Mountain of the Moon - now at online stores!

Finally figured that the book is available in stores! My friends told me, not my publisher.

Anyway, it is available, that's the main thing. If you wish to buy online, here you go:

FLIPKART:

INFIBEAM:

BOOKADDA:

CROSSWORD:

Am also in LINUXBAZAR (!):

Not on Landmark yet though!

Mountain of the Moon – Part 11

After Shankar meets Diego Alvarez and sets out to find the diamond mine, the author takes him through some parts of central Africa on their way to the Richtersveldt Mountains.

I have drawn a very rough map covering his journey south towards Rhodesia, South Africa, and finally South-West Africa (I am using the older names of these areas). Quite a walk those two intrepid gentlemen managed to accomplish!

I wish I had written this - 1

No, this is not my work - this one comes from here. But I really really wish I had written this. Thank you Mr Manas Chakravarty, Consulting Editor, Mint, for such a wonderful piece. Read on.

I've been reading the rot people have been talking about West Bengal's name change to Paschimbanga and it's time to set the record straight. There's no such thing as Paschimbanga. Just as there never was any person called Rabindranath Tagore, nor anyone called Mamata Banerjee and it certainly isn't Manas Chakravarty who's writing this column.

Nope, these names are mere masks we Bongs put on when dealing with non-Bongs. The new name is actually Poshchimbongo, rhyming with Congo. The best way for non-Bongs to pronounce it is to pop a rossogolla into their mouths. The name of the bhodrolok who won the Nobel for literature is Robindronath Thakur, often called simply Robi Thakur. Poshchimbongo's chief minister is Mawmota, while yours truly in real life - and here I'm laying bare my soul - is Manosh Chawkroborty.

The problem is the Bengali language lacks one of the most basic sounds, that of the short 'a'. So words like 'curd', 'murder', 'hurt' are impossible to pronounce.

Curd becomes 'card' and Ashok becomes Awshok. If we want to say, 'He's a man', we say 'He's ay man'. The hip-hop phrase, 'He's da man' for a real cool guy was undoubtedly coined by a Bong. We also lack the letters 'v', 'w' and 'y', often say 'sh' instead of 's', while getting our tongues around 'z' is an ordeal. The results  have spawned many Bong jokes, my favourite being: 'What do you call a Bengali wedding? A bedding'. In fact, we changed the name West Bengal simply because we couldn't pronounce West, instead calling it Oashte Bengal. These limitations have shaped Bong temperament, our culture and our entire outlook on life.

For example, the reason why the political right hasn't done well in Poshchimbongo is because we have enormous trouble pronouncing the Sangh parivar.  It's tortured out of recognition to become the Shongho poribar. Just think what happens to swayamsevak with the 's' becoming 'sh', the 'w' non-existent, the 'a' becoming an 'o' and the 'v' transformed into a 'b'. Who in his right mind would ever listen to a shoiongshebok? I remember Mamata rushing to Atal Bihari Vajpayee on one occasion, shouting "Awtol-jee", "Awtol-jee", while Vajpayee looked hither and thither trying to find out who on earth "Awtol" was.

Our history too has been shaped by language. While we had no problems with Gandhi, both Mohandas and Karamchand were a challenge. Jawaharlal was a real tongue-twister, becoming Jawoahawrlal, and Bengal turned to communism in despair. Another reason why Bengal is different from the national mainstream is our inability to sing 'Jana Gana Mana'- we sing 'Jawno Gawno Mawno' instead. But Sonia and Rahul are fine, although Manmohan is dicey.

We all know the Bong who works is a work of fiction. You see, 'work' becomes 'oaark' in Bong. Obviously 'oaark' is not the same thing as 'work'. But we are certainly not lazy, only lajee.

Bengali does, however, have one thing in common with English - inanimate objects have no gender. So a Bong has no idea whether a bus is male or female and consequently hasn't a clue whether, in Hindi, 'bus chal raha hai' or 'chal rahi hai'. The upshot is that while we may mangle the English language, when it comes to Hindi we hack it into little pieces and fry it in boiling oil. That is why one of my dreams is to hear Pronob-da make the Budget speech in Hindi.

And phor all those non-Bongs who oaant to make phaan of aas, I oarn them: Beoare, oaat Poshchimbongo shays today, India uill shay tomorrow.

Mountain of the Moon - Part 10

One the scariest moments in Shankar's days in the grasslands of East Africa was his night-time encounter with the black mamba.

According to Wikipedia, its name is derived from the black colouration inside the mouth rather than the actual colour of the skin which varies from dull yellowish-green to a gun-metal grey. It is the fastest snake in the world, capable of moving at 4.32 to 5.4 metres per second (16–20 km/h, 10–12 mph).

This is a really really dangerous creature. How danger can be appreciated when you read this post by Wade Nolan.

"On a recent safari to Africa, I hand-caught a wild nine-foot Black Mamba. It was a calculated risk...involving bad calculation.

The Mamba's head is coffin-shaped and the inside of his mouth is an ominous black...he would raise up to near eye level, look aggressively at us then loose his balance... and tip over...only to raise up again..hissing. I thought that maybe he had gotten hold of a bad mouse and was woozy.

I made a hasty and misguided decision to lay hands on the most poisonous snake in the world. Most mamba bites are fatal.  This aggressive cobra has a nasty habit of biting it's victims 4 and 5 times in the face and neck.

The third time he raised up and tipped, I pinned his head, and without a lot of thinking...(I bet that surprises you), I had a very angry Black Mamba in my hand.

From the roof of his gaping open mouth I could see the curved extended fangs. Dripping from those fangs was the deadliest venom in the reptile kingdom... mamba venom is yellow. The slippery venom ran out of the corner of his mouth and into my hand..."

There's a pretty hairy video of this episode here.

And here's a vid of a black mamba hunting a mouse. A friend said that this is the first time she felt sympathy for a mouse.

Mountain of the Moon - Part 9

While reading 'Chander Pahar', I was as fascinated by East Africa as Bibhutibhushan and Shankar. I started reading about explorers of Africa, thanks to the excellent collection at the British Council Library in Kolkata during my school and college days. Their names - James Bruce (here's a picture of him), René-Auguste Caillié, Samuel Baker, Sir Richard Burton (no, not the actor), Speke, David Livingstone, Henry Stanley, Paul du Chaillu, and many others - were magical to me as a child, and still more magical to me as an adult, now that I have some kind of appreciation of their efforts, trials, and achievements.

As a tiny tribute, I have put together a gallery of these gallant men:

There are two short but fine articles here and here. You might enjoy them. I have always imagined Diego Alvarez to be one such intrepid traveler, always drawn to the unknown and the dangerous, as were these men.

Mountain of the Moon - more reviews and listings

This one from Afternoon, and this one from Deccan Herald - you'll have to scroll down a bit

 

 

 

Mountain of the Moon - some listings & reviews; Part 2

http://www.flipkart.com/books/8129118246

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/lifestyle/books/mountain-moon-call-wild-706

http://www.7sisters.in/the_mountain_of_the_moon.html

http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/review_book-review-mountain-of-the-moon-chander-pahar-_1577223

Mountain of the Moon - some reviews and listings 1