An Indian Journey through Lent, Day 26 The lot of a modern volunteer is not an easy one…hmmm…well maybe sometimes… Yesterday Lena and I did half a day’s work - she in the hospital and I doing a climate change presentation in a local school - then drove over 7 hours to Shimla, capital of the state of Himachal Pradesh and formerly the summer capital of the British Raj in India. We’ve been invited to a seminar tomorrow at the the Himachal Pradesh university’s school of Australian and New Zealand Studies by the organiser, Professor Veenu Paul, professor of English Literature. After that we’ll take some holidays, which Lena, in particular, really needs. For some reason wi-fi is hard to find in Shimla, but we are using the facilities of the Cecil Oberoi Hotel which lies close to the hotel we’re staying in. What luxury! Shimla is an unusual city. It retains much of the British imperial character. “The Mall” resembles a European town Square. “The Ridge”, from which the views on both sides are spectacular, is a great gathering place for people. At one end of The Ridge is Christ Church, the second oldest church in south Asia. We worshipped there in this morning’s Hindi service which, despite the change in language, also retains a great deal of the old British character! When I was in Shimla a month ago I was taken to Viceroy’s Lodge, from where the British ruled India. It’s a huge, imposing building which, one suspects, was built to intimidate! But Shimla is built so solidly, on such steep terrain, that one can’t help but be impressed by the quality of British engineering, and on that of the work the Indians have done in the nearly 70 years since the British left. Well, here’s to a restful week with occasional internet contact!
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 10:27:22 +0000
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