Indian Regiments marching in Paris Bastille Day Parade, 14 July 2023

(Notice: I have not written a post in almost three months, but am making up with this post...) Time has gone by very quickly since my last post in early May on my trip to the North Georgia Mountains. When I returned to my house in Cobb County, GA., the water heater needed to be replaced. Then in June I traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to spend time with my daughter Celine and her family. I had planned to write a post on this visit but had to return to my house in Georgia in early July because two trees had fallen on the roof.

As I am writing this post my air conditioning unit stopped working on Friday in the upper part of the house in Nashville. My bedroom temperature went up to 97 F (36 C,) making it difficult to have a good night sleep. The Weather Forecast Channel on TV just told us to expect more warm days coming up - feeling like 117 F (47.2C) in Nashville. Scientists are saying that this month of July 2023 has been the warmest on record so far and might even be the warmest the planet has experienced in 120,000 years! But, no fear, my hairdresser in Georgia told me last week that there is no climate change, it's just a "liberal" plot ... (Cartoon courtesy New Orleans The Times Picayune.)

Through the plantation shutters next to my laptop desk I can see little birds getting a relief from the heat in the small water dish I placed on the front porch. It is the bottom dish of a large planter. I also placed a "Mosquito Dunk" tablet in it to avoid mosquito larvae (non toxic to birds, pets, animals or humans) that I purchased on Amazon. I like watching all the different birds having a good time, sometimes up to 6 or 8 of them at a time.

In spite of my house problems I was able to watch the Paris 14 of July celebrations on the French Military Armed Forces website and also on the Mayor of Paris website. The French National Holiday is called "Le 14 Juillet" (14 July) but English speaking people call it "Bastille Day" after the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789 during the French Revolution (however, in France, no one would know what you mean if you asked about Bastille Day.) What people don't realize here is that there were only 3 prisoners in the huge Bastille jail then. The people had stormed it because it contained arms and ammunitions, not to free the 3 prisoners. In previous posts I explained the history of the holiday; please look under Bastille Day on the right side of my blog.

The celebrations start on the evening of July 13 with a torchlight procession, that is, participants in many cities and villages walk down streets holding torches or lanterns/lampoons in their hands, following a local band, then go on to a public square for public dancing. On the morning of the 14 there is the traditional Défilé Militaire du 14 juillet, or Bastille Day Military Parade, down the Champs-Elysees. Started in 1880, it is one of the oldest military parades in the world. It is the main official event honoring French military regiments and includes each year different invited foreign guests and regiments. This is one of the main occasions when you will see many French flags all around. French people respect their flag but the rest of the time they don't have it on their cars, or flown from their houses, etc. You will see it in official places like schools, police stations, customs check-points, and in support of the national teams during international competitions but you won't find it in front of a commercial business, or on tee-shirts, baseball caps, clothes or other decorative objects. As in many European countries (apart from the UK that is a constitutional monarchy)people placing out too many national flags are frown upon and considered to be extreme-right extremists, or uber nationalists. In addition, there is no "Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag" in France like in the United States. Again, most European citizens of democratic countries would find it quite bizarre, not saying undemocratic, incredibly creepy and borderline fascistic.

For 2023, the Bastille Day parade included 6,500 people (5,100 of them marching,) 64 planes, 28 helicopters, 157 ground vehicles, 62 motorcycles, 200 horses and 86 dogs. Nearly 15 countries were invited to the parade including India, this year guest of honor. Prime Minister Norendra Modi watched the parade alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. It was also the 25th anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership and the 70th anniversary of the Patrouille de France. The Patrouille had their traditional aerial display that included French-made Indian war planes. Vehicles on display included the Caesar anti-missile batteries that France is providing to Ukraine, and Ukrainian officials were also invited to join Pres. Macron in the VIP seats. Below Patrouille de France (courtesy Ministeres des Armees.)

Another highlight were students from partner African military schools (Benin, Congo-Brazzavile, Gabon, Madagascar, Ivory Coast and Senegal) marching with residents of French military schools. Below photos of two of the African military schools in the parade, from Madagascar on top photo and Ivory Coast on the bottom. (Courtesy Madagascar Tribune.)

