Author: Diligent Candy

  • Het Amsterdamse Winterparadijs at the RAI

    Het Amsterdamse Winterparadijs at the RAI

    The Winterparadijs this year was warm, festive, and sweet. It had both indoor as well as outdoor arrangements, perfect for the dicey Dutch weather. There were plenty of photo ops and we greatly enjoyed the games. Although the claw, as usual, was a total rip-off. I had fun shooting, and even won a prize for…

  • Let’s Get Organized

    Let’s Get Organized

    It was 1996, Dr. Jacob in college, pointed out: “What after the wedding?”, we were in an invigorating lecture on Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. According to him, the real story was to unfold after Edmund and Fanny were married and “settled” into the mansion. We all disliked Fanny Price declaring her prudish. We also…

  • The Last Post of 2018 – a ghazal

    The Last Post of 2018 – a ghazal

    I asked him what should my last post be year end He said, reflecting creatively on the year end How boring, no? All year you follow and watch, still on YouTube, endless rewinds declaring the year end I started work in diversity, submitted my thesis, Going to mentor, gearing up at the year end Revolution…

  • Eclectic Delights on Atlas Obscura

    Eclectic Delights on Atlas Obscura

    I have found a fantastic site to share with you. It is called “Atlas Obscura”, and this is their list of strange things to do while in Amsterdam: click here. I can vouch for several of these places being incredibly special. For instance, Cuypers Library is a spell-binding collection of antique books. It is visually…

  • Musings after watching Pataakha

    Musings after watching Pataakha

    I happened to chance upon Pataakha (PT) – the movie, which is now available on Amazon Prime. Vishal Bhardwaj is an immensely talented director, and PT did not disappoint. I gather that it did not perform well at the box-office, primarily due to the release of Sui Dhaaga (SD) during the same time. SD had bigger stars…

  • Top 5 games on my Iphone

    Top 5 games on my Iphone

    It is time to come clean, to confess, my guilty pleasure is playing games on my Iphone. I can do this for hours, switching off from the world around, oblivious, and perfectly content. Considering the amount of time I invest in this activity, I wanted to share with you my favorite gaming apps. These do…

  • Home – a ghazal

    Home – a ghazal

    That time of the year when people are heading home A glittering tree, boxes with bows, welcoming you home She stayed back in the hostel This girl from the East, she was not returning home I wish you could see starlings during murmuration, flying home She begged for that stamp on her card No, she…

  • Top 5 books I read in 2018

    Top 5 books I read in 2018

    It is almost the end of the year and a good time to reflect on the best books I read in 2018. I try to read as many books as my age, this year had the ambitious 39 figure. I managed to read 33. Falling short of my goal by 6 books, but then it…

  • English Pronunciation in a Global World: with Dr. Rupp, Futurelearn, and VU

    English Pronunciation in a Global World: with Dr. Rupp, Futurelearn, and VU

    I am absolutely delighted that I will be a mentor and facilitator in this ingenious course that Dr. Laura Rupp has created. What a great way to learn and grow; please do take a look. Details: Join the Futurelearn course ‘English Pronunciation in a Global World‘ developed by the Faculty of Humanities of Vrije Universiteit…