He’s won the hearts of several netizens with his posts on food- masala dosae in Bengaluru, rasgulla in Kolkata and vada pav in Mumbai. British High Commissioner Alex Ellis, who took charge in early 2021, has been soaking in the varied local experiences that the country has to offer.
In Bengaluru on Tuesday, Ellis settles into the conversation, post a tumbler of steaming hot rasam, at the residence of the British Deputy High Commissioner for Karnataka & Kerala, Anna Shotbolt.
“There are many great things about Bengaluru, but the greatest is not here today. Rahul Dravid,” he says. And laughter engulfs the room. A couple of months ago, social media was abuzz after Dravid was spotted teaching Kannada to Ellis amid the India vs England Test series. “He’s one of my true heroes.”
Ellis’ connect with India goes back to the ’80s when he first came to Madhya Pradesh as a history teacher, much before he joined the civil services. “I was 18 and it was a different India, one with the Licence Raj and one that was very closed. The country has changed tremendously in terms of development and its speed. I loved it then and love it now,” he says.
He agrees that taking charge at a time when the country was seeing some tumultuous moments brought some challenges along. “It’s a funny time to come to a country considering Covid...There have been some tough moments for India which is the same for the UK too. But we’ve come out of the worst and now it’s about working on how to accelerate the plan to move forward. How do we create more trade and investment and jobs? Both countries have shown a lot of resilience in these times. Now, there’s a huge demand for those moving between the two countries. There’s a demand for visas for travel and work, which is a good thing,” he says, adding that India is one of the biggest priority countries for the UK.
There’s food and cricket, and like Ellis says, “What’s not to love? You need seven lives to understand India. And I’m on the first.”