Winter came early to Srinagar this year. It is rare to receive snow in the Kashmir Valley before December. It reminded me of my home in Calgary, where winter always catches autumn unawares and snow chases the still-yellowing leaves from the poplar trees. At least here in Kashmir, winter seems to have realized its rashness […]
I am in Assam, I am.
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Assam must be beautiful. Tea plantations spread over the slopes, rice patties flank the river valley, and rhinocerous lumber in the national parks. But I haven’t seen any of this. Trying to get my research done means I am spending my time in bland cities and travelling by night. The Assam I imagine is out […]
After Meghalaya
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
I’ve just finished my tour of the villages along the Bangladesh border in the Indian province of Meghalaya. This is some stunning landscape: overwhelmingly green with slender betel nut trees, paan vines, rice patties and fruit orchards. Many of the people who live in these areas are known as ‘scheduled tribes,’ India’s official indigenous peoples. […]
November
02
The Archers of Shillong
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Here are some photos of the daily archery stakes in Shillong. Archers fire arrows across a pitch at a tiny bamboo cylinder while on-lookers lay their bets with bookies around town. Tomorrow I am on my way to the villages along Meghalaya’s border with Bangladesh. It will be a fascinating trip. The fence that India […]
A First Look at Meghalaya
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
In spite of the day’s tragedy, the drive from Guwahati, in the state of Assam, to Shillong, in Meghalaya, was a wonderful one. This is hill country where smart slant-roofed houses line the highway and where the landscape is clean and green. I love the aroma of the forest. It reminded me of the days […]
Of Fireworks and Other Explosions
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Just like the last Hindu celebration I witnessed in Mumbai, I don’t understand Diwali, the “Festival of Lights.” It has something to do with the blue-skinned Krishna’s victory over something or other. Every street in Calcutta had a temporary shrine to Krishna built. Some were tiny modest structures. Others were grand tents several metres high. […]
So Happy This Didn’t Happen to Me
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
(I don’t know if I am allowed to just cut and paste stories from The Globe and Mail onto this blog, but I can’t resist posting this one.) TRIPPING: RIDING THE RAILS IN INDIAFlush from embarrassment RITA PARIKH Special to The Globe and Mail October 18, 2008 It didn’t come crashing to a shrieking halt. […]
Comedians and Street Sleepers
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
It is amazing to me the two societies that exist here. There are the middle and upper classes who go to work in their business suits and dress up for weekends at the nightclubs. And there is the population that lives just beneath their knees on the ground and in the dirt, the people that […]
At the Bangladesh Border
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
The official at the Border Security Forces office with the small cheery moustache laughed when I told him I wanted to see the border fence at Jayantipur. “That is impossible,” he said. “It is a restricted area.” Otherwise, he and the other soldiers in the office were friendly and happy to answer all my questions. […]
In Calcutta
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
In revenge for the burning of his wife, Sati, the God Shiva decided to destroy the universe. The God Vishnu, thankfully, stopped Shiva by flinging a discus at him. The weapon also severed Sati’s charred corpse into 51 pieces which were flung across the landscape. Her little toe landed on the banks of the Hughli […]
Elsewhere 