Around the World with Theatre Charlotte: India

Madison Culver is a former Charlottean turned globe trotter. Following her recent graduation from Johnson & Wales University, Madison began an embark around the world not dissimilar to the journey Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout take in AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.

Unlike Fogg and Passepartout, however, Madison is in no hurry to complete a multi-continental race. This means she has been able to stop and see all the sights Fogg and Passepartout missed during their journey—and luckily for us, she is taking Theatre Charlotte along for the adventure by exclusively sharing her stories and photos with us, which we will post here weekly during our production of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.

To learn more about Madison, please visit Where The Wind Blows Now, the blog she started to chronicle her travels and help people find inspiration in the beauty of life.

Week 2: India
“He [Mr. Fogg] was a solid body moving through an orbit around the terrestrial globe, in obedience to the laws of rational mechanics.” I was anything but rational, and wished so much that Passepartout was also accompanying me.

India is a truly magical place. Compared to the other places I’ve visited, it is by far the most adventurous. It’s culture alone is a long way off from being the tiniest bit similar to the western world; yet, India is still the jewel in my crown.

I spent over 49 hours riding India’s trains, and ran into the exact problems as Mr. Fogg and Passepartout did on their train travels in India. And as anyone’s journey, mine wouldn’t have been the same without the hiccups.

Here are a few snapshots from my time in India:

sleeper class train.

holy cow! cow on the tracks...and yes, a train was coming.

me. journaling on the train.

streets of mumbai

india is absolutely amazing!

my thoughts of this wonderful place were way off target! it's so much greater than i ever thought it was going to be.

one of my favorite things about india is all the beautiful colors.

woman i bought a blanket from

CURRY!!

palolem beach, goa.

starfish make me smile.

sunset. palolem beach.

hampi, a place like nothing i’ve ever seen before. the only thing i could compare it to is bedrock off the flintstones, crossed with indiana jones.

one of the many temples of hampi.

dinner time in the 15th century. men would walk through the aisle and serve the food on the stone.

india's versions of holiday decorations

all women workers...minus the man watching them work.

her name is Lakshima. i found her in one of the markets in pondi. she didn't have any chains on her, but her master was sat next to her with his poker. she was the most beautiful thing in all of pondi and as you can see, her eyes tell quite a story.

backwaters of fort kochi.

this man is separating the coconut meat from the shell in order to make full use of the coconuts.

this woman is in the process of creating rope from the coconut shell's fibers.

beach no. 5, havelock island, the andaman's.

right after sunset. beach no. 7, havelock island.

Theatre Charlotte's production of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS runs March 16 through April 1. Tickets are available through CarolinaTix at 704-372-1000 or CarolinaTix.org.