In tribute to the 80th anniversary of the disappearance of Jean Moulin, the French civil servant hero who created the National Council of the French Resistance, musicians played the "Chant des partisants," a song that is a symbol of indomitable spirit against evil. This was the French Resistance anthem during World War II. Jean Moulin, 1899-1943, the leader of the Resistance, was tortured by the Nazis in one prison after another and died in 1943 in a train taking him to Germany. An international orchestra, made up of 80 musicians from France and 14 partner countries (Canada, The Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States) played for the parade until the Patrouille de France flew over.

The parade included a 269 member tri-services contingent of the Indian Armed Forces with 77 marching personnel and 38 band members (including the Rajputana Rifles Regiment Band,) led by Captain Aman Jagtap. The Indian Navy contingent was being led by Commander Vrat Baghel, while Squadron Leader Sindhu Reddy lead the Indian Air Force contingent. The Punjab Regiment had been selected to represent the Indian Army for this Bastille Day celebrations. The Punjab Regiment, one of the oldest Infantry Regiments of the Indian Army that traces its origins to 1761, had participated in both World Wars as well as post-independence operations. Historically, 107 years ago, the Punjab Regiment had marched down the Champs-Elysees for the 14 July 1916 parade, after taking part in some battles of World War I. (Photos courtesy Ministere des Armees, La Ville de Paris, and the Élysée Palace.) Please click on collage to enlarge.

Below are vintage photographs and postcards of the Punjab Regiment at the 14 July parade of 1916 and at the rail station Gare du Nord (below right.) Top left photo is a French lady pinning a flower in gratitude on one of the Indian soldiers' lapel.

World War I began on August 4, 1914, after Great Britain declared war against Germany. When the British Army requested military support from their Indian colony, Sikhs, Pendjabis and Gurkas arrived in Marseille, France. On September 26, 1914, the British Punjab's 20th troop of the Lahore Division and of the 129th Baluchis of pre-partition India were the first colonial force to deploy in Europe. They trained in Marseille while waiting to be sent to the front lines. Below are vintage postcards of the Anglo-Indian regiments in Marseille, France in Sept. 1914.

Then these Anglo-Indian troops went to Toulouse and Orleans, France, on their way north. Between September 1914 and October 1918, 140,000 Indian troops arrived to fight in France and Belgium. Below are vintage postcards of them in France.

As you can see there were quite a few Indian troops in the First World War, but I have never heard about them in the US - they must have been forgotten here. I tried to find books in English on this subject, but could not, but I did find books published in France. Below a couple of them plus an article on the Excelsior Journal published in France on December 14, 1914, showing injured Indian soldiers.

In the north of France they took part in an offensive near Neuve-Chapelle from March 10 to 13, 1915, earning the Battle Honors "Loos" and "France and Flanders" - over 8,550 were killed and as many as 50,000 more were wounded. In total about 10,000 Indian soldiers died in France during the First World War. Several monuments in their honor were erected in France, notably the Neuve-Chapelle Memorial. It was inaugurated on 7 October, 1927, by Marshal Foch, and attended by the Maharaja of Karputhala, Rudyard Kipling and a large contingent of Indian veterans representing units that fought in France, including Sikhs, Dogras and Garhwalis. Marshal Ferdinand Foch (French, 1851-1919,) the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces (and generally considered the leader most reponsible for the Allied victory,) gave a speech, including this: "Return to your homes in the distant, sun-bathed East and proclaim how your countrymen drenched with their blood the cold northern land of France and Flanders, and how they delivered it by their ardent spirit from the firm grip of a determined army; tell all India that we shall watch over their graves with the devotion due to all our dead. We shall cherish above all the memory of their example. They showed us the way, they made the first steps towards the final victory." Speaking after the war, Marshal Foch said the Indian Army had delivered the war's first decisive steps to victory; they were critical in stemming the tide of the German invasion of Belgium and France. Without their early arrival, the port of Calais would not have been saved, the Western Front would have been breached and the British Expeditionary Forces annihilated. Below photos of the Neuve-Chapelle Indian Memorial.

