheap at the moment as there are a ton of stalls shifting them in their various forms. I didn’t have any as I was off around the corner to the Yazdani Bakery for Brun Maska (heavily buttered sweetish, largish bread roll with a glass of strong tea in which one dips etc). Yazdani is one of the few remaining Persian cafés in Mumbai and it’s a delight, though rather run down. They use wood fired ovens for baking. It’s so v charming and so very likely not to be there next time I visit.

Off for a lengthy walk with Art Deco in mind but posting photographs of my favourite domestic building, the one I have lusted after for a couple of decades. An Indian friend told me that the whole crescent, which overlooks Horniman Circle Gardens, is owned by Parsi families. (If this is so then they ought to be ashamed of the state it’s fallen into.)

Words later maybe…

I bought a local SIM card from the booth/shop nextdoor to this wonderful installation. I did wonder what the flats, serviced by these pipes and rather narrow stairs, look like. I wanted a cold drink and was recommended to Cascara which is made from the husks of coffee beans which would usually be discarded. It was fine, tasted very like Coca-Cola I thought (but didn’t say). I’ve just looked it up and it’s also known as coffee cherry \240tea.

Preceding the concert, rather unusually I thought, we were handed goodie bags the contents of which were eccentric to say the least: two small fruit juices, a full size lemon scented air freshner, a small pot of honey and a very nice cotton book bag. The woman and daughter before me differed much the way Sue and I might have - the daughter took the bag (that’s me also) the mother said thanks, but no thanks. We talked about relinquishing ‘stuff’, I said I was still accumulating stuff. What a lovely couple, indeed one of many such including the couple sitting next to me. I don’t need reminding just how charming and open people can be. It helps of course that we were there for the love of music but I could apply this to others I’ve met on this trip.

What a glorious concert it was. Shubha Mudgal has been studying around these topics for a decade. This concert showcased carefully chosen aspects of her musical/literary research around Women,Sexuality and Song. I was surprised to find just how easy it was listening to her. I think that five years ago it might not have been so accessible to me. I was v fortunate to hear her given her fame and popularity. I loved that she asked two of her students to play sitar and double up vocally when needed.

The evening was sublimely warm, beautiful to look at and there was a lovely feeling of post concert abandon to me as I drifted up Marine Drive can of soda in hand. And thereby hangs a not entirely pleasing tail…I dumped my can in the recycling section of the bins feeling smugly virtuous, a feeling that was instantly rewarded as a rat leapt from the bin contacting my naked, hairy calf en route. I maybe swore, I certainly raced a few feet into the lightest part of the path with a massively increased heartbeat. This might go some way to explaining why there’s such a litter problem here: I’ll be taking my litter home now. Recovery was swift, after all it’s just so lovely here.

Passed by a wood working company busy with something that looks like a canopy for a god/goddess. The man in the foreground is using a typical crossing-the-road hand signal - it has all the power of nothing yet sees him still alive. I won’t try it rather trusting in muttered swearing to see me across roads.

Withdrew money from ATM this morning. ATMs are ubiquitously housed in separate little well-chilled spaces fastened onto the side of all banks, guarded by an understandably sullen ‘officer’. It’s pleases me no end that the Rs are, despite being very recently redesigned, still printed on paper and therefore sit well in wallets, feeling authentic unlike the shiny plasticised fish skin notes we had to put up with before using cards became de rigueur.

Well, if you have to have a specialism then I guess hammocks and garden umbrellas might put you in pole position with any competition.

Deepak has just done my exercises for me so I’m feeling v healthy and rather oily. I’m instructed to rest for an hour before showering. I’ll sign up for that one.

I’ve stayed in Colaba today, relaxed and read for half of it. The (fab Art Deco) Regal is the address I give taxi drivers, knowing I’ll almost certainly get to where I want to be. Called by the Jehangir Art Gallery which has tons of room/s but sadly the art in it has a timid sameness about it, ‘painters’ of patterns, not much better than those peculiar colouring books for grown ups, though in a defensively larger scale. There seems to be a confusion between art and patience, the latter being praised and thus accorded a higher value than it merits…’oh, it must have taken you ages, I don’t know how you do it’ etc. Anything that steps beyond the decorative imperils itself, confuses its viewers and leaves the painter anxious. I saw several people touching pictures, firmly checking out their textures. Golly…

Went to Delhi Darbar for delicious supper (see below) plus reading: has a better combination been discovered? I asked for coffee, mainly to off-set an on-set of A/C shivering. It arrived shortly after the finger bowl and was composed of a large cup of hot buffalo milk, a small bowl of sugar cubes and an even smaller bowl of finely powdered coffee, the like of which is seldom seen beyond the walls of cash and carries. Damn it it tasted good, though rather more pudding than I had expected.

Amusement arcade…we do far too much Health & Safety in U.K., I say sack anyone in HS admin and let people take charge of their own life (and death). Seeing this reminded that I have no idea how stuff works/is built and by whom. I realise that UK’s climate wouldn’t be ideal for outside work, this firework thingy would be extinguished for a start, but surely more could be done.

I’m have a museum day today so have stoked my furnace with Missa Pav for breakfast (sambal with more kick than usual, broken up bits of lentil-based hardish shapes, finely chopped red onion, lime halves and toasted bread rolls for eating it with - these tasted more brioche than bread). This church is at the end of my street and last evening the windows and doors were wide open with people - men - singing away, at thi point I realised that it is a church/chapel of some sort (the sort that discourages women I guess).

