Here was the headline in the book review section of the Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper that caused me to stop and take notice. “Vincent Lam’s first novel, about Vietnam, has makings of a masterpiece.” Vincent Lam is an emergency physician Toronto who also writes – very well. His […]
Author: Classical Pursuits
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – India — Arti ceremony is intimate in Narlai and spectacular in Varanasi
India’s holiest City Varanasi holds this Ganga Arti ceremony every evening at sunset. Pilgrims gather on the banks of the Ganges where fire is offered to Lord Shiva and the river. Fire is used as a link between this world and the spirit world. Arti is also celebrated in intimate ways, […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – Dung or Marble?
There is no way postcard snaps or even a glossy National Geographic special can prepare you for the simultaneous majesty and delicacy of the iconic Taj Mahal, a monument to love built by the Muslim Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz, who died giving birth to her 14th […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – awe
“A teardrop on the cheek of time” – Rabindranath Tagore on the Taj Mahal a first glimpse from a distance … a feeling of awe
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – senses and ritual
A ritual performed morning and night in temple on hotel grounds in small village of Narlai by the tribesmen who work there. You can’t hear the bells and drumming and chanting or smell the incense, but I wish you could. From india9.com: “Narlai, situated at the base of […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – Udaipur, the City of Palaces
Udaipur, the City of Palaces, a visual feast. Chattering monkeys, stunning architecture.
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – Origins of Mulligatawny
No time for a full post at the moment, as we are enjoying full days on the Sub-Continent, but I wanted to share this excellent piece with you: a little food for thought! (with thanks to James Harbeck at Word Tasting Notes) http://sesquiotic.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/mulligatawny/
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – Branding in India
One of the things that makes me cringe here is the number of water bottles each of us consumes each day. We are cautioned to be mightily wary of the water, keeping our mouth clamped shut in the shower and using bottled water […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – Day 2, Old Delhi
Old Delhi is the India I feared, although I know there are far worse slums in the world. It is the India described in “Midnight’s Children” when the affluent and sheltered Amina Sinai is lured at night to a fortune teller at the […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – almost
We have read so much and many of us have watched lots of films and talked to both South Asians and those well-traveled there. I watched A Passage to India the other night and was overcome with embarrassment at the arrogant excesses of the British Raj. In more current books, the picture […]