Tom-tomming about Ind• 1a

Remembering ThomasEKing,IndianLink's long-timeTravel writer

Whatdoes theE in yournamestand for, Ionceasked TomKing.

''Exuberant!"he said withoutamoment'shesitation, inthatCanadian accenthenever losteven yearsafterleaving hishomeland.''Enthusiastic!

Energetic!!"

He wasallof chose,forsure, andmore.

WelostTomlasemonth, oneof Tntfia11Link's earliest andlongest servingcontributors.

As the quintessential lndophile whotravelled co Indiacountless times, he,vasfor many yearsin chargeof ourTravelsection. He brought co our readersgems from cbeleogcb andbreadd1 of tl1e country,and notjust tliose onthe regulartourist'sitinerary.

Tomtook his TndirmLink readers with him ashe visitedthe TajMahallookalike atAurangabad (Bibi KaMaqbara);journeyed slowlyd1rough theKhyberPass; castedteainDarjeeling;shopped forpearlsinHyderabad;took a safariin the Sunderbans;studied me (golf)greeningof Delhi; gazed at cbe Kanchenjungafrom Sikkim, and prayedat tlietemples atTuticorin where, he cold us,37 American tourists are said cohave burned their Bibles andprofessed allegiancetoHinduism.

Andall tliisin his firstt\vo years as anIndia11Linker.

Somenineyearslater, as Isuggested tohim tl1athe could probably writeabout destinations otherthan India, he was aghast.\Xi'hat, travel outside of India?Nol

\1(/elJ, hedid;and broughtus articles seekingoutIndian links in Shanghai, inSabah, in Hue, andin innumerable other places.

As well, he wroteabout traveltrends, reportedontravel conferences, andattendedIndian TourismeventsinSydneywhere hewouldtaketo themicrophone and impresswitl1 bissalutations in Hindi andUrdu, andwith his khadikm-tas,extralong of course, tofithis straddlingstature.

Tomlivedto u·ave� andloved travellingto thesubcontinent ilie most. (Reproduced below is a piecebyhim fromourarchives, whjchhe pennedin theyear 2000).Without doubt,his work helped raise theimageof India as a touristdestinationformany western readers.

Golf -anocbergreatpassion -wasalwaysquirec.learl)'tl1e second, orthird,loveof hislife, indeferencetohisbeautifulwife Karola(Ka)'), Tomcontinuedtowriteeven

INDIA: YESTERDAY,TODAY, ALWAYS BYTHOMASEKING

Likesomany westernersIhadno interestinIndiaandIwasmost certainthatI wouldnevergo cbere.

TheWesternmediahaddone itsjob well. Pressreports and televisioncoverageconvinced mematIndiawastotallypovertyridden,proneroendlessdisasters andhadnotliingtooffercbe visitor.

Thatwas some35yea.rs ago whenI lived on adifferent continentina differenthemisphere andbad adifferentperspectiveon cbeworld.

Such opinionsaboutIndia,.,.,ere furthermoreenforced byaccounts from the"well travelled" who, although therhadn't actuallyvisited lndia, hadformed very strong opinionsabour tl1ecountr)'

Thesehadbeensolidifiedover theyearsbymediareportsand dieaccountscbeyhad heardfrom ochertravellers. Theendlesseye.le of ignorancecontinued.

Havinglistenedsointentlytothe well-informed, itwaswitl1some considerabletrepidationthat my firsttriptlirough mesubcontinent wasplanned.

India,admittedly, wouldnot bemyfinaldestination. Insteadit wouldbebutamerestopover ona continent-spanning joume}' Backin theearly1970sitwas not onlypossible,itwaswidely popuhr, tomake anoverlandcoach tripfromLondonandontoDelhi.

(Themajorityof overlanders wouldn't stopthere,however, astheyplannedtlieirjourneyto actually concludeinKathmandu.)

After flyingfrom Americato Europeand takinga few montbs to spin aroundcbe continent,Ijoined 22otl1erintrepid travellers.

Whilewehailedfromsix different countries allof ushad me sameultimate destination in our diaries:Australia.

Ouroverlandodysseytook us fromLondon, overmeEnglish channel,through western,central andsoumernEuropeandto Turkey.

Oncewecrossedcbe massive bridgeovertlie BosporusStrait mypulseincreasedsignificantly. Westhad becomeEast;atlaseIhad arrivedinAsia.

Thoughitwas AsiaMinorand Iwasat thefartliermostoutpost of meimmensecontinent,it wasa majorstepforme.

