Best Reads of 2023

I have been complaining for the past few years that I hadn’t been reading enough every year. That is, not to my satisfaction when compared to the marathon readers I see around on social media. While it should not be a competition as such, it seems to be more of a show off – where your love for books is directly proportional to the number of books you read in a year. I am not a part of this game but I have always wondered if it is the way to read more and/or read better. Last year (2023), I did decide to concentrate on two reading challenges and read in a structured format. One was based on monthly motifs and allowed me to match quite a few motifs with the books on my TBR. The other was the #ReadChristie challenge that helped me catch up with a sizeable number of unread Poirot mysteries from my list. Ideally, I should have read 24 books last year based on these two challenges, but then, life happened. And I managed to finish reading 21, including a few outside the reading challenges.

I would say it was fun and totally worth the effort, as I had two books ready to read each month aside the impromptu picks or Bangla books that I read anyway. This year would be different, though. The non-structured personality in me might take over and participate in just one reading challenge (the monthly motif one). The rest would be on impulse, as it is often the best way to read, in my humble opinion of being a reader for an odd thirty five years or so.

May you read well and/or more this year. Here are the best ones I read in 2023 –

Church Architecture | A few from my travels

I think I have been mesmerised by church architecture since my visit to the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa. Completed in 1605 and a host to the body of St. Francis Xavier, this Baroque church is an important landmark in world history. Since I was just a child of eight then, the architecture was enormous and overwhelming to stare at and not exactly a thing to ponder upon. But I knew in my heart that I loved to loiter inside tall, cool stone buildings with adorned ceilings and stained glass lit alleyways leading to the main altar. Moving to Europe definitely made things easier and I have been in awe of church architecture since the past six years! Having visited churches in multiple countries from multiple periods of history, I have been building up a repository of photos and stories about church architecture. It would be fun to share them here as I keep travelling and gathering more moss.

Polish Gothic | St. Mary’s Basilica | Krakow

The best example of Polish Gothic architecture is the St. Mary’s Basilica with its foundations dating back to the 13th century. The interiors are mesmerising with a wooden altar by German sculptor Veit Stoss (15th c), stained glass by Wyspianski and polychromic murals by famous Polish artist Jan Matejko (19th c).

Art Nouveau in Brussels : Maison Autrique

After dabbling into all things Art Nouveau (AN) for the last three years, it is about time I try to encapsulate my feelings and observations in detail. Each of these houses is unique in its history, architecture, culture and heritage. I have had the opportunity and fortuity to visit quite a few houses in Brussels and the impact they had on my psyche was phenomenal. Particular elements in each such house piqued our interest and the sheer beauty and care with which they were built amazes me still. I intend to capture their essences here, starting with Maison Autrique.

2023 is the Year of Art Nouveau as it all began 130 years ago. Brussels, especially, is celebrating everything AN this year!

The façade

1893 : The year when it all began

Amidst the huge wave of gorgeous Neoclassicism in architecture in the latter half of the 19th century, a certain Belgian genius called Victor Horta decided to try something new. He used stylised forms and motifs from nature – waves, the sea, leaves and flowers – and founded this new movement called Art Nouveau. One of the first town houses he designed in this pattern is the Maison Autrique in Brussels, completed in 1893. Built for engineer Eugène Autrique and his family on a budget and due to space constraints, Horta could not execute all of his novel ideas but there are quite a few on display here that are unique to his form of Art Nouveau.

A greenyard of tombs – Dieweg cemetery

I have always been awfully frightened of cemeteries and graveyards. And I mostly did not have the idea that they slightly differ in definition. I would rather accept the fact that both gave me spooks. The over indulgence of the fright-fest called Halloween during my stint in the USA alleviated the fear, of course. I also admit abashedly that I have never visited (yet) the very famed South Park Street cemetery in Calcutta; built as early as 1767 and a burial ground for many notable personalities responsible for shaping the city. In short, I do not have an earliest memory of entering a cemetery. The closest I have been to was at a graveyard in Hallstatt (Austria), attached to a church and an ossuary. It was a calm, serene spot and I wasn’t afraid of anything.

Ultimately the pandemic dropped upon us and during the lockdown, it was allowed to visit parks and open spaces in Brussels with suitable containment measures. M obviously suggested that we visit a cemetery, multiple ones rather, in succession, as they are among the most interesting places in the city. It took some time to convince me and three Septembers ago, we did our research, donned our masks and went off to walk around the first one – Dieweg Cemetery. Quite serendipitously, it was around Mahalaya – the day of honouring the departed with folded hands and deep spelt prayers. But when you honour or ensure honest gaze posthumously, you get adorned with motifs, sculptures, tree stumps, crucifixes, and wreaths. I discovered that cemeteries are mystically intriguing and you might stumble upon pieces of history and little visual treasures.

