Nobody has been able to determine why Vincent van Gogh got off the train at Arles. Almost equidistant from Montpellier and Aix-en-Provence it was known for its Roman ruins and the magnificent amphitheatre in which bull fights attracted the local Arlesiennes. The painting by Vincent is more about the people in the audience and […] Read more

Vincent van Gogh: Gypsy encampment I’d never been to the Camargue before, the home of salt marshes, red rice, wild horses and pink flamingoes and because I was curious to witness the great annual gypsy pilgrimage to Saint Sara Kali in the fishing village of Saintes Maries de la Mer, I  held my nose and […] Read more

Evening Breezes, softly sighing Bid the sun farewell. Time is flying day is dying Rings the vesper bell. Peace and calm with night descending Stilling every sound, Shadows with the darkness blending Wrap the world around, wrap the world around. (Franz Schubert, after Silbert)               […] Read more

He came in an immaculate van, opening up the back with a flourish and revealing the elaborate array of brushes, rods and cleaning materials, all laid out in symmetrical order. Even though his name was not Mr Soot (of Happy Families) it was fitting enough.   He wore blue plastic overshoes, laid a black cloth […] Read more

Yes, it’s a chandelier- made up of forks. Oxford/Oxfork, geddit? Catchy name, catchy caff.Oxforks has the homey, mum’s kitchen kind of appeal which is so in fashion. Bill’s aspires to the image,  but is corporate and a chain. Oxforks is intimate, personal,  more organic than most, and I don’t mean in just a food way: […] Read more

The blurry person hurrying to pay for his chocolate and raspberry jam is Siddo, who sometimes accompanies me on these food critiques. We shared an agreeable afternoon at Bill’s, part of a rather large chain  and the latest eaterie to open in Oxford in Northgate Hall.   Opposite it is the Oxford Union and next […] Read more

Hospitable: adj. giving, disposed to give, welcome and entertainment to strangers or guests: hence-ality adv. (OED) In the Odyssey Homer says that  a guest never forgets a host who has treated him kindly but, because hospitality is now widely commercialized to be the cornerstone of the  tourism industry, kindness (which springs out of charity, mercy […] Read more

Sometimes I wonder how different my life would be if I never went to another art exhibition, read another novel or poem or listened to another musical performance. It would be lesser, of course, without the banquet of  earthly delights to wonder at and rejoice in; and would leave me without the comfort  of a […] Read more

Today is Priya’s birthday, so my mother asked Mishri Lal the Cook to make a feast to celebrate the happy day. Significant days in the calendar- birthdays, anniversaries, special prayer days- are marked by specially delicious and calorific dishes: potatoes curried with tomatoes,  sweet and sour chickpeas, puffy fried puris and a sticky semolina halvah […] Read more