at cambrdge, london and framlingham

Our GSE team shifted to new hosts at Cambridge.
I was put up with Rtn Rosemary and John Turner in a village called stapleford. The nice gentle couple made my stay very warm and comfortable. That afternoon, we had a nice lunch of bread and salads and juice in their lovely little garden. The first evening we drove to a place called beech garden and trekked into the little beech tree woods till sun was setting. From a lovely view point I got the first glimpse of Cambrigde city and its magnificent buildings. I prepared uppitu for them and Rosemary prepared the Italian veg Lasagne for me, following a paper recipe. Both were delicious. The couple had so much to tell me about English culture and ask me about Indian culture. The gentleman had been to parts of north western India a few years ago and also knows some Indian cuisine.
The next morning we drove to the imperial war museum with our coordinator Kevin. A great part of the day was spent watching the amazing aircrafts most of which were used during the world wars. That evening we went to the south Cambridge rotary club for a dinner meet. A guest speaker spoke about the time pieces (evolution of clocks) down the ages it was interesting. We were introduced to the gathering briefly.
The next morning 18th may 2010, was our vocational day. We all visited the places of our vocational interests. I was taken to the Long road 6th form college. I walked around the campus meeting the staff and others concerned. A few students demonstrated drama and dance. The admin head Ms Gale was very cordial and led me around. The principal Sarah Hamilton Fox was a smart accomplished lady and spend good time with me telling about their academic achievements. I particularly liked textile art work of the students. That afternoon we gave a presentation at the university arms hotel for the rotary club of Cambridge.
I was then taken to the BBC radio centre Cambridge at Milton road. The anchor Su was very happy to introduce me and the GSE team on air to the listeners. I briefed her about our GSE programme and told about the exciting learning experience we were having through out. It was a very informal chat though. That evening was another presentation at the Royston club. We also met an Indian Rotarian there.
The next day I took a day off to rest myself for I was slightly tired of the hectic travel. I stayed back home and my host made my stay more than comfortable. I was feeling better that afternoon and preferred t go out wit my host. I accompanied her to the local market Waitrose. On the way back we took a refreshing long walk across the world famous Grandchetser meadows which is known for the elite scholars and poets and scientists who walked there and drank tea. It was all sunshine and breeze as we walked through the fresh green meadows by the side of river Cam.
The next day, 19th may 2010, was visit to Eely cathedral and clubs. I opted out to stay home as I had minor health problems. It was rather a day of rest for me. However I went shopping at the local market with my host and walked across the historical Grantchester meadows by the side of river Cam nearby which is known for the elite scholars and poets who have made it their walk path and have derived from ages. It was one of the loveliest places I have seen.
The next day, 20th may 2010, was a great day for us at Cambridge. Rtn Gorden took us to Cambridge University. We first visited the Christ college, known for its famous scholars like Charles Darvin and Newton. It was amusing to see on the frontal gate tower, an image of king Henry with a broken chair leg in his hand, in place of the traditional staff, which was actually kept there by students decades ago when the original staff broke. We saw the window of Newtons and room and an apple tree that was generated from the historical apple tree that inspired Newton to ponder over gravitation theory. We walked into the courtyard of the college and were show where Darvin stayed. We saw some important chapels and halls of the college and proceeded to see Trinity college. This is the richest of all he colleges in Cambridge University, and houses grand magnificent buildings. From there we walked down the historical streets seeing the administrative block academic building, the big clock with a monster ‘time eater’, university press and sbook shop and many others. King’s college is magnificient particularly the chapel inside is beautiful with pictures of Bible and lovely sculptures some of which even documented the joyous and sad happenings in the royal family of Henry 8th who built it. We sat in the chapel for about 15 minutes enjoying the splendid view on the walls around. We walked through the corridors and courtyards seeing and hearing interesting things. We were shown form outside the rooms where Burtrand Russel, Ramanujam, the famous Indian mathematician and others stayed during their tenure as fellows of Cambridge University.
We then proceeded to the Queens’ college. There are magnificient halls in the college reminding us if the aristocratic legacy that it once witnessed. The courtyard has a sundial and a huge unusual clock which still works intact on basis of the shadow of sun and moon. We then had lunch with the rotary club and had hearty discussions with the members who meet there every week. Since it was a business meet, we did not give any presentations formally.
From there we went punting on River Cam, that was one of the most exciting parts of our trip. As our boat drifted along the stream, the row man who was punting it explained about all the learning centres on the shores. It was a lovely sight as well as informative. We enjoyed the cool breeze along with sunshine that made it all the more pleasant for us.
We had a brief shopping programme at the local open market in Cambridge and then returned to our homes. I went to Rtn Ann Marie’s house for dinner. She had bought some Indian food and prepared rice and salads for me. She had arranged a lovely candle light dinner table for me. She is a Swedish woman and is a pharmacist and business consultant and we had so much to talk about regarding culture economy and social practices of our countries.
When I returned home to The Turner’s, I had a long chat with John and showed him many pictures of India, Bangalore, dance and music and family. They had so many queries about Indian customs and traditions. They were a wonderful couple who did everything to make my stay comfortable there.
The next morning, 21st may 2010, myself and Shruti were shifted to Worlington hall country house hotel, where our guys of our team were hosted. As Shruti was tired, she took her day off. I was led to The Miltonhall college of technology by Rtn Terry. He took in a lovely German BNW car with an open roof!. It was an exciting 25 mts drive towards the college, through the greenery, as the morning sunshine shone on us directly from above! Terry took me into the college and we were shown around. As Terry was a retired Headmaster form the same college a couple of years ago, we had access to most places inside. The spacious classrooms, sports block, performing arts block, labs and libraries were all beautiful and well maintained. One of the most interesting features of the indoor sports stadium is that the globe shaped tall building was built in one day through a special method of casting the cement into moulds. This was supposed to be the second of its kind in Europe. After that Terry took me to the historical museum there. The small but well maintained museum contained some beautiful furniture, artifacts, implements, machinery and technology of ancient and medieval Europe. Another interesting feature of the museum is that it preserved the huge roman treasure that was dug up in Milton hall 1970s. Now the original treasure containing mainly silver utensils is shifted to the British museum at London.
