Manali Missives 53/2014
Guest Blog 2
How time flies! A month ago 4 of our family were here in Manali. My mother Ailsa wrote last month's Guest Blog, which she titled "The Surprises of India". This month it's brother Ross's turn at the keyboard. He memorably compares his surprise in India with his nephew's "gobsmackedness" upon seeing Australian cricketer Simon O'Donnell hit a six right out of the Sydney Cricket Ground. Ross, now home with his customary cheerful equanimity restored, has contributed this month's blog. Thank you to you both.
David Reichardt
It's an interesting experience - sitting in a café in northern India, watching and listening to your brother teach Hindi to your father. Perhaps more interesting though, is how I got to have that experience.
I'm Ross, David's brother and when David
first talked about going to Manali to work for a few years, I promised him that
I would visit. I have just been there, along with my wife, Deb and my parents,
Alf and Ailsa, fulfilling my promise and watching that Hindi lesson! In a trip
of over 3 weeks, we spent 12 days with David and Lena – 5 days in Manali and
the rest travelling.
This was a trip of multiple facets. We were
to see some of India, we were to visit David and Lena in their home of Manali
and we were to have a family holiday, travelling as a group.
Although both DnL (as we know them) have
many years and many journeys of experience with India, this was my first time
there and India has, shall we say, a reputation! Mention India to anyone and if
they have been, they will likely talk about how India is an assault on the
senses and it is too!
Years ago, when my nephew was about 12
years old, I took him to a one day international cricket game between Australia
and Pakistan. It was the second innings and Australia was chasing. I can
clearly remember one ball where Simon O'Donnell stepped down the pitch and hit
a ball clear over the roof of the Ladies Stand at the SCG. 50000 Aussies leapt
to their feet and roared while my nephew just stood there in wide mouthed amazement,
trying to take in what he was witnessing.
Well, India had that effect on me. I kept
seeing new things and chattering on about what I saw and how differently things
are done there. Actually, it feels like everything is done differently. David just
chuckled, like I did with my nephew, while I tried to take it all in. If you
haven't visited India, you should. You don't have to like it - you don't have
to like anywhere you visit - but unless you see it, you won't understand.
There are many different parts of India but
our short trip only allowed me to see a few of them. I saw New Delhi, a city
which could swallow Australia's population and have room left over. I saw the
Golden Temple in Amritsar. I was greatly entertained by the border closing
ceremony at Attari - a hoot of a show hiding the serious business of India /
Pakistan border control. I learned about and came face to face with a great and
fascinating history. There were good roads and awful roads. There was traffic! We
sweltered on the plains and we enjoyed the cooler climate in the mountains. But
the 2 places which I liked most were Manali and Shimla.
We finally got to see more of Manali than
the background of the Skype conversations we have had up until now! David and
Lena live in the compound of Lady Willingdon Hospital, a private hospital run
by the Church of Northern India and the hospital where Lena works as Obstetric
Consultant. Also in the compound are a church, a school and a number of
apartments for staff and visitors so it is a good size and located in the heart
of Manali. At the end of the day, it was always a relief to step through the
gates and into the compound which offered sanctuary from the hustle, bustle and
incessantly honking car horns of the outside world!
Apart from helping us to understand David
and Lena's lifestyle (more on that later), there's no doubt that Manali was a
tonic - a time to relax a little from a busy journey but sure enough, the time
came to leave. It was sad in a way because it's a nice spot and over our few
days there it had become familiar but leave we did. At 6am.
Shimla was next and the early start gave us
a few hours on the road to avoid the worst of the traffic and get a good start
on the 8 hour drive. So just how far is Shimla from Manali? Well, it's about
250km which gave us an average speed of about 30 km/h! Welcome to India. I
needed to recalibrate so many of my understandings of life.
Set in beautiful and dramatic mountains,
Shimla was my favourite part of India. No wonder the British moved their colonial
government here for about 7 months of the year to escape the heat of Delhi. Not
only is it cool, it is historic, very attractive and well worth a visit!
From Shimla, we turned back to Chandigarh,
where we had met up with David and Lena 12 days previously but this time around
it was for goodbyes. A few toots of the horn and they were gone - swallowed up
by the endlessly chaotic, seething mass of Indian traffic.
While seeing the Indian scenery was great,
for me the main purpose of the trip to India was to visit David and Lena and
our four days in Manali is where we got to see them on 'their patch'. They have
become an integral part of Manali which was clear every time we headed out for
dinner or a walk. We continually stopped to meet people they know. Some of them
were Lena's patients or work colleagues and some were David's contacts but they
were all very welcoming and chatted away in Hindi and English like old friends
do. The warmth of the Indian people is a joy and one of the memories I took
away with me.
Although English is widely spoken in India,
it is not the primary language, so watching DnL both communicating with the
Indians was interesting to me. Having grown up in India, Lena is fluent in
Hindi and her Hindi skills greatly augment her medical skills. Actually, it is
difficult to see how she could work as a doctor in Manali without her language
skills. Language is also important to David as he builds his programme of
teaching ecological issues to school children. He recognises that he will be
able to impart much more of his message if he can use Hindi. While he doesn't
have Lena's fluency in Hindi (yet!), in true form he has jumped in, found a
tutor and is paddling hard!
Travelling with a group has the potential
to strain relationships and yes, there were some minor tensions but nothing
that a glass of Indian red or Kingfisher Strong couldn't fix. Anyway, if the
glass is full, it is much less likely to be thrown it at someone don't you
think? The flip side of group travelling is that we got to spend lots of time
to have punning competitions (I must be with David again) and chat about all
sorts of things from ecology issues, to David and Lena's work, sport, politics
and pretty much anything else. We had serious conversations and lots of laughs
too. Notwithstanding the scenery and seeing David and Lena on home turf, the
memories of a shared family holiday were probably the greatest part of the trip
for me. David said that he was looking forward to sharing this part of his life
with us and I'm very pleased that we made the effort to go.
India amazed me in ways which are both
wonderful and horrifying. Back at home as I look at the photos and reflect on
the trip, I'm sure I'll understand that India taught me a few things too.
So, if you feel like an adventure or just
want to brush up on your Hindi, I know of a little café tucked away in northern
India...
Ross Reichardt
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