Dear friends, The Mahabharata comes in many sizes and languages. The author of the version we will use at Toronto Pursuits, William Buck, worked from a 5,800-page Sanskrit version. His goal was not to translate it, but rather to retell it: “I thought how nice to tell the story so […]
Tag: India
GUEST POST — Gary Schoepfel thanks Ashish for the gift of India
Ashish, you have given us a great and wonder-filled gift: India You have given us India’s sights: • Palaces and mountains, • Lakes and mighty forts, • Tombs and gardens, elephants, Persian wells, and Punjabi suits, • Temples and mustard fields, • Tools to read the heavens and camels, • […]
GUEST POST — Céleste Zurbrigg recounts her trip to incredible India
Céleste Zurbrigg from Edmonton, Alberta, was a participant on the Classical Pursuits India trip. She has been keeping travel diaries for a long time, and this post she shares some entries from the trip through Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Narlai and Varanasi. January 13, Arrived in Delhi Twenty-four hours after my […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – India and its afterglow
Our days were full of paradox and mystery. One does not return from perhaps the most spiritual and sensuous place on earth having “made sense of India.” In sifting and percolating my impressions, I am reminded of a continuing theme in one of the books we read, Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – Dung or Marble?
There is no way postcard snaps or even a glossy National Geographic special can prepare you for the simultaneous majesty and delicacy of the iconic Taj Mahal, a monument to love built by the Muslim Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz, who died giving birth to her 14th […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – awe
“A teardrop on the cheek of time” – Rabindranath Tagore on the Taj Mahal a first glimpse from a distance … a feeling of awe
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – senses and ritual
A ritual performed morning and night in temple on hotel grounds in small village of Narlai by the tribesmen who work there. You can’t hear the bells and drumming and chanting or smell the incense, but I wish you could. From india9.com: “Narlai, situated at the base of […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – Udaipur, the City of Palaces
Udaipur, the City of Palaces, a visual feast. Chattering monkeys, stunning architecture.
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – Origins of Mulligatawny
No time for a full post at the moment, as we are enjoying full days on the Sub-Continent, but I wanted to share this excellent piece with you: a little food for thought! (with thanks to James Harbeck at Word Tasting Notes) http://sesquiotic.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/mulligatawny/
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – The times they are a changin’, up to a point
Example: personal and professional lives of two guides. Priti was with us in Delhi. As you can see, she is knock-out beautiful. And I can attest to her inner beauty as well. Priti and her husband met at university, still unusual in a country where arranged marriages remain the […]