Holiday in India & Bhutan (2): getting there
October 3rd, 2024 by Roger Darlington
We flew to India with Emirates. The flight from London Heathrow to Dubai was in a double-decker Airbus A380 and took six hours. We left over an hour late because of – as the pilot put it – “the situation worldwide” (an oblique reference to the conflict between Israel and Iran). Our second flight from Dubai to Kolkata was in a Boeing 777 and took just under four hours. By this time, our departure was an hour and a half late.
Once at Kolkata, the journey from the airport to the hotel was quite long (an hour and a quarter) but quite fascinating (solid traffic, wild driving, some rickshaws, crumbling buildings, bustling markets, ubiquitous colourful advertisements). So it was noon before we were in our rooms at the Taj Bengal Hotel, long after the hotel breakfast we were promised in our original schedule.
Today was allocated as rest and recuperation from our flights. However, ever intrepid, Jennie and I thought we might go for an afternoon stroll, but we found that the hotel is not near anywhere interesting and there was a crashing thunderstorm with thunder, lighting and heavy rain. Tomorrow the group will tour the city …
Calcutta (as it was then called) – nicknamed the city of joy – was founded in 1690 as a trading post for the British East India Company and later served as the de facto capital of British India until 1911. It was the second largest city in the British Empire, after London. In 1756, it became infamous for the incarceration of British prisoners in ‘the Black Hole of Calcutta’.
Today Kolkata (its official name since 2001) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, 50 miles (80 kms) west of the border with Bangladesh.
Kolkata is the seventh most populous city in India with an estimated city proper population of 4.5 million, while the wider region is the third most populous metropolitan region of India with a population of over 15 million. The city is regarded by many as the cultural capital of India. It is known as a city of rickshaws, sweets and wall posters. India’s five Nobel Prize winners all come from Kolkata.
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Holiday in India & Bhutan (1): introduction
October 2nd, 2024 by Roger Darlington
I am about to go on a holiday to India and Bhutan with the company Great Rail Journeys. This is the first time that I’ve travelled with GRJ and it is a rarity for me to have a tour manager from beginning to end, rather than just when one is in the countries concerned. She is Tracey Richards and impressively she contacted each tour member even before we met at Heathrow Airport.
On this holiday, I’ll be with my travel companion Jenny Madden. I met Jenny last year on a visit to Georgia and Armenia and, earlier this year, we travelled together on a trip to Pakistan. I’ve been to India before (2003), but not to Bhutan, which will be the 90th country that I have visited. Amazingly, Jenny has almost reached 100 countries.
GRJ classifies the mobility rating of the trip as “active adventurer” which means: “You love staying active and like to explore on your holiday. You’re more than capable of handling longer walking tours (more than 90 minutes), standing for extended periods of time, and navigating towns and countryside. Itineraries could include early starts, late-night experiences, and full days.” So, it’s a good thing that Jenny and I are young and fit!
India and Bhutan may be both part of the Indian sub-continent, but could hardly be more different from one another.
Geographically, India is huge (the seventh largest nation in the world) and Bhutan is small (about half the size of Scotland or twice the size of Wales). In population terms, India is the most populous country on the planet (1.4 billion), while Bhutan has a tiny fraction of this many citizens (a little over 700,000). Religiously, India is predominately Hindu with a large Muslim minority (about 20%), while Bhutan is overwhelmingly Buddhist with some 20% Hindu.
Politically, India is a (flawed) democracy, while Bhutan is an enlightened monarchy. India has always been a country open to visitors, but Bhutan was closed to visitors until 2018.
India is currently 4½ hours ahead of British time and Bhutan is 5 hours ahead. The currency in India is the rupee and the currency in Bhutan is the ngultrum. Indian currency can be used in Bhutan, but Bhutanese currency cannot be used in India. Currently a British pound is worth about 110 rupees or 110 ngultrum.
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How much do you know about Lebanon?
October 1st, 2024 by Roger Darlington
In my review of a 2010 book about Lebanon entitled “Beware Of Small States”, I wrote:
“Lebanon has so often been the subject of intervention by other states, whether the rule of the Ottoman Empire until the end of the First World War, France in the mandate period from 1918-1943, the presence since 1948 of Palestinian refugees and until 1982 the PLO, the support for different militias by various states during the horrendously bitter civil war of 1975-1990, the presence of UNIFIL peacekeeping troops since 1978, the invasions by Israel in 1982-1985 and again in 2006, the support of Iran for the militia Hezbollah since 1985, and the constant interference, sometime occupation, and repeated political assassinations by neighbouring Syria.”
I visited Lebanon in 2011 and, in my account of the trip, I wrote:
“Lebanon was carved out of the Ottoman Empire and granted independence by the French in 1943. It is a tiny state: geographically around the size of Wales in the UK or Connecticut in the USA, with much of it mountainous. And it has a small population: only around 4 million (although there is a much larger Lebanese diaspora around the world). But religiously, it is one of the most complicated nations on earth.
