Podcasts about Darjeeling

Our guest for this episode, Anjelina is the founder of Haamro Ghar, a homestay in Mirik, near Darjeeling, India. In this episode we discuss what is the meaning of Tradition and culture and how does it translate into stay experience when choosing a homestay at these small hamlets. We also talk about life on India Nepal border and how one can explore these regions without having a tourist checklist. Connect with Haamro Gharhttps://www.instagram.com/haamrogharhttps://mirikwithus.comShare your thoughts and feedbackshttps://www.instagram.com/theresponsibletravelpodcast/anshul.akh99@gmail.comYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DailyPassenger/videosInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/daily.passenger/Blog: https://travelwithansh.com

Fluent Fiction - Hindi: Darjeeling Dreams: Arushi's Blend of Tradition & Innovation Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/hi/episode/2026-02-19-23-34-02-hi Story Transcript:Hi: ठंडी हवा के झोंके जब चाय के बागानों में सरसराते, तो मानो पूरा दरजीलिंग उन पत्तियों की खुशबू में खो जाता।En: When the cold breezes rustled through the tea gardens, it was as if all of Darjeeling got lost in the fragrance of those leaves.Hi: अरुशी वहीं काम करती थी, उसकी आँखों में चाय की तरह गरमागरम सपनें थे।En: Arushi worked there, her eyes brimming with hot dreams, much like tea.Hi: हर सुबह वह अपने कोट में खुद को लपेटकर काम शुरू करती थी, उसकी हथेलियाँ ठंड में सुर्ख हो जातीं।En: Every morning, she wrapped herself in her coat and started working, her palms turning red in the cold.Hi: विवान हमेशा उसकी मेहनत से प्रभावित था, लेकिन उसे अरुशी के सपने पूरे होते नहीं दिखते थे।En: Vivaan was always impressed by her hard work, but he couldn't see Arushi's dreams coming true.Hi: "यहां हमारा काम पर्याप्त है," वह कहता, "इतना बड़ा कदम लेने की जरूरत क्या है?"En: "Our work here is enough," he would say, "why is there the need to take such a big step?"Hi: पर अरुशी की आँखों में कुछ और ही चमक थी।En: But a different kind of sparkle was in Arushi's eyes.Hi: कप में चाय डालते हुए उनके पुराने गुरु, कार्तिक, दिनभर उनके साथ होते थे।En: While pouring tea into a cup, their old mentor, Kartik, would be with them all day.Hi: कार्तिक के पास चाय की हर किस्म की जानकारी थी। वो चाय की परंपरागत विधियों के संरक्षक माने जाते थे।En: Kartik had knowledge of every type of tea and was considered a guardian of traditional tea methods.Hi: अरुशी कार्तिक के पास जाकर अपने विचार साझा करती, "गुरुजी, एक नई किस्म की चाय बनाने का सोच रही हूँ।"En: Arushi would go to Kartik to share her thoughts, "Guruji, I'm thinking of creating a new kind of tea."Hi: कार्तिक शुरुआत में उसकी योजनाओं से सहमत नहीं थे।En: Kartik initially didn't agree with her plans.Hi: "परंपरा का महत्व समझो, अरुशी," उन्होंने कहा।En: "Understand the importance of tradition, Arushi," he said.Hi: लेकिन अरुशी ने ठान लिया था, "मैं हमेशा इस परंपरा का सम्मान करूंगी, पर कुछ नया करना चाहती हूँ।"En: But Arushi had made up her mind, "I will always respect this tradition, but I want to create something new."Hi: सर्दियाँ कड़ी थीं।En: The winters were harsh.Hi: लेकिन अरुशी और उसका जोश कड़ी सर्दी को जैसे चुनौती दे रहा था।En: Yet, Arushi and her enthusiasm seemed to challenge the bitter cold.Hi: चाय के पत्तों को नई तकनीकियों से तैयार करना, देर रात तक काम करना, यह सब अब उसका रोज़ का काम बन गए थे।En: Preparing tea leaves with new techniques and working late into the night had become her daily routine.Hi: आखिरकार, उसने विवान को भी अपने साथ मिला लिया।En: Eventually, she even convinced Vivaan to join her.Hi: विवान ने देखा कि उसका सपना अब कुछ ज्यादा ही ऊंचा उड़ने लगा है, और उसने उसे समर्थन देने का निश्चय किया।En: Vivaan saw that her dream was now soaring even higher and decided to support her.Hi: महाशिवरात्रि की पूर्व संध्या में, बागान में सकारात्मक ऊर्जा थी।En: On the eve of Mahashivaratri, there was a positive energy in the plantation.Hi: भक्तों की चहल-पहल, और मंदिर से आती घंटियों की मधुर आवाज वातावरण में गूंज रही थी।En: The hustle and bustle of the devotees and the melodious bells ringing from the temple echoed in the atmosphere.Hi: अरुशी ने अपनी मेहनत का परिणाम सामने रख दिया।En: Arushi presented the result of her hard work.Hi: पत्तियों की खास सुगंध उसके प्रयासों की गवाही दे रही थी।En: The unique aroma of the leaves testified to her efforts.Hi: जब उसने अपने अद्वितीय मिश्रण को निरीक्षण के लिए प्रस्तुत किया, तो सबकी नज़रें उसी पर थीं।En: When she presented her unique blend for inspection, all eyes were on her.Hi: सुपरवाइजर ने उसका स्वाद लिया और मुस्कराते हुए कहा, "इसमें कुछ विशेष है। हमें तुम पर गर्व है, अरुशी। मैं तुम्हें एक छोटी आर्थिक सहायता देना चाहता हूँ, तुम्हारा चाय का व्यवसाय शुरू करने के लिए।"En: The supervisor tasted it and, smiling, said, "There is something special about this. We are proud of you, Arushi. I want to give you a small financial aid to start your tea business."Hi: अरुशी की आँखों में खुशी के आँसू थे।En: Tears of joy filled Arushi's eyes.Hi: उसे विश्वास हो गया था कि मेहनत से सपने सच होते हैं।En: She became convinced that dreams do come true through hard work.Hi: कार्तिक ने मुस्कराकर कहा, "नवाचार का स्वागत किया जा सकता है, अगर उसमें परंपरा की खुशबू हो।"En: Kartik smiled and said, "Innovation can be welcomed if it carries the scent of tradition."Hi: विवान और कार्तिक ने मिलकर उसका सम्मान किया।En: Vivaan and Kartik honored her together.Hi: इस नई यात्रा पर, अरुशी ने देखा कि सपनों के साथ चलने वाले साथी कितने महत्वपूर्ण होते हैं।En: On this new journey, Arushi realized how important companions who walk with your dreams are.Hi: कार्तिक ने परंपरा और नवाचार के बीच संतुलन समझा, और विवान ने सपनों की अहमियत को स्वीकारा।En: Kartik understood the balance between tradition and innovation, and Vivaan acknowledged the importance of dreams.Hi: दरजीलिंग के उन चाय बागानों में अरुशी ने न केवल अपनी मंजिल पा ली, बल्कि एक नई शुरुआत भी की थी।En: In those tea gardens of Darjeeling, Arushi not only reached her destination but also embarked on a new beginning. Vocabulary Words:breeze: हवा के झोंकेrustled: सरसरातेfragrance: खुशबूbrimming: लबालबmentor: गुरुguardian: संरक्षकhesitate: झिझकनाblend: मिश्रणinspection: निरीक्षणsupervisor: सुपरवाइजरenthusiasm: जोशtechniques: तकनीकियाँeve: पूर्व संध्याpositive energy: सकारात्मक ऊर्जाdevotees: भक्तmelodious: मधुरaroma: सुगंधtestified: गवाही दीfinancial aid: आर्थिक सहायताacknowledged: स्वीकाराcompanions: साथीinnovation: नवाचारtradition: परंपराdestination: मंजिलembarked: शुरू कियाsparkle: चमकroutine: दिनचर्याsoaring: ऊंचा उड़नाharsh: कड़ीtestament: गवाही

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Shanaya's Path, 54min., Netherlands Directed by Frank Röhrig Shanaya's Path follows the intimate journey of Shanaya, a young person from Darjeeling who identifies as a woman and dreams of transitioning despite immense social and familial resistance. Since gender norms are rigid and visibility for trans people is scarce in her home town, Shanaya leaves for New Delhi, but her desire to become her true self is met with hostility, shame, and fear.http://frankrohrig.com/ —— Subscribe to the podcast: Tweets by wildsoundpod https://www.instagram.com/wildsoundpod/ https://www.facebook.com/wildsoundpod

Hermione Lee is the renowned biographer of Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, Penelope Fitzgerald, and, most recently, Tom Stoppard. Stoppard died at the end of last year, so Hermione and I talked about the influence of Shaw and Eliot and Coward on his work, the recent production of The Invention of Love, the role of ideas in Stoppard's writing, his writing process, rehearsals, revivals, movies. We also talked about John Carey, Brian Moore, Virginia Woolf as a critic. Hermione is Emeritus Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford. Her life of Anita Brookner will be released in September.TranscriptHenry Oliver: Today I have the great pleasure of talking to Professor Dame Hermione Lee. Hermione was the first woman to be appointed Goldsmiths' Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford, and she is the most renowned and admired living English biographer. She wrote a seminal life of Virginia Woolf. She's written splendid books about people like Willa Cather, Edith Wharton, and my own favorite, Penelope Fitzgerald. And most recently she has been the biographer of Tom Stoppard, and I believe this year she has a new book coming out about Anita Brookner. Hermione, welcome.Hermione Lee: Thank you very much.Oliver: We're mostly going to talk about Tom Stoppard because he, sadly, just died. But I might have a few questions about your broader career at the end. So tell me first how Shavian is Stoppard's work?Lee: He would reply “very close Shavian,” when asked that question. I think there are similarities. There are obviously similarities in the delighting forceful intellectual play, and you see that very much in Jumpers where after all the central character is a philosopher, a bit of a bonkers philosopher, but still a very rational one.And you see it in someone like Henry, the playwright in The Real Thing, who always has an answer to every argument. He may be quite wrong, but he is full of the sort of zest of argument, the passion for argument. And I think that kind of delight in making things intellectually clear and the pleasure in argument is very Shavian.Where I think they differ and where I think is really more like Chekov, or more like Beckett or more in his early work, the dialogues in T. S. Elliot, and less like Shaw is in a kind of underlying strangeness or melancholy or sense of fate or sense of mortality that rings through almost all the plays, even the very, very funny ones. And I don't think I find that in Shaw. My prime reading time for Shaw was between 15 and 19, when I thought that Shaw was the most brilliant grownup that one could possibly be listening to, and I think now I feel less impressed by him and a bit more impatient with him.And I also think that Shaw is much more in the business of resolving moral dilemmas. So in something like Arms and the Man or Man and Superman, you will get a kind of resolution, you will get a sort of sense of this is what we're meant to be agreeing with.Whereas I think quite often one of the fascinating things about Stoppard is the way that he will give all sides of the question; he will embody all sides of the question. And I think his alter ego there is not Shaw, but the character of Turgenev in The Coast of Utopia, who is constantly being nagged by his radical political friends to make his mind up and to have a point of view and come down on one side or the other. And Turgenev says, I take every point of view.Oliver: I must confess, I find The Coast of Utopia a little dull