Leaving Delhi

And India, for the last time, in 1976.  I remember being a little embarrassed at this little ceremony, for the household to bid farewell to us sons of the "sahib" and "memsahib".  We were give loads of garlands and photographs were taken (by my father, I think).  You can just see my mother's hand bidding the great dane ("Cleo") sit still and my brother petting the dog.

I don't know if servants are still the thing in India, I suspect so as it would be a large part of the economy.  The two youngsters on the left were gardeners ("mali"), the chap in the white shirt the sweeper, then one of the two bearers, the driver in the maroon suit and the "chowkidah" on the right (the night watchman). 

This house was part of the location for the film "Sea Wolves" and this photo shows one of the rooms.  This video trailer shows the front of the house at 0:30.  The Wikipedia entry for the film tells us that it was filmed on location in Goa, but a short bit was filmed at this house.

It was a large bungalow, but had only two bedroom suites (bedroom, study, dressing room and bathroom) so it couldn't accommodate many, but it was a great place to live for a short time. It was situated in Civil Lines, near where there was a major event in the Indian Mutiny (the start of it?).

I wonder what it looks like now . . .