Lebanon’s population is estimated to be almost 60% Muslim (Shia, Sunni, Druze, Isma’ilite, Alawite, or Nusayri) and almost 40% Christian (Syriac Maronite Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Melkite Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syriac Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Syriac Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Chaldean, Assyrian, Copt, or Protestant). Over the past 60 years, there has been a steady decline in the number of Christians as compared to Muslims, due to higher emigration rates among Christians and a higher birth rate among the Muslim population.”
Since the attack on Israel by Gaza-based Hamas on 7 October 2023, there has been growing tension between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah which this week has led to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) launching a ground invasion of its northern neighbour. The Middle East is now in a crisis of horrendous proportions.
Of course, the origin of the problem is the creation of Israel in 1948 and I support the right of Israel to exist. For a brief account of how this came about and how the crisis could in theory be resolved, see this book review.
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A review of the new film “The Outrun”
September 29th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Think you have problems? Well, 30 year old Scottish Rona is coping with a traumatic childhood, a bipolar father, an evangelical mother, the break-up of a relationship, a serious addiction to alcohol and acute depression, plus the wildness, windiness and loneliness of an island in Orkney.
This could, so easily, have been a misery movie, but it is saved by fine acting, wonderful scenery and the ultimate redemption in the narrative. It is, however, a rocky road with constant jumps in time and space in a jagged and erratic storyline. Special mention should be made of the idiosyncratic sound which contributes so much to the atmosphere of each scene.
The film is adapted and lightly fictionalised by German director Nora Fingscheldt and Amy Lipton from the later’s 2016 recovery memoir of the same name. In the central role – she is rarely off the screen – Saoirse Ronan is simply wonderful and, following her four Academy Award nominations, this could well be the performance that bags her that Oscar at last. She puts everything into this harrowing tale and she and her husband Jack Lowden were co-producers.
Incidentally, the titular outrun is an outlying coastal piece of farmland, not suitable for cultivation. In a sense, the film itself is an outrun, something that many would want to avoid but some will find bracing and even invigorating.
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A review of “The Talented Mr Ripley” by Patricia Highsmith
September 27th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Crime fiction is a massively popular genre, but I generally avoid it. I made an exception for this 1955 psychological thriller because it has become such a well-established classic: it won a number of awards, it resulted in four sequels, and it has been the subject of many radio, television and film adaptations. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It is an unusual crime novel in that the point of view is that of the criminal himself and, somewhat implausibly and certainly audaciously, he manages to deceive just about everybody.
Twenty-five year old American Thomas Ripley, a loner with seemingly no morals and dubious sexuality, is above all a fantasist and the chief object of his fantasies is a fellow American, now resident in Italy, one Dickie Greenleaf.
Ripley is prepared to take incredible risks to fulfil his infatuation: “It was as if he were really inviting trouble , and couldn’t control himself.” We learn that: “His stories were good because he imagined them intensely , so intensely that he came to believe them.”
Highsmith clearly chose the name of her protagonist quite deliberately. Ripley’s Believe It Ot Not! was a newspaper panel that highlighted strange and unusual events and this novel is imbued with strange and unusual occurrences, the credibility of which is mooted over by a range of supporting characters.
The author plays with the emotions of the reader: we admire Ripley’s ingenuity, we share his fear, but do we want him to be caught or not?
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Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World?
September 25th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
This is the title of a new eight-part series which has just completed broadcasting on the BBC and is now available of the BBC’s iPlayer. An impressive array of senior figures speak with knowledge, candour and regret, making this one of the very best documentaries on global politics that I’ve ever seen.
It looks at a succession of international crises, where mass casualties were involved, and considers what happened when the international community – most notably the USA – did or did not intervene: Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo, Darfur, Libya and Syria.
Huge humanitarian, military and political issues are involved and there are never any simple options or answers. Intervention can have consequences which make matters worse (think of the invasion of Iraq). Non-intervention can lead to mass slaughter (think of the genocide in Rwanda). Even when there is a measure of success, there are massive complications (think of Kosovo). All decisions involve major uncertainties and unanticipated consequences.
I believe in principle that there are times when we should support liberal intervention by other nations in a nation state’s internal affairs. Such occasions are where mass loss of life is threatened or happening and, in those limited circumstances, the United States, ideally acting with UN authorisation and with allied support, is best equipped to make such intersessions. But clear objectives, skilled execution and a plan for ‘the day after’ are all vitally necessary.
There will never be a wholly successful action, but it is honourable to do all that one practically can to make a global crisis a bit better and to save some lives.
Posted in American current affairs, World current affairs | Comments (0)
What do you know about dementia?
September 20th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Here, in the UK, nearly a million people are currently living with dementia. This figure is predicted to increase to around 1.4 million by 2040. Worldwide, some 55 million are living with dementia. That figure is predicted to rise to around 150 million by 2030.
More women than men are affected by dementia. There are reports that the risks for dementia affect Black and Asian populations more than white people.
There is no cure for dementia.
