Chapter 9
India has a long association with cricket , a gift from the British who left the entire subcontinent crazy with cricket mania . Unfortunately the subcontinent is divided into three countries but at heart they are one, equally playing and loving this game. My father was a cricket lover , never missing any international test matches when they were played in Green Park stadium in kanpur
As a schoolgirl I got the opportunity to watch the mighty West Indies play against India on their home turf Kanpur .India had won the prudential world cup snatching it from them in the semi final 1983 West Indies was out to avenge their defeat Malcom Marshal who sadly died of cancer collected the first wicket of the opening batsman the legendary Sunil Gavaskar popularly known as The Little Master .The ball came hurling down the crease like a bullet bowled from the mighty hands of Marshall , and Sunny lost his bat which went up in the sky like a rocket and the ball was caught in the gulley by Joel Garner The whole stadium exploded with thunder the crowd applauding this game. Vivian Richards and Clive Lyyod looking pleased . I thank my dear daddy for that experience.
Almost 15 years later I got my chance when India was playing a 5 day test match against South Africa in Kanpur .I was now the member of Gymn in a 5 star hotel where both the teams were coming to workout after playing their game in the stadium. Sunil Gavaskar now retired from first class criket ,serving as an honoury member of the selection board whose protégé was Sachin Tendulkar ,use to also come to the gymn. Seeing him there I forgot myself and stepped forward to talk to him .” I watched you play on this turf against the West Indies when I was a school girl” I gushed .He very graciously accepted my appreciation and good wishes .
Samuel Higginbottom (October 27, 1874 – June 11, 1958) was an Manchestor England -born Christian missionary in Allahabad, India, where he founded the Allahabad Agricultural Institute. Higginbottom was born in Manchester, continued his education at Amherst College and Princeton University in the United States, receiving a bachelor's degree from Princeton in 1903 . He was North India Mission of the Presbyterian Church.His educational programs grew into the founding of Allahabad Agricultural Institute in 1910. In 2009, Allahabad Agricultural Institute was rechristened as Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHIATS) in honour of the founder. While being in India, he developed close friendship with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru Higginbottom died in Frostproof, Florida at the home of his daughter, Mrs Charles Coates. She spoke about her father in her speech , we joined in the dinner given in their honour .
My mother is an alumini of this prestigious institution. The university campus is located at Naini, a satellite neighborhood of Allahabad on the banks of river Yamuna. The university is spread over an area of 900 acres lush-green campus, which includes 300 acres of research farms. The campus is divided into clusters of constituent schools and separate blocks for administration. The academic area chiefly comprises the main building, various departmental annexes and auditoria.2010 was the cenetary year , for the celebration .I drove my wagonR to allahabad , taking her with me . Its was memorable weekend where all old students had gathered , my mother was given a comfortable room in hotel Alahabad Regency. Here I want to mention that Dr R.B Lal the Vice Chancellor is an exstudent of Etah christian Boys High School , he was there when my grandfather Mr Edwin Richards was Housefather of the boys hostel.
I along with my parents had visited Madras renamed Chennai in 1996 , stayed in Taramani guest house in Indian Institute of Technology Madras Guindy.St. Thomas Mount is a small hillock located near the neighbourhood of Guindy and very close to Chennai International Airport.Syrian Christians of India trace the origin of their church to St. Thomas the Apostle, believed to have attained martyrdom in Chennai.A shrine dedicated to "Our Lady of Expectation" (Mother Mary) was built in 1523 on top of the mount. The altar of this shrine was built on the spot where St. Thomas' death has occured. At the northern foot of the mount, is a gateway of four impressive arches surmounted by a cross bearing the inscribed date 1547. A flight of 160 steps leads up to the summit of the mount. There are fourteen stations of the cross erected on the way to the summit.
Presybterian missionaries walked in the footsteps of St Thomas .the apostle.
Modern Job- Dr. Graham Stuart Staines (1941 – 22 January 1999) was an Australian Christian missionary who along with his two sons Philip (aged 10) and Timothy (aged 6) were burnt to death by a gang while sleeping in his station wagon at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district in Odisha, India on January 22, 1999. He had been working in Odisha among the tribal poor and especially with leprosy patients since 1965. Staines assisted in translating a part of the Bible into the Ho language of India, including proofreading the entire New Testament manuscript, though his focus was on a ministry to lepers. He spoke fluent Oriya and was very popular among the patients whom he used to help after they were cured. He used to teach how to make mats out of rope and basket from Saboigrass and trees leaves.
His widow Gladys Staines continued to live in India caring for leprosy patients until 2004 before going back to Australia. In 2005 she was awarded the fourth highest civilian honor in India, Padma Shree, in recognition for her work with leprosy patients in Odisha In 2003, the Bajrang Dal activist Dara Singh was convicted of leading the gang that murdered Staines and Singh is now serving life in prison. The Rastriya Swayam Sevak RSSSand Vishva Hindu Parishad have blamed the doctor of converting dalits .Many churches in orissa were demolished.. A worker of Bajrang dal a terrosist hindu group was found guilty and sentenced to death.Sudhindra Sharma in his book ‘South Asia” [1996] finds the influence of the hindu fundamentalists a negetive factor ,craze for hindu religious epics that are screened on the indian television Indian hindus have offered wordhip through the television screens to actors and actresses playing the different dieties,when the electrical power supply got cut off the watchers went on a riot. these indian viewers didnot consider the films a cultural entertainment. Indian politicians run to gurus to seek guidance for political decisions speaks volume of their imprisoned mindsets. The practice of sat ,widow burning was condoned in Rajasthan in 1998 Regarding the failure of hindus to appreciate Christianity ,we have to remember that India was a british colony ,they equate Christianity with European colonial expansion they believed that great famines in India due to britih mismanagement The Spanish and Portugese spread Christianity with the sword killing thousands .The western missionaries who couldnot standup to the British dictatorship. It would be useless and unfair to go in point blank fefutation ,Christians have to bow their heads in shame for inquisitions ,crusades and failure to live according the bible.
Once I visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Graces near Meerut in uttar pradesh The Church was built by Begum Samru, a Muslim lady who married a European mercenary soldier Walter Reinhardt Sombre. Samru converted to Roman Catholicism in 1781 and adopted the name Joanna Nobilis. Begum Samru inherited the Jagir of Sardhana after her husband's death in 1778. She is regarded as the only Catholic ruler in India, and ruled the Principality of Sardhana in 18th and 19th century. The Church is the largest in North India there is an edifice on her tomb It depicts her with a scroll from Emperor Shah Alam II bestowing upon her the fiefdom of Sardhana after her husband's death. Also depicted are her adopted son David Dyce Sombre and her diwan, Rae Singh who was the great-grandfather of Motilal Nehru, father of Pt Jawaharlal Nehru .
I had to go for an university study visit to the city of Nawabs Lucknow . I drove my car from Kanpur to Lucknow using the interstate expressway. I spent one month in the home of Bishop Tony . His wife Mrs Neelam took special care of me.
These visits are like pearls on necklace ,each has its own luminous glow.