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Travelogues
India Revisited – 2
To Manipal or Bust
After flying out of Mumbai to Mangalore, one of the objectives of my trip was to attend the golden jubilee
celebrations in Manipal, Karnataka. This is my old medical school, which
has quickly become an educational institution of repute. Every subset of
professional education is available here. Apart from the usual courses in
medicine, engineering, nursing, pharmacy etc., there are many rare
opportunities for students to pursue training in hotel management,
catering school and even poultry farming. The campus originally built on a
barren hill three miles from Udipi, has now been transformed into a lush
green mega university complex, comparable to any in the world.
I got a little carried away and let my guard down during lunch and dinner
on that eventful day. As an occasional visitor to India, I had learned
long ago that my stoic stomach had lost its immunity against that bug that
makes the stomach queasy. Sure enough I spent the next two days in bed
with frequent trips to the adjacent bathroom. I quickly started myself on
antibiotics, hydration and ‘bowel binders.’ The result was as swift and I
was back on my feet in two days. The fever abated and the Montezuma’s
curse lifted. However, I was unable to attend the final two days of the
meeting in Manipal, a disappointment indeed. But such are the vicissitudes
of life!
On to the Capital
My schedule was very tight. Our children were to join us in Delhi, as the
two boys and a friend were to come a week after I had landed. Delhi is
reputed to be densely foggy in the winter months and the flights were
routinely delayed or even diverted. As we had only two weeks in India to
do a month’ worth of traveling, you perhaps can sense my unease.
We reached Delhi in a flight from Mangalore to Mumbai without a hitch. And it was not
fog or nature’s wrath that delayed our sons and their friend. Unbelievably
it was an incident far more embarrassing and ludicrous. The
Virgin Atlantic Airlines never left Washington D. C. that evening as the
pilot was inebriated and was in no position to fly. There were no spare
pilots and while the incidence made a big flash in the evening news, the
passengers had to spend a night in Washington D.C. and board another
flight next morning. Fortunately, there was no fog in Delhi when they
landed safely. Whether Virgin Atlantic had to wait till next morning so that the
pilot had to be sober enough to fly again is a question I never found an
answer to!
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We mixed sightseeing with
shopping in Delhi. An early morning walk through the Lodi gardens was
a first for me. The air was crisp and the light that filtered through
a thin layer of fog was heavenly. Above all, it was clean and
refreshing. The garden was built by Sikander Lodi and Ibrahim Lodi in
the 15th century. Lodi was the last dynasty before the Mughal rule in
India was established by Babar. The garden is sprinkled with tombs, mostly
built with slabs of red stones, with unmarked graves. The interior
mosaic of tiles and rich red, blue and gold paint on the ceiling and
walls are in disrepair but the glory of the rulers of Delhi, even
before the Mughals is evident, as seen in the cupolas of the Qutb Minar. |
One of many tombs of Lodi Gardens |
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Continued
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