"The Warden" is the first novel in the series, "Chronicles of Barsetshire", and Trollope's fourth novel.
This is my first Trollope - I love Victorian literature, let's see how it goes.
Monday, 30 April 2012
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
The Sikkim Diaries
The taxi was waiting for us even as we got out of Bagdogra airport - within a span of a couple of minutes the driver had whisked our luggage into the Qualis and started at full speed towards Gangtok, our first stop.
Somehow, when we decided on this trip, the matter of mountainous roads and motion sickness escaped my notice. In my naivety, I asked the driver some time after the ghat road started - "Bhaiyya, ye ghat road kab khatam hoga?" He looked at me with some amusement and replied that the road is going to stay this way for the reminder of the trip. My heart sank a little.
Luckily for me our friends had a never ending supply of Avomin.
And so our trip started. We had signed on for a tour of North Sikkim, and our tour guide, Mr. Deepak Rai of Omega tours did not disappoint. The entire tour might become one lengthy post if I write down everything here, so I've decided to break it down into parts -
Lachen
Gurudongmar Lake
Lachung
Tsongmo Lake
Gangtok
If you would like to have specific details about cost, or the contact details of the tour operator, you can contact me or leave a comment on this post.
The Calcutta Diaries
Calcutta has always high on my travel to-do list, and by the time I finally got around to visiting it, it was Calcutta no more.
The first thing I noticed after reaching the city is the hospitality - we received a warm welcome from the groom's uncle (we were there for a friend's wedding), and the moment my husband responded to his welcome in Bengali, he stopped trying to communicate in Hindi and turned on Bengali, full on. I nodded my head vigorously to everything he said, trying to understand the language through my knowledge of Oriya.
There was a vehicle waiting for us, and we started for the hotel. The part of the city near Dum Dum airport has got an old world feel to it and the word that stuck in my mind was laid-back. The city made me want to sit back and be lazy. Nothing of this kind can be found in the peoples' actions, though - the driver was dashing ahead at a breakneck speed and I wondered how our hosts could sit placidly and look so nonchalant. I clutched onto the nearest handle, hoping we'd reach the hotel soon.
Coffee was served to us in little earthen jars that instantly reminded me of mishti doi and rosogullas. Uncle ji took us out for lunch at a nearby restaurant. I opted for a vegetarian thali; my husband needed only a little prodding to take the fish thali which he pronounced was absolutely delicious. Veg thali had an assortment of tasty stuff - dal, rice, potol posto (yummy!!), drumsticks in gravy (don't know the Bengali name for this), sweet pineapple chutney (again, don't know the Bengali name), and, finally, rosogullas. What a fitting end to our meal! Rosogullas! Just the name is enough :P
Soon friends from Bangalore, and other parts of Calcutta began to arrive, and when the group was complete we decided to take the Metro to Esplanade station. I had heard enough about New Market from my friends back in Hyderabad that I was adamant I would visit that place. I had visions of myself with lots of shopping bags and a contented expression, but unfortunately, New Market fell short for me. Whether it was the time constraint, or whether I didn't like the goods, I cannot tell. Within a short time of us reaching New Market we started for Free School Street where we checked out the second hand bookstores and walked around the block till our legs gave out.
The Kolkata Metro deserves a special mention - the sheer speed of the trains, the crowds, the short stops of 10 seconds at each station... I have no clue if Hyderabad will ever be able to reach that level of perfect rhythm. I loved it all, and I would love to visit again, if I could.
We did not visit all the places we should have - we were there, after all, for a wedding. We left the next morning for Bagdogra, and from there, on to Gangtok for our Sikkim trip.
The first thing I noticed after reaching the city is the hospitality - we received a warm welcome from the groom's uncle (we were there for a friend's wedding), and the moment my husband responded to his welcome in Bengali, he stopped trying to communicate in Hindi and turned on Bengali, full on. I nodded my head vigorously to everything he said, trying to understand the language through my knowledge of Oriya.
There was a vehicle waiting for us, and we started for the hotel. The part of the city near Dum Dum airport has got an old world feel to it and the word that stuck in my mind was laid-back. The city made me want to sit back and be lazy. Nothing of this kind can be found in the peoples' actions, though - the driver was dashing ahead at a breakneck speed and I wondered how our hosts could sit placidly and look so nonchalant. I clutched onto the nearest handle, hoping we'd reach the hotel soon.
Coffee was served to us in little earthen jars that instantly reminded me of mishti doi and rosogullas. Uncle ji took us out for lunch at a nearby restaurant. I opted for a vegetarian thali; my husband needed only a little prodding to take the fish thali which he pronounced was absolutely delicious. Veg thali had an assortment of tasty stuff - dal, rice, potol posto (yummy!!), drumsticks in gravy (don't know the Bengali name for this), sweet pineapple chutney (again, don't know the Bengali name), and, finally, rosogullas. What a fitting end to our meal! Rosogullas! Just the name is enough :P
Soon friends from Bangalore, and other parts of Calcutta began to arrive, and when the group was complete we decided to take the Metro to Esplanade station. I had heard enough about New Market from my friends back in Hyderabad that I was adamant I would visit that place. I had visions of myself with lots of shopping bags and a contented expression, but unfortunately, New Market fell short for me. Whether it was the time constraint, or whether I didn't like the goods, I cannot tell. Within a short time of us reaching New Market we started for Free School Street where we checked out the second hand bookstores and walked around the block till our legs gave out.
The Kolkata Metro deserves a special mention - the sheer speed of the trains, the crowds, the short stops of 10 seconds at each station... I have no clue if Hyderabad will ever be able to reach that level of perfect rhythm. I loved it all, and I would love to visit again, if I could.
We did not visit all the places we should have - we were there, after all, for a wedding. We left the next morning for Bagdogra, and from there, on to Gangtok for our Sikkim trip.
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Cracked on Nicholas Sparks
I admit there was a time when I almost took Nicholas Sparks seriously - I had just finished reading Erich Segal's Love Story, and naturally turned to The Notebook. Never got to reading it though.
Cracked.com has this amazing article on Nicholas Sparks, and his formula for a successful novel / movie.
I have included a short part of it here -
Please oh please, read the full article. Will make your day.
Cracked.com has this amazing article on Nicholas Sparks, and his formula for a successful novel / movie.
I have included a short part of it here -
Please oh please, read the full article. Will make your day.
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