I then was then welcomed by Chandrashekhar sir and Rajeev and the local Rotarians who led us to an Indian restaurant ‘Gandhi’ and treated us with delicious Indian delicacies! We had a nice chat over the dining table too. We then drove with Terry to the British horse racing training school. It is unique of its kind and the jockey/ instructer Jane drove in her van to show the actual nature of training that is given there for serious trainees as well as students. The various race horses and the facilities created are amazing.
Terry then drove us to a parking lot and arrived with yummy ice creams. As we licked and munched into the crunchy milky bars, he sped the open car through the green paths in a high speed. We were screaming with delight as the cool breeze whizzed past our hair! We returned to Worlington hall hotel for a brief refreshment and then Rtn John drove us to a special nursery play home called Busy bees and Bee hive. The lady, Jane was an extraordinary lady who had made wonderful settings for the tiny tots to grow. The classrooms, gardens, kitchen and animal farms in the campus are unique. The albekas which we saw were lovely and we also were enlightened about the process of sheering the alpacas hair and manufacturing yarns out of it. It was a vast campus with many colourful and interesting aspects. The commitment and zeal with which the lady had built up the nursery school is interesting indeed.
We returned to the hotel where rotarians and their wives were waiting to greet us. We had a long chat with them all. The ladies of the Rotarians showered us with questions particularly related to Indian culture. Our tea leader cordially introduced at all and I grabbed the opportunity f introducing him to the. I sang few songs and danced the facial expressions and answered their many questions on dance, music etc. Shruti gave them a taste of bollywood dance. They were delighted to see and here them all and our exchanges went al till midnight!
The next day Dock drove us to Cambridge to catch the train to London. We took the 10.32 am train and arrived around 11. 30pm and Nick was waiting for us received us with his wife Anne and we changed a couple of trains to get to our hotel Premeir at Prince Regent. As we were just settling down in our rooms, my cousin Radhika generously brought us hot Pulao and raita and we all ate to our hearts content. That evening we left by tube train service to central London. We had booked tickets for Madam Tussauds and thoroughly enjoyed it there. We delighted in getting photographed with the almost realistic wax models of many world celebrities there. The scary house and taxi ride through medieval European history were fascinating too. From there we went to Subway and grabbed a few veg sandwiches and rushed to the Oliver show. It was a world class display of talent, direction, theatre skills and music. We sat in rapt attention enjoying every bit of it.
It was then 10.15 pm and my team members went ahead to enjoy the night London. I went to my cousin Radhika’s house for that night. I delightfully munched on some Indian food and relaxed, chatting with her for a loooooooooooooong time! After all we met after a long gap. The next morning was relaxed and peaceful. I cooked Chitra anna with Radhika and packed it up for our lunch. Radhika joined me in joining the GSE team at Bucckingham palace. We had a glimpse of the grand guard changing ceremony in the frontal courtyard.
Radhika then walked us around the important places of central London, like traffalga square, Downing street, Big Ben, Westmisnter abbey, covent garden, Harod's shop and some other commercial streets. We enjoyed the stylish display of fashion and prosperity of London. We munched on delicious ice creams and walked on and on and on on the streets to our content. Radhika stayed on till evening and we continued on. We had delicious Indian food at a restaurant called sagar. We then proceeded to have some photographs of Big ben and westnminster abbey during sunset.
Of course Rajeev's camera was hungry to grab them!! The sunshine on these towers made them golden in colour. Rajeev clicked some excellent snaps that evening. The breeze was cool, sunshine was damcing on the thames and we were simply mesmerixzed by the scenic beauty around. After sunset we proceeded to Tower bridge that was lit up with series of lights. Rajeev captured some lovely pictures of the same. We took the DLR train back to our hotel and rested.
The next morning Nick and Anne took us by train to Epswich. From there our respective hosts drove us all to our homes. Nick is my host inFramlingham.
He is a wonderful person, with a great heart and wonderful sense of humour. He does the toughest of jobs and handles the biggest of responsibilities with a smile on his face. He is optimism personified. His wife Anne is an amazing lady. She is a Jockey and has her own horse. She has a cute 40 yr old tortoise, George in her kitchenyard. She has been handling a bRownie since 15 yrs apart form working for a company. She is always busy in doing various things. The elegance and energy she carries are indeed commendable.
The first evenng Anne took me to her Brownie where I enjoyed the company of the little girls and was almost a part of their games and activities. That evenng Nick and Anne and myself had a loooong chat on many interesting topics. What fascinates all westernesr particularly about India is the family setup and we had many related discussions. Anne had made a yummy pasta with tomato and aplle crumble for us.
The next morning our GSE team was taken to the Framling ham castle, a 13th century relic and we enjoyed the wall walk and scenes around fro the top.
There is a lawn chess game there and Rajeev and Nick entered into a match. It was India vs England and India won!! haha
That afternoon we had a memorable picnic lunch out in the green meadows beside the castle. We had some songs and chatting and lots of fun!!
The next day, 26th may, 2010, we visited the Long way engineering museum at Leiston. Trevor Hwakins, a retired engineer who once worked there showed us around giving us valuable information about the ancient 17th century workshop (now a museum) It wa snice to see the antizue engines and also watch the demonstrations of some. We had a nice lunch of Peitza at a nearby hotel and very useful conversations with the rotarians there.
Form there we proceeded to Ron Geater's flower farm. That was the largest and most accomplished flower industries we ever saw. The hardwork, skills, technology and marketing styles were all simply amzing and well managed. For about a couple of hours we feasted our eyes on the lovely colours of hundreds of flowers all around us.
That evening I cooked Indian food for all our GSE menbers and there hosts. The menu included sambar, rasam, veg curry in north Indian style, payasam, kosambari (we got readymade chapatis to add to it). It was fun and laughter all the way for all of us. Rajeev helped in me in serving and washed most of the utensils!We had a funfilled evening this day.
tomorrow is our vocational visit, I am going to Dance East.
Well more next time. Bye
Arathi

