A Long Overdue Post

Over a month ago I was fortunate enough to attend a book launch at the Royal Ontario Museum. The title of the evening: “Raja Deen Dayal: Revealed.” The book: Raja Deen Dayal: Artist Photographer in 19th Century India by Dr. Deepali Dewan and Dr. Deborah Hutton. As you might imagine, I had a field day. … Continue reading →

Into the Wild

After much deliberation, I have finally found a topic for my geography class! The topic? Wilderness. Specifically wilderness in hill stations. Since the class is a cultural geography of empire, I’m going to be tracking changes to the way “wilderness” has been thought of in hill stations from the colonial to postcolonial periods. I have … Continue reading →

I’ve got a Fever

I just finished reading Gayatri C. Spivak’s “The Rani of Sirmur.” My supervisor recommended it to me after I struggled through her “Can the Subaltern Speak?” which left me feeling somewhat cynical. “Rani” predates the latter essay, and is not quite as heavy.   I will admit that I struggled with the first chunk of … Continue reading →

Bollywood Bound…well kind of

As part of my MRE research, and an assignment for one of my 5000 level courses, I am searching through an archive to find things of use for my hill station project. Which archive did I pick? The Indian cinema industry, which includes Bollywood! How is that an archive? Well, it’s a storehouse of many … Continue reading →

Promises, promises…

So, contrary to what I originally thought, I had promised to explain my Major Research Project (which is like a thesis, but shorter, and doesn’t require a defence – but is accompanied by more coursework) in my first post. My sincerest apologies to those of you who were banking on my expounding the many fascinating … Continue reading →