Sallied fourth into a lot of revving motorbikes which was noticeably loud even for Mumbai. A man told me that this was an unusually large gathering because of Independence Day (why, it’s only the 7th?) though it happens every Sunday whatever. The man (?) I photographed wanted to take me for a ride with them but I refused, it all looked a trifle wilder than I could cope with spontaneously. The boys I videoed had just selfied me and reacted exactly as I should have expected when I turned my camera on them.

Art Deco peeps through grimy accretions though still, despite the lack of care, not safe from my lust. Please, an apartment in…

Any

One

Of

These

The reason for this posting business is so that I am able to revisit India whilst in an increasingly uncomfortable U.K. (I’m reading the news and winter sounds like it will be grim.)

I’m heading for CSMVS aka The Museum (even locals find the rechristenings a bit of a mouthful) or, as I knew it, The Prince of Wales Museum, a short walk from where I’m staying. It’s impossible to walk for even a short distance without seeing something ghastly, charming or both. The bamboo scaffolding, awaiting delivery, charms and horrifies me.

I’m fond of extremes and Mumbai displays innumerable examples of unbridgeable polarities. And yet…again I see young people, predominantly young people, moving around the museum pointing, gathering around, most impressively discussing what they are looking at and not infrequently touching. Locals? Tourists? For sure there aren’t many gap year travellers around and this museum charges so you have to want to come here.

The Buddhas Within: copper sculpture by Satish Gupta, 2016

That’s collected vast amounts of stuff in amongst which was a fine collection of Buddhist artifacts. My aide-memoire needs only a few so before I move on to the jewellery section:

Padmapani Avalokiteshvara, Nepal 942 CE

Buddha Shakyamuni, Nepal 915 CE

Bodhisativa Maitreya, Nepal 13th Century

Ekadasha Mahakarunika Avalokiteshvara, Tibetan 18th Century

Tara, Tibet 18th Century

White Tara, Nepal 17th Century

Buddha, Gandhara 5th Century

18th Century Avalokiteshvara hand

The famed Olympia Café which I default to daily. The waiters now know me and grin in a manner closer to friendly than carnivorous. Now. I’ve stuck to the same order not wishing to destabilise our relationship just yet. Today I sat at a table with a Muslim and a Hindu both of whom ate their food with gusto and delicacy leaving barely any on their fingers, whilst I had sauce stains up to my elbow and a pile of paper napkins sodden with my moppings up. Suspect this to be a skill passed on at an early age.

Supper was monster cheap from Bademiya. This place is, as they say, literally across the road, I can see it from my bath, an amusing skirmish of cars and people getting quantities of food cooked over coals. The vegetarian and meat are barbecued in separate areas. I muttered vegetarian at a waiter fingers firmly crossed and this is what I got and boy did I enjoy it. I’m literally replete. Outside it’s raining monsoonal quantities. The noise it makes is soothing.

Deepak gave me another massage, he really is the best masseur I’ve ever experienced. At the end of today’s session, my last one, he asked me to take a selfie of us both which floored me as I’ve hardly ever taken any let alone one of two people. Further to this was his ‘phone was a speaking ‘phone with instructions in Marathi with scant acknowledgment of graphic arts. I managed though it took me an age before I was able to frame us both. (If we were intended to take such photographs we would have been given at least one longer arm.)

I postponed thinking about packing, weight, what I’ve bought until this morning when I realised that posting was the only option unless I wanted a very heavy bag. I tried shifting the responsibility onto the hotel but they were only offering Wells Fargo or some such option so of to the main GPO with slightly sinking heart.

The best part is, or was, the sewing up in calico of the parcel, dabbings of sealing wax etc. most of that has been replaced by cling film and parcel tape. The queue in the post office however hasn’t suffered modernisation, it’s still there, still slow, still takes three men and a woman. Still, it’s done…

Lunch at Mahesh Lunch Home which was the first place I lunched during my first visit to Bombay. It’s a well-thought of restaurant that specialises in fish, has an impenetrably gnomic name and fierce air-con. The picture suggests a frugal meal, though it was anything but. I’ve no idea what sort of fish it was as I’d asked for it to be taken off the bone so I could read more comfortably. The butter garlic naan was exemplary. Unable to move I asked for coffee only to be told that there was neither coffee nor tea. Extraordinary eh?

I wondered who named this building? An Indian architect suggested that it must have been an Englishman, I wasn’t so sure…so I looked it up: Our Readymoney Mansion at Flora Fountain was constructed in the 1920s by my great grandfather, the Late Shri Cowasji Jehangir. Not only are the tiles still existing and in excellent condition but are much admired by ourselves, by many of our tenants and by visitors to the building”.

The blue eyes in the photograph are lights not a photographic glitch.

My evening wander through gentle drizzle past buildings, some of which are already lit up in celebration of India’s 75th birthday. The pavements in Colaba are probably ten feet wide with shops on one side and market stalls in unbroken sequence on the other. People drift along stopping to look, buy, obstruct. Some of these people are built on substantial lines so it’s easy to get stuck behind a lengthy blockage, at which point someone less patient invariably starts yelling though to no great effect. I’ve noticed that horn blasting, once an urban nightmare, has markedly decreased and traffic flow is, at least in South Mumbai, fairly continuous. These two observations can’t be related surely?

My supper this evening, a reserve stock, is an ‘egg & mayo’ sandwich from Theobroma and a small packet of Lays crisps.

Leopold Café a place where eventually every traveller visits/passes through. I just had breakfast, rather late in the day. Leo’s features large in Shantaram as well as in other novels/traveller’s memoirs/diaries. It is popular with all nations and, unlike some places, welcomes home- grown in both senses of the word.

