A Chinese nationalist and a village in Hertfordshire

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IT IS ONE hundred years since Sir James Cantlie (1851-1926), a medical man, died. He was the inventor of what we now call ‘first aid’, and one of the founders of The London School of Tropical Medicine. Also, he founded Chinese Medical College in Hong Kong in 1887. One of his students in Hong Kong was Sun Deming, better known as Sun Yat Sen (1866-1925).

In 1896, poor health forced Cantlie to return to London. That year, Sun came to England to visit him. Already out of favour with the Imperial Chinese government because of his revolutionary activities, private agents employed by the Chinese were sent to Liverpool, where he landed, to follow his movements. The first person that Sun visited after arriving in London was his old teacher Cantlie, whose London residence was close to the Chinese embassy, which was, and still is, in Portland Place. On his way there, Sun was kidnapped and held captive in the embassy. He would have faced death had not he persuaded the embassy’s English housekeeper, a Mrs Howe, to smuggle a note to Dr Cantlie. What happened next is related in my book “An Alphabetical Tour of England”.

Cantlie had a country abode in the village of Cottered in Hertfordshire. His house bears a plaque commemorating its connection with the Chinese nationalist Sun Yat Sen. When Cantlie died, he was buried close to the church of St John the Baptist in Cottered. His pink granite gravestone is next to the church’s southern entrance. It includes some carved Chinese writing (characters). These are a Chinese translation of the Bible’s gospel verse Matthew 5:7 (‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy’). Within the church, there is a wall mounted plaque, commemorating Sir James Cantlie. What makes it interesting in connection with his former student, Sun Yat Sen, is that the plaque was placed in the church by Sao-Ke Alfred Sze (1877-1958), who was Chinese Minister to Great Britain twice: 1914-1921 and 1929-1932.

Until we got stuck in slow-moving traffic in Cottered in 2021, I had no idea that this charming little village had a link with modern China. We were moving so slowly that I was able to catch a glimpse of the plaque on Cantlie’s former home as we passed it, and having seen that, my interest was aroused. We have returned to Cottered several times since that first fleeting visit, and had time to look at the church and his grave.

PS If you wish to read more of my book, it is available from Amazon:https://www.amazon.co.uk/ALPHABETICAL-TOUR-ENGLAND-Adam-Yamey/dp/B0FVV6JLZ7

A novel by an author from South Africa: Damon Galgut

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MRS SWART IS DYING, lying on her bed in a farmhouse in South Africa during the last years of the apartheid regime. Her husband and three children are close by. One of her daughters, Amor, hears, or believes she has heard, her mother promising that Salome, the family’s African maid, will be bequeathed the small outhouse in which she lives. Mrs Swart dies. Nobody else remembers hearing that Salome has been promised that she could own her humble abode, and she is not given possession of it. Many years go by, apartheid ends, and one by one Amor’s father, her brother, and her sister die. Yet, still Salome has not been given ownership of her residence on the farm. Amor, who has largely dissociated herself from her family, becomes the sole inheritor of the family’s farm after her father and siblings have died. Without giving away too much of the story, she honours the promise that her mother made, but what should have been a straightforward happy ending turns out not to be. In between the events I have mentioned, much more takes place, as is revealed in “The Promise”, an excellently written novel published in 2021 by South African author Damon Galgut.

Galgut’s novel contains vivid descriptions of peoples’ lives and their difficulties in South Africa before and after the apartheid regime ended in 1993. In his novel, the personalities of the various people in it are described brilliantly. In addition, he portrays the troubles, physical and psychological, that South Africans must face daily even after the end of apartheid. Reading this book has reinforced what I had already heard about South Africa being a country filled with its own distinctive range of problems.

I believe that Galgut’s novel is a metaphor for what has happened to South Africa after the death of apartheid, a regime that severely suppressed the non-white majority of South Africans. When apartheid eventually ended, many South Africans must have believed and hoped that they had been promised, and could expect, a better life, one from which each person would derive benefit. Sadly, for many, just as Mrs Swart’s promise to Salome was fulfilled but unsatisfactorily, the assumed promise of an improved life post-apartheid has not been fulfilled entirely satisfactorily (if at all) for most of the country’s population.

“The Promise” is the third of Galgut’s novels that I have read to date. Each of the three is beautifully written, interesting, compelling, and moving. Of the three, “The Promise” has appealed to me most, but only a little bit more than the other two (“The Good Doctor” and “Arctic Summer”).

Larger than life. Traditional yet contemporary.

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INDIA FASCINATES ME. One aspect of this fascination is the ever-present fusion of the present and the past. Almost every Indian I have met embraces at any one moment both unscientific ideas and beliefs, which date back many millennia, and the concepts of today’s world. As the writer Pavan K Varma put it in his book ‘Becoming Indian’:

“The mistake one should never make is to accept the amiable Indian as a monolith. He is a most well-adjusted split personality, capable of living simultaneously and effortlessly on two mutually opposed planes. He can make a quantum leap from one epoch to another without showing any strain.”

This ability to decompartmentalise the past and the present is well exemplified in some artworks I saw at an exhibition organised by Bombay’s Sakshi Gallery, and showing at London’s Mall Gallery until 8 July 2026.