Again in World War II, 1.5 million Anglo-Indian soldiers (including Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs) came to defend Africa and Europe. 130,000 of them came to France where thousands died or were wounded. They earned 16 Battle Honors and 14 Theatre Honors. On May 28, 1940, 300 Indian soldiers (all of them Muslims) and 23 British troops evacuated the city of Dunkirk, but their story has been mostly forgotten, as well as in movies about Dunkirk. Read about it here or on the BBC report here. (World War Two: The forgotten Indian soldiers of Dunkirk.) Numerous soldiers hailing from former French trading posts in India - now in present day Pondicherry/Puducherry - also fought in France. France never forgot the suffering and heroism of all these men. President Macron tweeted "This 14 July, soldiers and Rafale aircraft from India are marching and flying alongside our troops. We honor the memory of those who fough with the French in the two World Wars." Photo below British Indian Army Service Corps on parade in France in 1940 (courtesy Wikipedia.)

Another unsung hero coming from India was Noor Inayat Khan (1914-1944) the descendant of Indian royalty. She was the daughter of an Indian Sufi mystic, Inayat Khan, born in Bombay. He lived in Europe as a musician and teacher of Sufism where he became the head of the "Sufi Order of the West." Her mother was an American, Ora Ray Baker, born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Noor, also known as Nora Baker, was an SOE agent under the French Resistance, her code name was "Madeleine." She was the first female wireless operator sent from the UK to aid the French Resistance during World War II. She was betrayed, captured, tortured then executed at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany. On January 16, 1946, French President Charles de Gaulle awarded her the Croix de Guerre (highest civilian honor.) She was also honored with the British S. George Cross. There is a plaque (shown below) outside her family home in Suresnes, France. A band plays there every year on Bastille Day. A square in the city of Suresnes has been named Cours Madeleine after her. Photos courtesy the National Archives and Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust: top left Noor and her mother Ora, next to Noor playing her veena instrument; bottom photo of Noor's family.

A school in Suresnes, a city 9.3 km (5.7 miles) from the center of Paris, is named after her.

French history with India is a long one, over three centuries, from 1674 to 1954. I remember when I was a small girl studying in Paris public primary school, France still had trading posts in India. I had to memorize their difficult to pronounce names. They sounded so exotic - I dreamed of visiting these far-away places. I have not yet, but it's still on my list... In 1673, under the reign of French King Louis XIV, France purchased Chandernagore from the Mughal Governor of Bengal. The following year France purchased Pondicherry from the Sultan of Bijapur, and other parts of south India. After the Treaty of Paris of 1763 France only kept five "comptoirs" (or trading posts) in India: Pondicherry, Chandernagor, Karikal, Mahe and Yanaon. (I still remember their names!) When India obtained its independence from the UK in 1947, talks were taken to return four of the French comptoirs to the Indian Union. This was done on November 1, 1954. However the people of Pondicherry were pro-French and feared the overpowering weight of the Indian administrative machinery. After several years of negotiations, an agreement was reached between France and India and a treaty was ratified by the French Parliament in July 1962. By this treaty Pondicherry became Indian Territory and its inhabitants Indian nationals. However, France gave them a six-month opportunity to obtain French citizenship - 8000 of them signed up. It was difficult for them to decide as they were Indians but also went to French schools, spoke French and had been imbued with French culture.

Of course, now sixty-two years later, the French influence in Pondicherry is fading away, but still...it retains some French culture, for example the headgear of the policemen represents the design adopted in France. There are many French-style houses left along the Bay of Bengal. Pondicherry has a large "French" area in town, with French city streets, cobblestones, restaurants, etc. French is one of the official languages of the Pondicherry's government. A French church, built in 1855, offers mass in three languages - Tamil, French and English. Many streets have retained their French names. There are still 5,500 French-Indian and French people living there, many retire there from France as well. A few years ago the film "The Life of Pi" was filmed in Pondicherry, starting with a scene in the shaded and peaceful Jardins Botaniques. (Photos courtesy Pondy Tourism.)

