After another wholesome breakfast of puma and skeena, we were met at the hotel by Amin and his godfather, the Rev Desmond, an Anglican Priest from London, England, who has known Amin since he was a boy of four. Rev Desmond had also been blessed by Mother Theresa after he was crippled in the Birmingham bombings in the 70s and was able to walk again.
Amin took us to the Gates of India and the Taj Hotel, that was partially destroyed during the terrorist attacks in 2008. The Taj has been restored to its former glory. From there we went to the Sanjit Ghandi National Park where we explored the Buddhist caves from the 12th century and the exquisite carvings and cave paintings that are still visible today. Our next treat was our lunch stop at the Uphaar Indian restaurant where we tried Indian crepes: with spinach and potato, with grated cheese, and with cheese and potato. We also tried a special Indian soup and a slice of Indian ice cream.
After lunch we drove through Mumbai’s largest slum and Amin showed us a 6 km road that used to be covered with one- and two-storey slum dwellings that were bulldozed away and the street paved in its place. The tenants were supposed to have relocated and money paid but Amin said that nothing ever came of it, only more ‘monkey business’ or corruption.
At 1530 hrs, Morali Iyer’s drivers picked us up at the YMCA International House and took us to the Municipal Airport for our Kingfisher Airlines flight to Hubli. After a short delay, we landed in Hubli at 2100 hrs. We were picked up by Dilip’s driver Manjunet in a brand new 20 pax bus. Dilip had been so kind as to provide us with fruit, sandwiches, and cold drinks, which we really appreciated on the 95-minute drive to the city of Belgaum. When we arrived at our hotel, we were met by Dilip S. Chitnis, Sanjay Kulkami, and Jeevan Khatav, the key members of the OVO [Overseas Voluntary Organization] Rotary Club of Belgaum. They ensured that we were warmly welcomed and settled into our hotel rooms before they left for home at midnight.
The 2012 Belgaum Team
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