Paying respect to "Mahatma" Gandhi and being stroked on the chin by a transvestite !

 Saturday morning and the living is easy! A lie in with a leisurely read at the papers and omelette and toast with "Chai" to wash it down is the order of the day! It's going to be another scorcher (well for me at any rate!) Fully fuelled for whatever I choose to do, my conscience gives me a dunt and reminds me that there is still so much else to see in Delhi and behaving like a sloth who's constipated is not the answer, so I jump in a rickshaw and head to Gandhi's burial spot. 

Not realising that the journey is likely to be anything like it turned out was a error of judgement on my part! It took all my patience (I know I don't have much but what I have got) not to get out the rickshaw and clock the policeman who held us up at a junction for 20 mins while he let all the rest of the main and side roads through. Still Mother India and all that! The ride was almost 2 hours and a chiropractor would go down well now after the journey! The plot itself is in a sunken garden with an eternal flame burning and the devotees passing by the tomb are dignified as you'd expect for someone for whom over a billion and a quarter people still regard as almost God like. No chance of any British politician being buried in such a fashion. Next up I went to the Lodhi Gardens, described as the lungs of Delhi and with the vehicles on the road no wonder they need so many parks. This one is about the size of all the parks in Aberdeen combined, still it was shady in parts and I'd now become the owner of a cricket hat to keep the sun at bay. 

 This is another wee step into some metamorphous on my part, eating veggie stuff, liking cricket and drinking chai. Disconcerting or what? Maybe I'm becoming the archetypal "Brown Englishman" that the colonials were trying to make the Indians. I've broken the journey home up by stopping off in Connaught Place for some Chinese food and a Kingfisher beer since I've missed lunch at the base. I think the real reason I needed the beer was that on the way to Connaught Place a "Trannie" leant into the rickshaw and stroked my chin departing back along the line before he could interpret the words "Feck Off" and get a shave! The driver was bemused by this and to a certain extent I was too since, in all my 62 years I've never been approached by anyone gay, much less a man in a sari. 

P.S. that is not a plea for any gay attention in case there is any doubt. This kaleidoscope of senses in Delhi continues to fascinate me, despite the obvious signs of poverty and begging which I have to force myself to turn a "Nelson's eye" to. 

 Namaste from Delhi

"Bubbling" as Barbara bows out ! More Delhi memories

 There were some wet eyes this morning in the class as Barbara bowed out of her assignment. The kids had got her a cake with a candle on it, and some pepsi and lemonade with crisps etc; and we cut the lesson short so that we could all gather in the classroom and they could say farewell. They'd also bought her some presents and it was a wee bit emotional. The assistant Director also went out and bought her a gift which was really nice as they haven't really seen eye to eye! Photographs with mobile phones were the order of the day and two with a proper camera for posterity. There is a mini-crisis for my ongoing placement at the Habitat Learning Centre, in that they want me to change my times of work there to the afternoon. For me this is no big deal but it does mean that the kids I've had each day, may not get there in the afternoon and that is a pity! 

It does mean that I may get a whole new or part new bunch and have to start from scratch. That is a bit frustrating but I'm only the unpaid hired help, and the progress Barbs and I have made with our group may well stagnate. I hope not for their sakes, as they'd warm your heart with their attitude and happy faces (even a cynical old prat like me!). As she flies out tonight at midnight for a 20 hour flight back to Detroit with a 6 hour stopover in New York it is going to be a long day/night for her! So farewell to her and I hope she enjoys her new life in Orlando where she's going to work for the Disney corporation!

She's worked with a clown for a fortnight so Mickey Mouse should be a doddle! 

