William Darlymple's Nine Lives

Despite Thai Airways' efficient service and the knowledge that I would have a row all to myself as the flight was only half full, spending 12 hours on the flight from Bangkok to London wasn't something I looked forward to. However I bought William Dalrymple's new book Nine Lives to keep me company during the long haul flight.

I had high expectations that this book would be highly enjoyable and informative, and was glad to have found it in paperback version at the airport's bookstore. I'm almost 2/3 through it and have to say that, whilst it's not as well written as the author's previous books, it is nevertheless extremely educational.

Nine Lives is described as an Indian Canterbury Tales, and introduces us to 9 characters with varied and different lives. I thought The Nun's Tale (a poignant portrait of a Jain nun), The Dancer of Kannur (a Theyyam performer) and The Red Fairy (a Sufi female ascetic) to be the most magnetic of the characters, and provide an extraordinary insight in their worlds that most of us can't imagine.

I wish I had read The Dancer of Kannur before my Theyyam of Malabar photo expedition, and will re-read The Red Fairy before my periodic visits to the Sufi shrines in Delhi.illiam

Bhutan Field Report: Group Photograph

Photo © Ugen Dorji-All Rights Reserved
Well, all good things have to have an end and the Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul photo-expedition came to its end a couple of days ago. Our stay was extended for 24 hours due to heavy rain in Paro which meant that our scheduled Druk Air flight was unable to take off to Bangkok, but we made it out the following day October 8th. I had the foresight to advise the group members to give themselves an additional day in Bangkok as a buffer against such an eventuality.

In my view, the highlight of the trip was a photo shoot during which we documented a traditional exorcist at work in a farmhouse. He was called in to exorcise evil spirits out of a child and a middle-aged woman. In due course, I will post a photo gallery of these photographs. A totally photo journalistic event which led itself extremely well to some of our collective interests and photo styles.

The group photograph above was taken by Ugen Dorji, our guide, fixer and the go-to-man all through our 15 days expedition in Bhutan. Don't be fooled by the serious expression adopted by these photographers...it's only for the camera.

From the left: Graham Ware, Jenny Jozwiak, Kayla Keenan, our wonderful driver Norbu, Kim McClellan, Carlos Amores, Dan Bannister, Nuray Jemil and group leader Tewfic El-Sawy. The photograph was made against the rock painting of Guru Rimpoche on the way to the Tango monastery in Thimpu.

I shall post a complete verdict of the Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul photo expedition in due course, however I will not disclose the location and details of the exorcism's photo shoot for obvious reasons. Our land travel agent and I worked hard to make this photo shoot happen as it did, and I have no intention of sharing this information with others, especially as we were told that this event was rarely witnessed by non-Bhutanese.

Mancing Ikan Silli di Sungai Silau

Mancing di alam mempunyai keasyikan dan tantangan tersendiri dibandingkan dengan mancing di kolam. Mancing di sungai bisa dilakukan dengan biaya yang lebih irit karena ngak perlu bayar tempat, umpan gak perlu beli bisa dicari dilokasi mancing dan bisa memakai peralatan mancing seadanya. Keuntungan lain mancing di sungai, bisa menikmati keindahan alam dan bisa pilih tempat yang gak terlalu panas sehingga gak perlu pake sun block kaya mancing di kolam atau di laut.

Berhubung ikan di sungai bermacam jenis biasanya sebelum mancing ke sungai pemancing akan menentukan target ikannya dulu supaya bisa dipersiapkan peralatan dan umpan yang sesuai dengan target. Umumnya untuk mancing di sungai tidak diperlukan pelampung dan karena air sungai mengalir tentunya pemberatnya disesuaikan dengan arus sungai. Semakin deras arusnya maka tentunya pemberatnya lebih berat supaya tidak terhempas ke permukaan. Untuk mancing ikan baung dan jenis ikan yang besar kailnya juga lebih besar bekisar ukuran 8 atau lebih dan senar juga harus kuat supaya bisa melawan kekuatan ikan dan arus sungai.


Senar halus juga bisa dipakai untuk memancing ikan kecil dan ikan Silli. Umpan bisa memakai cacing tanah atau udang sungai. Cacing bisa didapat di pinggiran sungai, lebih baik cacing air yang hidup di pinggir sungai yang basah. Ikan Silli biasanya hidup di pinggir sungai di bawah sampah-sampah sungai.


Ikan Silli bentuknya seperti belut hanya lebih pipih, berwarna coklat bermotiv batik di tengah badannya dan bersirip seperti ikan. Siripnya tajam, maka perlu hati-hati untuk memengangnya, gunakan kain atau alas tangan lain agar tidak terluka. Rasanya pun hampir sama seperti belut hanya aromanya sedikit berbeda. Kalau digoreng aromanya mirip ikan lele yang disale.