Country life
A sense of place
Leanda de Lisle
I'm not at all sure I've made a good impression on India as it is. Some of you may remember that I went to Rajasthan on holiday last year. I also went to Agra. How- ever, I didn't make it clear that Agra is not in Rajasthan. This fact suddenly sprang into my mind during a reverie on a flight to Delhi (which isn't in Rajasthan either). I moaned and groaned, but there was noth- ing I could do until I got back home, when I rang the editor of this page to confess all. She told me not to be silly, everyone talks about Agra in the same breath as Rajasthan and, anyway, it was too late to bother with now. I hoped that perhaps no one had noticed, but I got two letters pointing out my error, the second from an Irish friend who had read my article in an Indian magazine. The thought of possibly thousands of Indians sitting at home shak- ing their heads at my stupidity was, frankly, awful, but eventually I was able to put it out of my mind. After all, my name would be soon forgotten.
But now the travel writer tells me he has kept in touch with my activities through the Asian Age, 'which, as you probably know, reprints your column in all three Indian editions and almost certainly brings to it many more readers than The Spectator'. No, I didn't know. But now I do I just want to say sorry for my geographical slip. And, while I've got your attention, over there, you might like to know that because there weren't thousands of British Asians morris dancing and waving banners in support of foxhunting, the Countryside March has been used by commentators to brand marchers as racist. It is unbelievable, isn't it? I'm afraid, they just have it in for us. You know, we are damned for not sticking with mediaeval strip-farming methods in the same breath as we're accused of not being efficient enough.
We are, in fact, the most efficient farm- ers in Europe and efficiency isn't synony- mous with prophylactic spraying and ripping out hedges. There are integrated crop management systems and farm assured schemes which owe much to organ- ic methods, but which produce food cheap- ly. Of course, those of you who read this column know that already. It's others who are determined to remain ignorant. Perhaps it makes it easier for them to be hypocrites.
I'm so fed up with people who make a killing in London property, looking all shocked when a farmer sells a field for development. I'm fed up with people say- ing 'We need more organic produce' while buying plastic-looking vegetables and lean, mean meat. It's time for change. We need someone to hold a mirror up to the chit- chatterers who condemn us for moving too fast and for being too old-fashioned, killing the land and not letting them see our beau- tiful countryside, having tin barns because they live in the stone ones. Perhaps an Indian travel writer is the answer? I'll start working on my friend's friend as he arrives. Suddenly, I'm not nervous of him at all.
In last week's column, I mentioned the new animated film Anastasia. It is, in fact, made by 20th Century Fox, not Disney, as I wrote. My apologies.
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