 Banbury Road in Oxford – 1997
 During my visiting fellowship at the Queen Elizabeth House I was to stay at North Oxford Overseas Centre (the NOOC) at 107, Banbury Road. Generations of foreign scholars have stayed at the NOOC, and taken hundreds of fond memories back with them. The NOOC gives you a real taste of the Oxford that is and Oxford that was (part of Oxford always lives in the past) and Oxford that would continue to be.
On the day I reached London my sister-in-law Indira had come to receive me at the Heathrow airport and drove me all the way to Oxford and the NOOC. It was not difficult for us to find the Banbury Road in North Oxford as it is one of the most beautiful roads of Oxford with most enchanting heritage buildings of Victorian Period and lovely avenue trees. I was delighted to see the surroundings.
 On my first day at the NOOC I had a very moving experience. There stood on my table a hamper full of rice and tea and coffee, the biscuit and snacks, fruits and vegetables and some ready to cook Indian curries, nuts and chocolates, a gift from the local church to welcome yet another overseas scholar. It was accompanied by a flower and a little note scrawled by a child wishing me a happy stay at Oxford. Oxford has welcomed generation after generation of scholars for centuries. The University is 800 years old and follows the tradition of valuing those who come here to learn.
At the end of the 19th century, when for the first time the Oxford dons were allowed to marry, they could not stay anymore in the colleges with their wives (women were not allowed in the colleges). The houses of Banbury road were then built to accommodate the families of the new generation of married dons. In these houses dons lived in great style with their families and a battery of servants.
 Most of the dons today live in smaller houses since there is acute shortage of housing in Oxford and these heritage buildings now house important departments of the University.
Queen Elizabeth House is located just a fifteen minute-walk from the NOOC at the beginning of Banbury road and the city centre is another five minutes walk up.
Walking up the road to Queen Elizabeth House is always a great pleasure. The old buildings are a treat to the eyes. The tree outside the Anthropology department is the most charming part of the landscape.
 I took photographs of these buildings while going up and down all the time. It was also a great delight to see the colours of the trees and landscape change from season to season. When I arrived in October the trees and grass were still green. Then they slowly turned to yellow and brown and then all of a sudden they were gone. On 17th of December when it snowed in Oxford, everything changed to white.
The picturesque Banbury Road which ends at Banbury starts near the Church of St. Giles which is an old landmark church at the junction of North Oxford and City Centre. Its quaint little parsonage has become a heritage hotel.
 I could hear the church bells toll from my room in Queen Elizabeth House at six in the evening for the ‘Eve song’. This was a time of remembrance. I often strolled out to church and sat through the prayers. There was a small cemetery and a little park connected to the church where ‘War Memorial’ stood. It was a nice place to have lunch while watching the traffic go by. Across the road stood our bank the ‘Royal Bank of Scotland’. If you were thirsty you had to just walk a few steps to the ‘Lamb and the Flag’ the pub next door.
Little further from there on the opposite side is the GEE’s restaurant at North Parade, famous for its Sunday lunches. North Parade also boasts of lovely pubs, our favourite being ‘the Crown and the Rose’ which served all kinds of ales and lagers and sweet ciders (for the girls).
Old Church at North Parade is absolutely grand but totally haunted. More parishioners visit the Church of St. Andrews near Wolfson College. This was also our church which welcomed us and invited us for all festivals and festivities.
 Banbury Road is actually the road leading to ‘Banbury’ a small town close to Oxford. I recognised it from Oscar Wilde’s well known comedy ‘The Importance of Being Earnest.’ In this play ‘Banburyism’ has been mentioned by the author as a phenomenon in which young men escape to ‘Banbury’ to meet young women at a time when they are supposed to be in their colleges. Those were days when women were not allowed in Oxford. Today they are everywhere. In certain departments women outnumber men.
At first dons were allowed to marry, then girls were admitted as students but not awarded degrees, still later, they were allowed to sit for exams and awarded degrees. From then on they were allowed to teach and today there are many female dons. The Dean of Christ Church and the vice-chancellor of ‘Oxford – Brooks University’ are women. Many young men and young women walk hand in hand on Banbury road and ‘Banburyism’ has become a thing of the distant past.
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