The works to which I am referring are sculptures by Ravinder Reddy, who was born in 1956 at Suryapet, Andhra Pradesh (southern India). Each of his sculptures on display at the Mall Gallery are larger than life sized female heads. Each of them is stunningly attractive and although not completely lifelike, very engaging. They are adorned with what recalls traditional south Indian decoration. They look like traditional images, yet at the same time, there is something contemporary about them. As an article (www.astaguru.com/blogs/legacy-of-artist-ravinder-reddy-influencing-future-generations-257)  by Yungming Wong noted aptly:

“Reddy’s work is a rare phenomenon because it fuses tradition and innovation together … [His] sculptures often contain strikingly modern interpretations of traditional forms … His famous busts, for instance, advance classical portraiture to new heights by super-sizing the heads to monumental proportions. This exaggeration gives the sculptures grandeur and presence and leads the viewers’ eyes to the face that is the ultimate icon of humanity. In this sense, he connects the timelessly traditional approach of portraiture to the contemporary sensitivities for his works to be relevant in their local and global contexts.”

Although the show at the Mall Gallery contains excellent paintings and sculpture by other Indian artists, all of them well worth seeing, it was Reddy’s work that kept engaging my eyes. It was not merely the great size of his works, but their alluring presence, which grabbed my attention. Although products of the present, they suggest age old traditions of southern India. More than anything else on display at the exhibition, Reddy’s artworks exemplified what fascinates me about life in India: it occupies a space in which the past and present overlap, in which one exists inseparable from the other.

A sculpture through which you are invited to walk

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NEXT TO THE 2026 Serpentine Pavilion, a wonderful structure that makes creative use of brickwork, there is another creation, an artwork by Jesus Rafael Soto (born in Venezuela in 1923, and died in 2005). It consists of a rectangular frame filled with a grid of finely spaced rectangles and supported by three pairs of vertical pillars. 4000 identical, 10 metre long, thin, yellow PVC tubes hang down from the frame, almost reaching the ground beneath it.  This work, first made in 1999 and then recreated in 2023, is called “Pénétrable BBL Jaune”.

The structure is an example of kinetic art. As the Serpentine’s website explained:

“From a distance, the closely spaced strands seem to shimmer and shift due to a moiré effect. Visitors are invited to walk through the work, allowing their movement to activate and transform the space around them.”

And many visitors, including me, were tempted to enter the sculpture and make one’s way through the forest of plastic fibres, which, although they look as light as feathers, offer some resistance to one’s passage.

Soto’s sculpture is is both intriguing to enter and to observe from outside it. The seemingly simple array of yellow tubes provides an interesting spectacle as it is disturbed both by breezes and people wandering through it. It will remain on view until 26 October 2026.

Does this description make my forthcoming book sound appealing?

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COMMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS, PLEASE

My forthcoming book will be called “ROAD TO HEAVEN – A passage through India”.

Would the following ‘blurb’ attract you? Would it make you want to read the book?

“This book follows Adam Yamey’s engaging journey through parts of western, central, and southern India. Since marrying into an extended Indian family in 1994, Adam has visited the country more than 50 times and now sees it as both a second home and a rich cornucopia of remarkable people and places. His narrative moves between India’s past and present, weaving everyday details into the broader fabric of its culture and history. Along the way, his own impressions are set beside those of earlier writers who visited the same places. Unlike many travel books on India, this one reflects the perspective of someone who spends longer than the average tourist in each destination, allowing him to absorb and convey its distinctive atmosphere. It also offers rare views of life in some of India’s exclusive ex-colonial clubs. And, in case you are wondering, The Road to Heaven is a real place. In this illustrated account, Adam describes travelling along it and exploring many other memorable aspects of his journey.”

An Indian king who defeated the Dutch in southern India

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BEFORE THE YEAR 1729, a part of southern India, now part of the State of Kerala, was a collection of distinct small kingdoms. Often, they fought with each another, and life in that part of the world was disorganised and easy prey to the activities of hostile regimes, such as the Dutch colonists and armies from other parts of India.

In 1729, Marthanda Varma (1706-1758) became Maharaja of the Kingdom of Venadu in what is now the southernmost part of Kerala. A brilliant military strategist, who employed Europeans to update his army, he conquered most of the small states in southern Kerala, and created the Kingdom of Travancore, which existed from 1729 until about one year after India became independent in 1947. Just as Otto von Bismarck united the myriad German states, Marthanda did the same kind of thing in Kerala. Marthanda was not only a successful military man. He was also a successful ruler who brought orderly government to his kingdom. As with all rulers who have suppressed rival states, he had enemies, who plotted against him, but many of these were either banished or killed.

One of the problems that Marthanda solved successfully by both diplomatic and military means were the Dutch, who had settled on the Malabar Coast, and were desperate to purchase pepper. After the Dutch had conspired with the ruler of Cochin, which was never incorporated into Travancore, Marthanda defeated them at the Battle of Colachel in 1741. This was one of the few battles in which an Indian army defeated a European force. Following the battle and others, Marthanda often persuaded some of his enemies’ soldiers to join his army, and they helped to improve his military capabilities.

