A Delhi Christmas Well, I hope you folks all had a great Christmas and are feeling suitably stuffed, hung-over and skint. I thought I would just sneak an entry in to let you know what Christmas here in India was like. Christmas Eve 15:00 - The Father Christmas conspiracy Myself, Pascal and Shariq perform sterling work in operation 'Distract thirteen boys whilst we wrap presents and get Shariq, who is dressed as Santa, down three flights of stairs without being...

Kitchen Sink Drama: Part One Life was getting pretty cushy in Delhi. There was unfettered access to Kellogg's cereal, Cadbury's Dairy Milk, brown bread, hell there was even Marmite! I was surrounded by an ever-growing circle of interesting people from around the world. I was feasting on international cuisine in Delhi's restaurants (admittedly it transpired that, despite the waiter's insistence that smoked salmon was practically the same thing, the sushi restaura...

Home Sweet Home I am seriously impressed if anyone is actually reading this, as I imagine you are all far too busy camping out in the aisles at Sainsburys, frantically buying that last minute panic tat from the sale at Debenhams, stuffing yourselves with mince pies and nursing mulled wine hang-overs!  Unsurprisingly, with Christians comprising around just 2 % of the population in India, Christmas here is a much lower-key affair. However, it hasn't entirely sli...

Life in Delhi To bring you up to speed, Delhi has somehow beguiled me (which given my first impression of the place is something of a miracle). I have made plans to stay here until April, when the city resumes its cruel attempt to slow roast its citizens to death and I will beat a hasty retreat to cooler climes. So I have begun the process of making a life for myself here. Thanks to the enormous generosity of Emily and her Mexican and Spanish flatmates, I have h...

The long and winding - and bumpy, crazy, cow-jammed - road In general I love long journeys, particularly train and bus travel. I welcome the prospect of that time stretching ahead where nothing more will be demanded of me, but that I sit, lost in my thoughts and watch the world go by. It is also a great way to observe (or basically have a good nose at) the lives of others; what will they have for lunch, what book are they reading, what does their voice sound lik...