Lady Betjeman Penelope Chetwode: A Passion for India

Overview

In the course of an exotic and adventurous journey the wife of the Poet Laureate, astride an Indian hill pony, carries out her own crusade against progress among the foothills of the western Himalayas. In search of remote and unexploited hill temples and a simple life, she tilts at concrete buildings, the internal combustion engine, modern education, the drug-mysticism of hippies, and the indiscreet placing of electricity cables. Lady Betjeman was the daughter of Lord Chetwode, Commander-in-Chief in India during the 30s. Her love affair with India began as a girl of 18, now, as a highly eccentric, amusing and determined explorer, she returns whenever she can.