Marthanda was a canny fellow.  Worried about whom would succeed him and also how to maintain  the integrity of his kingdom after he died, Marthanda conducted a ceremony at a temple in Trivandrum during which he surrendered Travancore to the god Sree Padmanabhaswamy. This happened in January 1750. From then on, Marthanda ruled Travancore on behalf of the god. As the authors of a brief but excellent biography of Marthanda, “God’s Own Empire”, Raghu and Pushpa Palat, put it:

“Regardless of how one views it, it was undeniably a masterstroke. The nation and realm now belonged to Lord Padmanabhaswamy who was worshipped with the most profound reverence across the entire kingdom. It meant that anyone taking up arms against Marthanda was, in fact, taking up arms against the deity”

The strategy was successful.

Raghu and Pushpa Palat have achieved something remarkable in their short book. Not only have they described Marthanda’s life both beautifully and at times excitingly, but also, they have unravelled the extraordinarily complex history of southern Kerala, making it accessible to the lay reader.

A shop selling booze in Kerala (India)

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AT PRESENT I am working on the text of my forthcoming travel book, which will be called “Road to Heaven -A passage through India”. Here is a brief excerpt from the chapter about Fort Kochi (Fort Cochin) in Kerala:

“No description of Fort Kochi would be complete without describing a visit to the Kerala State Beverages store, a state government run alcoholic drinks store – the only place in Fort Kochi (apart from some expensive restaurants and hotels), where bottles of spirits can be purchased. Located some distance away from the centre of Fort Kochi in a residential suburb with many trees, this establishment has two floors beneath its rooftop terrace. The ground floor has barred windows, a metal grille, behind which the storekeepers work, surrounded by a crowded collection of piled up crates containing bottles of booze. A crowd of (mostly) men gather around a small aperture in the grille, and buy bottles of beer and small bottles of spirit. This part of the shop looks depressing, as if someone wants to give the message that alcohol is evil, and you need to be desperately in need of it to approach the place. We were directed to the upper floor, which was a complete contrast to what was below it. Bottles of alcohol, gins, brandies, liqueurs, and whiskys, both Indian and imported, were nicely displayed, as in any well-organised supermarket. Customers select what they want, and pay at a cash desk. The drinks that were on sale on this floor were different from, and much more expensive than what was available from behind the barred windows on the ground floor. Buying one’s own booze is far cheaper than ordering it in a bar or restaurant in Kerala.“

Moore and his maquettes in London’s Mayfair

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THE ARTIST HENRY Moore (1898-1986) is probably best known for his huge sculptures, a collection of which are on display at Kew Gardens until 31 January 2027. These massive artworks had small beginnings.

Moore’s large works began life as sketches and, often, as small maquettes (models or miniature sculptures that were often small enough to be held in the palm of a hand). At his country estate at Perry Green in Hertfordshire, one building was dedicated to making maquettes. The maquettes were rather like small three-dimensional sketches. At Perry Green, visitors can see hundreds of Moore’s maquettes, many of which never became developed further.

Plasticine, clay, and plaster were the malleable materials that Moore chose to use for creating maquettes. From the 1950s, he favoured plaster over other materials. It is malleable before it sets, and unlike clay that becomes very hard when dried, plaster is soft enough to cut or carved or inscribed after it has set. Maquettes that pleased him were later copied, modified as needed, to create the larger, final sculptures in various materials. Thus, the artist’s initial idea embodied in the maquette became realised as a finished sculpture.

Some of Moore’s maquettes have been cast into bronze, and make fine but tiny collectable sculptures. There is an exhibition of these bronze maquettes, each of them depicting female forms, at Richard Green Gallery in London’s New Bond Street. The maquettes are well-displayed, and on the gallery’s wall, there are informative panels with details about the artist and the way he worked. Some of the maquettes we saw must have been ‘precursors’ for several of Moore’s sculptures in Tate Britain.

We saw the exhibition on 24 June 2026. I rang the gallery to discover when the exhibition will finish, and was told that it will continue until all the maquettes are sold. So, if you have between £230, 000 and £1,000,000 going spare, hurry up and buy one!

Sarajevo and a tragic attempt at comedy at a theatre in London

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ONE OF THE triggers of WW1, during which too many people were killed, was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand at Sarajevo (Bosnia) in 1914. The planning of this murder is the subject of a play, “Archduke” by Rajiv Joseph. It is currently showing at the Royal Court Theatre in London’s Sloane Square. Because of its subject matter and my interest in the Balkans, I was looking forward to watching this play.

The playwright has tried to turn the historic event into a comedy. I might not have minded that, had it been written better. However, the humour was thin, and the play’s plot even slenderer. Given this poor treatment, I did not feel that Rajiv Joseph had treated the serious subject well. I have no objection to light-heartedness, but “Archduke” was not even that – it was a weak attempt to get the audience tittering, which it did but rather embarrassingly in my opinion.

Usually, the plays we have watched at the Royal Court – be they serious or humorous – are of a high quality. Sadly, “Archduke” neither met my expectations nor was as superb as most other productions I have seen at that theatre.