compared to Stoppard's other work.Lee: It's long. Yes. I don't find it dull. But I think it may be a play to read possibly more than a play to see now. And you're never going to get it put on again anyway because the cast is too big. And who's going to put on a nine-hour free play, 50 people cast about 19th-century Russian revolutionaries? Nobody, I would think.But I find it very absorbing actually. And partly because I'm so interested in Isaiah Berlin, who is a very strong presence in the anti-utopianism of those plays. But that's a matter of opinion.Oliver: No. I like Berlin. One thing about Stoppard that's un-Shavian is that he says his plays begin as a noise or an image or a scene, and then we think of him as this very thinking writer. But is he really more of an intuitive writer?Lee: I think it's a terribly good question. I think it gets right at the heart of the matter, and I think it's both. Sorry, I sound like Turgenev, not making my mind up. But yes, there is an image or there is an idea, or there are often two ideas, as it were, the birth of quantum physics and 18th-century landscape gardening. Who else but Stoppard would put those two things in one play, Arcadia, and have you think about both at once.But the image and the play may well have been a dance between two periods of time together in one room. So I think he never knew what the next play was going to be until it would come at him, as it were. He often resisted the idea that if he chose a topic and then researched it, a play would come out of it. That wasn't what happened. Something would come at him and then he would start doing a great deal of research usually for every play.Oliver: What sort of influence did T. S. Elliot have on him? Did it change the dialogue or, was it something else?Lee: When I was working with him on my biography, he gave me a number of things. I had extraordinary access, and we can perhaps come back to that interesting fact. And most of these things were loans he gave them to me to work on. Then I gave them back to him.But he gave me as a present one thing, which was a black notebook that he had been keeping at the time he was writing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and also his first and only novel Lord Malquist and Mr. Moon, which is little known, which he thought was going to make his career. The book was published in the same week that Rosencrantz came up. He thought the novel was going to make his career and the play was going to sink without trace. Not so. In the notebook there are many quotations from T. S. Elliot, and particularly from Prufrock and the Wasteland, and you can see him working them into the novel and into the play.“I am not Prince Hamlet nor was meant to be.” And that sense of being a disconsolate outsider. Ill at ease with and neurotic about the world that is charging along almost without you, and you are having to hang on to the edge of the world. The person who feels themself to be in internal exile, not at one with the universe. I think that point of view recurs over and over again, right through the work, but also a kind of epigrammatical, slightly mysterious crypticness that Elliot has, certainly in Prufrock and in the Wasteland and in the early poems. He loved that tone.Oliver: Yes. When I read your paper about that I thought about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern quite differently. I've always disliked the idea that it's a sort of Beckett imitation play. It seems very Elliotic having read what you described.Lee: There is Beckett in there. You can't get away from it.Oliver: Surface level.Lee: Beckett's there, but I think the sense of people waiting around—Stoppard's favorite description of Rosencrantz was: “It's two journalists on a story that doesn't add up, which is very clever and funny.”Yes. And that sense of, Vladimir going, “What are we supposed to be doing and how are we going to pass the time?” That's profoundly influential on Stoppard. So I don't think it's just a superficial resemblance myself, but I agree that Elliot just fills the tone of that play and other things too.Oliver: In the article you wrote about Stoppard and Elliot, the title is about biographical questing, and you also described Arcadia as a quest. How important is the idea of the quest to the way you work and also to the way you read Stoppard?Lee: I took as the epigraph for my biography of Stoppard a line from Arcadia: “It's wanting to know that makes us matter, otherwise we're going out the way we came in.” So I think that's right at the heart of Stoppard's work, and it's right at the heart of any biographical work, whether or not it's mine or someone else's. If you can't know, in the sense of knowing the person, knowing what the person is like, and also knowing as much as possible about them from different kinds of sources, then you might as well give up.You can't do it through impressions. You've got to do it through knowledge. Of course, a certain amount of intuition may also come into play, though I'm not the kind of biographer that feels you can make things up. Working on a living person, this is the only time I've done that.It was, of course, a very different thing from working on a safely dead author. And I knew Penelope Fitzgerald a little bit, but I had no idea I was going to write her biography when I had conversations with her and she wouldn't have told me anything anyway. She was so wicked and evasive. But it was a set up thing; he asked me to do it. And we had a proper contract and we worked together over several years, during which time he became a friend, which was a wonderful piece of luck for me.I was doing four things, really. One was reading all the material that he produced, everything, and getting to know it as well as I could. And that's obviously the basic task. One was talking to him and listening to him talk about his life. And he was very generous with those interviews. I'm sure there were things he didn't tell me, but that's fine. One was talking to other people about him, which is a very interesting process. And with someone like him who knew everyone in the literary, theatrical, cultural world, you have to draw a halt at some point. You can't talk to a thousand people, or I'd have still been doing it, so you talk to particularly fellow playwrights, directors, actors who've worked with him often, as well as family and friends. And then you start pitting the versions against each other and seeing what stands up and what keeps being said.Repetition's very important in that process because when several people say the same thing to you, then you know that's right. And that quest also involves some actual footsteps, as Richard Holmes would say. Footsteps. Traveling to places he'd lived in and going to Darjeeling where he had been to school before he came to England, that kind of travel.And then the fourth, and to me, in a way, almost the most exciting, was the opportunity to watch him at work in rehearsal. So with the director's permissions, I was allowed to sit in on two or three processes like that, the 50th anniversary production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at the Old Vic with David Lavoie. And Patrick Marber's wonderful production of Leopoldstadt and Nick Hytner's production of The Hard Problem at the National. So I was able to witness the very interesting negotiations going on between Tom and the director and the cast.And also the extraordinary fact that even with a play like Rosencrantz, which is on every school syllabus and has been for 50—however many years—he was still changing things in rehearsal. I can't get over that. And in his view, as he often said, theater is an event and not a text, and so one could see that actual process of things changing before one's very eyes, and that for a biographer, it's a pretty amazing privilege.Oliver: How much of the plays were written during rehearsal do you think?Lee: Oh, 99% of the plays were written with much labor, much precision, much correction alone at his desk. The text is there, the text is written, and everything changes when you go into the rehearsal room because you suddenly find that there isn't enough time with that speech for the person to get from the bed to the door. It's physics; you have to put another line in so that someone can make an entrance or an exit, that kind of thing.Or the actors will say quite often, because they were a bit in awe—by the time he became well known—the actors initially would be a bit in awe of the braininess and the brilliance. And quite often the actors will be saying, “I'm sorry, I don't understand. I don't understand this.” You'd often get, “I don't really understand.”And then he would never be dismissive. He would either say, “No, I think you've got to make it work.” I'm putting words into his mouth here. Or he would say, “Okay, let's put another sentence or something like that.”Oliver: Between what he wrote at his desk and the book that's available for purchase now, how much changed? Is it 10%, 50? You know what I mean?Lee: Yes. You should be talking to his editor at Faber, Dinah Wood. So Faber would print a relatively small number for the first edition before the rehearsal process and the final production. And then they would do a second edition, which would have some changes in it. So 2%. Okay. But crucial sometimes.Oliver: No, sure. Very important.Lee: And also some plays like Jumpers went through different additions with different endings, different solutions to plot problems. Travesties, he had a lot of trouble with the Lenins in Travesties because it's the play in which you've got Joyce and you've got Tristan Tzara and you've got the Lenins, and they're all these real people and he makes him talk.But he was a little bit nervous about the Lenin. So what he gave him to say were things that they had really said, that Lenin had really said. As opposed to the Tzara-Joyce stuff, which is all wonderfully made up. The bloody Lenins became a bit of a problem for him. And so that gets changed in later editions you'll find.Oliver: How closely do you think The Real Thing is based on Present Laughter by Noël Coward?Lee: Oh, I think there's a little bit of Coward in there. Yes, sure. I think he liked Coward, he liked Wilde, obviously. He likes brilliant, witty, playful entertainers. He wants to be an entertainer. But I think The Real Thing, he was proud of the fact that The Real Thing was one of the few examples of his plays at that time, which weren't based on something else. They weren't based on Hamlet. They weren't based on The Importance of Being Earnest. It's not