During the time Bill was president of the University of Lethbridge, we had to take some trips to recruit foreign students. We traveled to Hokkaido , Hong Kong, Macau and India. On the India trip, New Delhi was the main place from which we took side times to other places. It was a very exciting and in the end a scary trip.
We had many trips away from our base in New Delhi. We were traveling with Bhagwan Dua and his wife Swarn. Dr. Dua was the Dean of Arts and Science at the U of L and also the vice president of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute in New Dehli. His expertise was Indian political science. Bhagwan Dua
So he was quite the person to explain so much history as we traveled. The joke was that India had more millionaires than Canada had people so recruiting foreign students was a win win. The parents had the check books ready and Dua and Bill could instantly accept them as students to a small university in Southern Alberta. These “university fairs” were attended y many other universities at the same time in the same location so parents has a few places to choose from. A degree from Canada often was a step into moving into the America medical school system and other professional opportunities in America.
Besides admitting students, we traveled to other cities with universities for Bill to sign memorandums of understanding for exchanges of students. We had very successful exchanges with a university in Japan for many years. Our professors would go there and their students would come here to Southern Alberta.
Since we had traveled so far with an expert in Indian political studies, we proceeded to visit important locations within reasonable travel. We invited to attend an American embassy party, visited where Indira Gandhi was murdered and saw her Sari with blood stains in the National Museum. We visited a Bharatpur bird sanctuary where shorebirds nested by the hundreds. We traveled to Shimla and stayed at a fine colonial hotel. We saw the Red fort and the Taj Mahal!
One day, I was invited to visit a school in New Delhi while Bill traveled to another university. While Bill was visiting this other university he was invited for a late tea at a home with other Indian professors. It was during this tea that Bill became aware of crickets singing inside the house. Then at one point, crickets started to fly across the room while people were talking. No one but Bill seemed to notice. Bill sat there trying not to notice that crickets were zooming and chirping all the while academics discussed agreements between schools. Acheta domesticus
Because I was small and dark complected, I blended in the the population. It helped that I immediately ought and wore shalwar kameez as the fabric was handkerchief weight cotton in very hot climate. Because to this traveling with Bhagwan, Swarn and my little dark self, Bill stuck out like a stop sign, people stared at him. What was really hard was that very poor street urchins targeted him and begged for money. He was surrounded by poor little kids looking up at him with sad eyes. But of course giving to begging children was very discouraged because it was dangerous for them. They would run out between speeding cars with their hand out. New Delhi was a thriving urban city with fast roads with no shoulders. All manner of vehicles traveled from speedy sport cars, regular cars, large highly decorated trucks, auto rikshaws, ricksaws to elephants.
Once official business was done, we visited various sites. We visited mosques and temples. We visited the River Ganges! Washed our sins aways. We took a speedy exhilarating human rickshaw past little shops and many pedestrians to get to the river. There were concrete stairs along the river bank so many people could offer puja. We also did offerings and sent flowers down the Ganges.
At the Red Fort, venders selling souvenirs targeted Bill, too. So again, he couldn’t buy anything offered or he would have been swarmed. His paleness caused several reactions as we continued on our travels.
A fun memory is how people reacted to Bill at the Taj Mahal. When the British released India, India became independent. As much as the British had great control over India, Indian culture was much more powerful. In other colonial situations, the colonizers married into the indigenous peoples. But in India with it’s built in caste system, the British never broke into Indian hierarchy. There were aspects of British culture that remained like trains running on time. But when the British left, they pretty much left. We didn’t see many (any?) white people out and about.
So when we traveled to the Taj Mahal, it was an interesting experience. the Taj Mahal was indeed beautiful. One had to go through metal detectors to get inside. Once there the very white building stood and you could see many people walking towards it. To get inside the Taj Mahal, you had to leave your shoes outside and put on these booties that wouldn’t stay on. they hung attached to your ankles providing no cover at all. And this mattered why?
Because leading up, the floor was covered in lovely perfect checker pattern of black and white tile. This was very appealing to look at. To walk on it was a whole other thing. The Indian sun had been beating down on both the black and the white tiles. The black tiles were hotter than walking n a hot sandy beach. A bare foot would burn on the black tile, so Bill and I had to hop and step on only the white tiles which were also hot but not as much. This hopping was the dignified manner that we approached the Taj Mahal. It has a lovely cool interior with scripture all over. When we emerged we got our shoes back and walked around on the mall. The Taj Mahal is a place for lovers and newly weds. There were quite a few lovely young couples walking around everywhere. Not one white person in sight. As we walked, one such couple asked us to take a picture with them because of Bill. Bill was such a novel person there, that they wanted a picture of themselves with him. Bill of course being a generous fellow said yes, of course. So somewhere in India is a picture of Bill with young newly weds.
The time that I stayed back at the hotel and Bill went out to another place was also a challenge. Trying not to get dysentery meant you had to avoid water that didn’t come from a bottle. Fresh veggies were a source because they were washed in water. But Bill and Dua traveled a long way and had to stop to eat at a small dhaba where the food was served by small boys dirty hands. Dua didn’t tell us but he always traveled with low dose of antibiotics. Bill however did return very ill. He was unable to keep anything in at either end. I was very concerned as we needed to return to Canada very soon. This was during the SARS epidemic and I told Bill that they would never let us board the plane to return with his being so ill. He relented and let me call the hotel doctor. The doctor, an older woman in a sari said that he needed to go to the hospital immediately. Bill said, “No just give me the antibiotics.” She said they still won’t let you fly looking like that.” He said, Hide and watch.” She gave him the medication and within two hours Bill was feeling better and we packed and headed out to catch the plane.
The airport smelled terrible as the toilets were not clean, but it didn’t matter because we were going home.
I have many memories of my time with Bill. these are but a few of my time with him in India. (Sniff, need to find the journal I kept of this trip. It’s somewhere around here.)
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