It’s almost the end of the year, which as everyone knows is when you’re supposed to make lists. So, in loving memory of one of my all-time heroes, the late and very-much missed John Peel, I’m going to write up my own “Festive 50” — in my case a list of 50 notable things about India — over the next few days. Unlike Peel’s 50, these aren’t really in any particular order… Anyway, 50-41 are Birds. I’m a big nature-lover […]
It’s exactly a year since I arrived in India. Almost impossible to believe that 12 months can fly by so quickly.
So, after being in my current apartment for nearly 11 months, I’m going to have to move again — or “shift” in the local vernacular — partly because the landlord wanted to put the rent up, and partly because I’ve realised I need to move somewhere cheaper anyway. The place I’m in now has been great, but it’s huge and I only use half of it. It’s also way more expensive than what I’d been budgeting for, but I was […]
(Sajda, from My Name is Khan. By Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shankar Mahadevan and Richi Sharma) I posted recently about watching Shahrukh Khan at the cinema, and I’ve also been watching a couple of his films at home. I rented Om Shanti Om through iTunes — how very 21st century — on the strength of the tune Jag Soona Soona Lage, which I like a lot, and which features Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, a nephew of the late, great Ustad […]
Moong Daal is one year old today. On 2nd November last year I bought my one-way plane ticket and decided to start this blog to document the adventure I was about to embark upon. Today also marks my first visit — at long last — to the cinema here. A friend from the UK is staying with me just now, so we went along to the big multiplex next to college to see Ra.One, Shahrukh Khan‘s new block-buster Bollywood/SciFi crossover […]
So we’re reaching the peak of the Festive Season here in India, or so it seems. It’s Diwali just now (aka Deepavali) — a national holiday. Probably the biggest festival for Hindus, and celebrated by Sikhs and Jains as well. Buildings are festooned with rope-lights, fancy goods shops are bursting with lanterns, and street vendors are selling huge mounds of the tiny ceramic diyas (oil lamps) which are so symbolic of the festival, and which give it its name. Meanwhile, the […]
Today is the September Equinox, and back home this would be considered the start of Autumn. September makes me think of long shadows, bright but cooler days, and the evenings starting to shorten quite noticeably. Leaves are changing colour, and there’s a melancholic feel in the air. It’s almost the start of another academic year. Not so here in Bangalore… I think we’re coming to the end of the Monsoon. The lack of recognisable seasons is one of the things […]
(Image from World Bank.) The hashtag #Rs32 is trending on Twitter in India today. So is Planning Commission. The reason? The Indian Government’s Planning Commission just published a report which re-defines what it means to be poor, and in the process they magically removed a huge chunk of the population from the official figures for people living below the poverty line. And so they’ve changed who is, and who isn’t, eligible for government subsidies due to being on […]
It’s 17th September, which means it’s exactly 9 months since I came out to India. At the college where I teach, we’re just reaching the end of Term 3, and will start Term 4 in a couple of weeks. It’s also 21 years to the day since I started my first teaching job, as a lecturer at what was then Leicester Polytechnic, later De Montfort University. Like many people, I got into teaching by accident. But here I am 21 […]
It seems like the time for traditional festivals and celebrations here in Bangalore just now. Which is very welcome when Holy Days become Holidays… and we had 2 days off work this week. Wednesday was Eid-ul-Fitr, when Muslims celebrate the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. And the next day was Ganesh Chaturthi, the Hindu festival of Lord Ganesh, son of Shiva and Parvati, who is notable for having an elephant’s head. Today is Saturday and the Ganesh festivities […]