based on a real person like Housman. I think The Real Thing came out of himself much more than out of literary models.Oliver: You don't think that Henry is a bit like the actor character in Present Laughter and it's all set in his flat and the couples moving around and the slight element of farce?The cricket bat speech is quite similar to when Gary Essendine—do you remember that very funny young man comes up on the train from Epping or somewhere and lectures him about the social value of art. And Gary Essendine says, “Get a job in a theater rep and write 20 plays. And if you can get one of them put on in a pub, you'll be damn lucky.” It's like a model for him, a loose model.Lee: Yes. Henry, I think you should write an article comparing these two plays.Oliver: Okay. Very good. What does Stoppardian mean?Lee: It means witty. It means brilliant with words. It means fizzing with verbal energy. It means intellectually dazzling. The word dazzling is the one that tends to get used. My own version of Stoppardian is a little bit different from, as it were, those standard received and perfectly acceptable accounts of Stoppardian.My own sense of Stoppardian has more to do with grief and mortality and a sense of not belonging and of puzzlement and bewilderment, within all that I said before, within the dazzling, playful astonishing zest and brio of language and the precision about language.Oliver: Because it's a funny word. It's hard to include Leopoldstadt under the typical use of Stoppardian, because it's an untypical Stoppard.Lee: One of the things about Leopoldstadt that I think is—let's get rid of that trope about Stoppardian—characteristic of him is the remarkable way it deals with time. Here's a play like Arcadia, all set in the same place, all set in the same room, in the same house, and it goes from a big hustling room, late 19th-century family play, just like the beginning of The Coast of Utopia, where you begin with a big family in Russia and then it moves through the '20s and then into the terrible appalling period of the Anschluss and the Holocaust.And then it ends up after the war with an empty room. This room, is like a different kind of theater, an empty room. Three characters, none of whom you know very well, speaking in three different kinds of English, reaching across vast spaces of incomprehension, and you've had these jumps through time.And then at the very end, the original family, all of whom have been destroyed, the original family reappears on the stage. I'm sorry to tell this for anyone who hasn't seen Leopoldstadt. Because when it happens on the stage, it's an absolutely astonishing moment. As if the time has gone round and as if the play, which I think it was for him, was an act of restitution to all those people.Oliver: How often did he use his charm to get his way with actors?Lee: A lot. And not just actors. People he worked with, film people, friends, companions. Charm is such an interesting thing, isn't it? Because we shouldn't deviate, but there's always a slightly sinister aspect to the word charm as in, a magic charm. And one tends to be a bit suspicious of charm. And he knew he had charm and he was physically very magnetic and good looking and very funny and very attentive to people.But I think the charm, in his case, he did use it to get the right results, and he did use it, as he would say, “to look after my plays.” He was always, “I want to look after my plays.” And that's why he went back to rehearsal when there were revivals and so on. But he wasn't always charming. Patrick Marber, who's a friend of his and who directed Leopoldstadt, is very good on how irritable Stoppard could be sometimes in rehearsal. And I've heard that from other directors too—Jack O'Brien, who did the American productions of things like The Invention of Love.If Stoppard felt it wasn't right, he could get quite cross. So this wasn't a sort of oleaginous character at all. It's not smooth, it's not a smooth charm at all. But yes, he knew his power and he used it, and I think in a good way. I think he was a benign character actually. And one of the things that was very fascinating to me, not only when he died and there was this great outpouring of tributes, very heartfelt tributes, I thought. But also when I was working on the biography, I was going around the world trying to find people to say bad things about him, because what I didn't want to do was write a hagiography. You don't want to do that; there would be no point. And it was genuinely quite hard.And I don't know the theater world; it's not my world. I got to know it a little bit then. But I have never necessarily thought of the theater world as being utterly loving and generous about everybody else. I'm sure there are lots of rivalries and spitefulness, as there is in academic life, all the rest of it. But it was very hard to find anyone with a bad word to say about him, even people who'd come up against the steeliness that there is in him.I had an interview with Steven Spielberg about him, with whom he worked a lot, and with whom he did Empire of the Sun. And I would ask my interviewees if they could come up with two or three adjectives or an adjective that would sum him up, that would sum Stoppard up to them. And when I asked Spielberg this question, he had a little think and then he said, intransigent. I thought, great. He must be the only person who ever stood up to him.Oliver: What was his best film script? Did he write a really great film.Lee: That one. I think partly the novel, I don't know if you know the Ballard novel, the Empire of the Sun, it's a marvelous novel. And Ballard was just a magical and amazing writer, a great hero of mine. But I think what Stoppard did with that was really clever and brilliant.I know people like Brazil, the Terry Gilliam sort of surrealist way. And there's some interesting early work. Most of his film work was not one script; it was little bits that he helped with. So there's famously the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, he did most of the dialogue for Harrison Ford.But there are others like the One Hundred and One Dalmatians, where I think there's one line, anonymously Stoppardian in there. One of the things about the obituaries that slightly narked me was that there, I felt there was a bit too much about the films. Truly, I don't think the film work was—he wanted it to be right and he wanted to get it right—but it wasn't as close to his heart as the theater work. And indeed the work for radio, which I thought was generally underwritten about when he died. There was some terrific work there.Oliver: Yes. And there aren't that many canonical writers who've been great on the radio.Lee: Absolutely. He did everything. He did film, he did radio. He wrote some opera librettos. He really did everything. And on top of that, there was the great work for the public good, which I think is a very important part of his legacy, his history.Oliver: How much crossover influence is there between the different bits of his career? Does the screenwriting influence the theater writing and the radio and so on? Or is he just compartmentalized and able to do a lot of different things?Lee: That's such an interesting question. I don't think I've thought about it enough. I think there are very cinematic aspects to some of the plays, like Night and Day, for instance, the play about journalism. That could easily have been a film.And perhaps Hapgood as well, although it could be a kind of John le Carré type film thriller, though it's such a set of complicated interlocking boxes that I don't know that it would work as a film. It's not one of my favorite players, I must say. I struggle a little bit with Hapgood. But, yes, I'm sure that they fed into each other. Because he was so busy, he was often doing several things at once. So he was keeping things in boxes and opening the lid of that box. But mentally things must have overlapped, I'm sure.Oliver: He once joked that rather than having read Wittgenstein from cover to cover, he had only read the covers. How true is that? Because I know some people who would say he's very clever in everything, but he's not as clever as he looks. It's obviously not true that he only read the covers.Lee: I think there was a phase, wasn't there, after the early plays when people felt that he was—it's that English phrase, isn't it—too clever by half. Which you would never hear anyone in France saying of someone that they were too clever by half. So he was this kind of jazzy intellectual who put all his ideas out there, and he was this sort of self-educated savant who hadn't been to Oxford.There was quite a lot of that about in the earlier years, I think. And a sense that he was getting away with it, to which I would countermand with the story of the writing of The Invention of Love. So what attracted him to the figure of Housman initially was not the painful, suppressed homosexual love story, but the fact that here was this person who was divided into a very pernickety, savagely critical classical editor of Latin and a romantic lyric poet. In order to work out how to turn this into a play, he probably spent about six years taking Latin lessons, reading everything he could read on the history of classical literature. Obviously reading about Housman, engaging in conversation with classical scholars about Housman's, finer points of editorial precision about certain phrases. And what he used from that was the tip of the iceberg. But the iceberg was real.He really did that work and he often used to say that it was his favorite play because he'd so much enjoyed the work that went into it. I think he took what he needed from someone like Wittgenstein. I know you don't like The Coast of Utopia very much, but if you read his background to Coast of Utopia, what went into it, and if you compare what's in the plays, those three plays, with what's in the writing about those revolutionaries, he read everything. He may have magpied it, but he's certainly knows what he's talking about. So I defend him a bit against that, I think.Oliver: Good, good. Did you see the recent production at the Hamstead Theatre of The Invention of Love?Lee: I did, yes.Oliver: What did you think?Lee: I liked it. I thought it was rather beautifully done. I liked those boats rowing around that clicked together. I thought Simon Russell Beale was extremely good, particularly very moving. And very good in Housman's vindictiveness as a critic. He is not a nice person in that sense. And his scornfulness about the women students in his class, that kind of thing. And so there was