The Game's Indian Adventure

I took an Emirates flight to India via Dubai on the 2nd of August, my dad gave me a ticket and someone put some money into my bank account. Took Rail Air via Reading to Heathrow airport. Sat next to the window next to some Irish or South African man and told him about the University of Bristol and talked about Dubai. The plane was one of the newer Emirates ones, but I didn't like it as there was the long haul flight atmosphere. It was a 777 but I wanted to try one of the new Airbus Super-jumbos. 

When I got to Dubai there was a sick girl opposite me coughing in the lounge so I had to move somewhere else. Then the flight to India was a really good one, one of the older planes with a nice cabin crew and a very pleasant climate on board the plane. When I got to Delhi, an hour late, Sharon was there to greet me, but I had to waste some time getting a sim card from Airtel. Then Sharon took me to Prianka's house. 

At Prianka's house I met Prianka! Then as she was on the phone, I was taken to a guest house to stay with someone called Nandini and Jahnavi Ghosh. That was a strange kind of place to stay, I did some reading of Shakespeare and acclimatised to the heat. All my cousins were engaged in their activities and I didn’t want to go off and leave them as I felt a bit trapped by the situation. I regret not getting in touch with someone else I could have stayed with there..

One evening when all Prianka's friends arrived there was a gathering at Prianka's house with her friends from the UK and my cousins and some other Indians. We went to a Mexican restaurant and had some Mexican food. Which was ok. Everyone seems to like smoking in India. Then went back to the guesthouse. Next day went around shopping with Sharon and helped get the final arrangements sorted for the wedding including hiring a coach. 

Also went to a hotel in Gurgaon for the women to all get henna tattoos on their hands, I met Dag and Åsa here, Sylvia’s son with his wife and family. I went swimming in the shallow pool they had whilst the awkward ceremonies progressed. Then the next day had to get up early and get on the coach to go to Jaipur. Prianka was being snooty so I had no one to talk to…

Once in Jaipur, Prianka's wedding party took over the Golden Tulip hotel. It was quite a nice hotel, but it was ruined by all of Prianka's Indian friends being chronic cannabis smokers. So then there was a party they arranged, in the countryside that they wanted me to go to. So I got on the coach along with everyone else and went to this party. 

I didn't really like anyone there as they were mostly trying to be rude to me. My first impression of Rohan, the bride-groom was that he was out of his depth and could not hold his own without help. I felt a bit sad, as I think he would have been ok in Bombay but not in that country setting. I had no wish to talk to any of them, but put in some effort with a few before they started throwing people dangerously into the swimming pool - in future I don't think I will be involved with any of them!

These people really broke all the rules of social etiquette. Certainly if I was to treat them in the same way in the UK, they would almost certainly end up beaten up or murdered or mugged or worse. Anyway I got assaulted at this party by a gang that Adito, my cousin, claimed was some of Rohan Mishra's family. Nearly everyone of both parties got assaulted and thrown into the pool at this place by this gang of ruffians, so they did nothing when three of them started punching and kicking me as I tried to explain to them that they would end up on anti-psychotic medication (for up to six months) if they didn’t behave themselves. (This stuff really kills old people who take it!)

I had to get some people to take me to hospital after this. Where I got a tetanus shot. But I did not get any other treatment. The next day I still did not get treated, they were trying to pretend nothing happened or that I got into a fight. I never ever get into fights, I either beat someone up if I feel like it or I very clearly tell them to 'piss off' or to 'leave me alone' if they are too artificially aggressive. This Indian gang did not follow my clear instructions.

They would not tell me the names of the boys involved. This is unacceptable. I now do not have any particular influence, but still they would not survive long with their kind of behaviour if I find out who they were. So I am really after their names. If nothing else to tell the MMA people about the guy who hit me. I think he broke his arm trying to hit me, snap, and so then kicked me in frustration – later I was told that the first operation to fix it got messed up by a surgeon’s nervous mistake. I try to drink a lot of milk everyday.

Anyway I managed to survive and I did not lose any teeth. And after attending the ceremonies at the Mishra's house in Jaipur and the wedding ceremony at the Sheraton, where they were trying to get me to make friends with the sister of Rohan Mishra, Devangana - she was still looking pretty with a well defined nose and slim build. I do not think she is very socially experienced or adept and is more used to posing for photos. The fact that she didn't know how to speak to me properly was very awkward but I liked how she spoke. But because of my injury I couldn’t have a serious go with her. I am still wondering how she would be in the UK. My sister was playing her own phoney game with everyone so was no support. I also helped Sunando out at some point in the hotel by greeting and escorting a general, up from waiting in the lobby to meet him in his hotel room.

And so after this the wedding was over I went back to the hotel and arranged to go to Goa so I could go to hospital as the Sen’s were having problems in Calcutta, and were not treating me as I am accustomed to being treated – I don’t like being made to feel unnecessarily uncomfortable. So I went off to stay in another hotel in Jaipur by myself by auto rickshaw to get rid of their problems, as they were claiming to have no money and were just causing trouble for me with their unbelievably rude and offensive behaviour, I was almost dying. Prianka’s other English guests were continuing on their travels around India but I needed hospital treatment.

