Wednesday 23 July 2008

Living Legends: Rob Sinclair

Charles Darwin? Father Christmas? Karl Marx? Sri Rajneesh?

The bearded man with the big smile is always a stand out. Rob Sinclair - him of the dusty sandals and the Ganges walk - was in town with his 15 year old daughter Alisha (how do they grow up so quickly) and the twosome stopped in to see us Eichers this afternoon.

After a prayer with little Satish at the JSK centre, Rob and Alisha climbed up the 7 stories to our flat (no power) and climbed down again (still no power) on their way to taking us out for a meal.

In the din of multiple birthday parties (and multiple times the famous song was sung) we had a lovely time with Rob and Alisha. Time was too short, of course, to reminisce on the many years we had together in Nana Chowk when Rob was the team leader of the OM mens team there.

Rob did tell Alisha that he had taught me my first lessons in driving - in a Willys jeep on the University grounds at Ranchi in 1983. He also remembered that I plundered his music collection at the time - and was fascinated by the now defunct (and forgotten) pop act called Supertramp. I idolised Rob and Pradip Ayer and made a memorable trip out to meet them in Ranchi as a 13 year old.

Rob is a real Barnabas. He continues to come to India every year for a season - of walking down the Ganga - meeting people - blessing them with his presence - his huge laugh and gracious persona.

As I write this on a sleek little MacBook that Rob and his wife Carol left for us - I know that we will be remembering this amazing family a lot in the days to come!

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