a wonderful vitriol and scorn in Russell Beale's performance.I think when you see it now, some of the Oxford context is a little bit clunky, those scenes with Jowett and Pater and so on, it's like a bit of a caricature of the context of cultural life at the time, intellectual life at the time. But I think that the trope of the old and the young Housman meeting each other and talking to each other, which I still think is very moving. I thought it worked tremendously well.Oliver: What are Tom Stoppard's poems like?Lee: You see them in Indian Ink where he invents a poet, Flora Crewe, who is a poet who was died young, turn of the century, bold feminist associated with Bloomsbury and gets picked up much later as a kind of Sylvia Plath-type, HD type heroine. And when you look at Stoppard's manuscripts in the Harry Ransom Center in the University of Austin, in Texas, there is more ink spent on writing and rewriting those poems of Flora Crewe than anything else I saw in the manuscript. He wrote them and rewrote them.Early on he wrote some Elliot—they're very like Elliot—little poems for himself. I think there are probably quite a lot of love poems out there, which I never saw because they belong to the people for whom he wrote them. So I wouldn't know about those.Oliver: How consistently did Stoppard hold to a kind of liberal individualism in his politics?Lee: He was accused of being very right wing in the 1980s really, 1970s, 1980s, when the preponderant tendency for British drama was radicalism, Royal Court, left wing, all of that. And Stoppard seemed an outlier then, because he approved of Thatcher. He was a friend of Thatcher. He didn't like the print union. It was particularly about newspapers because he'd been a newspaper man in his youth. That was his alternative university education, working in Bristol on the newspapers. He had a romance heroic feeling about the value of the journalist to uphold democracy, and he hated the pressure of the print unions to what he thought at the time was stifling that.He changed his mind. I think a lot about that. He had been very idealistic and in love with English liberal values. And I think towards the end of his life he felt that those were being eroded. He voted lots of different ways. He voted conservative, voted green. He voted lib dem. I don't if he ever voted Labour.Oliver: But even though his personal politics shifted and the way he voted shifted, there is something quite continuous from the early plays through to Rock ‘n' Roll. Is there a sort of basic foundation that doesn't change, even though the response to events and the idea about the times changes?Lee: Yes, I think that's right, and I think it can be summed up in what Henry says in The Real Thing about politics, which is a version of what's often said in his plays, which is public postures have the configuration of private derangement. So that there's a deep suspicion of political rhetoric, especially when it tends towards the final solution type, the utopian type, the sense that individual lives can be sacrificed in the interest of an ultimate rationalized greater good.And then, he's worked in the '70s for the victims of Soviet communism. His work alongside in support of Havel and Charter 77. And he wrote on those themes such as Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and Professional Foul. Those are absolutely at the heart of what he felt. And they come back again when he's very modest about this and kept it quiet. But he did an enormous amount of work for the Belarus exile, Belarus Free Theater collective, people in support of those trying to work against the regime in Belarus.And then the profound, heartfelt, intense feeling of horror about what happened to people in Leopoldstadt. That's all part of the same thing. I think he's a believer in individual freedom and in democracy and has a suspicion of political rhetoric.Oliver: How much were some of his great parts written for specific actors? Because I sometimes have a feeling when I watch one of his plays now, if I'd been here when Felicity Kendal was doing this, I would be getting the whole thing, but I'm getting most of it.Lee: I'm sure that's right. And he built up a team around him: Peter Wood, the director and John Wood who's such an extraordinary Henry Carr in in in Travesties. And Michael Hordern as George the philosopher in Jumpers. And he wrote a lot for Kendal, in the process of becoming life companions.But he'd obviously been writing and thinking of her very much, for instance, in Arcadia. And also I think very much, it's very touching now to see the production of Indian Ink that's running at Hampstead Theatre in which Felicity Kendal is playing the older woman, the surviving older sister of the poet Flora Crewe, where of course the part of Flora Crewe was written for her. And there's something very touching about seeing that now. And, in fact, the first night of that production was the day of Stoppard's funeral. And Kendal couldn't be at the funeral, of course, because she was in the first night of his play. That's a very touching thing.Oliver: Why did he think the revivals came too soon?Lee: I don't really know the answer to that. I think he thought a play had to hook up a lot of oxygen and attract a lot of attention. If you were lucky while it was on, people would remember the casting and the direction of that version of it, and it would have a kind of memory. You had to be there.But people who were there would remember it and talk about it. And if you had another production very soon after that, then maybe it would diminish or take away that effect. I think he had a sort of loyalty to first productions often. What do you think about that? I'm not quite sure of the answer to that.Oliver: I don't know. To me it seems to conflict a bit with his idea that it's a living thing and he's always rewriting it in the rehearsal room. But I think probably what you say is right, and he will have got it right in a certain way through all that rehearsing. You then need to wait for a new generation of people to make it fresh again, if you like.Lee: Or not a generation even, but give it five years.Oliver: Everyone new and this theater's working differently now. We can rework it in our own way. Can we have a few questions about your broader career before we finish?Lee: Depends what they are.Oliver: Your former colleague John Carey died at a similar time to Stoppard. What do you think was his best work?Lee: John Carey's best work? Oh. I thought the biography of Golding was pretty good. And I thought he wrote a very good book on Thackery. And I thought his work on Milton was good. I wasn't so keen on The Intellectuals and the Masses. He and I used to have vociferous arguments about that because he had cast Virginia Woolf with all the modernist fascists, as it were. He'd put her in a pile with Wyndham Lewis and Ezra Pound and so on. And actually, Virginia Woolf was a socialist feminist. And this didn't seem to have struck him because he was so keen to expose her frightful snobbery, which is what people in England reading Woolf, especially middle class blokes, were horrified by.And she is a snob, there's no doubt about it. But she knew that and she lacerated herself for it too. And I think he ignored all the other aspects of her. So I was angry about that. But he was the kind of person you could have a really good argument with. That was one of the really great things about John.Oliver: He seems to be someone else who was amenable and charming, but also very steely.Lee: Yes, I think he probably was I think he probably was. You can see that in his memoir, I think.Oliver: What was Carmen Callil like?Lee: Oh. She was a very important person in my life. It was she who got me involved in writing pieces for Virago. And it was she who asked me to write the life of Virginia Woolf for Chatto. And she was an enormous, inspiring encourager as she was to very many people. And I loved her.But I was also, as many people were, quite daunted by her. She was temperamental, she was angry. She was passionate. She was often quite difficult. Not a word I like to use about women because there's that trope of difficult women, but she could be. And she lost her temper in a very un-English way, which was quite a sight to behold. But I think of her as one of the most creative and influential publishers of the 20th century.Oliver: Will there be a biography of her?Lee: I don't know. Yes, it's a really interesting question, and I've been asking her executors whether they have any thoughts about that. Somebody said to me, oh, who wants a biography of a publisher? But, actually, publishers are really important people often, so I hope there would be. Yes. And it would need to be someone who understood the politics of feminism and who understood about coming from Australia and who understood about the Catholic background and who understood about her passion for France. And there are a whole lot of aspects to that life. It's a rich and complex life. Yes, I hope there will be someday.Oliver: Her papers are sitting there in the British Library.Lee: They are. And in fact—you kindly mentioned this to start with—I've just finished a biography of the art historian and novelist, Anita Brookner, who won the Booker prize in 1984 for a novel called Hotel du Lac.And Carmen and Anita were great buddies, surprisingly actually, because they were very different kinds of characters. And the year before she died, Carmen, who knew I was working on Anita, showed me all her diary entries and all the letters she'd kept from Anita. And that's the kind of generous person that she was.That material is now sitting in the British Library, along with huge reams of correspondence between Carmen and many other people. And it's an exciting archive.Oliver: She seems to have had a capacity to be friends with almost anyone.Lee: Yes, I think there were people she would not have wanted to be friends with. She was very disapproving of a lot of political figures and particularly right-wing figures, and there were people she would've simply spat at if she was in the room with them. But, yes, she an enormous range of friends, and she was, as I said, she was fantastically encouraging to younger women writers.And, also, another aspect of Carmen's life, which I greatly admired and was fascinated by: In Virago she would often be resuscitating the careers of elderly women writers who had been forgotten or neglected, including Antonia White and including Rosamund Lehmann. And part of Carmen's job at Virago, as she felt, was not just to republish these people, some