India with the Family
A while back, I took my entire family—my wife Emily (age unspecified), my daughter Grace (10), and my two sons, Max (8) and Oscar (5)—to India on a luxury research trip, and we’ve only recently recovered from the lingering aftershocks. Contrary to what you might be thinking, the issue had nothing to do with food or health—far from it, as there wasn’t a whiff of sickness on our entire journey. Our problem was a uniquely luxury travel kind of problem.
The hotels we stayed in throughout our trip were so extraordinary that every room had a dedicated 24-hour butler service. Not surprisingly, our kids loved pushing the butler button at all hours of the day just to see who would show up at the door and what they would be wearing.
About a month after we returned home Emily was walking upstairs and saw Oscar, in Max’s rooms making his bed. ” What are you doing?” she asked incredulously. Oscar turned at her, and with a resigned look on his face, said ” I”m Max’s butler”. Our enterprising middle child had talked our youngest into serving as his personal manservant for a measly 50 rupees a week (about $1 Canadian). After we’d stopped laughing, we put an end to the arrangement, but to this day, Oscar still has a collection of faded rupees in his bedside drawer.
In all seriousness, India is an extraordinary, life-changing destination for family travel. The range and intensity of experiences are almost beyond comprehension; our kids kept daily journals on the most extraordinary things they saw people carry on their heads, the most outrageous activities they witnessed by the side of the road and the most exotic animals they spotted.
We focused our trip on Rajasthan, the most iconic and romantic part of the country, filled as it is with fairy tale palaces floating on lakes and dramatic walled cities surrounded by endless deserts, and inhabited by the colourful and proud Rajput clans, descendants of an ancient Hindu warrior class. It’s also one of the few areas in India where you can find (relatively) peaceful country roads to bike through rural landscapes and small villages.
Rather than remain insulated from the surrounding reality, we were immersed in it. Of course, we were travelling with B&R, so we stayed in terrific places, ate fantastic food and enjoyed unparalleled support, but we were also exposed in a thoughtful way to the social challenges around everything from protecting the environment to alleviating poverty—rich fodder for family discussion and education.
On the food front, we never had issues with sickness, but we did occasionally have issues with the choices. At Udaivilas in Udaipur, sitting in one of the best restaurants in Rajasthan, our youngest surveyed the menu and turned to us in despair. ” I just wanted Toronto food” he said plaintively, expressing the best way he knew how his desire for anything edible that didn’t involve foreign ingredients or excessive heat.
As always , we sought out the unexpected (zip lining off the top of Jodhpur Fort, anyone?), the authentic (exploring a rural village with locals) and the exotic (lunch with descendants of a royal dynasty), with a dash of theatre thrown in (private candle-lit dinners under the stars). Whether you visit on a private trip custom built around the interests of your family (as we did) or join other travellers on a small group tour, you’ll be profoundly and eternally changed by the experience.
