Hugh and Colleen Gantzer added a new dimension to Indian travel writing

A decennary ago, I work their caller The Year earlier Sunset (2012), portion moving connected my PhD thesis Anxiety of Representation successful Select Anglo-Indian Writers. Set against the tumultuous backdrop of pre-Independence communal unit successful 1946-India, it describes the fears and anxieties of Philip Brandon, a 16-year-old Anglo-Indian boy. At that time, the Anglo-Indian assemblage was pro-British. Due to their genealogical and taste affiliations with the West, the assemblage members were apprehensive astir their aboriginal successful a post-colonial Indian society. A unsocial facet of this caller is that it presents the governmental complexities of the play from an Anglo-Indian constituent of view, which is but a number position successful our multicultural mosaic of communities.

Hugh and Colleen co-authored 30 books and 3,000 articles, of which the Intriguing India series, Looking Beyond and Mussoorie’s Mythistory are important contributions to Indian question literature. They besides hosted the 1980s’ question documentary amusement Looking Beyond with Hugh and Colleen Gantzer connected Doordarshan. Though marital matches, they say, are made successful heaven, it is uncommon to find life-partners passionately engaged successful co-authoring books and articles for implicit 5 decades. Hugh, 93, a retired naval commander, was calved successful Patna and Colleen, his wife, hailed from Godhra successful Gujarat. The 2 met successful Bombay and got joined successful 1960. Reminiscing their travel of beingness successful The Tribune, Hugh remarked, “I had done a batch of travelling and wanted to write; Colleen, connected the different hand, did not similar penning but wanted to travel. A compromise was reached. I resumed travelling, Colleen agreed to constitute and that’s however we became question writers.”

Pioneers successful the tract of Indian question writing, the Gantzers contributed regularly arsenic columnists successful The Illustrated Weekly and The Indian Express during the 1970s. In 1974, they were commissioned to constitute a publication connected Kerala by the Indian Tourism Development Corporation. Taking their four-year-old son, they acceptable retired connected a Vespa scooter to research the notable sites successful “God’s ain country”. In those days, they faced respective challenges arsenic question journalists, for question and tourism were viewed synonymously by radical and the media. Distinguishing betwixt question journalism and tourism journalism, Hugh observes that portion the second highlights the statement of logistics and comforts provided by the hospitality industry, the erstwhile is solely acrophobic with satisfying the “wanderlust gene”.

The Intriguing India bid published by Niyogi Books covers 4 chiseled regions of the Subcontinent nether the pursuing titles: The Alluring North, The Historical South, The Vibrant West and The Colourful East. In “Preface” to The Alluring North, the duo observes, “One of america was calved successful the East of our land, the different successful the West. We had lived for galore fantastic years successful the South and person made our location successful the highest mountains successful the world, the Himalayas.” The connection underlines their wide scope of acquisition of surviving crossed the Indian scenery and their deep-rooted attachment to its variegated culturescape. The stories of their expeditions to distant places similar Nubra, a thinly-populated territory successful Ladakh, Mana, the past colony successful North India, Patal Bhubaneshwar, an underground shrine, and Gangotri-Yamunotri are marked by facts, fashionable myths and socio-cultural history.

They person an intricate benignant of dealing with a spot that emphasises wider practice of commoners, peculiarly the lesser-known groups. The section “Matriocracy successful the Terai” narrates the communicative of Thaaru women who service nutrient to their husbands by kicking the sheet to the men. Through this antithetic custom, they transportation connected the contented of maintaining superiority of women successful their community. Hugh and Colleen’s keenness connected projecting the merit of the moving people is revealed successful their nonfiction connected Mumbai’s dabbawallahs oregon the famed luncheon container carriers. In it, they picture the punctuality of the dabbawallahs successful supplying home-cooked nutrient to office-goers for much than 100 years. It mentions that the ratio of this homegrown work manufacture has received acclaim from reputed universities offering planetary degrees connected concern administration. Recently, this nonfiction has been incorporated successful the syllabus of Kerala’s program for secondary education.

Their innovativeness lies successful their accomplishment to harvester traits of travelogue, usher publication and folklore successful their narratives. The question books arsenic good arsenic Mussoorie Mythistory, the postulation of supernatural abbreviated stories, absorption connected presenting the perspectives of the section radical for interpreting the microhistory of places and prime taste communities. The connection “mythistory” has oxymoronic intonations, but here, it stands retired arsenic a post-colonial instrumentality that uses section beliefs and customs to reappraisal the communicative of a city, which served arsenic a holiday-home to European missionaries and British officials during the days of the Raj.

Instead of surveying the places superficially, they sought to research the spiritual practice of India. Not lone the shrines, but besides the formal codification of section residents — a grandmother, parent and small lad connected the Silk Road — helped them to representation the taste past of the region. In the words of the Gantzers, “Boulders carrying the beautifully chiselled mantra Om Mane Padme Hum reminded passers-by of their past eclectic faith. It had been brought to Kashmir and Ladakh by the greatly revered Indian Buddhist missionary Padmasambhava. Here it had merged with the tone worshipping Bon religion to germinate into present-day Tibetan Buddhism.” The excerpt highlights their transcendental experience. At the aforesaid time, it subtly interrogates the authorities down drafting conflictual borderlines crossed the Asian map, thereby separating indigenous groups and sects with a shared spiritual vocation.

Hugh and Colleen added a caller magnitude to Indian question penning by upholding a panoramic vision. Their conception of Indianness, arsenic reflected successful their works, promotes inclusivity. With age, they slowed down but they did not stop. The perfect that kept them going for truthful galore years was their determination “to deterioration retired than rust out”. On January 26, they were awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, successful the class of journalism. While Hugh received the honour, it was conferred posthumously connected Colleen, who passed distant successful November 2024.

The writer is an Assistant Professor successful English astatine Durgapur Women’s College, West Bengal