of whom hadn't had a book published for decades, but also to look after them. And they were all quite elderly and often quite eccentric and often quite needy. And Carmen would be there, bringing them out and looking after them and going around to see them. And really marvelous, I think.Oliver: Yes, it is. Tell me about Brian Moore.Lee: Breean, as he called himself.Oliver: Oh, I'm sorry.Lee: No, it's all right. I think Brian became a friend because in the 1980s I had a book program on Channel 4, which was called Book Four. It had a very small audience, but had a wonderful time over several years interviewing lots and lots of writers who had new books out. We didn't have a budget; it was a table and two chairs and not the kind of book program you see on the television anymore. And I got to know Brian through that and through reviewing him a bit and doing interviews with him, and my husband and I would go out and visit him and his wife Jean.And I loved the work. I thought the work was such a brilliant mixture of popular cultural forms, like the thriller and historical novel and so on. And fascinating ideas about authority and religion and how to be free, how to break free of the bonds of what he'd grown up with in Ireland, in Northern Ireland, the bombs of religious autocracy, as it were. And very surreal in some ways as well. And he was also a very charming, funny, gregarious person who could be quite wicked about other writers.And, he was a wonderfully wicked and funny companion. What breaks my heart about Brian Moore is that while he was alive, he was writing a novel maybe every other year or every three years, and people would review them and they were talked about, and I don't think they were on academic syllabuses but they were really popular. And when he died and there were no more books, it just went. You can think of other writers like that who were tremendously well known in their time. And then when there weren't any more books, just went away. You ask people, now you go out and ask people, say, “What about The Temptation of Eileen Hughes or The Doctor's Wife or Black Robe? And they'll go, “Sorry?”Oliver: If anyone listening to this wants to try one of his novels, where do you say they should start?Lee: I think I would start with The Doctor's Wife and The Temptation of Eileen Hughes. And then if one liked those, one would get a taste for him. But there's plenty to choose from.Oliver: What about Catholics?Lee: Yes. Catholics is a wonderful book. Yes. Wonderful book. Bit like Muriel Spark's The Abbess of Crewe, I think.Oliver: How important is religion to Penelope Fitzgerald's work?Lee: She would say that she felt guilty about not having put her religious beliefs more explicitly into her fiction. I'm very glad that she didn't because I think it is deeply important and she believes in miracles and saints and angels and manifestations and providence, but she doesn't spell it out.And so when at the end of The Gate of Angels, for instance, there is a kind of miracle on the last page but it's much better not to have it spelt out as a miracle, in my view. And in The Blue Flower, which is not my favorite of her books, but it's the book of the greatest genius possibly. And I think she was a genius. There is a deep interest in Novalis's romantic philosophical ideas about a spiritual life, beyond the physical life, no more doctrinally than that. And she, of course, believes in that. I think she believed, in an almost Platonic way, that this life was a kind of cave of shadows and that there was something beyond that. And there are some very mysterious moments in her books, which, if they had been explained as religious experiences, I think would've been much less forceful and much less intense.Oliver: What is your favorite of her books?Lee: Oh, The Beginning of Spring. The Beginning of Spring is set in Moscow just before the revolution. And its concerns an Englishman who runs a print and publishing works. And it's based quite a lot on some factual narratives about people in Moscow at the time. And it's about the feeling of that place and that time, but it's also about being in love with two people at the same time.And, yes, and it's about cultural clashes and cultural misunderstanding, and it is an astonishingly evocative book. And when asked about this book, interviewers would say to Penelope, oh, she must have lived in Moscow for ages to know so much about it. And sometimes she would say, “Yes, I lived there for years.” And sometimes she would say, “No, I've never been there in my life.” And the fact was she'd had a week's book tour in Moscow with her daughter. And that was the only time she ever went to Russia, but she read. So it was a wonderful example of how she would be so wicked; she would lie.Oliver: Yes.Lee: Because she couldn't be bothered to tell the truth.Oliver: But wasn't she poking fun at their silly questions?Lee: Yes. It's not such a silly question. I would've asked her that question. It is an astonishing evocation of a place.Oliver: No, I would've asked it too, but I do feel like she had this sense of it's silly to be asked questions at all. It's silly to be interviewed.Lee: I interviewed her about three times—and it was fascinating. And she would deflect. She would deflect, deflect. When you asked her about her own work, she would deflect onto someone else's work or she would tell you a story. But she also got quite irritable.So for instance, there's a poltergeist in a novel called The Bookshop. And the poltergeist is a very frightening apparition and very strong chapter in the book. And I said to her in interview, “Look, lots of people think this is just superstition. There aren't poltergeists.” And she looked at me very crossly and said they just haven't been there. They don't know what they're talking about. Absolutely factual and matter of fact about the reality of a poltergeist.Oliver: What makes Virginia Woolf's literary criticism so good?Lee: Oh, I think it's a kind of empathy actually. That she has an extraordinary ability to try and inhabit the person that she's writing about. So she doesn't write from the point of view of, as it were, a dry, historical appreciation.She's got the facts and she's read the books, but she's trying to intimately evoke what it felt like to be that writer. I don't mean by dressing it up with personal anecdotes, but just she has an extraordinary way of describing what that person's writing is like, often in images by using images and metaphors, which makes you feel you are inside the story somehow.And she loves anecdotes. She's very good at telling anecdotes, I think. And also she's not soft, but she's not harshly judgmental. I think she will try and get the juice out of anything she's writing about. Most of these literary criticism pieces were written for money and against the clock and whilst doing other things.So if you read her on Dorothy Wordsworth or Mary Wollstonecraft or Henry James, there's a wonderful sense of, you feel your knowledge has been expanded. Knowledge in the sense of knowing the person; I don't mean in the sense of hard facts.Oliver: Sure. You've finished your Anita Brookner biography and that's coming this year.Lee: September the 10th this year, here and in the States.Oliver: What will you do next?Lee: Yes. That's a very good question, though a little soon, I feel.Oliver: Is there someone whose life you always wanted to write, but didn't?Lee: No. No, there isn't. Not at the moment. Who knows?Oliver: You are open to it. You are open.Lee: Who knows what will come up.Oliver: Yes. Hermione Lee, this was a real pleasure. Thank you very much.Lee: Thank you very much. It was a treat. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.commonreader.co.uk

A cup of tea can tell you where it grew, how it was harvested, and even what the weather felt like—and John has spent 43 years learning that language. From Tetley's legendary training to global trading desks and UN projects, he walks us through the real mechanics of quality: why the top two leaves and a bud matter, how insects trigger flavor by provoking plant defenses, and how high-altitude stress in places like Sri Lanka and Darjeeling creates brighter, more layered cups.We dig into the details that change your daily brew. John explains why soil acidity, drainage, and microflora drive healthy roots, how intercropping legumes boosts nitrogen without burn, and why old bushes clinging to rock can taste astonishingly pure. We challenge the myth that teabags are “bad tea,” unpacking CTC vs orthodox processing, oxidation, and particle size. Then we tackle the big headline: microplastics in teabags. What materials are actually used today? How do PLA and modern paper mills change the equation? The answer is more nuanced—and much less scary—than the viral posts suggest.Beyond the science, we talk value and ethics. John shares his work in Pakistan, where massive tea imports strain foreign currency. By planting tea on marginal slopes and keeping packaging and distribution closer to farms, communities can keep more margin at origin. We finish with practical takeaways: a sleep-friendly blend ratio (valerian, chamomile, spearmint) that tastes good, not just “good for you,” and circulatory-support pairings like rooibos with hibiscus that also play nicely with chaga. If you care about flavor, truth over hype, and supporting growers while you sip, you'll find plenty to bring to your next kettle boil.Enjoyed this conversation? Follow the show, share it with a tea-loving friend, and leave a quick review to help more listeners discover us.

