South India – Day 1
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
To Bengaluru
Passport? Check. Visa? Check. Tickets? Check. India shaped adapters? Check. Everything else? Check. Okay, I’m ready for my next trip to meet, learn from, and be inspired by ARI graduates; to see them in their elements as grassroots leaders working side by side with their people. I am excited!
This time my plane will take me to Bengaluru in South India. Some of you may be tempted to correct my “Bengaluru” to “Bangalore,” and I wouldn’t blame you for trying. But the fact is that India has been in a long process of renaming its cities to reflect their original cultural heritage and rid them of that musty British colonial essence. Thus, it is now Bengaluru, although many people, including Indians, still call it Bangalore, just to keep you guessing.
Just short of 250 graduates
All across India, there are nearly 250 graduates of ARI, including some from its earliest days in the ’70s. That is a lot, really, and as it had been a while since any ARI staff has been to South India, I felt a visit was overdue. My itinerary included the states of Kerala and Karnataka, oh, and Uttarakhand, which is not at all in the south of India, but the story of that jaunt to the shadows of the Himalayas will come later. Tamil Nadu, with its dense graduate population was a place I also very much wanted to go, but limited time required hard choices to be made. I hope you will understand, Tamil Nadu, as well as graduates all over India I wasn’t able to reach on this trip. It only means I have to come back one day!
From snow to the tropics
Ironically, the morning I set out for my tropical destination, snow was falling here in Japan and the roads were freezing. I don’t know about you, but for me the most worrying part of any trip is getting to the airport, and a winter storm doesn’t help. Thankfully, our trusty bus driver made the typically two-hour journey safely…in two hours. Then, with bags checked in and security behind me I took two deep breaths, one for relief at making my plane and the second in anticipation of the adventures that lie ahead.
Once again, I was on Cathay Pacific and so the first stop was Hong Kong. As per tradition started by my colleague, Kai, on our last pass through this airport, I headed straight to the Masato restaurant to order the #107 beef noodle dish. However, en route my nose pulled me into a grill place called Beef and Liberty! Sorry Kai. (Please don’t tell Kai, but it was delicious!) In contrast to the sardine can experience of the first plane, flight number two to Bengaluru was almost empty – three seats to myself, luxury! And the food was… really good. Lamb Masala with a spicy chutney was the perfect way to prepare my palate for the subcontinent.
Education fees
This being my first time in South India, I had to pay for some education upon arrival. That is, getting underpaid on my money exchange and overcharged for my taxi. Whenever I get cheated on my travels, I call it an “education fee.” The key is to make sure I get my money’s worth out of that “fee.” That is, learn enough that it doesn’t happen again. In truth, I tried not to get duped by the taxi guys, attempting to negotiate the rate before I got in. They told me it was metered, so I got in … only to find no meter in sight as we sped out of the parking lot. Sigh. Later experience would tell me that (A) the rate I was charged was high, but not astronomically so, and (B) as a tourist, I will never get a fair fare from a taxi driver! Oh well. Such is life, and rather trivial in the big picture of things.
My stay for the night was at a Jesuit Mission in the heart of town called the Indian Social Institute, arranged by one graduate. It was 2:00 AM when we arrived, so the cab driver gently woke up the night watchman with a crisp blast of his horn. After much befuddlement, due in part to my name not being on the night’s guest list, and in part to the semi-conscious state of the poor watchman, I was at last shown to a simple but comfortable room for a welcomed date with a pillow!
