Cynthia Thanda

2024 is the year that made me proud of being a Motswana.

From our own Lesego Chombo being Miss World Africa, Letsile Tebogo a gold medallist at the Olympics to the new government under the leadership of Adv. Duma Gideon Boko, Botswana was definitely a wonderful story, beautifully scripted towards a happy ending.

However, it is not only these major events that taught me to be proud about ‘Fatshe leno dawg’, a slang we have now adopted, but my visit to India, a country that has its own people beaming with pride.

The 45-minutes flight from Madras International Airport, Chennai to Bangalore International Airport, Bengaluru on the 12^th of December 2024 did not prepare me for the natural scenery and an amazing welcome from the locals that warmed my body from the goose-bumps that were brought on by the chilly, cloudy weather.

Bengaluru, a city in Karnataka State, India is the mother of nature with its evergreen plants, the sweet smell of great personalities from the locals that could just put a smile on your face.

The 30-minutes of traffic from the airport to the Taj West End hotel made me question if the city ever sleeps.

My wrist watch read 7:00 pm and it seemed surreal to me to see people at work, definitely earning a badge of hard-work pays, evident through the multi-storey buildings that almost had my head fall off my neck in an attempt to see where they end.

Bengaluru is one of the 5th biggest cities in India after Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai. Previously, the state was called Mysore State in 1973/74. It is said to be a garden city, a Silicon Valley city, an education city.

It is a biotic city. It’s an electronic city, and it is called the retired paradise of the British people. India was ruled by four European countries – Portugal, The Netherlands, France, and Britain – before it attained its independence in August 15, 1947.

The language spoken is Kannada and one amazing fact is the meaning of Bengaluru, which is boiled beans and boiled rice.

The lovely hospitality from the staff of the Taj West End Hotel with their constant “Ma’am” made my 25-year old heart swell with joy and definitely an ‘I will come again’ bye.

“Namaskara”, a word said with your hands set in a prayer’s pose and the tilting of your head as a form of greetings is one great lesson I took to heart, especially seeing my fellow brothers and sisters’ faces highlighted the appreciation of a Motswana interested in partaking in their culture.

The Lalbagh Botanical Gardens was a sight to behold with its famous glass house which hosts two annual flower shows (26 January and 15 August). The garden harbours India’s largest collection of tropical plants and is a definite tourist attraction.

The garden oozes love and it was not surprising that love was in the air as I saw many couples, hand in hand, basking in the comfort of the greens or taking one or two snapshots next to the lake or flowers.

The visit to Bengaluru Palace conquered my forever curious mind. The palace was initially the guesthouse for a British guy named Reverend Garrett. It was designed by an architect known as John Nash in 1874.

Then Reverend Garrett sold this palace to the Maharaja of Mysore family. The meaning of Mysore is lord, king, and master. This family ruled the state from 1399 to up to 1974.

Their national bird is peacock, national animal is a tiger, national flower is a lotus and national fruit is mango of India.

There are also old photos framed nicely and hung on the wall. The photos are of Maharaja, the 25th Maharaja was from 1990 and in 1974, he was the last king of the family called Srisli, Jaya Chhama Rajendra.  

The palace is about 400 acres, and people do get married there; they can rent it and it costs nearly $24, 000 to get married in the palace. There is a Darbar hall.

Darbar means where the conferences and important meetings are held. The palace was commissioned for the Maharaja of Mysore, Chamarajendra Wadiyar X and currently belongs to the current head of the Wadiyar dynasty, Yaduveer Jrishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar.

Bengulare is a city that deserves to be on your bucket list if you have not visited it. The next stop was the wonderful city of Delhi with its larger than life statues and big Indian flags.

In fact, everywhere I went I was surrounded by the Indian flag, a symbol of appreciation and love that Indians have for their country. The first thing I did when I set foot in Delhi was visit the Indian Gate and I had arrived just in time of a fair.

There were so many things that my eyes did not know where to look. The jewellery, the sarees, the bags, everything a girlie like me was willing to dive into and just stay there!

Delhi was definitely a different atmosphere. The traffic seemed more controlled than in Bengaluru and the city felt like a sleeping baby, quiet and peaceful. Nonetheless, green was a definite must as the tall trees and vegetation stood in greeting and a warm fresh air of oxygen.

The amazing coordinators such as Deepak Meena with his wonderful sense of humour that had me crackling, Ravindra Kumar, Nitn Gautam, and Ravi Saini created a fun experience as they would answer every question with enthusiasm and ensured that everything ran smoothly. Their work ethic is something I would love for Batswana to emulate.

One of the places I visited in Delhi was the Iskcon Temple Vrindavan which is a temple dedicated to the Hindu gods Krishna and Balarama. This is something I found fascinating.

As an open minded Christian, I do love to learn about other cultures and set of beliefs so this was interesting to see how Hindus are unapologetic about their belief and the commitment they have towards their gods.

Rashtrapati Bhavan which is the Presidential Palace was like heaven on earth with its presidential garden, large open spaces, incredible architecture that would just steal your breath and big rooms that I am sure I would get lost in, was a sight to see.

India is just not a country with advanced technology and rich culture, it is on the lips of its own people who speak of it with a sense of belonging and pride. It is a country that cares not only for its people but nature itself, every tree I saw in Delhi was numbered and all of them were green and flourishing.

Their monuments are well kept and that makes it easier for people like me to want to visit again. What I hope for my country as we manoeuvre our way into a new era, let us take a step back and learn from countries such as India, a country that decided we are going to be our own boss and we are going to be something that each one of us is proud of.

The only eyesore was the homelessness because in Botswana we do not have that and it was just a weird concept for me. Nonetheless, the Indian Government is working towards assisting such people.

Our new government has promised to provide Batswana with quality health care for every citizen and I believe with our Botswana-Indian bilateral relations, we can benchmark from Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals which is a multi- speciality tertiary acute care hospital with 710 beds and one of the most sought after destinations in Asia for healthcare.

As the year begins, may every Motswana reflect on how he or she can better Botswana, through benchmarking and collaborations with other nationalities.

A happy new year