Ely, its cathedral and the family artist

Arati is feeling sick due to the food she has eaten and she stayed back and not for her good. I think this place, ELY (spelled as ily as our kannada mouse, haha) is one of the most beautiful cities in this country. It is also one of the smallest cities in this place. These people classify a place as a city only if it has a cathedral. There is a difference b/w the cathedral and a church. A cathedral will have a bishop and the church will not have. Hope I have been able to translate what I have learnt.

Jaqueline is the wife of a veterinarian and very nice lady. She is so funny and lively, we never felt we spent almost 4 hours with her in the morning. Ely`s cathedral has one of the biggest octagon which is built of wood in the late 12/13th century. Whichever the place we have visitied here have so much history and manyof the Rotarians we have met have been living in homes which are more than 300-400 years of age. This cathedral was first built in 1090 something and it is still standing tall in the small city of ely. Amazing stuff inside and you can see beheaded statues from Charles the VIII era it is just like all the temples damaged by the ghaznis and ghoris in India.

There is a lovely river in ely and we had a nice cold drink and enjoyed the sun. Charles and jaqueline took us to the ely club meeting where in we had to present with out any powerpoint. I think this was the most lacklustre presentation we have ever done in this trip. I think it makes a lot of difference when we use audio visuals compared to only audio.

Oliver Cromwell. I am sure many of us have not heard of this guy back home but this is one guy many people hate and some love in UK. This the person who was responsible for killing king charles I and created a revolution in the country. Born to a poor family he grew to be the biggest guy in the country and ruled the country for a few years. We had a chance to visit his home in ely which is very well maintained which speaks about the history of oliver Cromwell.

Finally when he died, his body was removed from his burial ground and was beheaded by the king charles II and then finally his head is intered in one of the colleges of Cambridge.