For me it is a relatively quiet weekend in Delhi again, and the girls are organised for the movies etc. Next weekend will be enough as we have a train journey of 8 hours to do, and I'll have a better description of the train and it's facilities (?) after it, certainly if the buses are anything to go by, it will be an eye opener. I've had to get my daughter Fe to send a stroppy message to BT (how unlike me to pen something sarcastic and stroppy to a contractor?) as the plonkers have disconnected my mobile phone, as the usage seems high to them! Why did I bother telling them I was coming out here, if they're not going to pay any attention to it and cut me off? It's left me a bit isolated pro tempore but if it isn't back on in 24 hours then they'll have broken their side of the contract and I've no compunction in getting someone else, and indeed it appears I can get a fairly cheap mobile here after all and pay up front for air-time with inbound calls free with Air Tel of India.

Namaste

Scotrail eat your heart out ! Back a decade to Delhi

 Today is Barbara's 2nd last day as she goes back to Detroit tomorrow night. She's been a big help and in some respects I'll miss her help and advice. In the afternoon she and I went to a golf driving range and knocked a couple of buckets of balls and with the hire of a driver it came to almost 2$, such extravagance! 

As an aside when we were being driven back from the Habitat learning centre we had to overtake two camels and two elephants at lunchtime, in fact they were making better progress than the cars. 

Last night the girls and I were organising a couple of trips! One to Goa in March (towards the end of month) and to Amritsar to the Golden Temple in a weeks time. The girls (having the technical ability, booked and paid for the flights online). The train was another matter, and the trains this weekend are sold out with a waiting list of too many to contemplate. The only answer is for me to go down to the station myself and see what can be done about the following weekend. 

Being me I decide to avoid the "tourist" booth in the main station and go with the Sikh driver to the Indian ticket office, it was a hoot! The place was heaving to the gills with Indian guys and a single solitary pale face (but he did have a sense of humour and a tattoo with Mother India in Sanskrit on his upper arm), this latter aspect was enough to get by and eventually I got 3 returns (not in the class I'd have liked for me and the girls Laiah and Shanta), and the train we are booked on takes an hour more than the express we'd wanted for the outbound journey, on the plus side we are booked on the express on the return journey. I bet Scotrail would sell their souls for the queues and waiting lists for every seat on their trains! 

Shanta has booked us a hotel room at 450 rupees each a night (9$) and it has a rooftop restaurant with cushions outside on the roof and a view of the Golden Temple! The older women would have a heart attack if they thought they had to pay less than 120$. As an aside the "Trout with the Pout" is leaving and has given bad feedback from which the rest of us are quite taken aback, since we are all really entering into the way of life of Delhi. 

Namaste from 30 deg C and wall to wall sunshine.

Britain is unravelling and the Monarchy is heading for the dustbin of history!

The headline above will undoubtedly lose me some "friends" on social media, but in truth, the fact remains that the "United" Kingdom which is no more united than is having, joint membership to the Orange Order and the Ancient Order of Hibernian !

These two "Orders" are as diametrically opposite as it is physically possible to be ! 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Then there was the "United Kingdom" which with the advent of Brexit is now more "Untied" than "United".

Pre Brexit

Post Brexit

Notwithstanding the inbuilt desire in Scotland for some form of self governance, this removal from the E.U. via England's majority for Brexit this was metaphorically speaking the "cat among the pigeons". 

The referendum for Brexit in Scotland was a substantial vote of 62-38% in favour of remaining, whereas the overall UK figure was 51.9-48.1% for leaving. The disparity could hardly be more stark and the end result has been an unprecedented rise in support for Independence. 

There were a couple of areas in Scotland for which the rise in support did not reflect the nationwide movement. Predominantly the North East of Scotland in which the fishing industries dominate. This was to prove a false dawn as they found out that Boris Johnson's word was not his bond!

Who'd have thought that Trawler Skippers could be such gullible twerps ?

Boris "selling" the Peterhead Fishing Industry a "Sprat" for a mackerel. The fact remains that the loss of EU markets has dealt the Fishing Industry, if not a mortal blow, then a wound that will fester for a long time to come.