Pondicherry, Pondichéry in French, Pondy for short or Puducherry, as it is officially known, is not a large town. It is about 150 miles from the large city of Chennai (was Madras) on the south eastern coast of India. It's a little bit of France in India. The French Quarter is reminiscent of the New Orleans French Quarter. There is a French Consulate (see their sign in the heading photo) French school and college, The Alliance Francaise, French bakeries and shops and, of course, the celebrations of the 14 of July, or Bastille Day in India.

Bastille Day is a yearly festival in Pondy. On the evening of the 13th there is a lantern march along the Beach Promenade followed by a public dancing for 600 people. Several buildings are illuminated in blue, white and red after the French flag. The police band plays national songs of India and France as part of the celebration. On the 14th, there is a march to the monuments honoring French-Indians and Indians who died in the wars and also to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi (that is illuminated in the tri-colors.) In the evening of the 14th traditional fireworks are fired in front of the French Consulate. I don't think another foreign country in Asia (or anywhere else) sponsors an official French Bastille Day.

Meanwhile, in Paris, on this July 14, 2023, the crowd attended the usual free concert followed by the fireworks shot from the Eiffel Tower. (Photos courtesy City of Paris.)

A Syro-Malabar wedding in Atlanta

On Saturday, May 25, 2019, I attended a wedding in Atlanta.  The ceremony was conducted under the liturgy of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, one of the oldest Eastern Catholic churches.  I am not a Roman (or Latin) Catholic and I know even less about the Eastern Catholic churches, so I did some research.  There are twenty-three Eastern or Oriental Catholic Churches; they belong to the worldwide Catholic Church but they have they own canons, laws and traditions.  For example many of these churches allow the ordination of married men to the priesthood.  The total membership of these various churches comes to about 18 million of 1.5% of the Catholic Church compare to the 1.2 billion members who belong to the Latin, Western or Roman Catholic Church.  These Eastern Catholic Churches have their origins in the Middle East, East Africa, Eastern Europe and India.  Some of my father's cousins belong to one of the Eastern Catholic churches, the Armenian Catholic Church, that follows their own, independent liturgy.  The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is one of the largest and is based in the state of Kerala, in South India.  Their community is made of more affluent members.

India is a federal union comprising 29 states and 7 union territories.  The state of Kerala is on the tropical Malabar Coast and has 375 miles (600 km) of Arabian Sea shoreline.  My son-in-law was born in the US but his parents are from Kochi (also known as Cochin,) a major port and the financial capital of Kerala; the bride was one of his mother's cousins.  I read up on Kerala and Kochi and include some information here.  Large parts of Kerala such as Kochi were autonomous kingdoms rules by Maharajas during the British rule of India.  They were more progressive especially in education and health care.  Now Kerala is considered one of the safest regions of India with a high standard of living and their education, life style and healthcare are on par with developed countries.  It has the highest literacy rate (93.91% in Kerala and 97% in Kochi - the literacy rate in the US is 86%,) the highest life expectancy (77 years - the US is 78 years) and the lowest positive population growth rate in India.  The state has lush green vegetation palm-lined sandy beaches, mountains, tea, coffee and spice plantations, canals, backwaters and more.  Kerala is known in India as God's own Country.  National Geographic Traveler names Kerala one of the "ten paradises of the world."  Below are some photos, courtesy Kerala Tourism.  (click on collage to enlarge.)

Kerala has many ayurvedic spas and treatments, eco-tourism initiatives as well as national parks, wildlife and bird sanctuaries.  The state is home to elephants, langur monkeys and tigers. 

The city of Kochi, also known as the Queen of the Arabian Sea, was a spice trading partner with the Arab merchants of the pre-Islamic era.  It was occupied by the Portuguese from 1503 until 1530 when the Portuguese moved to Goa.  Many international tourists visit Kochi; tourism is a major contributor to the economy.  It also has a sizeable expatriate population, mostly European retirees.  International cruisers call on the port of Kochi regularly.  It has the first marina facility in the country attracting a large number of yacht owners.

