It is afternoon, and we are sitting in the peaceful setting of the courtyard of the Green Hotel, Mysuru, south India, drinking cappuccino and eating date and walnut cake. All of the ambiguities of the British relationship with India are here. The Green Hotel is run by a UK charity as a model of sustainable […]
Archive | India
No more Knock Down Ginger
By Catherine Robinson on 6th November 2016 in India, Internationalism, Mental Health, Politics, Psychiatry
When I was a kid in South East London, there was no Internet and no video games. There were just two black and white television channels. Commencing the day after President Kennedy was assassinated, we had Dr Who on a Saturday evening, but both channels went off for an hour on Sunday evening. The Sixties […]
Bandipur blues again
We have been in Karnataka for more than three weeks now, and we fly home after the weekend. Dr Tony Ryan has joined us, bringing his usual energy and drive. We are struggling to find time to hold all of the meetings and visits that we need, which seems ridiculous in the context of such […]
Parisian aftermath, Mysuru Saturday 14th November 2015
Countless people across the world ate a sombre breakfast today as they received news of the murderous attacks in Paris. In Mysuru, we were no different. Deaths by violence are tragic wherever they occur. I dislike the fact that my reaction to the machine gun attacks in Paris is different to my reaction to suicide […]
A tiger growls
We are halfway through our month-long visit to Mysuru, the first phase of a Tropical Health Education Trust funded project to prevent suicide amongst survivors of deliberate self-harm in South India. Four weeks away from the office is a long time, and it was difficult to find dates that worked for both Indian and UK […]
Like an old train rolling
Professor Catherine Robinson, Dr Anne Krayer and I have been in Mysuru for a week now. It has been hard work. We have helped to organise a ‘master trainer’ event over two days, the first element in our project funded by the Tropical Health Education Trust. The attendance was larger than we expected, about 25 […]
Slow rain, long time coming
I am a reluctant traveller, but I enjoy coming to India. I dislike being away from my own bed, my guitars and my wife. Sightseeing holidays hold no appeal. Nonetheless, it would be grossly misleading to suggest that visiting Karnataka is an ordeal in any way. This is my fifth trip, and the thing that […]