Amitav Ghosh's Blog, page 10

‘Ode to the Ibis’

    On Oct 13 I received a message from Prof. Meg Samuelson of the Dept of English, University of Cape Town.   Dear Amitav Ghosh, Excuse me writing to you out of the blue … I’ve been teaching your novel, Sea of Poppies, and gave my students the choice of responding analytically or in [...]

Penguin India’s Special Collector’s Edition to mark the 25th anniversary of ‘The Shadow Lines’

    Penguin India is issuing a special collectors’ edition of ‘The Shadow Lines’ to mark the 25th anniversary of the book’s publication.                 The edition will have a print run of 500 numbered copies. It is to be published on high quality paper, and will come with [...]

Correspondence with a reader

  Hello, I just finished reading River of Smoke, and I felt compelled to tell you what a wonderful, delightful book it is. I am a Parsi myself, and truly enjoyed the story of Behram Moddie, the Anahita, and the numerous characters who inhabited that world. You have truly brought another era to life. It [...]

Countdown Interviews- General V. P. Malik: 3

  [I interviewed General Ved Prakash Malik in New Delhi in August 1998, a few months after India conducted nuclear tests at Pokhran. Gen. Malik, who was born in Dera Ismail Khan, in what is now Pakistan, was the 19th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. The room I interviewed him in had [...]

Countdown Interviews- General V. P. Malik: 2

  [I interviewed General Ved Prakash Malik in New Delhi in August 1998, a few months after India conducted nuclear tests at Pokhran. Gen. Malik, who was born in Dera Ismail Khan, in what is now Pakistan, was the 19th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. The room I interviewed him in had [...]

Countdown Interviews- General V. P. Malik: 1

    [I interviewed General Ved Prakash Malik in New Delhi in August 1998, a few months after India conducted nuclear tests at Pokharan. Gen. Malik, who was born in Dera Ismail Khan, in what is now Pakistan, was the 19th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. The room I interviewed him in [...]

Countdown Interviews – Asma Jahangir: 8

      Asma Jahangir on her early life:“I went to school here [in Lahore] and then college – Kinnaird College [in Lahore] – and then I took my law here. I am completely indigenous. I was born in a household where my father was in politics and he was always in the opposition. And [...]

Countdown Interviews – Asma Jahangir: 7

    AG:What can be done about human rights? Asma Jahangir:“A lack of institutions, and an institutional response.   At some point you have to depend on state institutions for relief. You can take a movement that far but not beyond; beyond that is a wall if you’re not getting discussion in parliament; if you’re [...]

Countdown Interviews – Asma Jahangir: 6

      AG:“When these blasts happened in Pokhran, did you feel that they were an act of hostility directed at Pakistan?”       Asma Jahangir:“Well frankly I felt angry. I felt angry at the Indian leadership because I felt that they were going to start a nuclear race in the region. And yes, [...]

Countdown Interviews – Asma Jahangir: 6

  AG:“When these [nuclear] blasts happened at Pokhran, did you feel that they were an act of hostility directed at Pakistan?”             Asma Jahangir:“Well frankly I felt angry. I felt angry at the Indian leadership because I felt that they were going to start a nuclear race in the region. [...]