Kochi is a cosmopolitan city with a variety of temples, churches, mosques and synagogues.  The oldest group of Jews in India reached Kerala in the 10th century BC.  The Paradesi Synagogue was built in 1568 and is the oldest active synagogue in India.  Indira Gandhi, then the Prime Minister of India, came in 1968 to celebrate its 400th anniversary.  Hinduism is practiced by 47% of the Kerala population but with its 35% Christians, Kochi is the city in India with the largest Christian population.  Syro-Malabar Catholics trace their origin to St. Thomas the Apostle, who is said to have come to India in 52 AD.  The adjective "Syro" in Syro-Malabar refers to the liturgical rite that the Christians celebrate and to distinguish it from the "Latin" liturgy, not to Syrian ethnicity.  These Catholics, also called St. Thomas Christians, have a distinct culture, influenced by both Hindu and Jewish customs, with special wedding customs and rituals.  Several hymns in the wedding ceremony were in Malayalam, their native language.  Below are several Syro-Malabar churches in Kerala apart from the bottom right picture which shows the interior of the Paradesi Synagogue.

The families of the bride and groom, the extended family, and most friends were from Kerala and living in various states of the US, from India, especially Kochi or were first generation Americans from Kerala parents.  The ceremony was going to take place at the small church in Gwinnett County where the Syro-Malabar priest officiates, but since there were 300 guests attending the wedding another church was selected.  The ceremony was celebrated at Mary our Queen Roman Catholic Church in Atlanta, a new church dedicated just a couple of months ago.  Three Syro-Malabar priests celebrated the sacrament of matrimony (the usual pastor of this church was away on Memorial Day holiday.)  As you know I do like to research everything and wanted to know more about this new church.  What I found is interesting.  It seems that parishioners in the community had been gathering funds for many years to build a new larger Catholic church.  St. Gerard's Catholic Church in Buffalo, New York, founded in 1902, was closed several years ago.  The initial plan was to dismantly St. Gerard's brick by brick and move it down to Atlanta.  Instead the Atlanta congregation decided to build a replica of the Roman Basilica-style church that was St. Gerard's and buy the century-old stained-glass windows, pews, altar and other liturgical elements of the old church.

As shown above, St. Gerard's Church building was sold to the Muslim community in Buffalo who needed a new mosque.  Part of St. Gerard's is now incorporated into Mary our Queen Catholic Church in Atlanta and the old building in Buffalo is now the Masjid Al Salam.  This is what could be called divine recycling (-:)  After all this background information, which I thought would help appreciate the wedding and ceremony, I'll finally get to the wedding!  A booklet "Order of Service" was given to everyone so we could follow the ceremony - and that certainly was helpful.  The church service lasted over two hours and part of it was in the Malayalam language.  First came the three Syro-Malabar priests wearing beautiful vestments, in ivory, red and embroidered in gold.

The groom came in with his parents and sat down, and everyone waited.  I'd say about 99% of the ladies were wearing Indian clothing - sarees, half sarees, anarkali, lehanga, etc.  The colors were exquisite, richly embroidered, heavy silks - a feast for the eyes.  They were some of the most beautiful garments I have even seen.  I took very few photos of them to preserve their privacy but I found similar clothing on Indian catalogs.  I have a couple of Indian outfits but they are for winter wear so I was one of the exception wearing western clothes.  It was very warm, close to 95 F in the shade (35 C.)  One of the guests who came all the way from Kerala, India, for the wedding told me that it was the same temperature over there.

The mother of the bride, in purple and gold, was escorted to the front of the church.  The eight bridesmaids and maid of honor wore long lavender gowns.  A small boy, the ring bearer, was ahead of the 5 flower girls (my granddaughter was one of the flower girls.) 

