Dehradun, July 12 -- Imagine driving through the lush green countryside of New Zealand's South Island, thousands of miles away from India..

The road winds past orchards and farms. Mist hangs over distant hills. Somewhere beyond lies the blue waters of the Tasman Bay.

And then, suddenly, you see a signboard - "Dehra Doon Road".

You slow down. Dehra Doon? Here?

Not in Uttarakhand. Not in India. But on the other side of the world, deep in the southern hemisphere.

At first, it seems impossible. Perhaps it is a coincidence. Perhaps the name means something entirely different in this distant land.

It does not. And here is why.

More than 160 years ago, an old British soldier stood among these green hills and remembered another valley he h...