Chance meeting with close colleague in remote Rajasthan

Friday 29th January 2010. My partner and I (Mary James) were on holiday, horse riding and bird-watching in Rajasthan, staying for a few days in a beautiful but fairly remote 'heritage hotel' in Rohet, on the edge of the desert, owned by a resident Rajput family. We were travelling independently and there were very few Europeans around. We saw none during the day although an occasional coach drew in of an evening for an over-night stay. After a morning ride we went to the restaurant for lunch. There were only two other people there and they just happened to be the person I had worked closest with for the previous 8 years, and his wife. (We have photos as evidence). Now, my partner and I had planned the holiday for some time and just before we left I found out that my colleague was going to New Delhi for a conference around the same time. So, I forwarded my itinerary. He paid little or no attention to this because he thought there would be no chance that we could meet. However, during his stay he had a meeting in Jodhpur and on the way there his driver decided to drop him off at Rohetgarh for lunch. He had no part in making this decision and was equally amazed when we walked into the same room. As it happened this was very convenient because I had just exhausted the memory in my camera and was able to download my photos onto his laptop so that I could retrieve them when back in the UK. We wondered how likely it could be that in a country of 1.5 billion people we should meet up with just the two people we know. PS I am also a professor at Cambridge University. Another co-incidence?