Catching up with Ronald Fair

Suddenly there was word that an old friend I had met some 10 years ago in Bombay, was coming through Delhi en route to Hyderabad for a meeting with the Christian publisher Operation Mobilization Books.

Ron is a Black American (though he looks White). Ron prefers to be called Afro-American. If you do a Google search on "Ronald Fair" lots of pages will come up because he was well known as a writer, and artist. while living in the US of A. He "escaped" to Finland to get away from the racism in the US and has lived in Finland from 1971.

Ron was also keen to meet my young friend Prateek Kashyap who is married to Aru
(whom I have mentioned more than once before in this travelogue: who as a young teenager responded to my preaching at the convention of the Calvary Bible Church, Jhansi, and has ever since been very close to me, regarding me as her spiritual father). Prateek has a master's in mass communications and has experience in producing films. Aru and Prateek were thrilled that I was there with them.













Aru's brother Vikas is also in Delhi now. Vikas has grown to be a young friend in his own right, having connected with me while he was studying theology at the South Asian Institute of Advanced Christians Studies (SAIACS), Bangalore. We were able to spend time together two evenings after he finished work at EFICOR (Evangelical Fellowhip of India Commission on Relief).

While in school reading cowboy comics was a favourite pastime. Last year while in Australia I looked at the Akubra hats there but didn't buy them because of their cost: between Aus.$100 and 135. We were all in Connaught Place and found a pavement stall where imitaiton cowboy hats were being sold. The guy wanted Rs 400, but we were able to get him down to Rs 200 and then Ron insisted on getting it for me. So here I am, a "genuine cowboy" in a fake cowboy hat.