The reason I had a late breakfast: I bent down to plug in my Kindle and my back ‘went’. I froze in place, in agony and whimpering, undecided about what to do next. Every move elicited more distinctly unmanly noises. Eventually I got to my bed and lay flat out. Reception couldn’t have been nicer and, way more importantly, useful. A doctor was called and a diclofenac (?) spray materialised in minutes: Nilesh administered it. The doctor and his assistant tested my blood pressure, blood sugar and oxygen thingy that clips onto a finger - I was ok, so he went ahead and jabbed me with a muscular relaxant, gave me two packets of pills for both severe and mild pain and a little bottle of medicinally scented oil. The label on the oil had his name on it - Dr. Vishnu S. Mulchandani, his bill was approx £30 though I would have paid anything for the pain relief, it was the worst lower back pain I’ve ever experienced.

So my day has been castrated, though it’s not been uninteresting.

I won’t forget my room but would like Sue to visit India at some point so feel the need to show her more practical aspects of the place. There is a separate bathroom with shower, lavatory and a door!

There’s a frock shop with a sale on across the road - these are some e.g.s from its windows - I think they are rather good.

This evening I was v fortunate to coincide with a concert of two of my favourite pieces, Shostakovich’s String Quartet No.8 in C minor and Mozart’s String Quintet No.4 in G minor. The performance space was wonderfully well-lit, accoustically faultless and very well played. I ate mini Batatawada washed down (what other way?) with chai - 30 pence to put a smile on one’s face before a concert. Bargain. Both pieces were given succinct introductions by, I think, Jehangir Batiwala whom I spoke with during the interval. I hadn’t realised that Shostakovich had seen the devastation we visited upon Dresden during the war and as a result, in 1960, composed this extraordinary piece.

Walking back in the warmth of both climate and music, the D(imitri) SCH(ostakovich) theme banging around in my head: an ear worm worth putting up with.

Trees, lights, a biscuit/soft drinks stall and an unusually fragrant public lavatory drew my attention. I read the notice, because by then I’d also noticed quantities of mainly mid twenties men and women, their heads down, working hard. I thought, with justifiable cynicism, that it wouldn’t/couldn’t exist in England. How spoilt we are. Incidentally it was well after 21:00. The place is open 24/7 and there’s no grafitti and no noise. By much the same token I remembered how animated and young were the many visitors in the museums and art galleries I’ve visited thus far. I’ll make a guess here that education is more respected here than it is in England. Further to this I \240only have to be talking to Indians, ones I know, ones I’ve just met, for Shakespeare/Dickens/ poetry/painting etc to enter the conversation. It’s most refreshing and exceedingly depressing.

There wasn’t any warning. I was wandering still, thinking of how focussed and self-motivated those young people were when it tipped down. Brolly up, smile in place and a 9 pence packet of ten Nice biscuits. I felt good. Back to pack.

Kolkata at last - the ‘plane was late and in Kolkata airport there were no taxis. I, and the growing queue, were amazed and only partially amused to be told that it was because of the rain. Sounded daft enough to be English.

Arrived at Fairlawns, the hotel that the wandering Kendall family used whilst in Kolkata, though probably didn’t always pay for. I’m in Shashi Kapoor’s room, presumably Jennifer Kendall’s as well. I hope it has a new matress. I’m in the café with a huge plate of noodles, many colours of vegetables though principally garlic, chilli and ginger. I intended leaving some but it was so delicious I finished the whole bowl off. The café is out front, doesn’t have any walls and there’s a gap between reception and it, currently being filled by some serious rain.

…from the walls of my room

The sodden gap - not its official name but will pass muster for the moment. I’m off to Sashi’s bed with Kindle and lime soda, stomach full of noodles and mishti doi (look it up).

When I was here last the whole of the ground floor and café’s furniture was painted a bright green, both highly eccentric and wonderful. I regret the colour’s passing though am pleasantly surprised by how little has been mucked up. The curious bridge leading to the first floor drawing room, the sit-outs are still there, as is Violet’s personal space over the front entrance. It was always understood that anyone was welcome to sit in this space, though people seldom did and I certainly didn’t. The photographs haven’t changed one bit, the magnificently large Venetian glass mirror is still there. The bathrooms are fortunately different, though their old double doors remain. No cards here, it’s still keys which means that I’m able to leave machinery charging whilst I’m out. Big bonus. I thought that by collaging my photographs I’d be able to hide the worst bits but as you see…nope.

Breakfast room and reception - geographically unchanged.

A friend just reminded me that her uncle (vicar of Delhi) was part of the Shakespeare Wallah troupe along with Felicity Kendall.

Saris are lovely to look at whatever the shape is beneath, however hardly anyone carries a handbag that looks anything other than crap. Money needs to be spent, designers need to consider the sari and what bag design might look good whilst wearing one.

And whilst I’m moaning what’s it with cutlery - why is it so very small, and blunt? It’s an absolute bugger trying to cut toast, even butter toast, so imagine more complicated meals. I’ve been eating with my hand more regularly during this visit but it isn’t appropriate in all places and carrying a set of my own around with me might be construed as a piece of colonial arrogance - which it would be of course. Damn.

Off to New Market where all was fine until I got stuck in the meat section. The smell was the least of my troubles, although horrid, it was the live (just) birds that got to me. I hurried through. Then an extremely talented salesman tried to sell me cashmere (and shartoosh despite its illegality) however I didn’t lose my advantage over him though he pressed all the buttons that ought to have worked - I could feel the mechanics of it all as he fathomed his approaches. I might return as his stuff was good and the prices fair, anything cheaper and I would have doubts.

I don’t think that the roof garden is intentional.

Passed by a couple of decrepit Art Deco cinemas - palatial, complete, apparently doomed.

