This gallery contains 34 photos.
Calcutta in its heyday was divided into two main districts – White Town, which was where the British and other Europeans lived their lives and did their business, and Black Town, which was where the local Bengalis resided. Some of … Continue reading
This gallery contains 38 photos.
The second part of my virtual tour of European, or “White” Town, Calcutta, has the armchair traveller exploring the two most fashionable thoroughfares in Calcutta – Chowringhee Road (today’s Jawaharlal Nehru Road), which was the centre of the city’s cultural and … Continue reading
This gallery contains 31 photos.
Calcutta’s former European Town is a large, sprawling, highly-planned city that occupies much of the southern reaches of Central Kolkata today. At its heart is Fort William, the fortified, walled settlement that the English East India Company established here, along … Continue reading
This gallery contains 21 photos.
Calcutta (Kolkata) is the first stop on my third segment of the Grand Tour of the East. The capital of the province of West Bengal, and the cultural capital of Bengalis worldwide, it is a worthy first stop, and quite possibly … Continue reading
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It’s been 14 months since I concluded the second leg of The Grand Tour here on Dream Of A City. And since it is becoming increasingly clear that I’m not going to be able to secure a contract just yet … Continue reading
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The opening of Port Cities: Multicultural Emporiums of Asia, 1500 – 1900 at the Asian Civilisations Museum was tremendously successful, with more than 300 guests attending and having a whale of a time. Thank you very much everyone who was … Continue reading
This gallery contains 5 photos.
So it’s been one month since I took on my new position as the Director of the Asian Civilisations Museum. Well, a month and a half, to be precise. The support, encouragement and general well-wishes have been so overwhelming. The … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
So I suppose it’s time to spill the beans. On 1 September, I will take the helm as the Director of the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore. It is a magnificent museum, and I am privileged and excited to be taking … Continue reading
This gallery contains 5 photos.
A few posts ago, I wrote of my restlessness and my desire to wander; and my deep yearning for faraway places, for family and old friends. In the last three months or so, I have been doing exactly what I said … Continue reading
This gallery contains 35 photos.
Long before Dream Of A City and my fascination with port cities in Asia, I had been enamoured of the art and the architecture of the Middle East, particularly of the cities that sat at the intersections of Islamic and … Continue reading
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