#teaplantation #teagarden #tealeaves #agriculture #darjeeling #siliguri #tea #books #kids #reading #library #booksthatspeak #readaloudAbha is going to the cool hills of Darjeeling. On the way she stops at a tea factory. She has so many questions! Is tea a leaf? Where does it grow? What makes it taste so good? Go on a tour of a tea garden and factory and find the answers to these questions with Abha.Thanks to Storyweaver for the story.⁠https://storyweaver.org.in/en/stories/350189-aabha-kee-chaay-party⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Original story A Tea Garden Party by Pratham BooksWritten by Swati SenguptaIllustrated by Rishav MohantyTranslated by Shweta AgrawalNarrated by Asawari Doshiआभा की चाय पार्टी (Hindi), translated by Shweta Agrawal, published by Pratham Books (© Pratham Books, 2021) based on the original story A Tea Garden Party (English), written by Swati Sengupta, illustrated by Rishav Mohanty, published by Pratham Books (© Pratham Books, 2021) under a CC BY 4.0 license on StoryWeaver. Read, create and translate stories for free on www.storyweaver.org.inInstagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/booksthatspeak/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Story's Video: ⁠https://youtu.be/s0Mw1M2q7mI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠To receive updates about Online and Offline storytelling events from Books That Speak, join the whatsapp group: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://chat.whatsapp.com/BuBaOlkD2UACckOdYk4FDg⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to the podcast:iTunes : ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/books-that-speak/id1287357479⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Watch Videos:YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/booksthatspeak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.booksthatspeak.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠contact.booksthatspeak@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠#booksthatspeak #stories #readaloud #hindistories #indianstories #kids #kidsstories #readbooks #books

Fluent Fiction - Hindi: Unwrapping Darjeeling's Christmas Secret: A Tale of Rediscovery Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/hi/episode/2025-12-22-08-38-20-hi Story Transcript:Hi: दर्जिलिंग की सर्द हवाओं में, क्रिसमस की बत्तियां झिलमिला रही थीं।En: In the cold winds of Darjeeling, the Christmas lights were shimmering.Hi: चाय के बागानों पर बर्फ की हल्की परत फैली हुई थी।En: A light layer of snow had spread over the tea gardens.Hi: आरव, एक पत्रकार, इस सुहानी जगह पर कुछ दिन बिताने आया था।En: Arav, a journalist, had come to spend a few days in this charming place.Hi: उसका मकसद था आराम करना, लेकिन उसकी नजरें हमेशा एक दिलचस्प कहानी खोज रही थीं।En: His intention was to relax, but his eyes were always seeking an interesting story.Hi: एक दिन, घूमते-घूमते आरव एक पुराने एंटीक स्टोर में पहुंचा।En: One day, while wandering around, Arav ended up at an old antique store.Hi: दुकान की मालकिन इशानी थी।En: The shop's owner was Ishani.Hi: उसका हृदय इन पुरानी वस्तुओं से गहराई से जुड़ा था।En: Her heart was deeply connected to these old objects.Hi: स्टोर में घूमते हुए आरव की नजर एक पुराने संदूक पर पड़ी।En: While exploring the store, Arav's eyes fell on an old chest.Hi: जिज्ञासावश उसने उसे खोला और उसके अंदर एक पुराना खत पाया।En: Out of curiosity, he opened it and found an ancient letter inside.Hi: खोले जाने पर, आरव को एहसास हुआ कि यह खत दशकों पुराना और एक परिवार के गहरे राज का हिस्सा था।En: Upon opening it, Arav realized that the letter was decades old and part of a family's deep secrets.Hi: इस रहस्यमयी खत को देखकर आरव का पत्रकार मन जाग उठा।En: Seeing this mysterious letter awakened the journalist in Arav.Hi: वह समझ गया कि यह वही कहानी हो सकती है जिसे वह ढूंढ रहा था।En: He understood that this could be the story he had been looking for.Hi: लेकिन जब उसने इस बारे में इशानी से बात की, तो उसे पता चला कि शहर के लोग बाहरी लोगों को अपने पुराने इतिहास में दिलचस्पी लेने से रोकते हैं, खासकर क्रिसमस के करीब।En: But when he discussed the matter with Ishani, he learned that the townspeople discourage outsiders from taking an interest in their old history, especially around Christmas.Hi: फिर भी, आरव ने हिम्मत नहीं हारी।En: Even so, Arav did not lose courage.Hi: उसने ठान लिया कि इस रहस्य का पर्दाफाश करना ही होगा।En: He decided that the mystery had to be uncovered.Hi: उसने शहर के कुछ पुराने निवासियों से मिलने की योजना बनाई।En: He planned to meet some of the town's old residents.Hi: कई लोग उससे बात करने में हिचकिचा रहे थे, लेकिन धीरे-धीरे कहानी की परतें खुलने लगीं।En: Many were hesitant to talk to him, but slowly, the layers of the story began to unfold.Hi: अंत में, आरव ने पता लगाया कि वह पत्र दो परिवारों के बीच एक भूला हुआ समझौता जाहिर करता है।En: Eventually, Arav discovered that the letter revealed a forgotten agreement between two families.Hi: इस समझौते का इशानी के परिवार की विरासत के साथ गहरा संबंध था, जिससे इशानी खुद अनजान थी।En: This agreement was deeply connected with Ishani's family's heritage, which even Ishani was unaware of.Hi: जैसे-जैसे आरव और इशानी ने इस सत्य को उजागर किया, उन्हें एहसास हुआ कि ये दो परिवारों के लिए एक नई शुरुआत की तरह था।En: As Arav and Ishani uncovered this truth, they realized it was like a new beginning for these two families.Hi: क्रिसमस का यह समय उनके जीवन में एक नई उम्मीद और विश्वास लेकर आया।En: Christmas brought new hope and faith into their lives.Hi: आरव ने महसूस किया कि कहानियों की सबसे खास बातें अक्सर सबसे अनपेक्षित जगहों में छुपी होती हैं।En: Arav realized that the most special parts of stories are often hidden in the most unexpected places.Hi: इस अनुभव से उसे न सिर्फ एक नई कहानी मिली, बल्कि लिखने की प्रेरणा भी वापस मिल गई।En: From this experience, not only did he find a new story, but he also regained the inspiration to write.Hi: उसने जाना, कहानियों को महसूस करके ही उन्हें जीवंत बनाया जा सकता है।En: He learned that stories can be brought to life only by feeling them.Hi: क्रिसमस की ठिठुरती रात में एक नई कहानी की शुरुआत हुई, जो उन पुरानी यादों के धागों को जोड़कर नई संभावनाओं की बुनाई कर रही थी।En: On a frigid Christmas night, a new story began, weaving new possibilities with the threads of old memories. Vocabulary Words:shimmering: झिलमिला रही थींlayer: परतcharming: सुहानीwandering: घूमते-घूमतेantique: एंटीकcuriosity: जिज्ञासाawakened: जाग उठाdiscourage: रोकते हैंcourage: हिम्मतhesitant: हिचकिचा रहे थेunfold: खुलने लगीagreement: समझौताheritage: विरासतunaware: अनजानbeginning: शुरुआतinspiration: प्रेरणाfrigid: ठिठुरतीpossibilities: संभावनाओंmemories: यादोंlights: बत्तियांexploring: घूमते हुएsecrets: गहरे राजmysterious: रहस्यमयीresidents: निवासियोंreveal: जाहिरforgotten: भूला हुआtruth: सत्यunexpected: अनपेक्षितweaving: बुनाईconnected: जुड़ा

16/24. Avec Darjeeling, on ouvre une case sur le rapport au corps, la confiance en soi et ce moment précis où l'on décide de reprendre le pouvoir. Celui de se sentir bien dans son corps, de se regarder autrement, de choisir ce qu'on porte pour soi - pas pour plaire. On parle de lingerie comme d'un geste for yourself..Le code GARCE30 est disponible sur le site Darjeeling.xxAmal & OgeeMy IG diary : https://www.instagram.com/amaltahirOgee's diary : https://www.instagram.com/ogee_offHébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Today I'm recording and publishing "live" from the mountaintop in Darjeeling, India. We discuss the population increase/decrease of India/China (among other things), then look at the testimony of the first Hindu convert (by William Carey's mission) as well some words from the first man to publish a Chinese Bible (Joshua Marshman in INDIA). Last but not least, Cherokee Theology is a look back at the last words of my friend and adopted grandfather back in Oklahoma, Dewey Sanders, who passed away 7 years ago. India vs. China, Borden in Darjeeling, Darjeeling to Dalijia, Marshman’s Chinese Bible Follow me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I post new/unique Chinese city prayer profiles every single day. Also, you can email me any questions or comments (bfwesten at gmail dot com) and find everything else, including my books, at PrayGiveGo.us! The Millionaire Missionary in Darjeeling www.BordenofYale.com The First Hindu Convert: Krishna Pal https://archive.org/details/firsthindooconv00unkngoog Cherokee Theology: Remembering Dewey Sanders https://chinacall.substack.com/p/cherokee-theology Now let's take a look at this coming week's Pray for China (PrayforChina.us) cities… Pray for China (Dec 1-7): https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-dec-8-14-2025 Subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform! Follow me on X (@chinaadventures) and send any questions or comments to (bfwesten at gmail dot com). You can find everything else, including my books, at PrayGiveGo.us! Luke 10, verse 2, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Talk again soon!

Today I'm recording and publishing "live" from the mountaintop in Darjeeling, India. We discuss the population increase/decrease of India/China (among other things), then look at the testimony of the first Hindu convert (by William Carey's mission) as well some words from the first man to publish a Chinese Bible (Joshua Marshman in INDIA). Last but not least, Cherokee Theology is a look back at the last words of my friend and adopted grandfather back in Oklahoma, Dewey Sanders, who passed away 7 years ago. India vs. China, Borden in Darjeeling, Darjeeling to Dalijia, Marshman’s Chinese Bible Follow me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I post new/unique Chinese city prayer profiles every single day. Also, you can email me any questions or comments (bfwesten at gmail dot com) and find everything else, including my books, at PrayGiveGo.us! The Millionaire Missionary in Darjeeling www.BordenofYale.com The First Hindu Convert: Krishna Pal https://archive.org/details/firsthindooconv00unkngoog Cherokee Theology: Remembering Dewey Sanders https://chinacall.substack.com/p/cherokee-theology Now let's take a look at this coming week's Pray for China (PrayforChina.us) cities… Pray for China (Dec 1-7): https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-dec-8-14-2025 Subscribe to China Compass and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform! Follow me on X (@chinaadventures) and send any questions or comments to (bfwesten at gmail dot com). You can find everything else, including my books, at PrayGiveGo.us! Luke 10, verse 2, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Talk again soon!

Prendendo spunto dalle vostre richieste, per festeggiare la puntata numero 50 di questo podcast, vi parlo del cinema “dolce amaro e simmetrico” del regista statunitense di Wes Anderson. Nella prima parte, quella delle news, vi parlo dell'uscita in Italia del nuovo lavoro del maestro Sokurov; di un cinema che riapre e del cinema vincitore del premio Il Biglietto d'oro. Qui l'indice della puntata.00:58 News. A marzo 2026 esce nella sale italiane il nuovo documentario di Aleksandr Sokurov, Director's Diary. Riporto alcune sue dichiarazioni sul progetto e sulla contemporaneità. 03:09 News. Lo storico cinema Europa di Roma riapre grazie a una collaborazione tra la Fondazione Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia e Netflix. Quale obiettivi ha questa collaborazione? 04:48 News. Anche nel 2025 il Biglietto d'oro è stato vinto dal cinema Modernissimo di Bologna.06:27 La Luce del Cinema di Wes Anderson. Film analizzati: I Tenenbaum; Le avventure acquatiche di Steve Zissou; Gran Budapest Hotel; Fantastic Mr. Fox; L'isola dei Cani; Il treno per il Darjeeling, Moonrise Kingdom.