Have you seen a greener cemetery?

The Memory Project

It is strange how memories work. They could plunge you into a well of darkness or propel you through a tunnel of light. Some memories may demand appreciation and constant reminders, while some are so jolly that a glance at them could fetch a smile that lingers. Few of them come back with a vengeance after a loss, or extreme grief and trauma. There are varied ways in how your own memories play ping pong with your psyche.

My earliest and few of the best memories are, obviously, with Ma. Since I cannot paint for the life of me, I tried this thread painting instead. This is a tribute and a hug to everyone on my list who has faced loss, more so, in recent times. And by ‘loss’ – I do not just imply death of a loved one. It might be separation, a painful break up, a friend who doesn’t respond to messages anymore, somebody moving away to a faraway place and too busy to check on you regularly or the obvious and inevitable loss of a parent.

I know quite a few among my friends who have faced loss recently. I see you and I’m sharing this piece so that your memories hit a good ‘refresh’. I have a great support group on social media as we have faced similar situations in the past 1-2 years (you know who you are, not tagging here) – because, let’s face it – everyone in the families are not always cognisant or supportive on how to cope with loss.

The scene above is from my childhood when we lived in the old British era constructions of Defence quarters. On nippy winter mornings, before leaving for school, Ma used to give me a bath in the choubachha on the courtyard, or with water that has been warmed in the sun in a bucket. That was followed by a hearty meal of rice, mostly a little daal and a fat piece of fried fish. If you look closely in the photo, you can actually find the white rice, yellow blob of daal and a square of fish on my plate. The birdbath is a figment of my imagination, but birds were aplenty and they drank from the choubachha. The paan (betel) climbers were a work of art by Baba. I had imagined at one point if we could cultivate paan at our backyard!

Lastly, I would love to do more of these ‘Memory Projects.’ If you want me to make one for you, do order soon. If you are in India, let me know so that I can carry them the next time I visit.

Email to commission : chernozems.prb@gmail.com

*This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2023

I love breakfasts at hotels, do you?

Breakfast is the most important meal of my day since long and I do not skip it even on vacations while staying at hotels. I will admit here that I love staying in hotels, albeit for a short period. And I definitely search for ones that offer good breakfasts. Travelling across Europe in the last six years, I have observed and kind of recorded (mentally) the variations in types of breakfasts at hotels. Sojourns in India were different though; breakfasts are more elaborate and what we term as ‘rich’ – not in terms of price but the value of food. We have not been much holidaying as a couple in India as our nomadic lifestyle required city and country hopping at irregular intervals. During the few trips that we managed to pull off, the breakfasts at hotels swayed from good to okayish to nonchalantly ignorable. Let me recount a few from different countries here –

India

Breakfasts at Indian hotels largely depend on the economic rating, client profiles and location within the country. As expected, budget or mid-tier hotels in the northern states dwell heavily on various stuffed parathas, puri-aloo, chhole-bhaturey, etc; hotels around western India weigh more on poha, cheela, in addition to the puri-aloo kind and the ones in southern India are all about local breakfast items, or ‘tiffin’ as they fondly term them – ranging from the usual idli-vada-dosai-sambhar to pesarattu, and even appam-egg stew. I have hardly stayed at hotels in the eastern part of India, so I am yet to explore whether they serve luchi-torkari, parota-begunbhaja or something else altogether. There has been a trend of serving ‘English breakfasts’ at hotels that are a little posh – they do take inspiration from the usual British fare – sausage, scrambled eggs, baked beans, bacon, the works.

vada-sambhar-chutney-tea

Five unforgettable experiences at the Amalfi coast

A trip to the Amalfi coast earlier this year has been one of the best travel experiences for us in recent times. The planning was scary, because, let’s accept it – Amalfi is expensive! Before we physically reached the shores, I was ready to face that Amalfi coast is both expensive and overhyped. It took a few hours post landing in Naples to crush the boding and embrace the gusty and salty sea breeze.

