Guangzhou/Canton – Indian residences
Amitav GhoshThe old foreign enclave in Canton (the 'Fanqui-town' of 'River of Smoke') was burnt down in 1856. A new foreign enclave was then built on Shamian Island, formerly a…
George Chinnery: from Chennai to Macau
Arriving in Chennai I found myself thinking of the great English painter George Chinnery (1774-1852). Madras (today's Chennai) was where he first lived on arriving in India in 1802.…
from a reader in Haryana
Dear Amitav The wait for River of Smoke was long and frustrating and i could not delay reading it once i could lay my hands on it. There are…
From Dayanita Singh, in Calcutta
note: prints from her book 'Privacy' on the wall.
Book tour journals: Mumbai; June 21-22
Monsoon on Malabar Hill In Bahram Modi’s time, Malabar Hill (with Walkeshwar) was an island, separated from Colaba by a broad channel. Looking in the…
Goa, Festa of São João (St. John), June 24
The tradition of well jumping is explained here by well-known Goan columnist and blogger, Cecil Pinto:http://www.mail-archive.com/goanet@lists.goanet.org/msg63101.html …
Exodus from Burma, 1941: A Personal Account, Parts 1, 2 & 3
Book tours are punctuated by all kinds of unforeseen encounters: most are pleasant, some are disconcerting, and a few are rewarding beyond all expectation. Thus it happened for example…
Anjali Ghosh, b. 1931
My mother in 1952 shortly after her wedding: And a few years later: And in 1992,…
Letter from a historian
From: Sunil Amrith Subject: re: River of Smoke To: chrestomather@yahoo.in Date: Thursday, 16 June, 2011, 9:52 AM re: River of Smoke Dear Amitav Ghosh, I just wanted to…
Vienna (I think) 1973
Came upon this picture in a family album in Kolkata andwas reminded of a story: 'When it was proposed to the Habsurb Emperor Joseph II to build…