Toney is an artist of different character. I think he was born in India in his previous life!?!. He is one of the few guys who gives so much importance to the family here. He has a lot of collection of all the stuff he used to use when he was a child, his children, grand children and so on and so forth. He has pictures of his 10 generations of parentage and all his wonderful paintings speak of the family values. Quite a character he is!. He gave us a wonderful tour of his paintings on the theme of TIME and he was kind enough to join us in the meeting which was conducted in LAMB the very evening.

This club of ely is quite young and vibrant and very very informal. This is one of the clubs where we had one of the best interactions. The presentation went very very well and at the same time we had wonderful question and answer session too. Every day we are coming very late and having long days. Have already given 4 presentations in 2 days.

Vocational day

Myself and sampath were picked up by jim who is a 82 year old man who took us to the Cambridge hospital where sampath had an appointment with the HR department. I was picked up further by Sheila of Cambridge group veterinary clinics and then met John Greives.


He has this practice for more than 30 years and he is one vet who not only is specialised in small animals but also the exotic ones. I was lucky enough to see this clinic where the practice is very much ethical like back home and had a chance to see the blind dogs and also hearing dogs.


These are different organisations run by charities who train the dogs for blinds (guide dogs) and then handed over to people who have applied for the same and they are doing it free of cost!. The trainers are very young volunteers whoa re interested in doing this kind of a job and they are quite excited that they are doing this kind of service.


On the contrary the hearing dog group is also run by charity and these people train dogs for the deaf people giving specific signals to the owner as and when they hear different sounds like the door bell, telephone ring and if there is an emergency they have a specific feat to do with which the owner will understand what might be the severity of the situation. I am really surprised and happy to see this kind of work being done by voluntary organisations which is so much helpful for the needy.


Wherever we have gone, we have seen charities and more charities. Everyone is raising money for charity and they are being used effectively for the right purposes.


Cambridge city rotary club had organised for the lunch meeting where in we gave the presentation to the people and it was very well accepted. Post lunch John took me to Newmarket Equine Hospital which is a private hospital run by a group of veterinarians which is built with a budget of 9 million pounds. There are facilities which supersedes some of the human hospitals not only in India but also in UK. Quite surprising isn’t it.


New market is the mecca of horse breeding and racing in the world there are thousands of horses there and there are two wonderful race courses the July race course & Rowing miles race course which conducts some of the biggest races in the world. Did a small tour of some of the stud farms in new market.


Royston is a small town which is quiet beautiful and hilly. Royston rotary club meeting was there in the evening in the Royston golf club and what a place to have a meeting. There was a presentation on London walks by a gentleman and they were kind enough to accommodate our presentation also. Quite nice people. This was the first informal club I have seen in this country.

Worlington Hall & Duxford Imperial war museum

We came to worlington and met the hosts of shruti and arathi and also Dick stocker who put us in worlington hall. The day went very smooth and the hotel is owned by an Indian doctor who lives close to London and he comes to worlington every weekend. He cooked himself very good for us as we had not eaten any Indian food for such long. Some veg curry and Egg masala did the magic for dinner.

Imperial war museum:
A museum they have built to display the warheads, aircrafts, artillery and also tanks and ground fighting machines in an airport which is currently used for test flights of the war planes and also used for air shows.


This is something very new to us and the way they have maintained the aircrafts are incredible. I think this is the only place where in you can enter the super sonic concorde now (and all of us did!!) and you will have a chance to see the spitfires, B17 bombers, lancasters, the blackbirds and so on and so forth. The number of displays are innumerable and it is a lifetime experience. What else can you get when you are in such a place and you get a display of spitfires done specially for you. The way the aircraft goes at 90 degrees to the sky and the way it swirls like a swift is just a feat to watch. A tremendous day for all of us.

There is an aircraft by name Black bird which is an american spy plane which can go 3 times the speed of the sound and can fly at 85000 ft. Can you all believe that??? it is just incredible and if you stand in front of them, we all know how much small we are. Great learning experience in this visit.



We headed to Cambridge south club in University arms hotel and we had a chance to interact with the club members as they had a presentation about time pieces from a collector of these items.

The norwich rally

Sorry i am going back in time as i am the one who has to process all the picture and then put things properly on the blog. So hence, starting all over again from the last day we were in norwich.

The norwich rotary club oragnised a rally and many people in norwich from many other clubs joined the program. We were all clad with traditional indian dresses and the program started off with vande mataram with the team singing the song. Further, arathi gave her vocal performance which was followed by shrutis dance.

it was followed by dinner and then the team gave the presentation and it was very well accepted. This was the meeting where we met alder and amy. The highlight of the meeting was the attendance of the lord mayor & the sherieff.