This evenings supper might lack sophistication but it certainly doesn’t lack calories, it’s from a place called Hot Kati Rolls. Mine was egg and vegetables (and loads of hot sauce and chopped chilli). I ate it whilst walking home, to do otherwise would be to give lie to its name.

Coffee, fruit and curds (yoghurt?) for breakfast to counter the grease of last evening. This usually arrives in a bowl, it being far easier to manage than this decorative presentation. Slow start with domestic bits occupying me for a couple of hours, that is if you include scanning through the Times of India.

Serious heat today, heat to rival even England perhaps so lightening my load and packing a fan.

Still life with truncated corpse…

I decided upon a visit to the pottery men of Kumartuli who make statues of god and goddesses out of clay from the bottom of the river, plus cow dung and dust/soil from outside a brothel (men, of course) leave all their purity outside the brothel. Whatever the mix the statues are astounding, a sort of hyper-real creation, smoothed glassily to ease the eventual application of colour/paint. The potters were all concentrating intently, with only a very few playing music. I was pleased however that it didn’t rain - what on earth persuaded me that wearing white shoes when visiting potteries with little space and huge statues was a good idea, I can’t imagine.

I forgot to put this in, this rough, on top of the straw, first layer head. I like it like this but smooth they must become. It is probably a meditative process whereby thoughts and prayers are added with the clay imbuing the statue with additional virtue.

I rather liked this one but suspect that she’ll be trimmed down to a more conventional goddess shape - waists are being worn the year.

This is a by no means untypical alley. Miles can be cut from walking from A to Z if you are lucky enough to know where these occasionally noisome routes are heading. Today I was successful \240by happenchance though, ‘swings and roundabouts’, my experiment with the Metro was an unmitigated disaster caused entirely by my misreading the signs. Experience not tragedy, so okay, but at the time…

It happens also in Addis Ababa, this wall-painting movie advertisement, it can’t possibly make any economic sense.

I got lost several times and was eventually challenged by a middle aged man wearing an old mask. He was kind and showed me they way to the nearest metro station. I was initially impressed, after I’d chunted under my breath about the queues for tokens. Travelling a handful of stations costs about 5 pence. Of course I went the wrong bloody way and finished up, somewhat appropriately, on Dumdum station. It’s not a perfect system, I had to exit, queue for ages to buy another and then go through the tedium of security yet again. This time way worse than last since the crowd was dense, packing the train over full. A man very kindly offered me his seat which, despite my inclination to cavil, was v welcome.

Lunch at The Bhopal Company, a Bengali specialist café that has survived the Covid years. Bit of a miracle really. I had Bhetki with five vegetables and steamed rice. My eyes were weeping, both with joy at the flavours and more pertinently, the power of the mustard. I’m working hard not to return there for an identical supper. The mishti doi was indescribably perfect in its creamy sweetness and hint of fermentation.

I wasn’t tempted to try this eccentric shampoo though toyed with the notion of mini bottles of it for Christmas stockings. What a surprise they would deliver…

Sudder Street is the main centre for travellers with several cafés with menus specifically pitched at the various nationalities attracted to India. I’m starting to think I might be the only white a man in town. Several people have mentioned this lack of tourists, though locals flood the streets/shops so it took me a while before I noticed. The people who are suffering, who have always suffered, are the destitute, the homeless who are quietly present, appearing not to have enough energy even to beg. The touts, the men who try and persuade you to go into shops, they are still around but are somewhat neutered since the advent of earphones. I always stop, remove one earpiece and tell them that I won’t go into a shop, that I’m walking but they are v welcome to join me though I will be listening to music continuously. It generally works…

It shocks me to see men pulling rickshaws, especially when they are full of fleshy customers (note the plural). I’m told that the rickshaws are on an elaborate hire purchase scheme and are seldom owned by the men for hire.

There are a cluster of ‘wine’ shops around here alongside a few bars. They are inconspicuous and are aimed at the few, both locals and, more likely, travellers. There is always one called The English Wine Shop. Whether this is a nod to the Commonwealth or a sad reflection of the Englishman’s reputed addiction to alcohol I don’t know.

I wasn’t quick enough to get much of the action here, they were travelling at a fair speed.

This is such a large room. I used it yesterday when Anup called by - it’s the only time I’ve seen it used. Massive Venetian glass chandeliers and mirrors which would dominate most rooms get lost here. Apart from these glittering additions there’s nothing very distinguished here, although the room feels wonderful in a slightly suburban way.

I would ideally like this room when I next visit. My bed could be fully curtained so that life could go on around me without compromising my privacy (I don’t value that much in any case).

I’m ‘cleaning’ up from yesterday’s random snaps. Wandering around I found myself on the banks of the river and was quite unable to take any photographs as men were abluting and it would have been inecusably rude of me. So I turned the other way and this is it - railway-cum-roadway-cum-launderette.

This wobbly clip(wait for the loading) is of Tipu Sultan Mosque as I drove by bouncing and braking over a heavily pock-marked road. I stopped shooting it because I suspected it to be worse than it was. There’s sufficient here to remind me of the building (and noise).

I didn’t initially realise that this was an illusion. The tuck tuck moved, the load stayed. Well, when I say stayed I really mean grew as men continued to bring along bags of stuff well larger than themselves, all in due time to be transported along with the others.

There must be several Big Bens around Kolkata, my taxi driver from the airport pointed out the first one and here we go again.

Well, what are the chances? I saw one on the way here mid rain, through window but still unarguably Big Ben (I know, I know…), and today another cropped up.

There’s a roof top garden that Fairlawns keeps going. I might at some point ask them why.

