Saturday, November 12, 2016
Name of the rose NOTR- same league as LOTR
As AA said, this one's written in shorthand, but I had to get it out of the gate because I was overwhelmed by the book, and I had to rush to catch a flight.
The plot is ever-thickening, the numerous arguments are enrapturing, the abbey life is intriquing, the references (Borges, Conan Doyle, Aristotle) are rich, the history-politics (13th century Europe) is captivating. NOTR- sounds like LOTR, and in the same league.
The plot
William of Baskerville is inspired by Sherlock Holmes, and Baskerville by the story of the Hound.
Arguments
Numerous wide-ranging, passionate conversations about the nature of religion (should the church accumulate wealth?), about the nature of heresy (laughter? Illustrations), secular clergy vs. ecclesiastial clergy.
Abbey life
The monks, novices, abbot, librarian, glazier, cellarer...it's a world unto itself. Walks in the cloister, the hours of prayer, the perpetual discourses, the fear of "temptations of the flesh"
References
Aristotle's works, the teachings of the foremost gurus of the time (St Francis of Asisi) , the title of the book, acrostics..
History politics
Church vs empire, the politics of heresy, wisdom in the ivory towers of abbeys vs. the common men
Labels: Books
Friday, November 04, 2016
The Subarnarekha Sandbar
Troubled bridge over waters
Come Friday afternoon, and we clamber aboard the Innova and brace ourself for the rocky Jamshedpur-Ranchi ride, the travails of the travel described in a dedicated post here. Today's post expounds on a particularly remarkable leg of the journey- the Crossing of the Subarnarekha sandbar.
There are two routes we can take- one via a village called Chokha and the other via the village Chandul. Now the Chokha route is shorter and more of a road, while the Chandul alternative can be better described as a rout than a route. However, journeying via the Chokha involves crossing a dubious bridge across the river Subarnarekha.
I first saw it in May- it's made of sand, and nothing more, and around 5 metres across and 200 meters in length. Imagine the symetrical and confident looking cables of the Bandra Worli sea link- well, this one's the other end of the spectrum of India's motorable bridges. Before the monsoons, we used to calmly cross, leaving Innova tracks on the mud behind us. This sand, I am told, is not even specialized bridge sand- it is just alluvial deposits picked up from the bottom of the river- ingenious "jugaad", at your service.
Warnings signs, and the fall
In June, there was a warning sign- One Friday, we saw as we approached the bridge that a truck had slid off and been submerged in the water. We neared a crane which was lifting the truck out of the waters, with the truck suspended ~20 feet in the air. Now we are always in a bit of a rush, on this journey, because we have to make the Indigo flight. As a line of cars waited for the operation to complete, we passed them by, coolly driving right underneath the suspended truck, much to the surprise of the crane operator and all the waiting cars.
As the warning sign foretold, this bridge was washed away during monsoons. And people in J-town said it quite matter of factly, to us- "Sirs, we cannot take the Chokha route, you see the bridge has been washed away". And thus, we broke our backs on the Chandul route, with the vertebral column being squashed into a jelly.
Bridge is back, and my back is bridged
I am pleased to report that today, I was back on those sands. Now that the monsoons have abated, kind municipality souls dug up the river banks put the sandbar back together- in service till the next spell of rains. Yes sir yes, in all its former glory, behold the Subarnarekha sandbar bridge, shot from the rear window of the Innova after yet another successful crossing:
Come Friday afternoon, and we clamber aboard the Innova and brace ourself for the rocky Jamshedpur-Ranchi ride, the travails of the travel described in a dedicated post here. Today's post expounds on a particularly remarkable leg of the journey- the Crossing of the Subarnarekha sandbar.
There are two routes we can take- one via a village called Chokha and the other via the village Chandul. Now the Chokha route is shorter and more of a road, while the Chandul alternative can be better described as a rout than a route. However, journeying via the Chokha involves crossing a dubious bridge across the river Subarnarekha.
I first saw it in May- it's made of sand, and nothing more, and around 5 metres across and 200 meters in length. Imagine the symetrical and confident looking cables of the Bandra Worli sea link- well, this one's the other end of the spectrum of India's motorable bridges. Before the monsoons, we used to calmly cross, leaving Innova tracks on the mud behind us. This sand, I am told, is not even specialized bridge sand- it is just alluvial deposits picked up from the bottom of the river- ingenious "jugaad", at your service.
Warnings signs, and the fall
In June, there was a warning sign- One Friday, we saw as we approached the bridge that a truck had slid off and been submerged in the water. We neared a crane which was lifting the truck out of the waters, with the truck suspended ~20 feet in the air. Now we are always in a bit of a rush, on this journey, because we have to make the Indigo flight. As a line of cars waited for the operation to complete, we passed them by, coolly driving right underneath the suspended truck, much to the surprise of the crane operator and all the waiting cars.
As the warning sign foretold, this bridge was washed away during monsoons. And people in J-town said it quite matter of factly, to us- "Sirs, we cannot take the Chokha route, you see the bridge has been washed away". And thus, we broke our backs on the Chandul route, with the vertebral column being squashed into a jelly.
Bridge is back, and my back is bridged
I am pleased to report that today, I was back on those sands. Now that the monsoons have abated, kind municipality souls dug up the river banks put the sandbar back together- in service till the next spell of rains. Yes sir yes, in all its former glory, behold the Subarnarekha sandbar bridge, shot from the rear window of the Innova after yet another successful crossing:
Labels: Random Ramblings, Travellog
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