This is one in a series about possible futures, which will be published in Booch News over the coming weeks. Episode 8 appeared last week. New episodes drop every Friday. Overview Fermentation cooperatives represent one effective social organizing principle among many. In the future, kombucha cafes could replace bars and coffee shops as primary gathering spaces—not because the beverages possess magical properties, but because fermentation creates affordable spaces where people gather around shared productive work. This episode explores Mumbai’s “Fermentation District,” where bio-breweries have become community hubs, enabling stronger civic engagement. These spaces succeeded by combining smart urban design, economic cooperation, and cultural preservation into environments that made authentic connection easier than virtual isolation. The Inheritance of Empty Buildings By 2052, colonial-era buildings in Mumbai’s abandoned Ballard Estate business district stood empty after the Great Flood of July 26, 2047, drove businesses to higher ground. Climate refugee and fermentation consultant Khushi Sengupta—one of the Darjeeling tea plantation refugees who had fled to the Thames Valley Mega-tower together with the Tamang family—traveled back to India to visit family and help rebuild the shattered city. Her relatives had made the grueling 1,300-mile journey west from the Darjeeling foothills to Mumbai after their once-thriving tea plantations were devastated by climate change. It is early October. The monsoon rains have ended. Khushi stands in a gutted office building, water stains still visible three meters up the marble walls. She’s meeting municipal planner Rajesh Krishnan, who spreads architectural drawing across a ruined reception desk while Khushi’s eight-year-old daughter Priya explores the echoing space. “The flood created a crisis,” Rajesh explains. “The government wants temporary housing—stack refugees in minimal square footage, provide basic services, move on. But I’ve seen that approach fail in Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai. Dense housing without social infrastructure creates slums, not communities.” Khushi watches her daughter discover an old fermentation crock in what was once the building’s cafeteria—remnants of someone’s office kombucha hobby. “What if we built around production instead of consumption?” she asks. “In the Thames Valley tower, the tea gardens and fermentation floors weren’t just amenities; they were integral to the process. They gave people something to do together. They created economic relationships.” Rajesh considers this. The 440 lakh rupees allocated to this district could fund either 1,000 housing units with no common spaces or 700 units with shared productive facilities. The conventional approach prioritizes maximum density. However, traditional methods have produced Mumbai’s sprawling slums, where civic engagement is nearly impossible—no gathering spaces, no economic cooperation, everyone struggling individually. “Show me what you’re imagining,” he says. “Back in the UK,” she explains, “we discovered that when people brew together, they talk. When they talk, they coordinate. When they coordinate, they govern themselves. Fermentation doesn’t create democracy—it creates the conditions where democracy can happen. Regular rhythms, shared investment, economic interdependence.” Six Months Later Khushi’s visit has lasted longer than intended, but no matter. Rajesh Krishnan has secured preliminary approval from city authorities for an experimental fermentation space. He’s looking to Khushi to replicate the Thames Valley tower’s success in Mumbai. If only things were that simple. The space is chaotic—babies crying, elders arguing about fermentation technique in four languages, someone’s SCOBY is contaminated and they need to start over. This is not the harmonious vision Rajesh sold to the municipal government. Narayan, a skeptical elder from a traditional Brahmin family, insists proper fermentation requires specific ritual purity. Fatima, a Muslim woman, questions the halal status of kombucha, wanting confirmation that the fermentation process doesn’t produce haram alcohol levels. A Tamil family wants to recreate their grandmother’s rasam kombucha but lacks the ingredients. A couple from Nagaland has never fermented anything and feels overwhelmed. Mountain Bee Innovation Amira Islam, daughter of Honey Islam, founder of Mountain Bee Kombucha, watches Khushi navigate these conflicts. “This is why industrial-scale kombucha failed,” she observes quietly. “They thought they could standardize living processes. But fermentation is always local—local ingredients, local microbes, local knowledge, local preferences.” Amira operates the district’s most experimental bio-brewery in the Mountain Bee Innovation Labs. Her facility spans three floors, each representing a different democratic process through carefully crafted flavor experiences. The Pineapple-Chili Democracy Floor serves Islam’s recreation of the original “crowd favorite” blend for first-time political participants. The bold, balanced combination of juicy pineapples with subtle chili heat creates the perfect environment for introducing newcomers to participatory governance. Citizens nibbling tacos and tortilla chips while debating local issues find the familiar yet exotic flavors lower social barriers and encourage participation. The Flower ‘N Spice Contemplation Level houses the district’s most complex decision-making processes. The striking purple brew—colored by butterfly pea flowers and warmed with fermented green tea spices—induces the meditative state necessary for addressing long-term planning challenges. Residents sip the cinnamon-forward blend through long straws (the founder’s original “pro tip”), allowing the warmth and spice nuances to enhance their focus during lengthy policy discussions. The Bangalore Blue Grape Strategic Floor serves as the district’s evening governance center. The bold, deep-flavored kombucha made from GI-tagged Bangalore Blue Grapes has evolved into the perfect “non-alcoholic nightcap” for late-night budget negotiations and emergency response planning. The antioxidant-rich brew’s complex flavor profile matches the sophisticated nature of high-level municipal decisions. Dramila Kombucha Cultural Exchange The district’s most dynamic space honors Ezhil Mathy’s legacy of constant innovation. The Dramila Kombucha Cultural Exchange features fermentation tanks that change flavors weekly, ensuring democratic processes remain as dynamic as the beverages they accompany. The centerpiece is the “Sundal Council Chamber,” where Mathy’s legendary Mango, Chili & Coconut kombucha facilitates discussions about street food policy and integration of the informal economy. Citizens familiar with Chennai’s East Coast Beach snack culture instantly connect with the flavors of traditional lentil and chickpea preparations, creating cultural common ground among diverse refugee populations. The facility’s seasonal rotation includes Orange & Christmas Spice sessions for holiday planning, Passion Fruit & Tender Coconut forums for tropical agriculture policy, and Rose, Kokum & Ginger assemblies for traditional medicine integration. Each flavor profile creates specific psychological and social conditions that enhance particular types of democratic dialogue. Community Dialogue Khushi calls for attention. “Everyone, stop. Look around. What do you see?” “A mess,” someone mutters. “I see twenty families who will live in this building for years,” Khushi responds. “Right now, you’re strangers. In six months, you’ll be neighbors. In a year, you’ll be a community—or you’ll be strangers who happen to share walls. The difference is whether you learn to work together now, while the stakes are just kombucha.” She proposes a solution: Each family develops its own fermentation tradition while sharing space and equipment. They rotate teaching responsibilities. They pool resources to buy ingredients. They sell surplus together and split profits. “Fermentation is your excuse to gather,” she explains. “Whether your kombucha is halal, whether it follows proper ritual, whether it tastes like your grandmother’s—those are your decisions. What matters is that you make those decisions together, negotiate those differences, and build relationships that will matter when you’re deciding how to manage the building, how to share childcare, how to respond when the next flood comes.” Some remain unconvinced. “In my village, we knew everyone. We didn’t need excuses to cooperate,” Narayan says. “You’re not in your village,” Khushi replies. “You’re in a city of refugees from a hundred villages. The old social structures are gone. Either you build new ones, or you live as isolated atoms in anonymous density. Fermentation gives you something to build around.” SBooch Cultural Preservation By 2053, the district’s first pan-India commercial operation was established. The SBooch Heritage Collective occupies six floors of a restored Art Deco building. Each floor represents a different Indian regional fermentation tradition. But this isn’t a museum—it’s a working brewery preserving the vision of founder Nirraj Manek and brand ambassador Chef Niyati Rao’s regional Indian recipes. Anika Rao, Chef Niyati’s daughter, now in her early thirties, gives a tour while a health inspector takes notes. The Nagaland floor ferments with ingredients foraged from remaining forest patches. The Odisha level celebrates rice-based fermentation. The Tamil Nadu floor recreates rasam combinations. The fermentation tanks perfectly replicate Chef Niyati’s “From the kitchens of South” blend. Citizens debating water management policies sip the “neither too sour, nor too spicy” combination of tomato, hing, tamarind, and earthy spices that once defined authentic Madurai flavor. The Maharashtra level serves Koshimbir kombucha—”a salad in a bottle”—to residents discussing urban agriculture proposals. The drink’s tomato, cucumber, and coriander profile literally connects voters to the vertical gardens they’re planning. The Gujarat section’s Gor Keri kombucha, capturing the “sweet, tangy, and slightly spicy” essence founders once described as “straight from Nani’s house,” becomes the traditional beverage for intergenerational council meetings where elders share wisdom with climate refugee youth. “My mother spent twenty years documenting regional Indian fermentation before climate change destroyed many of these ecosystems,” Anika explains. “These recipes aren’t just flavors—they’re genetic libraries of microbial diversity adapted to specific ingredients and climates that no longer exist.” The health inspector finds violations: incomplete temperature logs, a fermentation batch showing contamination, and inadequate equipment-cleaning protocols. “This is exactly what corporate interests warned about,” he says. “Artisanal operations can’t maintain safety standards. Why not just let established beverage companies make these flavors?” “Because they can’t,” Anika explains patiently. “Corporate fermentation optimizes for consistency and shelf stability. My mother’s Gor Keri kombucha required fresh ingredients, seasonal variation, and bacterial strains that evolved over centuries in Gujarat’s climate. You can’t mass-produce that while maintaining quality. But you also can’t scale traditional home brewing without safety oversight. We’re finding a middle path.” “We’re learning,” she tells the health inspector. “Some of us come from traditional fermentation backgrounds, but we’re working at scales our grandmothers never imagined. We need training, equipment, and yes—regulation that protects consumers without requiring million-dollar compliance costs that only corporations can afford.” They work out a solution: The district will establish a shared food safety laboratory that multiple small breweries can use. The health department will provide training tailored to fermentation cooperatives. Standards will be maintained, but costs will be shared. The Governance Crisis By 2060, the Fermentation District has succeeded beyond expectations. Municipal services costs are 40% below comparable districts. Crime rates are minimal. Economic activity is robust. But success creates new problems. A real estate developer wants to buy three buildings for luxury condos, using