I am genuinely captivated with a book by Gavin Esler (see below) which has summarised the status of Britain to a tee! Not that this summary white-washes Scotland by any means, but it does give clarity and objectivity to the debate around the unravelling of the UK. In the interests of economics I got my copy via Kindle for a mere British Pound (£); and is probably the best £1 I've spent ever.

The Monarchy

This is the part at which my ex-RAF colleagues and I diverge and probably by 180 degrees.

The line of succession of the House of Windsor (a.k.a. Saxe-Coburg-Gotha);

The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha came into the British Royal Family in 1840 
with the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert, Duke of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha. 

Queen Victoria herself was the last monarch of the House of Hanover.
The House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as a British dynasty was short-lived. 
It encompassed the reign of King Edward VII, who reigned for nine years 
at the beginning of the modern age in the early years of the twentieth century, 
and the first seven years of his son, King George V, 
who replaced the German-sounding title with that of Windsor in 1917
during the First World War. 

From the outset let me make clear that E II R or Queen Elizabeth 
the second of England should be in fact Queen Elizabeth the first of Scotland, 

Actually, I hold her in high esteem since during her reign of approaching 70 years, 
she has at all times remained above and aloof from, Westminster Politics. 

Despite the attempts of certain political party leaders to inveigle her into their webs. 
Cameron in 2014 springs to mind.

However the same cannot be said for her eldest son Charles, whose infamous 
"Black Spider Letters" show that he most assuredly does not keep 
himself and his opinion out of the political arena. 

Now it transpires that William and his wife Kate too, seem to be 
being sucked into the morass of British politics. 

In the case of Scotland, they publicly view the country as some 
sort of tartan holiday arena where according to William they feel an 
affinity with the people! 

Personally I feel this is patronising baloney since the idea 
that they (William & Kate) had to scrape by using food banks and 
on a financial pittance like so many across the British Isles is risible.

The University of St Andrews is the only real connection both of them 
have with the Scots and of course their free issue titles 
"The Earl and Countess of Strathearn" and William is of course 
"Lord High Commissioner for the Church of Scotland".

High Commissioner of an institution which is haemorrhaging participants 
quicker than Boris Johnson does sexual partners is hardly inspiring in 
terms of becoming the Monarch of a Dis-United Kingdom. 

The future of the former UK will be decided by the future voting public, 
and if the youth have anything to do with it, then the idea of a 
non tax paying monarchy for whom wealth is an essential part of the 
pantomime is according to statistics is a non-runner.

A singing Sikh and 3 "Transvestites"

 Last night the girls and I had a superb Chinese meal in Connaught Place at a restaurant called Zen. The food was super and my street credibility was on an upward trajectory so far as the Indian guys were concerned as I was in the company of 4 beautiful young girls. The fact that I'm almost old enough to be their Grandad didn't seem to catch on with the guys. 

I'll let their minds keep that thought though! 

 Sunday morning and after a lazy coffee and a swatch at the Sunday papers plus the usual quota of nicotine I decide to get cleaned up and head out to the city centre again and see some more of the sights! 

I hail a rickshaw for another spine shattering, but ultimately practical ride into "Old Delhi" having picked the Red Fort to start with. Old Delhi is if anything, even more densely inhabited than New Delhi, and I have to admit the overwhelming odour of sewage and other waste allied to being jammed tightly between other vehicles all trying to the general area of "Kashmiri Gate", is affecting the Long Island Ice Teas I had last night in Zen. But enough of my digestive tracts, between the driver and I we decide that enough is enough and we about face and head back to the Red Fort. The Red Fort is an impressive edifice, but nowhere close to the one in Agra! I suspect due to the number of people who visit it en masse at the weekends. Whole families are using the gardens (?) as picnic areas and as a result the Fort has seen better days. 