Team norwich gave us a very pleasant surprise when they all came in traditional indian dresses and you may have a look at the fantastic team here.

cheers, job well done!!

More pictures of this can be seen at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50191187@N06/sets/72157624141630442/

we are in cambridge!!

On the last night I stayed with the Jarrolds at Norwich, they gave me a warm candle light dinner. I showed them our pictures and presentations and gifted them with some Indian art pieces and my own paintings. It was a touching moment for me to depart from them the next day. I dressed Waltraud with a saree and bid farewell. We left to Worlington hall to join our team members and continue our tour n Cambridge area.
I was put up with Rtn Rosemary and John Turner. The nice gentle couple made my stay very war and comfortable. That afternoon, we had a nice lunch of bread and salads and juice in their lovely little garden. The first evening we drove to a place called beech garden and trekked into the little beech tree woods till sun was setting. From a lovely view point I got the first glimpse of Cambrigde city and its magnificent buildings. I prepared uppitu for them and Rosemary prepared the Italian veg Lasagne for me, following a paper recipe. Both were delicious. The couple had so much to tell me about English culture and ask me about Indian culture. The gentleman had been to parts of north western India a few years ago and also knows some Indian cuisine.
The next morning we drove to the imperial war museum with our coordinator Kevin. A great part of the day was spent watching the amazing aircrafts most of which were used during the world wars. That evening we went to the south Cambridge rotary culb for a dinner meet. A guest speaker spoke about the time pieces (evolution of clocks) down the ages It was interesting. We were introduced to the gathering briefly. The next morning (18th may 2010) was our vocational day. I was taken to the Long road 6th form college. I walked around the campus meeting the staff and others concerned. A few students demonstrated drama and dance. The admin head Gale was very cordial and led me around. The principal Sarah Hamilton Fox was a smart accomplished lady and spend good time with me telling about their academic achievements. I particularly liked textile art work of the students. That afternoon we gave a presentation at the university arms hotel for the rotary club of Cambridge.
I was then taken to the BBC radio centre Cambridge. The anchor was very happy to introduce me and the GSE team on air to the listeners. I briefed her about our GSE programme and told about the exciting learning experience we were having through out. It was a very informal chat though. That evening was another presentation at the Royston club. It went well and we also met an Indian Rotarian there.
The next day was visit to Eely cathedral and club. I opted to stay back for some rest as I had minor health problems. Anyway Rosemary took me out with her for shopping in a local supermarket and we also made a brief trek across the historical Grantchester meadows by the side of river Cam known for the elite poets and scholars who have always trekked there. They were some of the loveliest sights I have ever seen. The day went in rest and here I am writing down our experience.
It is only a glimpse into all the fun and experience we are having here. More again.
Bye
Arathi

Week gone by

We cannot believe a week has gone by. Our stay has been outstanding. We owe a big thank you to the Rotary Norwich club. With their glitchless planning we never had any problems.
We are taking wonderful experiences from Norwich and of course immnese amount of goodwill and strong friendship.
My personal experience has surpassed what I had anticipated. I always wondered how GSE teams got so attached to their hosts. This week has taught me how its possible to grow close and form strong bonds. I have made some friends who will last me through my life. My host Colin has been wonderful. He is the superman of this club, juggling ten things at the same time. I can never thank him enough but to host him at my house.
We are leaving with heavy hearts but also looking forward to new hosts and warm bonds. More as we go along. Stay logged on.

Miles to go before I sleep....
Shruti

hi freinds
dont get carried away by the picture of 'arathi tight' in the pictures link sent by rajeev! its just they were playing pranks on me trying to make me look as if drinking wine! haha
well, we are having a wonderful time here
this morning I drove to the blickling hall with my hosts. Its an amazingly beautiful castle on the banks of a lake.
The furniture, archtecture and art pieces are world class. It was as if we were in a world of imagination! I spent the afternoon with my hosts in the amazing garden created by twosome gardeners in east rounton. seeing is believing it! the amount of creavtivity pured into the gardening and cutting designs of the plants is simply unique and extraordinary. As we munched on our lunch in a resaurant there, a lady came and greeted me sudenly. it was noe other than ann, the driver of our van to cromer! she also suggested that we watch a christian wedding that was going on there
I very much wanted to watch a live european wedding i did! the bride was like a lovely golden doll dressed in the traditional wedding gown. two ovely white doves were released after the ceremony!
my hosts gave me a warm candle light dinner party. and we had a looonnng chat about many interesting things. they showed my ther pictures and i showed them mine. i dressed my host mrs jarrold with the saree and she was delighted about it. haha
we are leaving to cambridge tomorrow. more again
bye
Arathi

