If you want to see the elusive tiger, Ranthambore National Park and Tiger Reserve is a good place to look. Deer are the primary source of food for tigers, and at Ranthambore there are plenty of deer to choose from. The spotted Axis deer are called cheetah in Hindi because cheetah means spots. Sambar deer
Articles Categorized India
Two Coins: A Few Character Profiles
Last week I shared the places associated with Two Coins: A Biographical Novel. This week I’m introducing some of the people who grace its pages. With one exception, my selection is limited to characters with a visual record. Two Coins focuses on the libel case Mary Pigot filed against The Reverend William Hastie. Though I
SUMMER READS: TWO NOVELS BY SUJATA MASSEY
Good historical fiction takes the reader into an authentic world where the story is presented against the backdrop of actual customs and material culture, for example, food as it is eaten and prepared or family customs such as purdah, the seclusion of women within the household. When there’s also a mystery involved, it becomes more
HOLI – THE FESTIVAL OF COLORS
At the beginning of this month, Punxsutawney Phil (America’s official groundhog) assigned us six more weeks of winter. This is approximately the time between Groundhog Day on February 2 and the Spring Equinox on March 20. If you think that’s too long to wait for Spring, you might want to celebrate HOLI – THE FESTIVAL
Durga Puja 2017
Durga Puja, the annual festival in honor of Goddess Durga, begins tomorrow, September 26 and continues until Saturday, September 30. It’s a moveable festival with dates coinciding with the sixth through tenth day of the bright lunar fortnight in the Hindu month of Ashvin. For five days revelers in Kolkata engage in pandal hopping,
RAMA’S LABYRINTH – Free Kindle Edition April 2-6
Wednesday, April 5th is Pandita Mary Ramabai’s saint’s day in the Church of England and Episcopal Church. In commemoration and as a special thank you, the Kindle edition of Rama’s Labyrinth is available at no charge until Thursday, April 6. WHO WAS MARY RAMA? Mary is Rama’s baptismal name. When Rama traveled to the Community
PARESWANATH TEMPLE – AN OASIS IN KOLKATA
There’s one more destination I want to tell you about from my recent trip to Kolkata. Pareswanath Temple is a jewel of serenity. My guide Anup Saha suggested we visit the temple and I’m so glad he did. As we walked up Badridas Temple Street in northeast Kolkata, I had no idea what to expect.
SIKKIM – LAND OF MONASTERIES
The name Himalayas brings up many images. Of course Mount Everest comes immediately to mind. But there’s more to this range of mountains that stretches from Pakistan in the west across India, Bhutan and Nepal before ending in China. Tibetan Buddhism also has an association with the region, although China swallowed Tibet itself in 1950. Within
CALCUTTA, MARY PIGOT & ME – Where She Was
As you may recall from a previous blog about Kolkata, I went to that historic city in search of clues about Mary Pigot, the protagonist in my current project. Calcutta was the capital of the British Raj until December 1911 when British administrators removed to New Delhi, and buildings in Calcutta’s historic district remain
KOLKATA, MARY PIGOT, & ME – Where She Wasn’t
My recent visit to Kolkata, like my visit to Edinburgh early last summer, is directly related to my current research project. This book is about Mary Pigot and the lawsuit she filed in 1883 against a prominent male missionary. Mary charged William Hastie with malicious libel. We would call his actions defamation of character. With