I regret having gone to India now, because of the violence in Jaipur and would rather have just stayed in England. I am never treated badly in the UK. The worst that happens is that some people try to 'neg' me as I normally dress reasonably well and speak in an educated voice but have a complexion that is obviously not ‘white’ even though that is the background I am from and do not normally have a proper haircut and am seen by myself doing my chores in town on foot. Even without the proper dress and haircut I am afforded more respect just by myself without saying anything. 

I once got hit outside my student flat next to the students’ union in Bristol. I was with some friends coming back form the cinema when we saw some disturbance and got out of the car. I asked the perpetrator to stop beating up freshers (he had beaten up three or four of them before we arrived with blood on the pavement). The guy took swings at the three guys I was with, but I didn’t expect him to try to hit me, so was shocked when he took a swing at me. He then ran away with his friend as I wanted to beat him up after this.

Anyway I stayed in the hotel ok, got on a plane, the army was in place at the Jaipur airport because of Independence Day celebrations, and made it to Goa. There I was picked up by my father's driver Abishek and he took me to my house in Thivim and I dropped my stuff of and then I was taken to Vrundavan hospital nearby. Where Abishek accompanied me and I received treatment for my broken nose and also antibiotics for the cuts to my tongue. I managed to lose a stone the week I was injured as I could not eat properly.

Once out of hospital, they were trying to keep me there as long as possible so that they could charge more, so I had to fight my way out. I went to stay in the house in Thivim. So I stayed there for a week or so recovering from my injuries, it was the monsoon so it was very wet. But I did nothing, and my father was only there for a couple of days. I fell off a dodgy motorbike going around a corner in the village with Amit, my father’s serving man, who was sitting on the back, as the rear disc brake on the bike was disabled, and I hit my head in the fall - my shin survived intact. As did my ‘broken’ nose.

Rashmi my dad's wife was also ill and Abishek ran off to Bombay to go on holiday, so I didn't have a driver to take me anywhere. So I was stuck with the company of Rashmi's camp film director friend Rohit, he is friends with Shahrukh Khan an Indian film star and Rohit got him detained at New York airport for a couple of hours whilst he was staying with us, which was on the news. Then I went to Calcutta to see my grandmother. 

In Calcutta Adito picked me up at the airport in his Suzuki Swift. And I went back to the house. It started raining the next day and didn't stop until the day I left. My grandmother was doing ok, she had a flat to herself with the servants below Sharon and Sunando's flat. So I spent some time talking to her. I also tried to play some honky tonk piano. And then I spent my time visiting the Tollygunge club, some restaurants and had some shirts made with some material I bought. I also did some riding at the Tollygunge club, but they gave me the dodgiest horse I have ever been on. It was almost totally uncontrollable, and if I hadn't actually had hundreds of hours of riding experience already I would almost certainly have fallen off and died. I am used to much bigger and stronger horses, which are happy to do exactly what you want, than that one so I gave it up pretty quickly as I didn't want to get stiff. This horse was a total player. I think they are trained to be difficult and throw rich kids off. It didn’t help that it was monsoon season on the paddock. I once had a crazy horse in Dubai called Brandy, and it chased all the other horses out of the paddock whilst I was practising jumping, but never tried to throw me. Although he did once refuse to jump.

Then I managed to arrange my travel out of there and left for Dubai. I stayed in a nice 5 star hotel in Dubai called the emirates towers. Which had a nice spa so I had a massage and a facial which was nice. And did some swimming. Then once I checked out spent some time with my dad, and went to one of his favourite local shopping malls, where he got me a Pierre Cardin woollen suit, they have a very hard sell strategy. He then took me to the cheapest South Indian restaurant in town for dinner, just around the corner where they have some kind of vegetable dish.

I than went to see where he stayed in bur Dubai, after doing a quick tour round Jumeirah to see how things have changed. Then I got a taxi and left for the airport. I had to sit next to a couple of total losers on the flight back, in the most uncomfortable seat on the plane. I was a bit pissed off, when I was a kid and flew out to the UK to go to boarding school Emirates used to give me free upgrades as an Unaccompanied Minor. And my Dad gets upgraded, I put it down to the bad experience in India.

Once I made it back to the UK I went to see Charles and Margaret on their farm, and helped with some gardening and clearing up the yard on the farm. Also met Rory there who took me to one of his parties with a couple of his girlfriends. And then I went back to Bath by train. 

So all in all, not a great experience. It is just a shame that Prianka turned out to be such a loser. I heard them saying that Rohan was really gay and it was only a marriage of convenience so I wonder how long it will last. I think in Bath, most people just have a small quick reception at the historic rooms then head down to the registry office, after having a few pictures taken, while they are dressed properly. I suppose it's the only time people dress properly in the UK anymore... Or they get married in the Abbey and have some classic cars with drivers to drive them around.

the dates are good

Jaipur city view

pretty patterns

new dubai

oh no he's not taking a photo!