Hi all
As my friends said we are all having a great time here. Our hosts are very warm and hospitable. Just yesterday was our first team presentation, of course just an informal one at the cromers club by the sea. It was a lovely place overlooking the sea. It went fine and they all enjoyed it a lot.
I am put up with the Jarrolds, nice couple renowned in the city for their generosity and philantrophic work. They are great lovers and patrons of art. I am earning a lot about European art and music here. They also took me along t a some amazing concerts of classical music.
Norwich is a lovely city, so clean and green and well organized the like of the toy cities we set up during bombe habba navaratri! There are lovely churches, cathedrals and buildings most of which are centuries old. The art and architecture are superb.
We all visited an old cathedral and the guide who took us around was a millionaire rotatrian about 86yrs in age and he voluntarily takes visitors around as a guide!! On the 11th we had our vocational visits. I was taken to the arts and language sections of Franglimham earl high school. All day I was with the teachers and children sitting through the classes and sometimes also teaching art to students. I picked up a lot of information about their schooling system and teaching modules! That would be of great use to me in my research too!
Yesterday, we were out all day seeing interesting things
The apple orchards, the juice making equipment, cattle, poultry, etc at ‘The ashes’’ were all indeed places for us to gather lot of information. The hathels engineering centre was another great place. The scientists there spoke to us about their latest research and progress.
Today we visited the castle of Norwich which is now a museum with lovely art photos and stuffed animal and bird models.

Our formal presentation at the norwich rotary club went well. we were asked questions on music, poverty, culture and others.
Our hosts and Rotarians here are sooo warm and friendly we hardly feel home sick.
More again
Bye Arathi

Lord Mayor, Her armour & The Shereiff

Today was our first official day and we had a meeting in the lord mayors office in the city hall. The lord mayor is a lady this time and she is the 100th lord mayor and it was a very nice time meeting the lord mayor and also the shereiff. Councillor Evelyn Collishaw welcomed us in to her chamber which almost overlooks the whole city and they were in their official attire which comprises of a golden chain which is more than a kilogram in weight!! And this dates back to 1760s and they have been preserving this from ever since.

The mayors term is about to end in a months time and there is going to be a handing over ceremony which we understand is quite a program to watch. They will go on a horse carriage to the cathedral and the handing over ceremony happens there. She would officially carry the sword and would pass it on to the successor. She did explain to us that it is a ceremonial post (like our governer) and she took us to the committee hall where in we had a chance to see the place where the politicians meet once a month. We were taken to the dias where she sits and was a privilege for all of us. I am sure this would have never happened but for the rotary and we are very much impressed by the influence the Rotarians carry here in this country too.

The shereiff, professor Tim O` Riordan is a specialist on the carbon emissions and he was very happy to explain to us how the whole carbon emission thing is causing serious danger to the environment. HE did appreciate the efforts Indian universities are taking in the methane mitigation projects and we were quite happy when we heard about Bangalore university contribution from his end.

Jarrolds is a very popular shopping destination in Norwich and is owned by a Rotarian who is hosting arathi. This is the place where sampath is going for his vocational visit too. Passing that, we went to the cathedral which is the second tallest in the country. We met Rotarian Allen who was our guide. He must be more than 75 years old but the energy he carries and the interest he had in showing and explaining us the cathedral was a message to the lazy minds we have sometimes back home. This cathedral is a huge construction which was first built in the year 1096 by bishop of lozinga. There are some interesting stories about this person and this cathedral has both Norman and Gothic architecture in it. What we understand with Norman is that it has circular arches but the gothic one has pointed arches. Norman is French architecture but gothic if I am not wrong is german.

This cathedral was burnt down twice and was rebuilt. But still this place has been able to retain some of the wonderful paintings which was originally done through which we can imagine how beautiful the cathedral was then….

We had a great chance to meet the old Rotarians (one of them so old that he needs support to sit) and they were all game to receive us and they were quite happy to host us for lunch. Brian, the secretary of this club welcomed us and hosted us a wonderful lunch. We had quite nice interaction with them and exchanged flags.

Had a very nice boat ride on the river Wensum and Yare organised by Collin (who hosts shruti) which added flavour to the afternoon. Tomorrow is our first vocational visit and we are longing for that.

Castle acre priory & Titchwell marsh

Sunday was supposed to be an easy day but was not. Was a very memorable day for both myself and Mr. Chandru. Went for a walk on a bright and sunny day (fortunately) but was freezing cold in the morning. Went into the woods very close to the home of hillary and we could see bluebells which were flowering and were lucky to see them as they bloom only in this part of the year.

