A closer look at Syria’s Crusader castles on March 29, 2018The six crusades, which ran from 1095 to 1291, were sanctioned by the Pope to regain the ‘Holy Land’ from the ‘infidels’. Ultimately, they failed to dislodge the Muslims from Jerusalem. In 1885, Oxford’s Charles Oman had published ‘The Art of War in the Middle Ages’. During the crusades, he wrote that warfare had begun […]
Into the Everglades of Florida on a speed boat on October 25, 2017At the boat harbour near Naples, we boarded a speedboat that seated six passengers. The boat did not appear to have a rudder or a propeller but it had a big fan As we boarded our flight to Florida, the Everglades were very much on our mind. Everyone had recommended them. At the boat harbour […]
The town where ‘Breaking Bad’ was filmed on October 17, 2017En route to the historic town of Santa Fe, the state capital of New Mexico, I had passed through Albuquerque a few times but never had time to check out the state’s largest city. That was about to change. When I told people that I was finally going there as the destination, just about everyone […]
When the earth shook on October 15, 2017The horror is still with me, even though the events described below took place almost three decades ago, on October 17, 1989. The time, 5:04pm, is drilled in my memory. I was at my desk on the 12th floor of the 180 Grand Avenue building at the corner of Lake Merritt in Oakland. I had […]
The drive from Georgia to Tennessee on October 14, 2017The road from Atlanta to Chattanooga was cloaked in darkness. I was in the fast lane. About half an hour later, a driver behind me flashed his lights, once and then twice. Was he asking me to move over? I had heard that such signalling was common on the Autobahns of Germany. The car, a […]
Zipping into New York on a rickshaw on October 10, 2017“If you have not been to New York City, think again. You have probably been there in a movie, play or a book,” that is how one of our tour guides introduced us to the magic of the Big Apple. In mid-October was perfect. Our hotel was in Times Square. During the first day, we […]
Zipping into New York on a rickshaw on October 10, 2017“If you have not been to New York City, think again. You have probably been there in a movie, play or a book,” that is how one of our tour guides introduced us to the magic of the Big Apple. In mid-October was perfect. Our hotel was in Times Square. During the first day, we […]
The Norman Conquest of England revisited on October 9, 2017A few years back, there was a book that stood out among the new arrivals in the local library. It was called Professor Borges – A Course On English Literature. It was edited by two of his former students, Martin Arias and Martin Hadis. On the dust jacket, John Updike called Professor Borges, “A giant […]
The Norman Conquest of England revisited on October 9, 2017A few years back, there was a book that stood out among the new arrivals in the local library. It was called Professor Borges – A Course On English Literature. It was edited by two of his former students, Martin Arias and Martin Hadis. On the dust jacket, John Updike called Professor Borges, “A giant […]
In search of the Roman Empire on October 8, 2017Ever since I saw the chariot race in ‘Ben Hur’ as a child, I had dreamed of visiting Rome. The desire magnified when I watched Julius Caesar and Mark Antony in ‘Cleopatra’. The urge to visit acquired more urgency when I saw a cousin playing the role of Caesar in a university play. As decades […]