Positano

From years of organised travel, I can share the only golden nugget of advice – plan well. Collating information on the internet has reached the paragon anyway. While it is not impossible to figure out every step that is needed to make a solid travel itinerary, there are still a few loopholes when it comes to slightly askew terrains like the Amalfi coast. All the websites and blogs that I consulted mentioned that public transport would pose a lot of hassles and hurdles while traversing Amalfi. Multiple bloggers/travellers and ‘influencers’ from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean were weary of commuting in the public buses, which they felt were ‘too crowded’, ‘sweaty’ in summer and cumbersome. After living for six years in Brussels, I chuckled to point of spilling my tea and wished those travellers spent more time in Europe. Public transport is a messiah here, especially in the lower parts like Italy and they are pretty consistent. I had a bit of help from the European blogs and they worked wonders in planning our itinerary. If you have the Amalfi coast on your bucket or whichever list, take a few tips from a ‘public transport dependent traveller’ like me.

Book review : The Hollow

Blurb view :

Lady Angkatell, intrigued by the criminal mind, has invited Hercule Poirot to her estate for a weekend house party. The Belgian detective’s arrival at the Hollow is met with an elaborate tableau staged for his a doctor lies in a puddle of red paint, his timid wife stands over his body with a gun while the other guests look suitably shocked. But this is no charade. The paint is blood and the corpse real!

Review :

It is astonishing to discover more facets of the wonderful penmanship of Agatha Christie, even after two decades of reading. She is like a diamond with innumerable facets to explore and her genius of crime writing shines through them. I admit that I am yet to read all the novels featuring Hercule Poirot. Based on the theme of the ‘Read Christie 2023‘ challenge in July (love and lust), I picked up ‘The Hollow’ as suggested by them where murder and love go hand in hand.

Written in 1946, ‘The Hollow’ features a houseful of guests, where one of them is murdered and his wife is found beside him with a revolver in her hand. Did she murder him, or did his current girlfriend, or an ex girlfriend who reappears after fifteen years? Love, lust, relationships, trust, jealousy – everything is embroiled among these three women concerning the man they loved the most. Hercule Poirot is introduced right at the scene of murder and the case is almost dropped on his lap. One of the three women (I wouldn’t tell you who, though) is the antagonist who tries to deceive Poirot and twist the facts of the case.

Custom Embroidery – Sibon (সীবন)

Hi, happy to announce that I’m ready to take custom embroidery orders now. These would include –

* name boards for individuals and families,

* popular or custom phrases/quotes

* wedding/birthday calendars (with or without portraits)

All of the above in both English and Bangla scripts.

You can find the individual products in the dropdown column of this page. Click on each and order if you like. Payment can be done via Paypal for now. Shipping charges would vary for each continent. 

By the way, the name is bon, sibon.

সীবন – Sibon in Bangla is ’embroidery’ and in French, it means ‘so good.’ Hope I can live up to the expectations in both!

Email to order : chernozems.prb@gmail.com 

*Since I live in Belgium, shipping costs would be pretty high anywhere outside the EU. Once I receive an email query, I will share the shipping cost to the location of delivery.

Calcuttascape : Richa S. Mukherjee

Photo courtesy: Richa S. Mukherjee

Richa S Mukherjee is an award-winning writer, columnist, ex-journalist and advertising professional. She writes across genres and has authored four books of which two are being adapted for screen. She is a blogger and travel writer and contributes to several platforms such as Womensweb, Momspresson and SheThePeopleTv. She is a Sheroes Champ, Blogchatter and Kool Kanya mentor. She has authored several e-singles, anthologies and audio books. Her latest book is The Curse of Kuldhara, the second installment in the very popular Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd. series.

Art of living…the Kolkata edition

It was a sticky, hot afternoon. A rotund shopkeeper scratched his ample belly and waved my mother away. ‘Aamar ghoom pacche. Paure aisho ma.’ (I’m sleepy. Please come later.) As a child of 8, I was incensed. Never mind that this dress shopping was part of a promised birthday gift expedition, how could a shopkeeper reject good business for the sake of slumber? Even my childish comprehension of financial and commercial matters couldn’t stomach this phenomenon. The clincher was that he had managed to stay perfectly polite through this dismissal and even addressed her as ‘ma.’ Such a bundle of contradictions! Something, I would gradually learn was a way of life and hardly an anomaly in this delightful city of sweets. 

Author and philosopher Matshona Dhliwayo, behind the popular quote, ‘Whoever works hard prospers, whoever folds his hands falters,’ had clearly dished this nugget of wisdom without having a single adda with a Bengali over Biryani. I’m sure he will forgive me for this selective interpretation of his words but they underline some very important aspects of what it is to be Kolkata-vasi. 

Photo courtesy: Manjit Banerjee