With the recent passing of the writer, the curtains come down on the lives of India’s decorated chronicler couple who made wanderlust cool, well before Instagrammers called the shots
Colleen and Hugh Gantzer at their Mussoorie residence. Pic/Youtube/Intriguing India
You must visit us in Mussoorie,” Colleen Gantzer had extended a warm invite over the phone lines back in 2012 when I had reached out, to check if she [one half of the Gantzers] had received a couriered copy of the mid-day newspaper. This was soon after I had interviewed the effervescent, trailblazing couple, pegging it on the release of their four-part travel book series, Intriguing India (Niyogi Books) that focused on lesser-seen locations across North, South, East, and West India. Poring over the pages of The Vibrant West from the series, I was blown away by their meticulous research. I never took them up on that invite, and kicked myself recently for not following up on that chance to meet these fascinating storytellers.
That’s because Colleen had passed away in 2024, and last week, Hugh waved his final goodbye, signing off the last chapter of the Padma Shri-awardee couple’s illustrious life as India’s OG travel writers. For readers who are still scratching their heads, wondering why this column is dedicated to them, the truth is that they broke new ground in the 1970s and 80s with their columns and Looking Beyond with Hugh and Colleen Gantzer, a prime-time travel show on Doordarshan (DD). Their names might not ring a bell, especially for Gen Zers and those born after them, because of the couple’s vintage but those who recall DD’s glory days [yes, they scheduled some stellar programming] would certainly recall slick episodes of Looking Beyond… and how it introduced unseen India to wide-eyed viewers.
When we pinned them down to share about the beginnings of their three-decade-long writing career, Hugh had a simple response, “We had to resolve a conflict. I wanted to write. Colleen wanted to travel.” Hugh was a Naval Officer for 20 years. In 1973, he took premature retirement when he was the Judge Advocate of the Southern Naval Area in Kochi. The couple had come across travel columns in local newspapers, and was keen to get cracking. “So, we hopped on a scooter with our son, and went to Kanyakumari. By the time the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) requested us to write for them, we had travelled extensively across Kerala,” Colleen revealed. Both didn’t approach it as a means to earn a living. It was Colleen who encouraged the idea, and was ready to take risks. They were clear that their savings would see them through for a year. Else, they would find another calling since Hugh was a trained lawyer and accountant.
The adventure began in 1975-76. They boldly wrote to the then editor, S Mulgaokar of Indian Express, if he could accommodate a travel column. They even suggested that he drop the crossword, if space was a concern! Mulgaokar invited them to write that fortnightly column on August 6, 1977. Meanwhile, another column began to appear in the Khushwant Singh-edited Illustrated Weekly of India. It was part of The India You Do Not Know Series. They dedicated the first column, on Kerala, a state that caught their imagination for years. By then, the Anglo-Indian couple had moved to the cooler climes of Mussoorie.
Over a decade later, in 1988-89, they had connected with Bhaskar Ghose, then director-general, Doordarshan for a travel show. Things moved smoothly and soon enough, they went on air. Looking Beyond with Hugh and Colleen Gantzer was a 52-weekly episode show that was the first of its kind for Indian TV audiences. After their first stint, Doordarshan had approached them to become the show’s producers. They offered travel-deprived impressionable minds, this columnist included, a window to the furthest corners of India, from Shillong to Lothal, and Spiti to Nagercoil.
They later worked on other shows, including Take A Break, and wrote travel scripts for dotcoms. In retrospect, they were ahead of their times when it came to charting lesser-tread routes. In the book about West India’s rare locales, they documented Maharashtra’s sea forts and Matheran’s no-car policy, Lonar and Dholavira — sites that frequently appear in social media posts by Insta-fed ‘historians’ and travel gurus.
For today’s device-enslaved generation, it would seem shocking that this couple didn’t rely on the Internet, and fell back on their large home library for research. They worked independently on field, with separate cameras and notes as they felt it was the best way to translate two perspectives. When they would return home, notes were compared and compiled. Here’s an anecdote that will bring a smile to deadline
Nazis — Their columns would reach their editors 10 days in advance! Their mantra after having explored India’s wonders well before these sites made it on our tourism map, was simple: Indians must learn to travel more to break barriers. It starts with an openness of the mindset.
I’ll leave you with a nugget, which they had recalled towards the end of that memorable interview: “Have you noticed our roads? Indians love to complain about its bad shape, yet no roads are as interesting as ours!” The Gantzers believed in the discoverability of a location, and followed this belief throughout. It’s possibly why they could celebrate India in its unfiltered, purest avatar.
mid-day’s Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the city’s sights, sounds, smells and stones...wherever the ink and the inclination takes her. She tweets @bombayana
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The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper.
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