Still though it is worth a visit, but wouldn't be top of my must see places in Mother India. The fact that it is very large in area means I'm hungry (no breakfast per se), by the time I get round, so in typical "Walker fashion" I go in with the locals to their cafe area and although somewhat pale by comparison, I'm fully accepted by them and not stared at by the locals. The other big plus is the fact that the locals have cheaper rates for everything, so my token lunch (it's that time already) is less than $2. My tattoo and the limited Hindi I now have is enough to ensure I'm not as bothered as some of the other nationals who're thronging the site! On that basis I decided to walk a bit before getting another rickshaw to Connaught Place, as I know I'll be able to use a loo there and I'm not going so native as to pee in the street(a fairly common sight). 

Whilst we're struggling through the traffic we come to a grinding halt in a jam, only to be assailed (as others were too!) by a group of transvestites demanding money for them not to curse you. I've seen this on Paul Merton's visit to India so the 6ft 2in sari wearing man with a couple of days stubble can take a hike, as can his mates who're equally ugly, even for men. Her (?) curse aside I should have offered him/her a loan of my electric razor as he/she is in dire need of it. I'll need to watch that none of my appendages drop off as a result of the curse. 

Connaught Place is where we were last night at the restaurant so I'm totally familiar with it and as such can wander at leisure, stopping for a cheese sandwich in something like Harrods or should it be Horrids from "Still Game". The process for buying something as cheap (?) as cheese sandwich is convoluted to say the least involving 3 separate paper transactions, (no wonder the Amazonian rainforest is in danger). I'm tackled by a shoeshine man offering to make my shoes shine like leather, that would be fine if I wasn't wearing suede shoes! From yesterday I'm stopped by the same guy asking if I want my ears unwaxed, I reminded him we'd met yesterday and he's asked me then. The intervening 24 hours had not seen an undue build up of wax in my "wing nuts" so his kind offer of a very cheap job was rejected. To cap off my day I'm taken back in quick order to Hauz Khas by a singing Sikh rickshaw driver, in the absence of anything other than noise pollution and honking horns it makes a nice change, so he got a tip for his efforts and he had me back at the apartments in enough time to avoid the inevitable accident I'd have had if we'd been caught in traffic! It's old firm day today so "C'mon the Hoops" and namaste from Delhi.

"O Tempore, O Mores" - 21st century and Cicero's Latin is still relevant !

 The Latin expression above is attributed to Cicero in the first century B.C. and generally means Oh what times and Oh what customs or in simplistic terms "Oh the times we live in ".

Marcus Tullius Cicero was born on January 3, 106 B.C.E. and was murdered on December 7, 43 B.C.E. His life coincided with the decline and fall of the Roman Republic, and he was an important actor in many of the significant political events of his time! He wasn't truly wealthy, nor was he particularly intelligent, but he was a devious schemer !  

Remind you of anyone in the 21st century political arena?

• Someone who is always trying to get his sticky mitts on money (especially someone else's).
• Cicero was a prolific writer but not necessarily with original philosophical ideas.
•  Who in todays government was an alleged journalist for the Telegraph under Max Hastings (who by the way thought he was as phoney as a nine bob note!).
• Who has been showing an immoral attitude towards women?
• Who has an indeterminate number of children?

Far be it from me to suggest that anyone might be slain as his political ambitions come to be uncovered as duplicitous, devious and designed for his personal benefit.

"O Tempore" indeed !

Political Anomalies in a Dystopian Britain

The political events of the past month in the UK as a whole, have created a morass and one which prompted a political and philosophical debate in Ashgrove, with Bunty's Honours degree in the topic being of paramount importance (and relevance).

We both struggle to understand why in today's society, there is the glaring anomaly of traditional socialist constituencies voting Tory and in particular this brand of Toryism!  

Hartlepool being a glaringly obvious example of this !

It would be too easy to just suggest that the electorate had become disenchanted with Starmer's version of Labour since the Tories have had such an elongated time in charge of Government policy and finances and it was not the Labour Party that were in control of national finances and budgets. 