Hillary had some ideas to give us some surprise and both chris and hillary drove us to a place by name castle acre priory. A priory is a place like a monastery where in monks stay, pray and teach. This place carries the ruins of a priory which was built a thousand years ago. The place is a heritage site in UK and has been very well maintained. The story goes back to henry the 8th who started the Protestantism, who demolished many catholic churches and monasteries. The castle acre priory is also an example of his actions. The whole priory was demolished and in 1700s the same was rebuilt the we can see what was rebuilt in the front side of the priory. Hillary is multifaceted personality and not only she knows about flowers, birds and language, but also about history. Both husband and wife make a fantastic pair and intellectually very strong. In every room in their house you see only books!!. We could see daffodils, chestnuts and also heard the story of chestnuts which children used to play in her times.


Dandelions and Buttercups which are grown on the green carpet of grass in the surroundings of priory makes the visit worth while. Wall flowers add to the glory of the ruins and makes it look like a bollywood set. Orangetip butterflies fly all over accompanied by Brimstones which create a mood for any one who visits the place. Made some good pictures and are satisfied by our visit.

King couple showed us how to pull a pint and also got me a ploughmans lunch which is very typical of that place. This has a plate served with cheese, some pieces of bread, onions and local pickles. I am still drooling thinking over it???

Titchwell marsh:

Knowing our interest in nature and wildlife, King couple (Mr. and Mrs. King) had planned to take us to the shore in north Norfolk and it was titchwell marsh. This is maintained by RSPB (Royal society of protection of birds) of UK and it is a very well maintained area where many birds come and breed there. There are some wonderful resident birds too. It can be compared to our rangana thittu but it is well spread and has many hides to watch the birds and make pictures.

We had a very warm welcome from the chirping Robin which was very very close to us. Later on we found people feeding the robins with the worms and it was quite an experience. These robins are used to humans and they are not afraid. What an example of how these people maintain a place and respect the space for the animals and birds. I could see more than a hundred people all with very expensive digiscopes coming there to learn and enjoy the birds.

We could sight a lot of birds namely, Pheasants, Green finch, Black bird, Coot, swan (first time I saw a swan in the wild), Black headed gull, avocet, harringer gulls, shovelers, shelducks, red finch, chiff chaf, blue tit, moor hen and so on and so forth. I could make some pictures of some of the birds shown here.

We generally have a discussion every day evening when we sit on dinner and each day on a different topic. King couple wanted to know generally what is that we pray before we eat food. We described about our shanti mantra sahana bhavatu. She was so impressed about our culture on how we speak about peace and the discussion went on for more than an hour. She was somuch involved in this and eventually she requested MR. chandru to chant it and she wanted me to write the translation in English so that she can use it as a prayer when we meet on Friday. Amazing things to learn here.

Welcome to GSE- UK

Just Arrived...Safely in Landon Heathrow Airport

On Behalf of Rajeev

1. THE FIRST INFORMAL MEETING.
We had the first informal meeting today and it was quite interesting. Nick came all the way and all our hosts were present in the meeting. This is to set the rules of the game. Hugh davies chaired the meeting and the same ended with a group photograph. Each one of us went with our hosts. Myself and mr. chandru joined hillary who took us to show the church and also the castle. Amazing castle built in 1700s but looks almost very new. Now converted into a museum and portrays some of the amazing paintings of cromer. Quite interesting.

Evening we had the fish and chips welcome party which was also attended by a previous GSE member who went to argentina with hillary. We were supposed to go to the fireworks as it was too cold outside the program was abandoned. The program happened in Mr.Masood jails place. He has converted his swimming pool into a conference hall which is quite interesting. Some pics of the program.
2. Hilary king: the president of norwich club
Hillary is an amazing lady. She has been a teacher for many years and she teaches French and Spanish. She led the GSE team which went to argentina 3 years ago and the program was quite successful. She is always bubbling with energy and very very graceful. We have too many things to take back here in her place and she never stops working! And she is the president for the Norwich rotary club.

Just outsider her home, you can see wonderful tulips which we dream of finding them in India . The tulips and the cherry blossom tree right in front of her home makes it look more beautiful. It is quite surprising to see the way nature works. The cherry blossom blossoms only during this part of the year and we understand in the next one week all the flowers would fall. You cant just see any leaf in the tree and the tree is like cladded with wonderful flowers like a bride. Quite an experience.

She is an amazing bird watcher and knows a lot of birds by name. When we went into the museum with her, it was quite amazing to understand her knowledge about the birds in the Norfolk area. We are lucky to be with her.

We reached London safely & have been enjoying our stay here in UK. We were welcomed by the very harsh cold chilling British weather, but it got very fine since yesterday, where Sun has again come out to help us enjoy our stay.

