Lotus of Kashmir

Bob Saunders was called up for National Service on VJ (Victory in Japan) Day, 1945, at the age of 18. Early the following year, he was posted to India, where he stayed during the momentous era of Partition, before returning to England in October 1947.

A few years after returning from India, Bob opened his own travel agency in Batley, a town eight miles south of Leeds, having been greatly impressed by his experiences of India and travel during his National Service. Bob decided to call his travel agency PhotoTravel, as the business sold not only holidays and luggage, but also photographic services. A neighbour suggested he used a European spelling, ‘Foto’ instead, and so FotoTravel was born. The agency was approved by ABTA and Bob ran it for over 25 years.

Lotus of Kashmir has taken Bob 75 years to complete! The book is based on Bob’s diaries of his time in India from 1946-47, and two or three years ago, around 2019-20, he began to add the romantic fiction element. Bob finally completed this task in 2022.