|
NORTH INDIA
I was seven when we moved to the north. In those days an exhausting and nearly unending journey, for us South Indians a journey into a foreign world. Between the subtropical jungles of Kerala and the snow capped mountains of the Himalayas lie 3'214 kilometres. This is where Alexander the Great came in 326 BC and innumerable others in the centuries that followed. The Muslim conquerors called it Hindustan – the land of the Hindus. A land of legends. The Indo-Gangetic Plain - a melting pot of peoples, cultures and religions. Through the years I have come to discover a world of never ending fascination. 
DELHI The first time I arrived in Delhi, the capital of India I had just turned sixteen. There was this stage troupe that I had met further up north and I now wanted to join. In this hub of realpolitik I discovered poets, writers, artists – all moneyless idealists, wealthy only in their dreams of utopia. Till late into the night we sat drinking and smoking und talking of freedom. Delhi – the capital of the largest democracy in the world. VARANASI Varanasi is where I grew up and Varanasi or Benares, as the English called it, was a multireligious breeding ground. We were Christians surrounded by a world of mysterious rituals and signs. We often sat early mornings on the banks of the Ganges and watched people wade into water, their faces turned towards the sun, their hands folded in prayer. A scene that has remain unchanged for centuries. Not far from this holy river in a little village called Sarnath. Some 2500 years ago a man preached his first sermon on desire here. He came to be called Buddha. I spent a whole year working in a community development project in the villages around Sarnath. KHAJURAHO Khajuraho has never ceased to amaze me. The India of my youth was downright prude and puritan but here are temples that worship Eros. Depending on who you are with these scenes could make you blush in embarrassment. What did the creators of these highly provocative sculptures want to say? In the evenings the golden rays of the sun fall on temple walls and these figures come to life and I love to stand and watch the eternally recurring drama of eros being re-enacted. AGRA Only when you have truly loved, only when you have gone through the agonizing experience that love cannot abide by love, of grief that rips your life apart, only when you understand that love and death are the two sides of the same coin, only then can you truly appreciate the Taj Mahal. The Taj – the most singular expression of love and death that this world has ever seen. I am always at a loss for words here. JAIPUR/RAJASTHAN Nearly half of Rajasthan is desert or semi desert. It was once called Rajputana – the land of the fearless, proud Rajputs. Here only two things count - courage and honour. I came to Rajasthan and found a world in which legends breed. Here princes erected forts, built palaces and left behind unforgettable stories of valour and daring. The spirit of the Rajputs lives on, the fairy tale world of kings and queens, of princes and princesses. In spite of all the cruel strokes of fate, in spite of all the destruction through war, invasions and occupations these people have continued to preserve their unique identity.
TWO TOURS THROUGH THE NORTH OF INDIA - MY CHOICE
THE ROMANTIC NORTH 
Take some days off and fly from Delhi to Goa and relax on one of those beautiful Goa beaches before flying back home.
|
