Iraq, looking back
In my lifetime there has been no more difficult decade than the one that began in March 2003 with America’s invasion of Iraq. In the newspaper office where I worked, we could not believe it. Why Iraq?...
View ArticleAdnan Rasheed and Macaulay: A likely pair
Adnan Rasheed and TB Macaulay had more in common than you might think, says Catriona Luke Uh-oh, here comes Macaulay and his Minute and Rasheed has just bowled a googly, I thought when I read his open...
View ArticleHepburn to Ray
A season of Satyajit Ray films in London was serendipitously introduced by a digitally remastered Roman Holiday The showing of the 1953 classic Roman Holiday turned out to be an aperitif to a fine...
View ArticleNow and Zen
CL chooses a Booker winner for those who really prefer twitter Another year, another shortlist and it’s Booker prize time again in the literary world and the winner is announced on Tuesday. It may even...
View ArticleMagic mushrooms
The mushrooms were papier-mâché and appeared around Basant to suddenly beautify Lahore. On the steps of the Fort there was an official fair with kites and characters dressed up in Mickey Mouse and...
View ArticleA baby and a star
The Christmas story has something for everyone and it is a festival that can be enjoyed by all, says Catriona Luke According to a story now two thousand years old it was the shepherds looking after...
View ArticleWhat the Thunder Said
Rana Dasgupta’s book about Delhi is all rumble, no lightning says Catriona Luke For once I do not know where to begin. Perhaps that’s appropriate for a city that now has 23 million inhabitants. So...
View ArticleThe Scottish play
Catriona Luke with the English reaction to the vote. Of Scotland’s 4.3 million voters on the independence referendum, the most interesting group are those who didn’t vote at all: 650,000 of them....
View ArticleBasho’s haibun
This year’s Booker winner is a classic that speaks to our time, and every time says Catriona Luke Just twice in the last few years has a novel elicited an ‘Oh.My.Goodness’ response in me. That is what...
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