Stories about my S Asia working experiences
It was hard not to notice Rani, she was one of those happy spirits who caused heads to turn on campus. If there was mischief afoot in the girls hostel, innocent brown eyed Rani was somewhere near the scene of action. She’d surface at the very last minute in college registration line and there was always some problem to be sorted out on her behalf. … Continue reading Rani
The temperature gauge outside our back door that morning registered forty degrees Celsius and the heat was only beginning to crank up for the day. I was on my way to the office when I remembered an errand to attend to in the science block. It was one of those pre-monsoon days when intense heat cast a blanket over one’s ability to think clearly. Certainly … Continue reading Jaws 2
We had been travelling most of the night on the road from Madras, now Chennai, to Kodaikanal in South India. Conversation was beginning to take on stereotyped platitudes tired minds are capable of producing. We were not making a lot of sense to each other by this time, and those who were valiantly trying to stay awake to keep the drivers mind on the road … Continue reading RASTA BANDH
Mohan rushed into my office past the startled secretary and stood looking at the desk in anger. His lips trembled as he tried to articulate the stress exercising his mind, and his fists clenched and unclenched in a strange rhythmic action. I waited for him to bring himself under some semblance of control, then motioned him to sit down as I transferred to the chair … Continue reading THE CHALLENGE
In the city of Mumbai I became acquainted with a very remarkable personality. While I’d like to share his name with you, prudence dictates that I refer to him as Ahmed. As his name suggests, he was a follower of The Prophet, and a very devoted one at that. Ahmed supported, and took an active interest in more charitable enterprises than I’ve seen any other … Continue reading AHMED’S GET RICH PLAN
I’d just experienced one of those memorable once in a lifetime experiences and the awe of it all was still clear in mind as I negotiated Immigration and Customs lines in the shed that served as departure terminal in Yangon for the Socialist Republic of Myanmar. It was the 1970’s and I’d taken advantage of the customary twenty-four hour stopover permitted in those days en-route … Continue reading Aung San Suu Kyi
My Bombay Bombay of the 1960s was a very different place to the Mumbai of today. One could still see countless relics of a past colonial age peeping out from behind peeling fading paint, now sharing suburbs with crowded cement apartments and rows of compact concrete business enterprise. In Bombay at that time were the beginnings of a current era of downtown glass walled high … Continue reading Bombay Hamara
My friend now retired in the US has written his book of memories, and as some stories include the time we worked together in India I’ve requested permission to extract portions and attach to my blog site. Ian ____________________________________________________________________ No driving experiences in Canada or the United States prepared me for the roads of India. I was literally dropped into a world where nominally vehicular … Continue reading Miraj Road
We recently celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. A number of messages were read out at the celebration but this one from my eldest daughter would have to take the humor prize. This photo was taken in India in the late 1970’s, much of our children’s childhood recollections here are from that era. Ian _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Happy 50th Anniversary!! You made it this far despite having children! … Continue reading Our 50th
Ralphie stooped to tie a shoe adjust his helmet grey And paused to wish the Mali a good bye, Then started on his journey on this happy holiday Squinting at the weeping cloudy sky In the distance he could see a silhouette on yonder rocky hill For the Parsee Tower of Silence was his aim There the view of Pune City always gave him quite … Continue reading Mesmerized
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