Dear Old Blighty, but I'm back!
I'm back in the US after six weeks of vacation. Six weeks spent in four countries across three continents.
An overwhelmingly common thread runs through the fabric of the four nations I visited. India, Kenya, Tanzania and England. Each continues to be affected (in various wonderful ways) by her own colonial past.
Yes, even Old Blighty* has retained shades of the colonial hangover. While no Kenyan hotel worth its salt would forget to include in its tarriff a "full English Breakfast", bohemian cafes on London's high streets see locals ordering chicken tikka sandwiches at lunch. I used to think New York is the ultimate melting pot of cultures. Only until I saw London. The truth is that while New York brings together a multitude of cultures and places them side by side, it is in London that boundaries begin to blur and cultures fuse together.
Stories from my vacation? There are many. I will try and narrate some here in the coming days. Also, today was my first day in a new job and I am hopeful my experiences here will spur more writing. All of which means, you may actually start seeing some content here. In the meanwhile, I have renamed my blog in recognition of how difficult I have found it to keep it regularly updated.
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* In fact, even the adoption of 'Blighty' as a slang for England is attributed to the Urdu word bilāyatī, meaning foreign. Here's what Wikipedia has to say on the subject.
"Blighty is a British English slang term for Great Britain, deriving from the Hindustani word bilāyatī (विलायती), meaning "foreign", related to the Arabic word wilayat, meaning a kingdom or province...
...the word came to be used, in British India, for several things the British had brought into the country, such as the tomato (bilayati baingan) and soda water, which was commonly called bilayati pani, or "foreign water". During World War I, "Dear Old Blighty" was a common sentimental reference, suggesting a longing for home by soldiers in the trenches..."
An overwhelmingly common thread runs through the fabric of the four nations I visited. India, Kenya, Tanzania and England. Each continues to be affected (in various wonderful ways) by her own colonial past.
Yes, even Old Blighty* has retained shades of the colonial hangover. While no Kenyan hotel worth its salt would forget to include in its tarriff a "full English Breakfast", bohemian cafes on London's high streets see locals ordering chicken tikka sandwiches at lunch. I used to think New York is the ultimate melting pot of cultures. Only until I saw London. The truth is that while New York brings together a multitude of cultures and places them side by side, it is in London that boundaries begin to blur and cultures fuse together.
Stories from my vacation? There are many. I will try and narrate some here in the coming days. Also, today was my first day in a new job and I am hopeful my experiences here will spur more writing. All of which means, you may actually start seeing some content here. In the meanwhile, I have renamed my blog in recognition of how difficult I have found it to keep it regularly updated.
--------------------------------------------
* In fact, even the adoption of 'Blighty' as a slang for England is attributed to the Urdu word bilāyatī, meaning foreign. Here's what Wikipedia has to say on the subject.
"Blighty is a British English slang term for Great Britain, deriving from the Hindustani word bilāyatī (विलायती), meaning "foreign", related to the Arabic word wilayat, meaning a kingdom or province...
...the word came to be used, in British India, for several things the British had brought into the country, such as the tomato (bilayati baingan) and soda water, which was commonly called bilayati pani, or "foreign water". During World War I, "Dear Old Blighty" was a common sentimental reference, suggesting a longing for home by soldiers in the trenches..."
posted by GT at 1:33 am
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