The ultimate in urban cricket I guess, right in the centre of Sudder Street, hardly the quietest of streets.

My afternoon was spent in the Indian Museum, mainly with things Buddhist. I’m fairly sure I’m now able to ascribe with accuracy the century of their making. There’s been a change over the last couple of years. The curator of March to Freedom has put together a wonderful mix of images with accompanying suggestions for discussion. It occupies several quite large rooms which have been given a/c so if the subject doesn’t pull people in at least the air chill factor might. These stairs, half of a matching pair, are exhausting to climb and are here to indicate the scale of the rooms around the central grassed courtyard.

Preparations for India’s 75th birthday have been well under way over the past week. The police put their new flag up - interesting just how many senior men it took, in fairness I suspect that I wouldn’t have been able to resist a ride in the cherry-picker.

Yesterday was unusually sociable. I’m accustomed to the odd, v odd, request for a selfie and the occasional brief chat but yesterday moved into a different league. It started quite ordinarily with bunches of school children in the exhibition and moved via their teacher,’are they disturbing you’, to the curator. Two hours. Back at Fairlawns I had decided upon a walk, whilst negotiating the gates a fully uniformed chauffeur also negotiated the gates, his job being the more difficult because of the size of the car. Later on I was introduced to its occupant - Diamond Oberoi - the man who bought the hotel and added it to his Heritage collection. We talked for an age, joined by his wife. Charming and thoughtful and, judging as I do, by what I’ve seen, a person who can be trusted with appropriate adjustments to this unique hotel. Nothing he’s done jars, indeed in many respects it’s vastly improved. Of course I loved the amiable eccentricity of the pre-Oberoi place, particularly the green paint which dominated the ground floor. I left them to their supper so that I had time to read. Diamond sent a ginger/honey/clove tea up to my room to ease my sore throat. Kind thought.

Slow start to the day after an unusually long sleep. The elephant skeleton (Elephas maximus) holds the record of the largest elephant every and led the Delhi Durbar parade of 1902 (owned by the Maharaja of Banares) - it stood/stands 11.2 ft at the shoulder. Standing near it I truly felt its size, it was a towering beast of surreal proportions.

The Museum of India is on the corner of Sudder Street and so accessible between bursts of monsoonal rain - a cultural rush.

I was yelled at for taking this(below) as ‘no photography’ was written in a language unfamiliar to me, its English translation on A4, smallish font, on a back wall. Why? I wondered. Whatever they are a wonderful sight, giving a clear picture of how they might have appeared in ? Known as the Bharhut Gallery, railings and gateway excavated in 1873 but belonging to the 1st Century, decorated with scenes from the Buddha’s life, Jataka tales, plants, animals, folk deities etc

Some of the railings, from the same period, enclosed the Bodi tree in Bodhgaya, under which the Buddha achieved enlightenment.

I had to screenshot these from their website - they don’t look all that old

KOLKATA: If hankering after cab d ..

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/21259850.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

…so it’s a government initiative which has puzzled me for a few days - No Refusal - printed boldly on the side of some taxis.

I had intended having lunch in a particular café but a combination of mapping inaccuracies and my arrogant certainty found me well astray so I dumped lunch in favour of The South Park Street Cemetery. It had been rainy earlier on and the sky was lowering as I entered. The guardians warned me to be careful as it was v slippery and never a truer word etc. The place suited the weather with its mossy domes, massive stone needles and gloomy reminders of just how young many of the dead were - 26 years seemed to be a fair average. Rose Ayler’s (1780-1800) tomb looked like a massive unicorn’s horn…the truly impressive scale of some of these monuments needs to be seen to be believed - humans are dwarfed by them. I put my ‘phone away after a few shots realising that what I would like to achieve wasn’t going to happen. There were quite a few young people sitting inside the monuments and/or wandering around, it’s a place for lovers, smokers - the young in fact.

Rose Aylmer, Walter Savage Landor:

Ah, what avails the sceptred race! \240 \240

Ah, what the form divine! \240 What every virtue, every grace! \240 \240Rose Aylmer, all were thine. \240 \240Rose Aylmer, whom these wakeful eyes \240

May weep, but never see, \240

A night of memories and sighs \240 \240I consecrate to thee.

I (lazily) copied the following from Wikiwhatnot:

Though Stuart often spoke of his conversion to Hinduism he had not entirely rejected Christian doctrines as he held the Hindu deity Krishna to be the Spirit of God who descends upon earth for the benefit of mankind which he believed was "not very inconsistent with Christianity" and "he was content to be buried in an Anglican cemetery, albeit along with his favourite idols".

Stuart died on 31 March 1828 and was buried with his deities at the South Park Street Cemetery in Calcutta in a tomb which took the form of a Hindu temple. This is a surprisingly modest tomb, though its quasi Hindu appearance is frequently referenced in histories and novels as is his anti-missionary stance. Indeed Anup praised him and, by the same token, Englishmen for not requiring any religious conversion, as distinct from other dominant races that have settled in India.

His remarkable collection of antiquities forms the basis of the British Museum's ancient Hindu and Buddhist sculpture collection from the Indian subcontinent, now known as the Bridge Collection.

In his book Vindication of the Hindoos (1808), Stuart criticised the work of European missionaries in India, claiming that:

"Hinduism little needs the meliorating hand of Christianity to render its votaries a sufficiently correct and moral people for all the useful purposes of a civilised society." In this book. Stuart defends Hinduism from assaults by missionaries explaining:"Wherever I look around me, in the vast ocean of Hindu mythology, I discover Piety....Morality...and as far as I can rely on my judgement, it appears the most complete and ample system of Moral Allegory that the world has ever produced."

