"Everywhere I go in India is my favorite"

1. What drew you to India?

 

Initially, the 1998 closing of the Burmese border. I was waiting for Nepal's  trekking season to start in October and planned on visiting Burma in the interim. But that border closed, so my traveling companion and I said, "How about India?" We were there for five weeks—Delhi, Kashmir, Ladakh—and it frustrated, and fascinated, the heck out of me. The moment I left, I schemed on ways to return, which I did about 15 years later.

 

 

2. Among the places explored, which one is your favourite?

 

Everywhere I go in India is my favorite. I'm eager to return to Kashmir because my earlier visit was pretty intense (curfews, etc.), and I'd like to see it with new eyes. Ladakh was magical, though I was pretty sick and cold through much of it. We went swimming in Kerala—probably not the wisest choice, but a wonderful memory. We also visited a Hindu temple in Kerala; the activities there blew my little American mind. Mysore's palace captivated me. We loved Amritsar—spent the night at the Golden Temple and went to the Wagah border to see the pomp and pageantry. I wanted to like Jaisalmer more than I did; perhaps my expectations were too high. Though Bikaner was delightful; we met an elderly gent born in Bikaner who now lives in Georgia, U.S., and he took us to his favorite candy shop there. Udaipur, the final stop on our Rajasthan trip, felt liberating and was beautiful. Our latest visit focused on Kolkata and Darjeeling: absolutely loved it. We squeezed all we could out of Kolkata, yet there's still more to explore. Our homestay in Latpanchar continues to delight me; thanks to Facebook Video, we're in regular contact with our hosts and guide, who have now "visited" our home in Minneapolis. What have I left out? My memories of Mumbai are a bit hazy, though visits to a Sufi mosque and another mosque in New Delhi were high points of this recent trip.

 

 

3. Share some memorable travels or moments while in India. 

 

OK, here are two from our latest trip: During our homestay in Latpanchar, within a mountainous nature reserve about 2 hours from Darjeeling, we spent a morning bird-watching with our guide, Parag; we saw two rufus-necked hornbills—very exciting. On the second day, we had hoped to go in search of tigers. But, instead, Parag and our driver took us to a local mela, I think mainly to show us off (and we were not much to see, let me tell you!). We met the mayor, were given white silk scarves, then offered first dibs on a carnival ride. My choice seemed the safest option; a Ferris wheel, what could be more tepid than that? Well, an Indian Ferris wheel lacks many of the safety features—a reliable engine belt, seat restraints—and is run fast as a rollercoaster. When our car reached the apex, our butts rose high off the seats, and I could see myself splashed across our local newspaper: Minneapolis Woman Dies in Indian Festival: Gets Thrown into China—or Nepal—or Both.

 

In Kolkata, one of our favorite nights was spent as a guest of yours truly, Sujoy. Todd, also a stringer for Reuters, reached out to Sujoy for a local contact. Sujoy invited us to his home to meet his sister and several fellow journalists. We drank whiskey and ate delicious food and had such fun. We also learned—too late—that the Kalighat Temple is not for the faint of heart and that the conmen can sniff out the weak—us. We also loved sorting through Bollywood albums, again with Sujoy, to bring home; a streetside vendor with a greased pompadour had a fantastic selection, and Sujoy helped us choose a dozen gems, which we've played over and over again since our return in February.

 

Finally, after drinking a cup of wonderful tea out of terracotta cups from a corner vendor with a huge stained pot, I ducked inside a Kolkata textiles shop on a main street not far from the Lalit Great Eastern. Upon my entering, a lovely woman pulled up to me and started to sing to me. Everyone stopped to watch, and I, surprised by the attention, thanked her when she finished. Then, she raised her hands as if to say: Now it's your turn. Gulp. With all eyes on me, I started crooning Woody Guthrie's folk song, "This Land Is Your Land." The crowd was nothing if not gracious when I ran out of lyrics.

 

So many stories, and such fun. I could go for days. And I haven't even mentioned knitting on trains with albino grannies, eyeballing the tattoos of a heavy-metal Filipino drummer who was bunking above me, or having a ticklefest with a four-year-old boy on a train ride—delayed by fog—that lasted 24 hours.

 

 

4. What experiences did you carry back home from India?

 

This trip in particular followed us home. Our Kolkata-bought albums fill our house with '60s-'70s Bollywood tunes (go Lata Mangeskar!). I have several garments, made by Indian tailors, that I wore all summer, constantly swatting away compliments. I'm STILL in the process of securing a rug that I saw at the Tibetan Self-Help Centre in Darjeeling. And I've had regular communications from our new friend Sujoy, and from the homestay family we met in Latpanchar.

 

 

5. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate India as a tourist destination in the global platform?

 

Obviously, I'm smitten. It's the most wonderful—truly full of things to wonder over—country I've ever visited. It's not for everyone, but it's for me. 10!