Tripura

I was born in the capital of Tripura state, which is Agartala. The Lonely Planet guide book describes Agartala as a 'sleepy little town'. Well, there was certainly a lot more traffic than I ever remember, especially the 'autos' or 'baby taxis' or 'tuktuks' depending where you hail from.

We were welcomed at the airport by Rev Lalthanliana and Duhpui, with a handshake and 'Welcome home!' Whisked back to the Mission Compound which is a few kms out of the main centre. Installed in the Kiwi House, we then embarked on a tour of the compound. Although I suggested that I could find my way, Duhpui insisted on accompanying us, which was probably a good thing, as there were LOTS of new buildings and everything had fences. Some of the paths had shifted as well, so everything felt different, although the place itself had a very familiar feel, sights and smells.

We wandered across the compound, through the school hostels and called into Duhpui's house. A highlight was visiting our old house, where we sat and chatted to the current occupants over tea and sandesh (a traditional Bengali sweet). The house seemed smaller than I remembered - I KNEW this would be the case! We decided that some of the furniture was still the same - bookcases and coffee table, and I pointed out to Roxanne the fan to which we always used to tie streamers going out to the edges of the room. And remembered the infamous occasion when somebody (no names!) turned the fan on and the streamers got totally wound up in each other! After that we always sellotaped the switch.

Also met Jong Bahadur who lived in Cal with us for several years as he worked with Dad on translation of the New Testament. He invited us for breakfast the next morning and I enjoyed listening to him reminisce about our time there, and also hearing his insights into the current work among the Tripuri people. I even recognised breakfast as something that we used to have on trips out to villages - sticky rice wrapped in a leafy cone and boiled. Came with a boiled egg and an orange. Jampui oranges have to be the best!!

We did quite a lot of eating while in Agartala - thoroughly enjoyed and overdosed on extraordinary amounts of sugar - both in tea and in sweetmeats. We were invited back to Minga's place (Pastor Lawma's eldest) where we met his wife and during the evening, Ringa his brother (who we used to play with a lot) rang from Mizoram and we had a nice chat. Apparently his first exclamation on hearing that I had come to India for a visit was 'Where is Mark?!'

Another highlight was going out to a village along the main highway to Shillong, called Belbari. Here there was a Christmas mela (fair) and we found ourselves in the official party, properly announced, welcomed with flowers and 'distinguished guest' ribbons, sitting on the dais observing the proceedings. Being asked to speak at the drop of a hat gave me a bit of a shock, but I managed to say something and someone translated. Several others also spoke in English, and again were translated. People were delighted to see us at this mela as apparently there were very few Christians in this area 40 years and the number of people there celebrating was seen as a fulfilment of the vision that Dad had had for the area. Roxanne is still getting over being introduced as the granddaughter of BKSmith! Lots of speeches, song, performance on the chongprin (traditional stringed instrument) and of course, the inevitable cups of chai! The guest of honour cut the ribbon into the stalls area and we wandered round them - all very nicely decked out, but nothing that we were particularly interested in buying.

One evening we were there, Roxanne was invited to a youth service - Advance Christmas, and I managed to tag along. It was in the church and as well as the service included a gift exchange, which Roxanne also took part in. It was fascinating seeing the gifts that the young people had bought for each other. Roxanne got a white plastic vase and a sunset picture. Although the church had not been decorated yet with tissue paper, they had a Christmas tree up and we sang several carols as part of the evening. The young people were extremely friendly and everything was in English - we were very impressed with their confidence in English, most of them attending St Paul's School, which is English medium.

Our accommodation was good, with a Bengali girl, Kanika (24 years) to cook and clean up after us. In the end she only did us a couple of meals, simple Bengali food of rice, dahl and boiled vegetables - made up for the vast quantities of sweetmeats we ate everywhere else! The large spiders entertained Roxanne, particularly the one sitting in the toilet bowl, and we couldn't get over the number of mosquitos! Burning coils and sleeping under nets helped. The hotwater geyser didn't seem to work, so we reverted to the time-honoured 'kettle method'.

About an hour before we left, the new gate to the compound was opened and we were glad to be there to be part of that (and the refreshments to follow (three sweetmeats in a little cardboard box and more tea)), and then we were actually first vehicle out of the compound to use the gates.

Our flights there and back (although slightly delayed) were uneventful. Roxanne was not impressed at the security checks - boarding passes or tickets shown at every possible place and at least three checks of our handluggage. Some loose batteries were taken off us in Agartala but I was impressed that we actually were given them back, tied up with luggage labels and neatly labelled, when we got to Calcutta airport - Indian efficiency at it's best. The security officer who took them off me enjoyed discussing cricket!

A lovely visit, with Roxanne being extra tolerant of my continually saying 'I remember when...' I have pointed out that she is going to have to go through this all again in Darjeeling!

Where exactly is Tripura again?

Facts and statistics for those who like to know these things

Photos of Tripura Not taken by me, but includes some nice shots of Ujjayanta palace. The palace is now not available to the public as it is used as offices for the government. But it is still an impressive building.