Music was being played.  Most hymns were different than those usually heard in Catholic or other Christian churches.  The Syro-Malabar liturgical chants originated in the Middle East in the 5th century and the hymns had Middle Eastern-Indian sounds.  The bride walked up the aisle with her father and the groom joined her at the altar.  There was a prayer, then a song - 3 young ladies singing in Malayalam.  Then readings from the Bible were followed by another hymn.  The main priest gave the homily followed by more prayers.  The groom then placed the "Thali" around the neck of his bride.  It is a Bunyan tree leaf-shaped pendant embossed with a cross - the symbol of the Covenant of Marriage.  This was followed by the blessing of the rings and the blessing of the "Manthrokodi."  It is a wedding garment covering the bride's head during the blessing, followed by another hymn and the matrimonial pledge - when the couple places their right palms on the Bible.  Then more prayers, more hymns during the two-hour service.  It ended with the couple presenting flowers to the Virgin Mary then lighting the Unity Candle.  The couple departed followed by the bridesmaids, flower girls, family and friends and so on.

After mingling and talking with guests in the front of the church the newlywed came back to the altar to take pictures with their close family while I was taking pictures of the church.

The reception was at the Hilton.  First we had drinks at an open bar and buffet style hors d'oeuvres.  We then proceeded to our tables in the reception hall.  The main priest did a welcome blessing then the groom's parents followed with the Lighting of the Lamp (a special ceremonial oil lamp that features a cross unique to the Indian tradition.)  The groom thanked the assembly for attending the wedding.  Then it was time for the bride/father dance, followed by the groom and bride dance.  After which the young couple sat on a sofa on the podium and received family and guests and took pictures.

There was an announcement that four dinner buffets were opened with an assortment of western and Indian foods - all excellent.  While we ate dinner there was Indian dance entertainment, two young boys, then two young ladies, then more ladies, then more dances.  I came close to the dance floor to take pictures - my granddaughter was in front of me.

Everyone was enthusiastically clapping, shouting encouragements - it was an exciting atmosphere.  Men came to join the dancers and everyone shouted - they were very good.  Then the groom joined the dance - more shouts.  When the bride came to join the dance, after having changed out of her bridal dress, the crowd went mad!  Music, dancing, shouting, clapping, laughing, lights going from purple to white to pink - it was something else!  The bride and groom thanked all the dancers.  Click on collage to see better - my photos are a bit dark as I did not use the flash.
I tried to find similar dances on youtube and if you click below, you'll get an idea about some of the dancing.

There were games, then most everyone - the young crowd - went to the dance floor.  The DJ placed some very loud and trendy music - I might call it Indian hip hop...  I watched while eating my piece of wedding cake.  I took a picture of the dancing floor - you can see the backs of my eldest and youngest grandsons, my daughter in the pink sari and my granddaughter.  My son-in-law and middle grandson joined me in another part of the reception hall away from the loud music and we watched at a distance.  It was easy to see my daughter with her bright coral-pink sari and with her high heels she is about 6 ft.1" tall (1 m 85.)

My daughter and granddaughter finally came back as the music stopped.  It had been quite a memorable and fun wedding! 

Best wishes to the happy couple !

Recollection - an unexpected stop in Uzbekistan, Central Asia

Readers who have been following my blog for a while know that I left Paris in the 1960s to travel to the USA and then stayed in San Francisco after I was married there.  I returned to Paris for a visit almost every year until my father passed away in 1974.  Then I journeyed home more often as my mother was stricken with Parkinson's disease.  I would go off-season, in the fall and spring and even, if I had some vacation time, during the winter holidays.  I would sometimes stop on my way to Paris or would go on a tangent to see some other cities, such as London, Amsterdam, or Brussels, etc.  I also took advantage of special French travel promotions for trips from Paris, such as Marrakesh, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.  I had a film camera and did not take many pictures - usually I would buy postcards.  Below is a photo I took of an island in Greece (could be Mykonos?) and the small aircraft that took me to another Greek Island, Chios.  The aircraft was so small that the pilot, who had entered through the back stairs, had to step over my knees to enter the cockpit - I was sitting in the first left-side front seat ...

