Ends and Beginnings
Amitav GhoshToday, with the Left Front being voted out in West Bengal, after thirty-four years in power, there is much being said about the bloodletting at Singur and Nandigram and…
from my Agha Shahid Ali journal
The death of the poet, Agha Shahid Ali, was a terrible loss – for poetry, for Kashmir, and for me personally for he was a close friend. Nine months…
India’s Birthplace
Geology is full of surprises. Who would have guessed, for example, that the undersea feature that marks the birthplace of the Indian subcontinent would be named after a brand…
Bird Prevents Ship Murder
A tale of a lascar and an unidentifiable bird: the ‘minka’ mentioned in the news report was probably a ‘myna’. From, The Washington Post, Feb 20, 1908. …
The Bhukailash Rajbari, Kolkata
This is the seat of one of Bengal's oldest zamindaris. The grounds are right in the crowded heart of Kidderpore, which is a blessing in a way, for it…
Leaping dolphin: Goa
This snapshot was taken near Aswem, Goa, on a fine February morning in 2010. It is actually a freeze frame from a Flip recording. The dolphin…
A house in the Sundarbans
This 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…