Throughout this book Stuart, warns of the dangers of the "obnoxious" missionaries and of attempts to convert Indians to Christianity, a process he describes as "impolitic, inexpedient, dangerous, unwise and insane". He asks "if their religion is insulted what confidence can we repose in the fidelity of our Hindu soldiers?" presaging, it is said, some of the causes of the Mutiny of 1857.

It started to drizzle, rather pleasantly in fact. Walking down a very quiet Park Steet on a Sunday listening to Chopin, and all’s good with the world. I might even have hummed. Talk about turning on a rupee - the sky opened and down came a deluge or two. I sheltered under my ridiculously inadequate umbrella and a tree until the deluge squared had reduced by five eighths. The choice seemed to be between moaning or accepting. I went for the latter and got back to Fairlawn soaked but happy. Chilli cheese and lime soda were to be my reward for tolerance, in the event they were also my late lunch whilst my clothes dried out.

A wonderful tree somewhere in Park Street (I guess the equivalent of Knightsbridge in London), where the tree is essential for the survival of the building.

I met Diamond and his wife again and, at 10:15, supper was suggested. Ha! Kindle and bed more like.

…on the way downstairs - such an appealing noise when accompanied by heat.

These makeshift stages appeared overnight in every other street - imagine the noise, all linked up to cone-shaped loudspeakers fastened to lampposts. It’s inescapable…though that is exactly what I’ll be doing at 3.00, grabbing a cab for Howrah. I see that Delhi is currently 40’ so no respite there. Serious rain here this morning, heard it whilst having lower back and left shoulder seen to. The photograph was meant to be a video with sound. Since it’s immediately outside the gates I’ll redo it…soon.

A group of politicians, readily identifiable from their uniform of hand woven Kurta pyjama, celebratory patriotic sashes and vast stomachs were just on their way to their white be-flagged Landy, no doubt heading off to a more calorific celebration. I do hope they managed to secure a few votes…

My eardrums had already received a battering, the music began in the early hours of the morning, just after the first call to prayer. I had assumed, eroniously, that it was a disc jockey slapping on the tunes when it was live stuff with a five or so men in the band. The singers alternated as frequently as the crowd moved around, presumably to the next street. Imagine having a house half way between the two…

On the way kolkata gave way to very U.K. architecture General Post Office/Courts etc., good solid stuff.

In amongst the waiting passengers were a couple of hundred Hindu pilgrims with sacks of coconuts, long tinsel decorated poles and orange everything. They could be going in any direction, the choice is sufficiently large to fill a lifetime of honouring their gods/goddesses face to face - Varanasi, Puri etc.

…and a last mishti doi in terracotta container that I most reluctantly threw away.

With a mother and daughter plus a young man, I’m guessing early thirties for the youngsters. It was a struggle finding the right seat since the printed sheets stuck to carriage doors has unfortunately gone the way of all systems that work well but might involve a man or two (it’s an enormously long train, twenty carriages perhaps more). After fifteen minutes a smartly dressed, tall young man/old boy in a vaguely parodic air stewards uniform erected four small tables, thus filling the space between our seats. He returned with a tray each piled with containers, bags, cup/saucer and plate - sachet of tomato sauce, a warm samosa (delicious), a sandwich containing grated carrot with (perhaps) a scraping of salad cream or some such emulsion, a bag with ‘tea-making kit’ written on it, a flask of boiling water a bag of almonds \240and a foil-wrapped piece of soap papdi(like spun sugar, compacted and with bits of almond, quite nice if you adore sugar). We were laughing a great deal about the grated carrot sandwich - I was relieved that we could all see an element of bathos in it.

Two hours later the tables reappeared (they had help) and it was bread sticks made from something decidedly resistant to being chewed, butter (why?), salt/pepper and a bowl of hot (never take this for granted) tomato soup. I struggled and, despite really enjoying it, left half a bowlful, letting England down. I have to stop now as the tables have reappeared, this time with a number of take-away type silver foil containers. Be still my beating heart…

Well, I ate the lot dammit - a near perfect example of the mocker mocked. Two egg curry (exemplary heat/flavour balance), daal (perhaps under spiced), mixed pickle, curds, steamed rice and a couple of roti - all very fresh, we agreed. We are now expected to sleep which all goes some way to explain the state of male middle class middles.

…and then the steward returns with a pot of vanilla ice cream and I spontaneously erupted with a rather too emphatic ‘What!’ but still ate it. Unless he returns with cigars and a bottle of brandy a line is now being written under the day. Sleeping on a train - bliss.

The young man was, along with one other who might have been his twin, responsible for mopping our floor several times a day as well as seeing to the bedding etc. he was short and \240beyond thin, observe the trousers which are (or were) probably not his. He had a pronounced head wobble like I’ve seen frequently in T(amil) N(adu) but has been more of less eradicated in cities as being a sign of the uneducated(?). We tipped them and the steward. I was pleased to be able to ask about appropriate amounts from my travelling companions. Altogether a most enjoyable journey. I slept for longer than I can rememberl for several years.

Delhi immediately conveyed its status as \240capital city with its excess noise, confidence and press of people. I was touted to take a taxi, Tuk-Tuk or hotel room all within minutes of disembarkation. I put my ear pods in. Amazed to see, but not hear, the electric Tuk-tuks which are around in serious numbers and must present a bit of a problem to the ubiquitous yellow/green ones. I used the Metro which is clean, well-organised and cheap.

The trains are so long that finding your seat could result in missing the train unless you board and push through.

The Connaught Place flag is 90ft x 60ft and very impressive.