My Hosts- Ms. Rtn. Janey Bevington & her partner Mr. Tom Carr are wonderful persons & have been more than perfect hosts for me. The amount of time that they spent taking me around the country side in the last 2 days & the way they have made me feel comfortable, makes me feel very good & less home sick!!!. They took so much of pains to take me around. 2 days- we must have toured about 400 Kms touring the beautiful country side. The amount of knowledge that Mr.Tom has about the History, about the various places that we toured- makes me wonder how we don’t give importance to such nice particulars in our own country.

Day 01 was soo chill weather that we felt really horrible. The rains added to the chill weather which I guess was around 10 degrees. Fortunately “Lady Luck” smiled on us from day 2- Saturday & Sunday were far better w.r.t weather.

On Saturday, We had a small function where we were given a warm welcome in the morning. We drove all along the coast & was a thrilling experience in freezing temperature to be on the beach; see some wonderful & majestic old Buildings like the Felbrigg Hall & the Blickling Hall.

We drove all along the coast & saw that part of the city which is becoming a part of the sea- due to Global Warming. The entire team met in the evening for a Dinner in one of the Indian’s House- Mr. Masood. The Dinner meeting was also attended by a few Rotarians, including a couple from India.

Sunday was a day with the Hosts & my Host, Janey took me around the city in the morning. It was a wonderful walk around the city- which is certainly modern, but has made all efforts to maintain some of its old grandeur. The Old city walls, parts of which have been still maintained is certainly a treat to watch. Then, Janey took me to one of the Old building –Dragon Hall, which is a very old building which was used for Trade & the structure has been carefully preserved- with great attempt being made to keep it in the same shape. Post Lunch, Janey took me to a nearby place called Great Yarmoth- where Tom goes for Sailing on the seas every Sunday. On the way, my eyes were treated with some wonderful Holiday Boat Stations- all along the River- from Norwich to Great Yarmoth. The country side is just too beautiful to explain. In the night, I cooked Indian food for my hosts & they were thrilled with the same. Rtn. Jeaney was in India for 5 weeks last year & she loves Indian food. Capsicum Masala, Dal & Chapathi were on the menu & it reminded me of my days in Germany. Guess Capsicum was a bit too hot for the hosts, but the Daal, which I actually prepared for 2 days’ consumption got over (think it was good!!!).

Today morning we had a civic reception from the Mayor & the Sheriff of Norwich. Was a bit surprised about the ease with which it happens here. It was a very good experience talking to the Mayor & the Sheriff. Post this; we had a wonderful tour around the wonderful Norwich Cathedral. We went for Lunch with very Senior Rotarians- where we met Rotarians who were as old as 92 Yrs also. Then, it was a boat trip for the entire team around the city of Norwich & we wound up the day- a bit early. Came Home & in an attempt to take a quick nap, slept off- thanks to Tom, who woke me up for Dinner. While I thought that we have overcome the Jet-lag, looks like we are just about catching up with this!!!

Tomorrow, Tuesday- May 11th is a Vocational Visit Day for all of us & I am off to one of the most HR Dept. of a very Successful Departmental Store- Jarrolds, followed by which we are off for Bowling. So, more updates are the same….till then, good bye.

Journey Well Began

The expedition has started. It was a very warm farewell to the team with our GSE chairman Mr. Manjunath shetty joining us in the airport. The team is highly energised which is evident in this picture.

The flight was on time and every one was off as soon as the flight took off. We landed in Doha international airport at 6 am and we realise we only have an hour and half. Met some very interesting people in the airport from Mangalore and had a very nice interaction. The team has taken off.

We are going to Gate 10 in Doha intenational airport to catch our flight QR 7 starting at 8.35.

We initially thought that we would post this from doha international airport itself but the internet was not very supportive.

Landed exactly at 2 pm in London heathrow and surprisingly London was very kind on us. It was bright and sunny and by the time we cleared immigration and came out, Magnus and Nick was waiting for us and we started off straight away to Norwich in an amazing van. It was a pretty long journey with a pit stop to have some burgers in burger king and by the time we reached Norwich it was almost 8 pm. A very long day!!

Rajeev and Mr. Chandrashekar were picked up by hillary king herself, what a kind heart she is. Very nice lady and a wonderful driver. Had an excellent dinner and then off to bed. By the way it is British cold here!. Adding icing to the cream it is raining.

I am currently staying with Rtn. Ms.Janey Bevington & her Partner Mr.Tom Carr. It has been an amazing hospitality. They spent the whole day yesterday to show me the wonderful countryside. We drove all along the coast & was a thrilling experience in freezing temperature to be on the beach; see some wonderful & majestic old Buildings & see that part of the ciity which is becoming a part of the sea- due to Global Warming.
Enjoy the british beer….