In the fall of 1990 I had bought my ticket on Delta to visit my mother in Paris during the winter holidays.  Then I heard an ad from Delta, advertizing a special with Singapore Airlines as an "add-on" to a regular booked trip.  For about an extra $400 I could go round-trip from Paris to Singapore with two free stops.  I jumped at that, adding some vacation time and deciding that my stops would be Bangkok, Thailand and Jakarta, Indonesia.  From Jakarta I booked an Indonesian airline flight to the island of Bali with a stop in Yogyakarta to visit the Buddhist Borobudur Temple.  (I took film photographs and will have posts on these stops in the future.)  From Singapore I took a one-day excursion to Johore Bahru, Malaysia, visiting a typical food market, an artist studio and the famous Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque - see my film pictures below.

I had reserved my return trip home for January 14, 1991, as I knew that the Gulf War - Desert Storm - would start on January 15 or thereabout.  My Singapore Airlines flight left late on the 14th so I still had a full day to tour the city.  It was very warm and humid - 95 degrees F or more (35 C.)  I remember that I had packed my coat for my arrival in Atlanta and was just wearing a white tee-shirt, white trousers and sneakers.  This was to be a non-stop 13 1/2 hour flight to Paris.  Then another 10 hours to fly from Paris to Atlanta.  We left on time, were given a snack and then the lights were deemed.  The plane was full - it was a Boeing Jumbo Jet, the 747 double deck aircraft with 500 + passengers.  (Below is a similar aircraft, courtesy Wikipedia Commons.)

After several hours most people were asleep.  The passengers were a mixture of tour groups, Japanese, French retirees, Italians, and other nationalities.  I woke up as the flight attendants were walking up and down the aisles very quickly, and noticed smoke in the air.  Just then a bell was heard and the captain spoke in English on the loudspeaker, saying that we had to get prepared for an emergency landing as there was a fire in the cargo.  He added that we were over mountains with no airport and that he would do his utmost to fly north a bit farther for a safe landing.  The man next to me woke up.  We looked at the map trying to find out where we were.  We figured out by flight time that we were over Afghanistan.  He introduced himself as an engineer from Aerospatiale (at the time a French state-owned aerospace manufacturer.)  The flight attendants were gone, people were getting very agitated, some started praying aloud, children were screaming, and we could see more smoke.  I felt funny really - not wanting to think that we may crash.  I translated for the French retirees around me, telling them what was happening, and then we waited.

The aircraft was going down; people started shouting for some reason.  The engineer next to me advised that I should take my pillow and place it around my head for protection.  He added that if and when we landed oxygen entering the aircraft could provoke an explosion and if so to start running ... but we landed, the engines were turned off.  Everything was black outside but we could see snow and some aircraft, far off in the distance.  Since I had taken some language course I realized that it was Russian.  The word "Аэрофлот" in Russian which means Aeroflot was painted on the parked aircraft.  Where were we?  Somewhere in the Soviet Union we guessed, but where?  After about 1/2 hour or so some vehicles with blue lights sped toward us.  We were told buses would be coming shortly.  They did and everyone deplaned.  Since I was wearing a short sleeve tee-shirt and it was cold I picked up a blanket from the aircraft to wrap around my shoulders.  It turned out that we were at the Tashkent airport in Uzbekistan, Central Asia. (300 miles from Afghanistan.)

We were brought into a large hall and told to wait for the airport manager who had been awaken.  It must have been around 2 or 3 am local time.  The manager arrived and spoke in English.  He told us that our aircraft could not fly out safely anymore and that we had to stay in Tashkent.  Customs Declaration Forms were given to us to fill as temporary visas and we had to give our passports.  I gave my French passport as it is safer to travel as a French citizen than a US one.  (Later we were told no US citizens had been on board ...) Below are pictures I took of us waiting at the airport and the airport itself.

 Buses took us to a huge hotel where I was paired with a young Japanese lady because she spoke Italian (and I do too) and we went to sleep.  Next morning we had breakfast in a large room, similar to an institution hall (dark bread and weak coffee or tea.)  The architecture was pure Soviet.  The staff was very friendly though.