I spent my first few hours walking around, eating and rehydrating. Visited the Khadi India shop, irresistible, then decided to relax a while. I feel that I know Delhi probably better than I know anywhere else in India.

Bed tea early followed by breakfast overlooking a rather grim Parhaganj, stripped of its daily crush and colourful goods it’s really a ghastly mess.

Others get street food for breakfast. Mine is muesli, curds and fruit, the latter two being cunningly hidden beneath cornflakes, puffed rice and muesli - just guessing. But it tasted fine and had no added sugar, which is surprising…

Electrics are uniquitously messy that I’ve ceased to notice them. Danglings are everywhere. Now I’ve mentioned hazards it prompted a memory of the works going on around and across the Rajpath, that major locals and tourist alike arterial route. Of course there are absolutely no safeguards, people are left to manage their own safety by keeping their eyes open. Of course there are so very many hazards that it’s safe to assume one every six feet, \240maybe trailing live cables or large, square, bottomless holes awaiting their manhole covers. Then there are monkeys…

To Connaught Place for coffee thence to Central Secretariat (station) for the National Museum.

Rajpath leading to India Gate - massive building project on at the moment.

There’s been a huge change since my last, pre-Covid, visit. Apart from stepping up security there’s a brand new block, arcades around a central courtyard with adjoining rooms containing various aspects of Buddha’s life, art etc. it’s really well presented and wonderfully a/c-ed unlike the massive old building where I scoot around from fan to fan. Such stunning examples - a whole room full of tankas, some quite ridiculously ancient, painted on fabric that looks so very fragile.

Seated Avalokiteshvara, 7th-10th century, Dunhuang, China - painted on ramie (one of the oldest crops) with donor figures beneath he makes abhaya and a varada mudra in right and left hands

I would have suggested Brasso as less aggressive form of cleaning but my meaning might have got lost in translation. The building is huge, three stories of stuff, with only a few rooms of coins and maybe the v early Harrapian shards that I missed out, remembering that last time one of these rooms led to a huge collection of metalwork with the very best Nataraja I’ve ever seen - complete, I think (12th Century, Chola bronze) - a brilliant e.g. of lost wax technique.

Gupta terracottas from 4th - 6th Centuries, the first one life-sized and miraculously intact. The others are palm-sized suggesting the potters got \240pleasure from making small,(maybe) portraits? Trials for larger works? Both? Whatever their liveliness lives on.k

Buddha in meditation(dhyanasana): Kushan, 3rd century Taxila - painted stucco, large and in exceptionally good condition, stucco can come unstuccoed v easily.

The video below is in the Buddhist courtyard rooms - the interactive part presumably meant for children - since it was empty I gave the thing a go expecting something vaguely meditative. Turn the sound up!

I leapt a bit, actually I leapt off it yelling out a most un Buddhist word, then I tried again…

A few Mughal pieces, two of jade and two of them enhanced with rubies, emeralds etc. the cup is uniquely inscribed with Akbar’s name(18th century). The plate is 17th century, the ‘armlet’, 18th century, is a huge lump of shaped jade inlaid with rubies and emeralds and I lust after it for my arm(let).

14th century door, Uttar Pradesh

Whilst around the area I thought I’d go to my favourite restaurant, Kwality, and eat chola bhatura, one of their specialities. The serving looks minuscule, it isn’t. I also had their ‘special’ pudding which has been quite unnecessarily gussied up with god knows what squirted across its top, bits of anonymous fruit chopped up, as though these cosmetic additions justify its cost. I suspect the originating chef left and took his recipe with him. This pudding was just a sponge case stuffed with thick cream, nuts and dried fruit. Perfectly alright but not as it was.

Connaught Place/Rajiv Chowk - heading for the Metro entrance.

This wrapped sculpture stands outside the entrance to RK Ashram Marg Metro station/Ramakrishna Mission reminding me of the sad parody of an early Christo sculpture that stands outside Cambridge station, it’s (Cambridge) attracted a great deal of adverse criticism, justifiable I think. This carries more weight as an art piece.

This butterfly was fluttering around the Metro corridors but only occasionally settled. Out the many snaps this is the only one semi-clear, bit unfortunate since it was a large one. I saw a v large ant in the museum shop yesterday, remarked upon its size and a man was dispatched to remove it and put it safely outside. I was pretty much indifferent to its safety having been bitten by one in Addis, but a nice touch. Off to Chandni Chowk now…

The Metro is easy to navigate and seriously air conditioned. People are forever standing up and offering me a seat which is quite disquieting. Chandni Chowk and a walk up to the Spice Market where I lasted indoors for about five minutes before having to leave sneezing like anything and slightly concerned they’d think I had Covid and take action. \240The Spice Market is wrapped around Fatehpuri Masjid, a 16th century mosque with charm, despite its neglected state. The central pool is surprisingly sophisticated

All the bags and boxes are full of spices many of which I didn’t recognise. Thee were men all over the place with massive bags on their heads so I was constantly turning sideways and breathing in deeply as they rushed past.

Walked back and decided upon paratha for lunch. It’s very complex when you leave the main drag. All of a sudden it’s mediaeval \240compressed mud extremely narrow lanes. This narrowness doesn’t stop corpulent people from stopping \240for a chat with each other. I chose the paratha place from the many in Paratha Alley because there are always loads of women there. I assume they’d be more particular than men. Whatever I’ve never been ill and the parathas are straight from the pan and scalding hot. I had a paneer paratha which had an abundance of bits to go with it. It’s a wonder at £1.80

I’d quite forgotten the vast number of rickshaw men in Old Delhi/Chandni Chowk, unlike those of Kolkata these man have bicycles up front which makes it arguably less arduous. Several pursued me offering trips to the Red Fort/Spice Market ‘for Rs20, Indian price’ etc. I’m afraid that I stuck to my rule of saying no (politely) only once, either hesitation or repetition would be perceived as weakness. The same applies with approaches in the street, ‘where are you going’, ‘can I talk to you’, ‘no need to buy, just look’ etc. I’m a sauntering target as much of my day, indeed much of my pleasure is bound up in drifting, looking and picturing.