The most ludicrous comment I have ever heard in my entire life on this topic was from a native of Hartlepool on LBC saying that the Tories had given them 9 foodbanks but Labour hadn't given them any ! 

Sweet mother of Jesus what has he between his wing nut lugs?

In Scotland, with our First Minister has been consistently showing the leadership that has propelled her and the SNP to a fourth term in office and this under the form of proportional representation that is deliberately constructed to avoid a landslide of whatever hue. This leadership too, had to fight the vagaries of a committee of enquiry based on unsubstantiated allegations of having misled Holyrood over the actions or otherwise of her predecessor.

1.        Why then do we have a young voter in the East End of Glasgow (hardly Bearsden) on the radio this morning purporting to vote Tory, bearing in mind we have two principal alternatives to the abhorrent party rejected totally up here since 1955 ?

2.       Why do we have a whole group of working class or indeed even unemployed, voters in Scotland who would gladly sacrifice their political principles on the basis that potentially their football team utilise the Union Jack/Butchers Apron in their support? 

3.        Why did we have the diabolical scenario of died in the wool socialists and right wing Scots Tories tactically voting for their hated adversaries merely to stop the rising tide towards Independence?

For the answer to these anomalies, Bunty and I have come to the conclusion that not just in the U.K. just now but across the globe generally there is a drift to the right and a haemorrhaging of care in society. 

In the U.K. but predominantly in England, this rise of the right is appearing to manifest itself in a form of xenophobia with the populace ire being directed towards "immigrants". This patently manifested itself in "Brexit". Scotland is by nature a "left of centre" country yet we too have inexplicable anomalies in voting patterns.

However that does not wholly explain the transfer of votes from left to right wing in political terms, and why people who are very, very far from being archetypal Tories in terms of income and wealth status are flocking to vote for the Boris Johnson version of Toryism..

Could it then be; A fundamental need for people to feel superior to someone else irrespective of how irrational it is in real terms?  

Think of the rise of the Third Reich in the 30's!  Not all Germans were fundamentally Nazi in outlook, but a combination of the global economic collapse and the Wall Street Crash allied to crippling reparations from WW1 had a domino effect on the population of an entire country.

This financial catastrophe had the German people looking for someone to blame, and the right wing of the new Weimar pointed to the Jews, Catholics, gypsies, homosexuals and anyone perceived to be less of a human than the "ruling" elite.

Back to the U.K. then !

Under this Tory Government (and earlier ones too!) we've had over a decade of "austerity" in which the cuts occasioned by their austerity programme have all been aimed not at the rich, but at those who depend on social security,  PIP benefits, working tax credits, incapacity benefit, unemployment benefit, job seekers allowance, housing benefit, universal credit etc;

Then ally all those perceived drains on the national economic purse to the equally illogical perception amongst the alleged "working class" (who are working themselves but for a pittance) that immigrants are flooding the straits of Dover in dinghy's to allegedly milk the system and you have a mirror of the situation in the Weimar Republic after the Wall Street Crash. Someone to blame after all !

Toss into the equation Covid and the pandemic and you have a truly poisonous brew. 

No mention whatsoever about the alleged corruption of Government contracts in which the coterie of Johnson's cabinet colleagues were dispensing multi billion pound contracts without tender !

Fortunately Scotland had sufficient support for the SNP to overcome the diabolical tactical voting and a proportional representation system (D'Hondt) which specifically is meant to ensure no party overwhelms the system.  Had the Holyrood election been held under the "First Past the Post" system as in Westminster, The SNP would have had 109 seats out of 129. Now that truly would have been a mandate for not just a referendum but a declaration of Independence !!

A final thought on this whole farrago is that Democracy will win out in the end and despite the Mainstream Media attempts to muddy the waters, Scotland will be a nation again and we are not despite what my colleagues and friends down south may or may not think a mere region of England

SAOR ALBA !