White madam

There are so many remnants of the Empire still left, and an auto rickshaw driver referred to me in conversation with a temple worshipper as ‘Gori Madam’, which translates to ‘white madam’.

As with most destinations, you choose your style of travel according to your wallet, but often in India you can easily dip into 5 star luxury, stay in an old heritage place or just pop in to eat at the best hotel in town. Here you get an interesting glimpse into old Raj life.

Par Rumpa pum par

It was a lovely experience to go to midnight mass in the Portuguese old city of Dui. A choir assembled at the front of the church and accompanied by a guitar belted out jazzy songs. One of the Christmas carols we sang I’m sure was the little drummer boy, to which in very high notes we had to sing the chorus including Par rumpa pum par.

 It was amazing to go to a mass, as we spend so much time in Hindu temples and it’s nice to see something more familiar, which in the same vain seems so austere compared to local temples. We sat in front of a couple we had met earlier at sunset point, who had travelled to Dui to go to church. The service ended around 1.30am and we had to cadge a lift from a family in the congregation, as the streets were full of barking dogs, unwilling to let us share the sidewalks. 

They’re more English than the English

At Palitana we stayed in an amazing old Palace, where the old great uncle had once taught Edward how to play polo. You get a glimpse into the old Raj, and an unfortunate thing is the removing of the wonderful spices which make Indian food so amazing, to be replaced with bland vegetables fit for an English palette!