Four Lovely neighbours of Heidelberg Four lovely neighbours of Heidelberg A pictorial journey Wyssembourg, France Wyssembourg is a small town in France. It is on the border with Germany and not far from Heidelberg, Germany's university town. We had taken a train that touched Mannheim and Landau on the way. When the train pulled up at Wyssembourg station, an almost empty platform soaked by drizzles preceding our arrival greeted us. An absolute beauty! Right from there it was a comfortable saunter through a picturesque, pretty, clean and graceful little town. I was so awed that even this potpourri of adjectives is not enough to describe the photogenic French town. A little river Lauter flows through the town. It is so small and so narrow that on first view it gives an impression of a narrow canal flowing through the town. Not far from its larger counterpart Strasbourg, this cute town is rich in history. Born in the seventh century, the town grew up around ...
From my early years I showed a lot of interest in collecting copies of National Geographic - not just for the heck of it but for the fascinating photographs and great articles on travel,wildlife,natural science and history published in it. The photographs were so captivating and real, they created a great passion for adventure in me and an urge to know more about my planet and my universe . In sixties when I was in school, I could find only one shop dealing in second hand books which sometimes used to keep some back issues of National Geographic. The shop was located in Hazratgunj area of Lucknow, close to Capitol Cinema . So ardent was my desire to get a copy of a second hand National Geographic ( a new National Geographic was extremely costly during those days) that that was the only occasion when I bothered my parents for money for buying it. In this regard they were very supportive and liberal. A lot of changes have taken place since then over the decades that followed, and the most encouraging of them is availability of the magazines at almost all book / magazine stores in India. Now we also have a TV channel by the same name. The first issue of the magazine was published in 1888 under stewardship of Gardiner Green Hubbard who had formed an elite club named Cosmos Club in Washington D.C.,USA. Elite group of academics,wealthy persons interested in travel,explorers and scientists used to gather at the club to organise a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge. Gardiner became the first president of the society and on his death in 1897 the mantle was passed down to his son in law Alexander Graham Bell. Apart from being an eminent inventor Bell as a child displayed a natural curiosity about his world, resulting in gathering botanical specimen as well as experimenting even at an early age. Bell's son in law Gibbert Hovey Grovesnor was named the first Editor of the magazine and continued to serve the organisation for 55 years (till 1954). Chris Johns is the present Editor of National Geographic.He is the first field photographer to take over as Editor in Chief. During his recent visit to India Rudraneil Sengupta of Mint interviewed him which was published in the Mint of 28 October 2011. If you view this interview you will discover the rare courage and guts these passionately adventurous team of National Geographic musters to bring you some great fascinating facts of our planet Earth and the Universe year after year.For instance Chris Johns recounts here a blood-curdling situation he experienced while trying to photograph a pack of wild dogs from underneath his Land Rover in order to to capture the pack at ' dog's level'.
The following story by Rudraneil Sengupta was published in the 'Travel' section of MINT on October 28 2011.
Great Tastes - Wazwan Where better to fall in love with wazwan than in Kashmir? In October 2013, I visited this beautiful valley along with my wife for the first time in my life. Through all the breathtaking natural beauty, the rolling green mountains and valleys, and snow-peaked horizons, my focus, my greatest love, never wavered from the fantastic culinary tradition of this mountain state. Many things combined to create the mouthwatering wazwan Kashmir is so rightly famed for—from the Mughal past, where Emperors commissioned some of the most romantic baghs (gardens in the world), made as the earthly template of heaven, and were also incurable gourmands who searched far and wide for great chefs and gave them their one-point agenda: create exceptional dishes. Kashmir’s wonderful climate, which allows the growing of a mind-boggling variety of beautiful nuts, fruits, vegetables, and spices, including saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, played an equally c...
IN SEARCH OF TASTE - A TALE OF FOUR CITIES A food aficionado’s mouthwatering journey over the years in cities he lived. Read Rana's memoir with food. Cooking has been regarded as one of the greatest arts right from the time of Julius Caesar. Although elements of the art of cooking are easy to define, I have discovered over the years that the tastes which still linger on my tongue are the tastes that mattered. In that respect, my nanny still remains unbeatable as the greatest cook in my life. We called her ‘nannabhai’ derived from the Bengali word ‘ranna’ for cooking. Be it a simple Hilsa egg fry or peas pulao or stuffed chicken or quail (bater) roast, mutton, or chicken stew the food always used to be a gastronomical delight. My mother inherited some of her skills and tickled our senses with dishes like Tomato fish, Mutton kofta curry, and Pudding. Now it's my wife who has mastered the art of tickling my senses. Her talent for improvisation has created a...
ROMA - Ancient Rome & Papal Rome Imagine going back 2000 years in time and space while standing on the stone floor inside a colossal amphitheater. Amidst thousands of Roman spectators. The booms of drums reverberate as the ceremonial parade enters the stadium. After saying ‘Ave imperator; morituri te salutant’ (those who are about to die salute you) to the Emperor, the gladiatorial combat begins. The crowd shouts jeers and throw their hands up in excitement. 60000 spectators? Like the excitement at Eden Gardens in Calcutta while watching a Cricket match. The gestures, the excitement, the uproar may be different from our present-day Mexican waves. But how does that matter? After all, a stadium is a venue for entertainment – be it the bloodiest sport in the history of mankind. And how the Romans loved watching violence and killings. Historians remain befuddled as to how Romans who are regarded as the precursor of human civilization could have indulged and e...
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