Two poems for Agha Shahid Ali: his grave in Northampton
ChrestomatherA few years ago, I don't know exactly when, my essay on the Kashmiri poet Agha Shahid Ali (which is posted here) was included in a textbook that…
Letter from Austria
From: Shankar Nath To: chrestomather@yahoo.in Sent: Wednesday, 11 January 2012 2:57 AM Subject: khatirdari Dear Amitavji Being aware that this is one of a million bothersome Fan letters,…
‘Tristful’ post makes news in Trieste!
Amazing to relate, but my post of (March 13), 'Trsitful Trieste' has occasioned an article in a leading newspaper of the city, Il Piccolo. …
More on Zoroastrian rites
Further to my post on Zoroastrian Hong Kong, Shernaz Italia writes: Dear Amitav, There seems to be some degree of confusion regarding the disposal of the dead…
‘Glass Palace’ translator wins Myanmar National Literature Award!
On October 20, 2008, I received a message that all but knocked me over on my beam ends. It was from the distinguished American novelist, Robert Coover, author of The…
Marvelous Histories
'Magical realism' is as much a part of history as of fiction. It could not be otherwise, for history is replete with instances of the 'marvelous', at least in the…
Zoroastrian Hong Kong
Parsis have played an important role in the Hong Kong's history since the time of its founding (the Treaty of Nanking, which ceded Hong Kong to the British, was…
Hong Kong People
Hong Kong is home to many interesting people, like the novelist Xu Xi whose…
Tristful Trieste
A few kilometres from the Castello di Miramare is the city of Trieste. …
Castello di Miramare and Anakin Skywalker’s Idyll
Some place names are attractive enough to be claimed by the whole world. 'Copacabana' is one such; 'Tivoli' is another (as a child I thought 'Tivoli' was a…