Features – Page 15 – Neena Bhandari

Amitav Ghosh on The Glass Palace, colonialism and the rise of Indian writers

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 12.09.2001 (The Pioneer): Amitav Ghosh is a participant in The Age 2001 Melbourne Writers’ Festival, which begins today. After being delayed for more than 12 hours due to an engine problem on his Qantas flight from Mumbai to Sydney, Ghosh went straight to the dais at Stanton Library in North Sydney for a reading from his latest novel, The Glass Palace (HarperCollins), followed by another reading at Gleebooks.

The uncertainty surrounding his flight threw my interview schedule into disarray at least three times. However, when we finally managed to meet, Ghosh spoke at length about the years it takes to research his books, the craft of storytelling, the rewards of meeting genuinely interested readers, colonial history and the growing number of contemporary Asian authors writing about it, and what it takes to balance professional and personal life.

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Sydney Calling

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 01.09.2000 (The Pioneer Column): On the millennium eve, watching the `river of flame’ from across the Westminster Bridge in the slush and rain, we had thought the spectacular show of fireworks in Sydney had really given London a run for its money.

Months later, as I write this, basking under the bright Sydney skies overlooking the blue waters, the city is all dolled up to host the greatest sporting festival in the world, rolling out expensive red carpets and chilling champagne for its multitude of guests pouring in each day.

Hearts of past greats and future heroes burn with pride as they carry the Olympic Games torch, for most, only once in their lifetime, through villages and cities of this vast continent country.

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