Hello everybody, how are you doing? I hope you and yours are well and that you can navigate the confusing changes concerning any lockdown or easing of it.

Today we are going to find out about a country that really needs a month of posts to cover properly. But “Come Away With Me” is more a teaser of the countries we are visiting and so this post about India is a teeny weeny teaser for you 🙂

1. Introduction to India

My fascination with India started when I was 11 or 12 and I learned about Amy Carmichael in what you would call Sunday School in English speaking countries. Amy Carmichael was an Irish missionary in India who worked with children and young women. Her middle name was Beatrice which is my name and I think that is why got interested first. I didn’t understand why she wanted blue eyes instead of her brown ones because I felt brown or green eye were much nicer than my funny greyish blue ones. And I liked the fact, that she just did what she thought was right. That inspired me. I wanted to become a missionary too.

Well, a couple of years later, my faith slowly vanished and I decided for Social Work instead but I never lost that fascination with India. The best husband (Jeremy Clarkson voice) in the world wanted to visit India too. For a while, we dreamed visiting together but watching many documentaries made us realise that we would have a lot of trouble experiencing the enormous poverty that still haunts the country. So this dream died but I am still watching any program about India that comes on TV.

If you would like to read a travel novel that showcases what India can do to you then please check out Ritu Bathal’s “Marriage Unarranged“. It’s a brilliant love story but I feel it teaches you a lot about India and its culture.

Ok, here we go. Some video’s to give you and idea about the country. Please excuse the many adverts but that is the way the creators of the videos are creating income and they deserve to be paid for the work. Please feel free to follow them, if you like their work:

2. An Artist of India

Rupati Patil uses a variety of tools and genres for her creative work. Her topic is “ecofeminism” meaning the impact that climate change has on gender. She describes her art and the challenges she faces as a female artist in India and you can find a biography at this link: Shrine Empire Gallery » Rupali Patil

I absolutely love her creative offering and hope to find out more about her in the coming years.

3. The Climate Crisis in India

Originally I wanted to highlight a climate activist for every country but found it really hard to find many for any of the countries I have been visiting. Posts and organisations seem to be focussed on “Western” eco-warriors. You can find many from the US or Europe but I try to get different view points. So I decided to change the focus of this part to the climate crisis and where it already hits very hard.

This video from CNA Insider is a news channel from Singapore and it has a closer look at how India is already affected by the climate crisis.

I cannot get my head around the fact that so many countries are already in the middle of this crisis and we hear hardly anything about it. Also, that many of the political troubles today are often because of this crisis. Hopefully, we soon learn to see all of human kind as our family and start doing something.

4. Food of India

Many of us know and love Indian cuisine but were you aware that what many Western countries offer is actually Northern Indian cuisine? I didn’t but was quite intrigued by this video by Drew Binsky:

If you love to cook and find some “real” Indian recipes then please check out this page: Indian Recipes (harighotra.co.uk)

5. A Poetess of India

India might not be a country in which women’s rights are valued highly yet but I found that there are many inspiring, courageous and very creative female artists to be found. One of them is poetess Nandini Sahu. She is one of the most famous voices in modern Indian English poetry and I found her work fab. Please find out more about Nandini Sahu here: – Nandini Sahu Biography – Poem Hunter

And this gem lets you hear her poetry spoken by herself:

Poetry is a highly valued Indian art form and there are too many female poets to mention. So if you want to find out more check out this list:

List of India’s Most Inspirational Women Poets (thebetterindia.com)

6. Mental Health in India

So often I show you heart breaking news about the mental health issues in the countries we visit with “Come Away With Me”. Today I chose a video that does make you smile here and there but still brings the point across:

7. Some musicians of India

And now for the music 🙂 well at least some of it:

And where are we going next week?

Come Away With Me 2021 Musical Challenge Country for Monday, April 5th, 2021

I am taking a rather random route around the world, but sometimes it makes sense. Next week we venture to Nepal a country that most of us connect with high mountains and monasteries. Let’s find out next week if that image holds. Please find musicians from Nepal here on the ImNepal.com page.

As for the suggestions to take part:

1. Join in! No matter where, when and with what. You missed the first year? Don’t worry. Just jump in when it suits you.
2. Send us the link! The ping-back option does not work because my blog is private so please leave a link in the comments of the post on the day you take part. Or leave it at the “Come Away With Me 2021 FB page“
3. Tag your post either with ” Come Away With Me Musical Challenge”/ #CoAwWiMeMuCh” / “Come Away with Me 2021 Musical Challenge” o/“CoAwWiMe2021MuCh” / . You can also use these as hashtags for Twitter and other Social Networks to give your post more exposure. If you add #blog and #music with your hashtags it will get you more readers.
4. No matter which music or country the prompt favours you create with it whatever you please. This is supposed to be a fun challenge and no chore.
5. I post a prompt for the next week with every “Come Away With Me 2021 post” I write.
6. If you like, use this picture for your readers to find the posts.

Just one more thing before you go: The hospital that is treating me is fundraising for a dedicated breast cancer unit which would allow some same-day diagnosis and better premises for patients and staff.

Please, if you can spare a little money hop over to their Just Giving Page and give as little or much as you can. Or share the page on your social media. So far the campaign has raised about half the amount needed: £448,790 of £800,000 (February 2021).

Your support means a lot to me! Thank you very much.

Thanks, my dears, for staying with me until the end.

I appreciate your presence.

Please stay safe, stay kind and remember that you rock!