A house in the Sundarbans
Amitav GhoshThis being the 150th anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore’s birth, it feels propitious to have chanced upon this photograph now. The picture is of the little house that Tagore…
Hangzhou: West Lake
Hangzhou, the capital of China's Zhejiang Province, is a city of legendary beauty. In China it is often said: 'In heaven there is Paradise; on Earth Suzhou and Hangzhou.'…
A Dergah in Manhattan
Yesterday I went to a Brazilian restaurant in lower Manhattan, to dine with a friend from Goa, Vivek Menezes. The restaurant was called ‘Churrascaria Tribeca’ and it was housed…
from a reader
A reader sent this a few days ago: Dear Amitav, Hi! I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your book, The Hungry Tide. I LOVED it! Since I…
Sea of Poppies in Russian, trans. Alexander Safronov
'Sea of Poppies' was published in Russian last year, in a translation by Alexander Safronov. I don't read Russian of course, but Alexander's queries were evidence both of his…
Bomra’s Restaurant, Goa
Bawmra Jap is, in my view, one of the finest and most inventive chefs in the world. He is ethnically a Kachin from northern Burma, but he left the…
Banteay Srei, Cambodia, 1993
One of the most beatiful temples in the world. In those days, it was deep in the jungle, with the Khmer Rouge swarming about and mines scattered over the grounds.
Le Morne Brabant, Mauritius
Le Morne Brabant marks the south-western corner of Mauritius. It is a World Heritage Site, for reasons that are explained at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Morne_Brabant
Encounters: Gore Vidal in Montreal
Encounters: Gore Vidal at Montreal Gore Vidal’s Julian is one of the finest epistolary novels I’ve ever read. Listening to him in Montreal, I reverted to the…