“8th Incredible India” Rotary Tour

“8th Incredible India” Rotary Tour

My two week “Incredible India” trip of a lifetime in January 2025 was thanks to the absolutely amazing hosting by Rotarian Husband and Wife Team of Bhanu and Divya Gupta who are members of the Rotary Clubs of Ahmedabad West and of (the all-female) Ahmedabad Asmita respectively,  

Rotarians Bhanu and Divya promoted our proposed visit as an expose of India history, spirituality and culture, of which I was sadly very ignorant. However a heritage walk through the India’s first World Heritage Site – the Walled City of Ahmedabad which covered ancient Hindu India, the influence of the Mughal (Muslim) Invaders, British Colonialism and Modern India rectified that and laid the foundations for the rest of the trip where we visited Udaipur, Jaipur, Agra, Rishikesh and Delhi!

The trip was demanding physically – a hectic schedule of daily visits and activities plus plenty of walking in stocking feet - and mentally – the abject poverty and associated horrendous litter often immediately next to the pristine religious buildings and palaces/forts/monuments and Step Wells e.g. the Taj Mahal, Jaipur’s Amber Fort and Jantar  Mantar/City Palace (all UNESCO heritage sites) and the Baha’i faith’s Lotus Temple (which alleged inspired the design of the Sydney Opera House)!

As well as learning about Indian history and spirituality, our party of 25 Rotarians, family and friends from around the world (Australia, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Russia, Slovenia and USA plus me from the UK)  were immersed in local Indian culture – experiencing: the annual Kite Flying festival, riding through Udaipur’s narrow lanes in death-defying tuk-tuks followed by a boat trip across  to the Royal Palace (as per Roger Moore as James Bond in Octopussy) and traversing Delhi’s Khari Baoli spice market in bicycle rickshaws, being henna tattooed, learning turban tying and saree wearing (ladies), block printing head scarves, watching a folk dancer (with a tower of water collection pots on her head), playing an Indian drum and singing a Guajarati folk song (not solo and almost certainly off-key), taking an Indian cookery class, watching snake charming and undertaking white water rafting on the Ganges River! For me two particularly memorial activities (in addition to the Taj Mahal) were the visit to the Keoladeo National Wildlife Park and participating in the immensely moving Ganga Aarti which is performed at dusk at the Triveni Ghat on the banks of the Ganges in Rishikesh. This popular Hindu religious ritual involves playing music and providing religious offerings to the fire.

In addition we visited some amazing and absolutely vital Rotary funded and managed Community Service Projects – a general hospital, a crematorium, a physiotherapy centre, and a children’s education centre/park!

So well organised was our visit by Rotarians Bhanu and Divya that we felt completely safe. Also due to Bhanu’s provision of individual audio devices and his hand-picked bilingual local expert guides who spoke Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and English we were all able to fully comprehend the sights and sound we were experiencing.

Finally to answer a health query I’ve been repeatedly asked on my return! No-one suffered from the dreaded “Delhi Belly” sickness and vomiting – due largely to Rotarian Divya’s meticulous personal supervision of venues and menus (which she ensured were adapted to meet individual dietary requirements)!

For more details, visit: www.experientialtravelling.in

Rotarian Philip Emmott MPHF

Bury Rotary Club Secretary