Becoming Enoch

A personal website featuring a subcontinental family adventure in India, and other stuff.

Author: Clifford Milne (page 1 of 2)

December 2, 2024

PARADISE LOST

The rebrand of Paradise Church to Influencers Church to Futures Church ranks amongst some of the most bewildering and high level branding missteps I have observed.

Back at some point in the noughties, the well known Adelaide church Paradise suddenly retired its name. Running to Paradise was out. Being an Influencer was in.

At the time, I hated the rebrand to Influencers Church. Then for a while as social media exploded it became funny. But this more recent misstep to Futures Church has left my brain buzzing.

Read more
October 8, 2018

Losing Juddy

In the purest sense, a seed should only produce one outcome; a single pathway to fully formed fruit. The job of the gardener or orchardist is to protect and care for the young life, get out of the way, and give that life every chance of growing into maturity.

But what happens when young growth has some kind of trauma forced upon it?

That’s how I feel about my teenage years, like my maturation veered off course a tad, and my life from then on, for a long time, was anchored to the experience I had as an eleven year old when a school excursion ended in the worst possible way.

Since then I have grown up with an image burned into my brain of my little brother Juddy floating face down in the water, extremely still.

Read more

October 2, 2018

It’s not just a story any more

Ever head out to a social catch up and on the way start thinking about who you might run into? There’s that sense of anticipation as we reacquaint.

This trip has been like that for me as we’ve reconnected with people from another lifetime.

Today wasn’t quite that day though.

The anticipation was there, but of a different kind. Today was the day we visited my brother’s grave, overlooking a lake in Ooty, Tamil Nadu.

Read more

October 1, 2018

Kottayam to Coimbatore by Train

Train journeys are well documented in India, they are not to be missed.

^ Xavier on Platform 1 at Kottayam

I was slightly disappointed to find out we were booked on a second class A/C sleeper. I was keen to see everyone sweat it out for a few hours.

Read more

September 30, 2018

Connected bedrooms no doors

Cinnamon; what a superb spice. Like a mojito, it’s a flavour and taste experience that is supremely better in the tropics than a dry climate.

We have been deep in Kerala for the last three days in a small town called Chingavanam. Kerala is a rich state. It seems to start with the greenery, emerging and affecting everything it touches. There is a dignity and wealth here that seems always visible.

^ This greenery sums up the lushness of Kerala

Read more

September 28, 2018

The smell of my adolescence is all around

We’ve been in Agra the past two days. On most streets the air is constantly thick. The attacking smells covers off pretty much anything that exudes an odour. Think animals, excrement, vehicles, spices, frying, incense, flowers, dough, sweat and every other aroma you can dream up. And they swirl and mix, like a recipe. Even something horribly putrid can linger before a surprise, sweet ending.

^ No surprise pleasant ending here. This was behind a couple of street vendors opposite the Red Fort in Agra

Add to that the inescapable humidity and the streets contain a constant, thick, sultry barrage.

Read more

September 27, 2018

Jaipur to Agra

A day spent on the road. It’s so sensory that it’s difficult to convey, I’m doing my best. Xavier passed the time by counting cows. His final tally was 740.


^ Road house

Read more

September 26, 2018

Joyce

Joyce first came into my life when I was nine years old. She married our family friend, Abraham.

I don’t remember a lot about Joyce’s wedding. It was a traditional Christian Indian wedding, a Kerala wedding, an arranged marriage. It carried different traditions to imagery popularised in modern Bollywood culture. But India is India; family, food and celebration is at the heart of all the cultures and sub-cultures here.

On her wedding day, Joyce wore cream. And the ceremony and celebrations were long. And in Malayalam.

^ Joyce second from the right with her new husband, Abraham. Yours truly front left.

Read more

September 24, 2018

India: Completely Different Exactly the Same

As I begin these words we are deep in traffic heading out of Delhi as we find our way to the new motorway that will get us to Jaipur. This image captures some of the feel – a modern SUV edge of shot and historical India by the side of the road.

It’s a perfect metaphor for what is going on here. The global world is upon us, India is at the forefront and if you’re not a part of it you will be left behind.

Read more

« Older posts