RK Ashram Marg Metro Station when I arrived back was packed with large statues from the Hindu pantheon of gods/goddesses along with the usual tuktuks, rickshaws and local traffic. Very busy indeed…I had horrid bag-related pain in my left shoulder which I took to Ravikant a local acupressure/acupuncturist who spent an age on my left thumb, some of it quite painful, then wired me up so that my trapezoid leapt about involuntarily. There were other bits and pieces but whatever it all was I’ve moved position from sceptic to believer as it’s perfectly alright for the first time in ages. Worryingly there were three stages being built within a very short piece of Paraganj so I imagine this evening might be noisy.

I guess these white horses are reserved for Krishna and his consort. I’ll see this evening - whatever, another white horse with black leather trimmed with silver has turned up. I wonder who is paying for all this? I’ve looked up Krishna’s Birthday and it’s today and tomorrow, double the amount of noise. Curious that gods bother with birthdays one might think they’d be above cake and candles.

This evening I decided to wander down the road - hardly an ambitious prospect thou, as it turned out, way more difficult than I’d imagined. Today is Krishna’s birthday and a louder birthday it would be hard to imagine.

It was all immensely exciting and far, far louder than the short videos might suggest. The road is very narrow and normal traffic continued albeit very slowly and at huge inconvenience to others. There must have been perhaps ten marching bands, several of them walking consecutively, their noises competing rather than blending. There are quite a few women (mainly) touching the centre of their foreheads in respect as the various god/goddesses pass by. There is prasad handed out, though what form it takes I don’t know. There’s also much flower petal throwing.

A tattooist by the side of one of the dustiest roads ever - Main Bazar (sic) Road.

It’s a compulsory drifting day since everyone has a holiday on such an auspicious occasion. There are a few shops open, though very few shoppers are around, as in tourist ones. I spend time in Connaught Place and rapidly realise that I’m a sitting duck for the touts. I managed to attract four within twenty minutes and three of them used the ‘lovely jubbly’ phrase. I was patient though, even when they started telling me, quite incorrectly, about C.P. and it’s history. I escaped into the bowels of the earth, topping up my Metro card and travelled to the Red Fort. The a/c was fierce in the metro and twice, in this v short journey, a young man made to get up for me. The signage above seats refers to the ‘incapacitated and old’, most cheering. There’s also one just before the first level of security - ‘frisking line for women’. On board there many signs re spitting (£2 fine), sitting on the carriage floor, using the women’s carriage etc. On the platforms there are also quite a few including the worrying ‘you are under surveillance’ and a huge number of instructions at the top and bottom of escalators particularly in reference the saris.

Wenger’s is part of Delhi’s history, cakes, breads etc all delicious but I resisted this time. They usually have a uniformed bloke on the door, either he’s been given the day off or standards are slipping. Suspect the former.

I also resisted the Gurudwara lunch mainly because I’m not sure I’d be able to stand up again, definitely creaky on the left. There are some pieces of Art Deco that pass unnoticed, I guess Bombay is the main source of 1930s architectural glamour. The piece below was perched high above the street on top of a repurposed base of no interest at all.

The small market round the corner is packed with what we might consider exotic vegetables. I wish I had access to a kitchen for just half a day…instead I’m eating chapattis and channa, my go to meal, asking for them not to compromise the flavours just because I’m English. Spicy is synonymous with hot. It will be a quiet, reading day until this evening when the streets will fill up again. Who pays the bill is still a mystery.

I’m running out of energy so this evening I will be immersed in my Kindle, dipping digestive biscuits into tea.

Connaught Place needs repainting, I remember loads of people working on making it look wonderful for the Commonwealth Games and think that may well have been the last time it was sorted out.

Walking back from C.P. to Paharganj \240is a swift lesson of how things are able to disintegrate unless cared for. The Delhi rickshaws gather at a halfway point around a roadside shrine for sleep and maintenance. The chic guru was at the pan/fag booth and reminded me of Diana Vreeland saying that ‘shocking pink is the navy blue of India’.

My favourite ‘plane - Boeing Dreamliner - with its huge windows of which, up front at least, I get two - almost patio doors. My near neighbour was an elderly Indian woman in sari and, though perfectly mobile throughout the journey, wheelchair. She was most reluctant to part with her handbag for take off though judging by the two rocks, diamond and ruby, she had on I can quite understand: if these were her travelling jewellery I’d love to see the contents of her bag.

I’m in the front of this with views I don’t have to press my nose to the window for. Plan: eat, convert to bed and sleep for four hours then watch the world beneath. Arrived back at 15:30 so still able to sleep this evening. In theory.

Very quickly Delhi urban sprawl gives way to the ‘stans.

Up high flying over Tashkent, Tajikistan etc. no great difference between them from up here, just lots of geography, \240I’ve always found geography inhospitable. Occasional khaki patches in river valleys flashing with solar panels, quantities of snow suggesting a need for central heating though I wouldn’t be too confident of it being there. The clouds cast intensely black shadows on these striated, mountainous countries.

My first wind farm - odd that it resembled so closely an aquatic cemetery. Grass turned to hay suggesting that England was dead. Dry link…

Passed over Kew/Buckingham Palace etc. clear and I enjoy looking down \240clouds.