Thejourneycontinued ilirough cberestof nukey,intoIran and cbenAfghanistan.Backin cbe early after cancerbecamean unwelcome visitor.

"They've taken half mystomach out"hetoldmeafterhisfirst operation,anddescribedthescar iliacranhalfwayroundhis waist.

He wasstillJv[rEnmusiastic, ilioughinmontlistocomehe becamealittlelessMrEnergetic. l offeredthathecould dictate his columns toeitherof mytwo l970sbeforeoccupationandwars decimatedthislandlockednation,it wasameccafortravellers.

We finallyarrivedin cbe subcontinent asmelast passport waschecked and wedrovepasttl1e Afghan/Pakistan border.

As weadvanced cbroughthe KhyberPass,I feltlikeatime traveller knowing cbatsomany yearsagoAlexandercbeGreat and his mightyarmyhadadvanced throughmis verysamenarrow channel in ilietoweringmountains. Hundredsof yearslatercbe great.Moghulsandtheire.x1:ensive entouragesalsomadethejourney.

J gained anunderstandingof meir civilisationandsaw some of theirpricelesshandiwork inLahore atcbeimmense BadshahiMosque, builtbyAurangzebandtheornate ShalimarGardenscbatShahJehan so skillfullyconstructed.

J askedthedriver/guide countless questions about tlie subcontinent in general and lndia inparticular.

Someof myfellowpassengers ontl1isoverland coac.11trip had previouslytravelledthrough India byroad when theywentto Europe. I askedtl1emeven more questions.

Theytold me of beautiful women andgrubbychildren, luxuryhotels and 'no star' .inns,granddesert villages and kids,whowere'grown up'noweversincehefirst came tovisitcbemboth whenthey were born, bearingthecutestlittlegifts.

"1 o,it's ok,"hehadsmiled. "I'll tryandgettl1em toyou in myown tin1e."

Hebecametooill towrite shortlyafter.

Thedevoted Karnlatooktlie helpofJesusas sheca.redforhim inthoselastfew difficult months.

Athis memorialin Kingsford metropolitanslums, jewelled palaces and ran1shacklehurs,noisy crowds andtranquilsolimde, snowcapped moLmtaios and barren land.

1entered India forthe firsttime in December 1973. My21"trip tl1ereisplannedfor November 2000.

1stillhaven't decidedif it's the cliversity of people, activities or sights mat fascinates me tl1emost.

Mostlikely it's tl1at my appreciationof tliecountryhas been moulded byallthreein tl1e roughlyquarter of acenturysince thatfirst visit.

1haveseenpoverty anddisaster but I have been able to look beyond iliesematters toseean Incliacbatdoesn't get on me front pages.

Pinning downmyfavourite area in acountry which is the world's largestdemocracy, gave birth to cbreemajor religions, has cbe highest mountains,is one of the mostdensely packedcountries on theplanet, has oueof cbe world's oldest civilisationsand is washed byrhree seas -toherald only a few superlatives -is impossible.

Should I prepare achronic.leof contrasts and adventuresIhave seen and experiencesIhavehad overtheyears,mytask would neverbecomplete.

I wouldalways remember

King1947-2015

inlateJanuary,agiantTomsmiled down atusfrom me frontof tliec.lrnrch, wearinghis favourite purpletrim HimachaliPahari topi.Tbe verysamephotocbat accompaniedhispiecesonour pages, itwasindeedahark backto his TntfianLinkclays.

Restinpeace,Tom,andSh11kriya, to usea word thatyou yourself usedfrequently.

YonEntertained us, Encouraged us,andEnriched usinamultitude of ways.

something moreasmymemory ,vouldguidemearound cbe country time and time again.

One eventin the busyfilm studios ofMumbai would remind meof the solitude inAssam's rhino-filledKazirangaNational Park.

Thatwould leadmeon to pleasantmemoriesof sipping samples .froma coffeesalesman inYecaud whichwouldtl1en remind meof takingteawith a Buddhist school girlin Kalirnpong.

This would rake me to the Punjab and listening toa.nearly morningsessionof prayers at tlie GoldenTemplewhichwould remind meof attendingEaster services inEnglishinalirtle church in Darjeeling.

Beyondthiswouldbe fond recollections of a week of pampered nights onboard a houseboatin Kashmir, afeast of Goan delicacies and men strolling the backstreetsof Panjim, an overnightrail triprhrough rural AndhraPradesh, ajeepride through d1elushjunglesof soutl1ernKarnataka, takingto the tees of thedelightfulold Tollygungegolf course and tl1e list goes on and on.

India, forme,retains its mystique yesterday,today, ahvaysl