One of our best meals in Sri Lanka. Ella, a small town in eastern Sri Lanka, is a hill station, sitting about 1050 ft above sea level. It took some winding roads and hair-pin bends to get to her land and we went for it anyway; after all, it boasts of some of the most … More The Barn feeds the hungry
Tea person rolls in tea estate. A hyperbole, I agree. But then, the experience of walking through one of the oldest tea estates of Sri Lanka felt like an embrace of the green elixir, nothing less. At Halpewatte Tea Estate and Factory in Ella, we were given a short introduction of tea which was fascinating … More A Tea-rrific experience in green highlands
‘History is the consequence not only of people’s actions, but also of their forgetfulness.’ I couldn’t help but mull over this sentiment of the author in the light of the dastardly attack on him last year – an attack that, eventually, impacted his vision in one eye and movement of one arm. An attack for … More Two Centuries of Fable or Truth?
Books I love and the authors who wrote them – this was today’s primary theme for me! Shehan Karunatilaka, the Booker Prize Winner 2022, was every bit the person I have come to expect of him – eloquent, witty and empathetic. He spoke about his books, growing up years, socio-political climate in Sri Lanka of … More Jaipur Literature Festival 2023 Diaries – Day 3
At some point in the story, where something scandalous has already unfolded, this paragraph appears involving the two brothers, of which, one is a narrator – Sree didn’t say anything. I’d rather he turned mad. I wanted to both punch him and be punched by him. I felt that if we punched each other just … More Fun Outdoors, Riot Everywhere
None of this happened for brawn; it happened for love. And that’s why, the tale made for a gripping read. As a missing money bag triggers a trail of mayhem, its mystery spills into the veins of a ravenous city, taking Sewaram Manjhi to apartments and offices, and opening to hitherto unknown patches where two … More Desi Hero, Desi Chase
I might have missed young Latif if I had met him at a hotel or a lodge; bellboys are, after all, a part of that moving crowd which gathers (almost) no mass. But in Salim’s story, he is the hero. A hero who has a hairstyle like none other, a hero who takes care of … More Listen to his knock
A Burning by Megha MajumdarMy Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Words. I know they are potent; they can bind and heal, rejuvenate and transform. But, I also know, in equal measure, they can kill. In ‘A Burning’, just a pale black string of words on a social media page makes a young Muslim girl, an … More Book Review: A Burning by Megha Majumdar (2020)
Autumn Light by Pico IyerMy Rating: 4 of 5 Stars It is good to meet life sometimes; not by seeing it in the eye but by interlocking fingers and walking by its side. In this book, Pico Iyer finds himself undertaking such a walk, under the light-heavy shadows of autumn. Twenty-five years after he first … More Book Review: Autumn Light by Pico Iyer (2019)
Days of My China Dragon by Chandrahas Choudhury My Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Universally, very few things bind people the way food does. And endorsing this view emphatically, Jigar Pala opens a Chinese restaurant in Prabha Devi, Mumbai, taking a detour from his family’s legacy of well-established Udipi restaurant. Enter the ‘China Dragon’. He … More Book Review: Days of My China Dragon by Chandrahas Choudhury (2019)
SEEMITA DAS 