Once again, I have a lot to write about so I will post two installments. Last Friday, 26th January, was Republic Day so we went along to the ceremony. It was great to be part of the celebration. There were thousands of people and we had to scramble to get to our seats for 9.30 am. It was worth it. Along a 3km stretch of road there passed parades of elephants, camels, soldiers, dancers, school children, each float representing a different aspect of India. The I...

This is a poem written by an American while he was in Dehli for three months. He read it out at the exhibition last Wednesday and I asked him for a copy as I thought it captured some of the essence of Dehli. FIRST CITY Here a rainbow is god’s moustache, clothespinned to eternity. Here above this city bereft of silence, above its maze of lanes and language, fragrant harshingar and migratory birds swirl in sunkissed lemon golds. Here Siva is G...

It is Thursday 25th January 4pm. I have so much to write about from the past week so bear with me if this is long. This week has gone quite quickly so far but everyday is full of different experiences, it seems like I have done so much. Last Saturday we went on a tour of Delhi by coach. It was great to see the important sites but far too much was crammed into the space of nine hours and by the end of it I was exhausted. First stop was Qutb Minar, which is a hu...

It is Friday 19h January and I am sitting in a small cyber café in a suburb in Delhi where the power seems to run on a motorbike, which has cut out once already (there are no exclamation marks so I can’t quite express my enthusiasm/surprise).I really like India. E.M. Forster wrote that India is a muddle and he is spot on. But it is a great muddle and somehow works. There isn’t anything anyone could have said to prepare me for India because ther...

This is just a test postcard to check you can all access the webpage. I was disappointed to find there were no pictures on this site of Sheffield! Clearly they are missing a vital attraction of England.I received my flight tickets today so it all seems very real now. I am slightly scared that the booklet contains ALL my flights for the nine months. I will be guarding them with my life! Just to let you know, I won't be using a mobile very much, (main...