2005 India Seeking Puzzle Pieces

A Family Pilgrimage to India

November 24 to December 18, 2005

Lois Olive Gray, Kay Ellen Gilmour, Kathy Gray McClain, and John B. McClain, III

A PERSONAL INTRODUCTION

“Who am I?” and “How did I come to be here?” are universal questions for most human beings. When we’re young, those questions can be answered directly or metaphorically. But as we get older we become more interested in our ancestors: where and how they lived, from what countries and ethnicities they derived their heritage, how they got to America. Sooner or later, everyone probably senses some desire to see the part of the world where his grandparents or great-grandparents came from.

I (Lois) and my sister, Kathy, were blessed with a wealth of family stories that pointed us to our father's birth and teen years in southern India.

This journal is the story of our search of places in India directly related to him and his sister, our aunt, Olive Gray Rupert.

We planned the trip for several months with considerable input from our Aunt Olive who was able to tell us what places we should concentrate on. She had gone back herself in 1971 and had been surprised that some of the sites she remembered were still there but dismayed at how many were gone. We found a tour company offering an intriguing itinerary for Northern India. The owner, an Indian born in Bangalore, agreed to help us plan the trip. We were provided with guides and drivers. We prepaid for hotels and airline tickets. This was like having one’s cake and eating it too. We had all the freedom to see the sites associated with our family in the South and still received the advantages of group travel in the more tourist-interesting North!

This was a wonderfully fulfilling journey into our family's unique history.