Just last night, during intermission at a concert, I overheard a conversation between two people, one asking the other if she planned to join the fall Classical Pursuits trip Vietnam Voices: A Balanced Opposition. Over the din, I heard her response: “Oh, no, I could never go to Vietnam. I […]
Tag: Travel Pursuits
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – Mystery & Manners in Savannah, April 2012
It seems I was barely back from India before I was heading back to the airport en route to Savannah to discuss Flannery O’Connor – for the fourth time. You might think that this would be a rather hum drum same old, same old experience for discussion leader Nancy Carr […]
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 […]
TODAY IN LITERATURE – “The Day Always Belongs to the Sun,’ by Tran Thanh Ha
On of the things that strikes me over and over on our Classical Pursuits trips is the confirmation that however we may appear to differ across the ages, oceans and culture, in all essential ways, we are one human family. Maybe Shylock said it as well as any, “If you prick us, […]
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 […]