by Ian Cochrane | Mar 8, 2013 | Asia
The plaintive cry of a lone peacock fractures the silence. Croaking egrets chorus from clumps of reeds at the foot of these stone walls and ramparts. There are snorts and bellows from buffalo. Two calves splash about, the mother’s wet horns and back steaming above...
by Ian Cochrane | Mar 1, 2013 | Asia, Oceania
I’m in Melbourne, startled as the nurse draws the curtain behind me, the click of the rings on the rail loud in the quiet of the ward; the sweet smack of cough mixture wafts through the room. I turn away from Sally, my long-time neighbour having a tough time but...
by Ian Cochrane | Feb 3, 2013 | Asia
A dancing doll bobs on a string of beads slung from the top of a grimy windscreen, swinging back and forth like a hypnotist’s watch. The emaciated figure has a white beard and is dressed in a loose-fitting skullcap and long tunic of white. Meet the Indian mystic Sai...
by Cameron Tampling | Aug 4, 2012 | Asia, Oceania, Utopia
A signed hard copy of Indian Summers – the perfect gift for lovers of all things Indian – is a tactile, beautifully presented collection of 13 stories complete with a mosaic of richly coloured photos; equally at home in a backpack or on a coffee table. The...