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One of the big attractions on our 17-day tour of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland was a visit to Stonehenge, supposedly the most famous pre-historic monument in the world. It consists of a ring of standing stones, each stone around 13 ft high and seven ft wide. It is believed that Stonehenge was a burial ground. Remains of human bones from 3000 BC have been found here. To be honest, it left me cold.
What really delighted the six Indians (Shehnaz and Abdul Abdullah from Surat, Ava and her husband Gopal Khullar from Delhi, my husband Edul and me from Nagpur), particularly the four Parsis, who were part of a coach load of 49 tourists, was seeing the huge steel plant in South Wales at Port Talbot, bearing in bold script the name "TATA STEEL.” The plant, we learnt, is capable of producing nearly five million tons of steel per annum. Nearly all the 1p, 2p, 5p and10p coins in the UK are made from steel from this Tata plant. Most of the people working in the Tata Steel plant live nearby. We were informed that the contribution by the Tatas is not just financial. They also involve themselves in the social development, health and safety of their workers.
The first night of our tour started with a traditional London pub experience at Ye Olde London, originally built in 1740. The young men and women serving us, as well as the other regulars at the pub were friendly and open to conversation, unlike the "stiff upper lipped English” that we had been led to believe in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner, a private cruise on the river Thames, brought before us the capital’s most beautiful sights by night. Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, Big Ben, the Tower Bridge, a miracle of Victorian engineering, all came alive, with beautiful lights and an illuminating commentary from our guide.
The next morning we were taken on a daylight tour of many of the same landmark monuments seen the previous night. Presently, London has a population of nine million people, which is growing by the day. As we pass the Houses of Parliament, the guide comments, "Today is Sunday, a day of rest, but on all other days Parliament is embroiled in unraveling the mess that we call Brexit.” During our stay we came to discover that at any gathering of people, the discussion, sooner than later veers around to the pros and cons of Brexit and Prime Minister Theresa May’s handling of it. Instead of the gau rakshaks (cow saviors) of India, there are the anti-European Union rakshaks of England. And instead of pushing the Hindutva agenda as in India, the British are trying to halt the migrants and refugees pouring into their island. Wide roads, fewer cars and even fewer people, add to the allure of cleanliness and greenery all around.
Our coach comes to a halt a street away from Buckingham Palace and we walk down to see the Changing of the Guard. It is a truly beautiful and colorful ceremony and very popular, as is evident from the hundreds of tourists from around the world waiting in dignified patience for the Regiment Guards in their bright red tunics, black trousers and tall, black bearskin caps, riding by at a slow and graceful canter. They have guarded the king or the queen, for over three centuries. The Palace with its columns in the background and the forecourt combine to leave a lasting imprint on your mind.
It is remarkable that despite our microscopic numbers, I have seldom had a problem finding some Parsi connection, past or present, be it in America or Assam, Lonavla or London! Whilst happy to experience London by night and day, I was equally eager to attend a luncheon party at Surrey hosted by my old school friend Feroza Heeramaneck, her husband Naval and daughter Sarah.
It was a long drive to Surrey where the Heeramaneck family live. But the warmth and the welcome and the wonderful new people we met — all Parsis or married to Parsis — made it a totally delightful afternoon. The "Dhansak Do” as Feroza called it, started with beer or what-have-you and progressed to tandoori chicken, mutton dhansak, kebabs, kachumber and more. It was tasty, authentic, Parsi food made with love, mostly by Feroza, with a lot of "sides” brought by all the Parsi friends. There was Sharon and Khushro Madan, their two daughters both with English husbands and three beautiful, blue-eyed grandchildren, Tehmi and Noshir Patel, Soonu Byramji and her husband Dinshaw (whose father Captain Byramji was one of the first pilots of Air India, along with Captain Guzdar), and Feroza’s niece Farah and her husband Sonny, from India. Such an interesting, homely group of nearly 20 Parsis over lunch would be hard to come by, even in India. Many of the people mentioned above had connections with Nagpur which made it even more interesting for us.