Some short videos I think capture the real India:
02/02/2010
30/01/2010
29/01/2010
My guide to your Scottish ancestry.
Researching your Scottish ancestry made easy.
I don’t know where my obsession with genealogy originated, I think it could stem from one afternoon I spent with my great grandfather when I was about five as we attempted to build a tree. The best thing about genealogy, it gives you the sense that you are not forgetting your ancestors. Just a small number of facts from census reports and statutory registers can give you a clear idea of the life of your ancestor. My own research has at times been frustrating, sometimes taking days just to get one branch, or having to adjust the spelling of surnames slightly to be able to find the connection. One thing I found most confronting in my research was that after time I realised you almost never see a person’s age at death as over seventy (the facts are there) and what you learn about human’s living on average to their late seventies is, mostly, just a best case scenario.
If you already know the names of your great grandparents then that is enough to build a complete tree all of the way back to the mid 1700’s. Once you have built your tree to say 1860 you will from that point only have to search for Death Records as they will have enough details on them to take you into the 18th Century. Civil Registrations only started in Scotland in 1855 although there is the 1841 Census and Old Parish Registers that you can check pre-1855.
There are alot of genealogy websites but they are mostly only looking for a way to make money off of people (what’s new?) and will supply only very basic information. This is the best way to find the information you will need:
Go to the Scotlands People website where they have the most indepth records. Sometimes they give away credits which make it free to view their online registers (you have to search on Google etc to be able to find where you can get these free credits).
If you are interested in the life of one ancestor in particular then you can check the free online catalogue of The National Archives of Scotland I found alot of interesting stories about my ancestors here, definetly one of the best ancestry websites.
Another excellent place to check for free records is the register at Family Search. They also have Family History Centres in most major cities where you can access their microfilms . Again, check on their website for locations globally.
If you had ancestors who emigrated then don’t forget to check the U.S. Passenger Records and for other countries you can check the website of Ancestors on Board.
25/01/2010
Amsterdam, January 2010
January in 2010.
It’s been a real winter. Global warming is never mentioned in the media anymore although I do remember seeing something about the “end is nigh / new ice age catastrophe”. Anyway, Amsterdam looks most beautiful covered in snow. The Dutch experienced mild hysetria when it all seemed possible that the ice was thick enough to skate on and then we were hit by “tropical” days; a couple of degrees above zero.
Anyway enough about the weather report. I’m trying to spend as little time as possible outdoors opting for the warmth of cafe’s and museums. One of the best things of all about winter is that you can hibernate as much as you want without the feelings of guilt you might experience when everyone is inviting you to the beach in summer. I’m reading a number of interesting books:
City of Djinns by William Dalrymple: I found this in a book store in Pahar Ganj. It’s about William Dalrymple, a Scot who spends a year living near Nizamudin in Delhi, his discovery of the layers of the city, the seasons and the people. This seems the most natural second option to not actually being in Delhi and I recommend this reading for all Indiaphiles or those who are India-curious.
Among The Believers by V.S. Naipaul: He is one of my favorite authors, born in Trinidad of Indian decent. I read another book of his (India: A wounded civilization) and wondered if he hated India. I would definetly not recommend A Wounded Civilization to Indiaphiles, his observations are too negative and he at times seems to put down Indians when infact to me they are probably the most spiritually advanced people I have ever met! Anyway Among the Believers may be his best book ever, his journey through the Middle East and his observations, nothing is left open, definitely worth the read.
Japan by Eyewitness Travel: Japan is my finalised destination for 2010. I wanted to go to Ethiopia so badly but after some research I realised the only way to get around the Omo Valley is to hire a 4WD and a driver (compulsory) which is really offputting as it would be weeks of being with a driver, someone we might not even like. Iran has also been put on hold due to the political unreast. It was K who chose Japan, a place that seems far too western for me but the more I read about this country I discover it’s paradox. We are in the initial stages of planning but we’ll probably settle for Tokyo, Yokohama, Miyajima, Kyoto and Hiroshima.
I’ve been travelling around The Netherlands this month and went to some beautiful towns. It’s Holocaust Memorial Week so yesterday we went away to the south of the country to the Belgian border and a town called Vught. Vught is the location of Herzogenbusch Concentration Camp and it was interesting to walk around and be aware of the past, although I did get lost in the freezing Vught forest at dusk which IS scary. I was wondering if emergency services can even find people in forests. Anyway, I survived!
13/01/2010
31/12/2009
28/12/2009
22/12/2009
A Christmas Tale
A Christmas Tale
Many people refer to India as the world’s new powerhouse, enjoying all of the success of an economic boom but on my visit to India in October 2009 I didn’t see any sign of this. Delhi is the capital city so surely if this country was emerging as the new superpower the signs would be here, right? Wrong. On University Road the tallest building in Delhi is currently being constructed, The Civic Center. No matter how many of these futuristic, glass building are constructed (not just in Delhi but also in the IT hubs of Bangaluru and Hyderabad) they will never be able to erase the truth. The thing about India is that it is the poverty that greets and remains with you every moment that you travel there, and it is the thing that lingers in the memory the longest after you have returned to affluence.
India as the emerging superpower is nothing more than media hype. Let’s look at the facts. Currently across India 200 million people are food insecure, the country with the highest population of starving across the planet. Punjab, a state in the north west often thought of as the ” rich bread basket” is currently ranked as “hunger serious” while the situation in Madhya Pradesh is ranked as “extremely alarming” – more people in M.P. suffer from hunger than in the sub-saharan countries of Ethiopia and Sudan.
I have often read in people’s blogs and travel journals about how they think giving money to the poor in India is wrong, that the money should go to faceless charities and towards education. Well, try explaining that to the old woman who is dying on the sidewalk on Connaught Place in Delhi. Every evening that I walked along there she was lying on the ground, her face peering out of a dusty blanket while middle class Indians would step over her on the way to their air-conditioned restaurants. Education would be nice but thats too longterm for the hungry.
Delhi wants to be the new Singapore and Gurgaon (the IT district in the south of the city), the new Dubai. Dubai is wealthy, that’s for sure but when you look at the actual statistics, the citizens of the Arab Emirates (Dubai) donate the least towards charities globally. Is this a place that you really want to emulate? Alot of new housing developments have been constructed in Gurgaon for the Indian Middle Class, but that is all that has been constructed, apartments for the middle class. To be better than Singapore or Dubai you have to hand over a certain percentage of housing to the poorest in society, life isn’t all take.
When I was travelling in Uttar Pradesh I remember going and buying food for the people and handing it out to anyone who wanted it, which turned out to be most. This action was for my part nothing more than a necessity, the transaction the most primitive of human compassion.
To everyone reading this i’m not asking anything else than for you to look inside yourself and to ask yourself if the materialistic life you are leading is really why your are on this planet. Ask yourself if there is something more, something far greater. Don’t bury your heads in the sand anymore.
