Sustainability and India are not two words that you expect to hear in the same sentence. But in Bengaluru cricket circles it is a subject that unites the community. And by community we mean the Karnataka Cricket Association, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the Municipal government and the Indian Premier League (IPL). All heavy hitters, if you’ll pardon the pun. … [Read more...]
Chandigarh and Le Corbusier
Why go to Chandigarh they asked? Or if they didn’t ask they assumed I’d be on my way to Jammu & Kashmir. But no, I was determined to go to Chandigarh to see the buildings of French / Swiss architect Le Corbusier. ‘You’re mad’ they said to go north in May / June, ‘it is too hot’. Return airfares had been booked from Bangalore to Mumbai which is in a northern … [Read more...]
Home – with the In-Laws
On the Father’s Day weekend I went to visit the in-laws*. They live in the Cantal area of Auvergne in the middle of France – what I like to call the French Outback (not to their face). When I say ‘outback’ it is in the broadest sense of being fairly uninhabited and remote. The cows wear bells without irony, and in winter the cottages higher up in the mountains are … [Read more...]
Leg side, Onside, Offside, India
One of my earliest memories is of sitting on the floor with my Dad and listening an Ashes test on the radio, when Australia was playing in England. Dennis Lillee was bowling from one end, Rod Marsh the wicket keeper, and Bob Massie was demolishing the English batting lineup from the other end. Dad let me stay up late because, well, because it was the cricket. And we listened to … [Read more...]
Book Review: Talleyrand by Duff Cooper
‘Talleyrand’ is a book that was written in 1932 and tells the story of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, who was born in 1754. At various times he was the Bishop of Autun, Foreign Minister for France, Grand Chancellor and Ambassador to London. It is a story of an extraordinary man in extraordinary times. After briefly describing his childhood, the book begins with the … [Read more...]