The main factors determining the incidence of dementia are genetics and age, but the Lancet Commission on Dementia produced a model of 14 potentially modifiable risks over the life span and suggested that up to 45% of dementia cases could be prevented if these risks factors could be eliminated.
These 14 risk factors are: (early-life) less education; ( mid-life) hearing loss, depression, high cholesterol, physical inactivity, traumatic brain injury, smoking, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and excessive alcohol; (later-life) social isolation, air pollution and visual loss.
For six and a half years, I have been a volunteer participant in a research project called CHARIOT PRO – an abbreviation for Cognitive Health in Ageing Register: Investigational, Observational, and Trial studies in dementia research: Prospective Readiness cOhort Study. The study is based at Imperial College in London and led by the world-renowned Professor Lefkos Midd
First, I was a member of a study looking at the possible connection between dementia and a protein in the brain called beta amyloid. Then, I was a participant in a study looking at the possible role in dementia of a different protein in the brain called tau. I have just volunteered for a three-year longitudinal study.
Today we had a seminar at Imperial College to hear about the latest thinking on dementia and the current plans for the CHARIOT PRO study.
If you would like to be involved, go here.
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A review of the 1973 ‘classic’ film “Zarzoz”
September 19th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
It may be a bit of stretch to call the science fiction tale “Zardoz” a classic but, over the last 50 years, it has certainly become something of a cult favourite. I’ve seen it on the big screen three timse: first, on its release at the Odeon in Leicester Square; second, in the early 1980s at the then National Film Theatre; and, most recently, at the now British Film Institute following a question & answer session with the writer, producer and director of the film, John Boorman, then aged 91, in a wheelchair and struggled to give coherent observations. Along the way, I’ve even read the novelisation by Boorman which, as a mark of the story’s durability, was reprinted in 2024.
The timing of the film’s production – it was shot entirely in Ireland – is interesting. Boorman had just achieved a significant commercial success with “Deliverance” which allowed him the freedom to make the much more personal work “Zardoz” which had none of the success of his earlier movies. The star, Sean Connery, had just given up his screen tole as James Bond after massive success in six outings as 007 and he wad keen to do something different – anything more different than Zed, the lightly-dressed Brutal Exterminator in a post-apocalyptic Earth of 2293, is hard to imagine.
It has to be admitted that this original and compelling film often totters along the dividing line between imaginativeness and farce and it is best viewed as a satire on the human obsession with eternal youth and the search for immortality. Visually the work is often stunning with amazing imagery, while aurally the music of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony is haunting, especially in a final murderous sequence. At the BFI showing, Boorman received a standing ovation, even though his interviewer admitted that the film was “nuts”.
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A review of “The Old Man And The Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
September 17th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Santiago is an experienced but elderly fisherman in a Cuban fishing village who has had a prolonged run of bad luck, having failed in 84 consecutive days to catch anything. His luck is about to change dramatically, but at what cost and with what consequence? This novella of less than 100 pages won Hemingway the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 and it was the only work explicitly mentioned when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 (this was his last work of fiction and he died in 1961).
Many regard this work as a classic of American literature, although some critics have claimed that it is overrated. Certainly it has a deceptively understated style – what Hemingway himself called the ‘iceberg theory’ with deeper meaning not evident on the surface – but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the physicality of the narrative and the positivity, nobility and resilience of the titular old man. When talking to himself, he declares: “But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
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A review of a new bio-pic on the life of American war photographer Lee Miller
September 15th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
For British actress Kate Winslet, it has been a nine-year passion project to bring to the big screen the story of American war photographer Lee Miller (1907-1977). It was a remarkable life: after working as a fashion model in New York and a fashion photographer in Paris, during World War II she served as war correspondent for the British “Vogue”, covering events such as the blitz of London, the liberation of Paris, and the discovery of the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau. Yet, in the following years, she never talked about her work, even to her son who only discovered her photographs after her death and subsequently wrote the memoir on which the film is based.
“Lee” the film is deliberately the work of women. As well as Winslet in the eponymous role and rarely off the screen, other important positions are filled by actresses including Andrea Riseborough and Marion Cotillard, while both the writer (Marion Hume) and director (cinematographer turned debut director Ellen Kuras) are women. Lee was a brave and resourceful photographer with a back story which included rape as a child and promiscuity as a young woman, so this is a fascinating story. Winslet is simply wonderful as a witness to history who is both driven and tormented and she is presented as a free spirit distaining conventional gender roles.
Yet, the film is not as engaging as it should be, primarily because the bio-pic is framed by Lee, as an elderly woman, narrating her exploits to an unidentified interviewer with frequent and prolonged flashbacks which means that the work lacks the necessary pacing and drive.
Few viewers will see “Lee” on a large screen, as I did, because it has a very limited theatrical release and then goes to the platform of Sky who partially funded it. Between 2 October 2024 – 15 February 2025, Tate Britain will be exhibiting the most extensive retrospective of Lee Miller’s photography yet staged in the UK.
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