Amitav Ghosh's Blog, page 29

The Last Hindu Temple in Kabul

    This hill, which looms over the center of Kabul, was once home to many Hindus and Sikhs. There was a Sikh gurudwara on it as well as a Hindu temple – the Asha Mayi Mandir. Many of the Hindus and Sikhs of this area had been in Afghanistan for generations. They had grown [...]

Kabul, National Archives of Afghanistan

  On February 20 Kabul was relatively calm and a light blanket of snow lay upon the building that houses Afghanistan's National Archives.         Once a palace, the building is one of the finest in the city.                         It is located [...]

Herat Restaurant, Kabul

    The Herat Restaurant is one of Kabul's most popular. It is in the Shar-e-Naw ((New Town) section of the city, a busy commercial area.                           The door opens into the 'public' (i.e. mens') section:               [...]

Kabul Public Library

          The library is a 1960s style building, modest but well-constructed. It was snowbound on this late February day and there were few readers present.   In the main reading room a charcoal-burning bukhari stove was being used to ward off the cold.                 [...]

Kabul, International Press Centre

    The International Press Centre in Kabul was destroyed by suicide bombers some years ago but has since been rebuilt.     Yesterday a snowstorm had knocked the power out but work was continuing.                     A workshop on issues of governance was under way.   [...]

An Amazing Genealogy

      Dear Mr. Ghosh: My name is Derek Lang.  I am close to finishing River of Smoke, having read Sea of Poppies last year.  I've found these 2 books enthralling and reading them has coincided with research into my own Eurasian genealogy which I ramped up a couple of years ago. Some brief [...]

Letters from Korea

    Namaste. I'm korean girl who love your novel 'The glass place'. Recently I read your book. (I bought a korean translation book.) And than I searched your contact mail in the internet. Maybe this is your mail address. I think. I'm really interested in india. Because, my major was hindi at my university. [...]

Life after SEA OF POPPIES: Students lead Deeti, Kalua and Neel into the future

    Dear Mr Ghosh I am Prema Raghunath of Chennai (Madras). Needless to add, I am a great admirer of your writing. I was at the launch of your book River of Smoke in Madras in May last year, when you were in conversation with Mr Gopal Gandhi and you even signed my copy! [...]

Goa and the Challenge of the New

  [This is an edited version of an address delivered in Panjim, Goa, on the 50th anniversary of the events that led to Goa's incorporation into the Indian union, in December 1961.]   It is truly an extraordinary privilege for me to be here today, with so many friends, old and new. It is a [...]

Responses to 'Festivals and Freedom'

         The responses to my post 'Freedom and Festivals' suggest that I am not in as small a minority as I had thought.*   Salil Tripathi worked for Amnesty for many years and is a leading authority on issues related to the freedom of expression. His book Offence: the Hindu Case; Manifestoes [...]