The passengers were told to queue up to make a call home - "the waiting will be long" they said.  Some made arrangements to get away to other cities then on to Paris.  But I was flying to Atlanta.  I decided not to call home since it was still night time in Georgia.  I would try to call later.  Wearing my white outfit with my aircraft lavender blanket I decided to take a walk and look at the city.  It was quite cold.  There was a large park nearby so I walked there.  People passed me then stopped and stared - I certainly was not the type of person to see on a winter day in Tashkent! I found some old photos you can see below and a postcard - photo of hotel front door with some passengers, a large building close by, a postcard of a street near the hotel, and me in the park near a big sculpture.

Most people looked Asians to me, wearing heavy dark coats and fur hats.  I went back into the hotel to see if I could find a hat.  I found one at the gift shop, a nutria fur hat, bought it and went back outdoors.  Now I looked very eccentric with my white outfit, lavender blanket and black fur hat.  I still have the hat but don't wear it often as it is not cold enough in Georgia.  I just took its picture but it is difficult to see.  I checked on eBay and found the exact same hat - they are asking $140 for it! Mine was $40 I recall and thought it was outrageous.

I bought some postcards then but have misplaced them.  But below are some vintage postcards of Tashkent, and a 1980 view of my hotel lobby.  The top picture at the center is a sculpture called "Courage" commemorating the victims of the 1966 earthquake that destroyed 36,000 houses and left 300,000 homeless in Tashkent.  (Click on collage to enlarge.)

In the early evening I called my office (Georgia is 9 hours behind Tashkent.)  At first my boss refused the call when they said "call from the USSR" thinking it was a joke.  I told the operator to give out my name.  That time he answered and asked "what in the h*** are you doing there?"  I finally explained and asked him to call my husband in the evening, at home, to tell him not to worry; I just would arrive a couple of days late.  I was in Uzbekistan in January 1991 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union happened on December 26, 1991.  See map below.

Uzbekistan has a long history.  People have settled there for centuries.  The Great Silk Road that connected Asia and Europe went through the historic cities of Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva and Shash (modern Tashkent.)  This contributed to the development of Central Asia.  When the Soviet power was proclaimed in 1917 Uzbekistan started a guerrilla war to stay independent but in 1924 the Red Army was victorious.  In 1924 the country became the Uzbek SSR, within the Soviet Union.  After the large earthquake of 1966 which destroyed the major part of the old city of Tashkent, the Soviet rebuilt it with USSR architects in the current style of the period.  The Republic of Uzbekistan was proclaimed as an independent state after the collapse of the USSR.  It became a member of the UN in 1992.  The distance from Singapore to Tashkent is 3,491.1 miles or 5618.4 kilometers.  The distance from Tashkent to Moscow, Russia is 1734 miles or 2790.6 km - which is more than Columbus, Ohio to Salt Lake City (1711 miles.)  The Tashkent population in 2012 was 2.3 million people.  Uzbekistan is well known for its craftsmen working with wood, cooper, jewelry, fabric and more. 

The passengers in the hotel were not looking very happy and some had already left on flights to Moscow.  I went to get a hot cup of tea and joined another passenger who was holding a cup.  He was also wearing a white suit and was from Australia.  He said that he had found out that there was a disco at the hotel that served better food than we had been given and asked if I wanted to join him to investigate.  Sure, I was ready for some dancing (I was happy to be alive.)  So we went to the disco, ate some interesting food and danced.  I forgot his name but he was a good dancer.  He took my photo - here it is below - still wearing my white Thai tee-shirt.

The next day an empty Singapore Airlines aircraft had arrived and I flew in it to Paris, then on Delta to Atlanta.  A year later, I told a foreign airport employee who was touring our plant in Georgia about my stop in Tashkent.  She replied that she remembered the incident well since the airline had flown her to Tashkent from her home in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to be a translator for the passengers stranded at the hotel (small world after all.)  All this happened a long time ago but I thought someday my grandchildren might find interesting to learn how their grandmother came to visit the USSR.  The photo below is the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tashkent.  It was built in 1902-1905 and survived the 1966 earthquake.  At the top of this post I show this same cathedral after I worked on it with my new cell phone app.