Lewis and Helen meet children in Alipura
Lewis the Lion soaked up the ‘real’ India when he was able to walk around some Indian villages, notably those of Orccha and Alipura as you can see in his photo gallery. In truth, even though he was a tourist, he and his friends seemed to be the attraction and at one point, he even felt like the Pied Piper of Hamlin as more and more villagers flocked to meet him as you can see in his favourite photo of his Indian trip above!
Again you can see what an attraction the visitors were when they visited a ‘mela’, a fair, during a jeep safari around the village of Alipura. They were also welcomed unreservedly as it wasn’t long before they were invited to play in a local cricket game in another Indian village. Lewis the Lion felt like the Indian people showed him great hospitality, that’s for sure!
One of the most exciting parts of his Indian adventure was that he got to visit a village school in Alipura. He saw an English class where Helen taught the children Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and a maths lesson that was taking place outside under the trees. Lewis the Lion liked the thought of being educated outdoors. If only the weather was a bit warmer in England!
Furthermore on his adventure, he even met a former king – King Singh in Alipura. Even though these titles were removed officially many years ago in India, it was clear that the villagers still paid respect to Mr Singh as they bowed before him in his palace (which now serves as a hotel).
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- Children fill waterpots at the village well
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- Children carry waterpots home
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- A mother fetching water
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- Carrying wood home
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- Children play out on the streets
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- Lewis sees grass being shredded
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- Helen gives the wheel a spin
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- A girl wears the traditional black eye make-up
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- Children play out in the village
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- Lewis and his friends join in with a local cricket match
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- Lewis watches as Seetal goes to bat
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- Helen gets roped into batting in a local cricket game!
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- A boy plays with a tyre-inner and stick
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- Lewis admires the Royal architecture of Orccha
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- Bathers in the Betwa River, Orccha
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- Lewis savours the sunset over Orccha
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- An Orccha Sunset
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- Lewis happily greets this Orccha girl
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- Lewis meets a King!
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- Lewis sees a picture of King Singh’s grandfather
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- Alipura villagers still bow to the King
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- Traditional Alipura doorways
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- Villagers are excited to meet Lewis the Lion
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- More children gather to meet Lewis!
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- Local boys also are intrigued to meet Lewis the Lion
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- The locals intoduce Lewis to a cricket ball!
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- A large crowd gathers to meet the tourists
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- The villagers are eager to follow the Westerners around
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- Lewis reads about the rationing in this Indian village
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- Local children greet Lewis the Lion
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- Lewis the Lion visits an Indian village school
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- Lewis learns the days of the week in Hindi
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- Lewis enters an English class
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- Lewis is very happy to meet children in school
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- “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” in a village school
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- Lewis sees an outdoors maths lesson
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- Alipura girls
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- Lewis visits a ruined palace
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- Rickety big wheels in Alipura
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- The locals have never seen foreigners before!
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- A view from the top of the Alipura fair
Do you know the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin? What special power did he have? What special power would you like if you could choose one?