funds that could expand into adjacent blocks for more climate refugee housing. But accepting would displace two established breweries and change the district’s character. A hastily convened community meeting is contentious. Over two hundred residents crowd into the plaza. Brewery operators want to reject the offer—their businesses can’t relocate without losing their customer base. Newer refugees wish to accept—housing is desperately needed, and the money could help hundreds of families. Some suggest negotiating with the developer. Others propose alternative funding sources. Khushi notices something important: this chaotic, frustrating meeting is democracy in action. People with different interests are arguing, proposing alternatives, forming coalitions, making their cases, doing the hard work of negotiating between legitimate competing interests. “Why can’t we just all agree on what’s best?” one resident demands. “Because there isn’t one ‘best,'” Khushi replies. “There are trade-offs. Economic development versus community character. Immediate housing needs versus long-term sustainability. Individual property rights versus collective planning. Real democracy is managing these conflicts, not eliminating them.” “But the breweries bring people together,” a young activist shouts from the back. “That creates unity!” “Sure,” Khushi agrees. “The breweries give us regular reasons to talk. That creates communication. But straightforward unity of purpose is a fantasy. The democratic process is messy, slow, and frustrating. But it’s the only way diverse people with different interests can govern themselves.” After four hours, they reach an imperfect compromise: accept the developer’s offer for one building (the least established brewery agrees to relocate with compensation), use the funds to purchase and convert two adjacent buildings, then lobby the municipality for additional zoning changes that would allow more mixed residential/commercial space. Nobody is completely satisfied. The relocated brewery owner is unhappy. The developer wanted all three buildings. Some refugees will wait longer for housing. But the decision was made collectively through a genuine democratic process. The Comparative Study Dr. Meera Patel, an urban sociologist from IIT Bombay, was pleased that her research into the Fermentation District had concluded. At the Indian Sociological Society’s annual meeting, Dr. Patel’s presentation showed comparative data on the Fermentation District versus three control districts with similar demographics, climate impacts, and initial conditions. The numbers were convincing: A skeptical academic challenges her, never one to miss an opportunity to critique ethnographic methodology. “How do you isolate the effect of fermentation from other variables? The Fermentation District also has better architectural design, more green space, and different economic models. Maybe it’s not the kombucha at all.” “Exactly,” Dr. Patel agrees. “That’s precisely our conclusion. The fermentation cooperatives succeed because they’re part of an integrated social infrastructure. As my next slide demonstrates…” Another academic chimes in. “So this isn’t about probiotics improving ‘cognitive architecture’ or gut bacteria changing behavior, as some have argued?” Dr. Patel laughs. “No. This is about urban design and social capital. The Fermentation District succeeds because it fosters conditions allowing social capital to develop. That requires physical spaces, economic structures, and cultural frameworks. The fermentation is the organizing principle, not a biochemical intervention.” After the meeting ends, a journalist from Dainik Jagran stops her in the hallway. “So the secret to better communities is kombucha?” “It’s not that simple,” Dr. Patel replies. “The secret to better communities is giving people reasons and spaces to cooperate regularly around shared interests. Fermentation cooperatives provide that. As do community gardens, craft guilds, neighborhood workshops, or any structure that combines gathering space, productive work, and economic cooperation. The specific activity matters less than the social infrastructure it creates.” Expansion and Limitations By the mid-2060s, Khushi Sengupta had become quite the world traveler. She conducted workshops for groups from São Paulo, Detroit, Jakarta, and Lagos who wanted to replicate the Fermentation District model. Some experiments worked. Others didn’t. She learned what works and what doesn’t. In São Paulo, a Brazilian team adapted the model using traditional cachaça and fermented vegetable cooperatives rather than kombucha. They understood the principle: create spaces for regular productive cooperation. The specific fermentation tradition mattered less than the social infrastructure. There were misgivings. A member of the São Paulo cooperative shared his concerns. “Some people tell us we’re appropriating Indian culture by copying your model.” “You’re not copying our model,” Khushi reassured him. “You’re applying principles of community design to your own cultural context, in your neighborhood, with your people, using your fermentation traditions. That’s exactly right. If you tried to make Indian kombucha in São Paulo, you’d fail. Local knowledge, local ingredients, local preferences—those matter. The universal principle is: give people spaces and reasons to cooperate productively.” However, in Detroit, Michigan, things didn’t go so well. A well-funded American attempt failed because it focused on breweries rather than broader social architecture. They built beautiful fermentation facilities but maintained standard apartment layouts with no common areas, standard economic models with no cooperative ownership, and standard social patterns with no regular gathering rhythms. Result: fancy kombucha cafes in an anonymous apartment complex. Civic engagement remained minimal. The grandson of a Bloomfield Hills auto executive raised his concerns. “Our city has vacant buildings, unemployed workers, and a need for community spaces. But we also have deep racial divisions, economic devastation, and institutional distrust. Will fermentation cooperatives solve those problems?” Khushi looked him in the eyes. She saw confusion, fear, and some resentment. “No,” she replied. “They’ll create spaces where people can begin working on those problems together. That’s all. Social infrastructure makes cooperation easier—it doesn’t eliminate the need for difficult negotiations, institutional reform, or economic justice.” Things went better in New York City, where the government-owned grocery stores opened in the 2020s by Mayor Mamdani connected environmental justice to social equity, leading to fermentation hubs across all five boroughs. From the hipsters of Brooklyn to the intellectuals of the Upper West Side, fermentation flourished. Despite valiant efforts, the Nigerian organizers of the Lagos Fermentation District struggled as rapid population growth overwhelmed the social infrastructure. The breweries helped but couldn’t keep pace with demand. They learned that social infrastructure requires matching population density, economic resources, and gathering spaces. Priya, now in her early twenties and a valued assistant, asks her mother a difficult question: “Some people say you’re claiming fermentation fixes everything. That makes other people angry, and they reject the whole idea. Why not just be clear about what works?” Khushi pauses. Her daughter has identified the communication challenge. “You’re right. The media likes simple stories: ‘Kombucha magic creates perfect communities.’ That’s not what happened. But writing that ‘Carefully designed social infrastructure including fermentation cooperatives as one element of integrated community development produces measurably better outcomes in contexts with adequate resources and population densities’ doesn’t make a good headline.” An Uncomfortable Truth In 2072, the twentieth anniversary celebration of the pioneering Mumbai District is bittersweet. The district has succeeded by many measures, but not all. There are now over 2,000 residents with stable housing and 47 active fermentation cooperatives. Crime rates remain low, civic engagement is high, and economic vitality is sustained. The model has been replicated in twelve cities worldwide. However, problems persist. Two hundred families who couldn’t adapt to the cooperative model have left the district. Three breweries have failed due to mismanagement, and tensions persist between traditional and innovative fermentation approaches. The debate over raw, pasteurized, and kombucha from concentrate remains no closer to resolution than when the first KBI Verified Seal Program was introduced. Economic inequality has arisen between successful breweries and those struggling to survive. The district remains dependent on municipal support for infrastructure. Since the architectural design requires space, the model doesn’t scale to very high densities, and some residents never fully engage despite the infrastructure. Dr. Patel presents her updated research at the Indian Sociological Society annual meeting. “The Fermentation District demonstrates that thoughtfully designed social infrastructure produces measurably better community outcomes,” she says. “But it’s not magic. About 75% of residents actively participate—that’s remarkably high, but not universal. Economic challenges persist. Cultural conflicts continue. The infrastructure makes cooperation easier, not automatic.” Khushi Sengupta delivers the conference closing keynote to the assembled urban planners, architects, and sociologists. Her speech is brutally honest: “Twenty years ago, we had empty buildings and displaced people. We made several choices. We chose to build community around shared, productive work, and we decided on fermentation because it connected people to cultural traditions while creating economic opportunities. It worked—better than conventional refugee housing, worse than utopian expectations. But understand: kombucha didn’t create democracy. Democracy created the kombucha. We chose to govern ourselves collectively, and fermentation provided us with a tangible focus for coordination. The breweries are symbols of cooperation, not its cause. “Other communities should learn from what works: provide people with spaces to gather, opportunities to share, economic stakes in outcomes, and cultural practices that connect them. Whether that’s fermentation, gardening, crafts, or childcare collectives matters less than the underlying principles. “But also learn from what didn’t work: This approach requires resources, space, and time. It works best at the neighborhood scale, not the megacity scale. It requires people willing to cooperate—you can’t force community. And it doesn’t address deep-seated structural problems like poverty, discrimination, or political corruption. It creates spaces where people can work on those problems together.” Epilogue: Priya’s Generation It’s 2072, and Priya Sengupta, now twenty-eight, is an associate professor in urban planning at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Priya leads a tour of the Fermentation District for her freshman class. She’s grown up in this environment and can explain it clearly: “This is where I learned that communities are designed, not natural,” she tells the students. “My mother’s generation made choices: how to use space, how to structure economics, how to create gathering rhythms, how to preserve culture while adapting to change. “My generation is studying these principles so we can design better communities as climate change continues displacing populations. We’re not looking for magic solutions. We’re looking for replicable, adaptable, evidence-based approaches to community building that work at different scales in different contexts. “The Fermentation District is a notable example of success. It’s not the only way, not the perfect way, but it’s a way that worked here. That’s worth learning from.” A student asks: “What would you tell someone who claims fermented beverages biochemically produce civic engagement?” Priya doesn’t hesitate: “I’d say they’re confusing correlation with causation. People who drink kombucha in this district are more civically engaged—but not because of the beverage. They’re engaged because the brewing cooperatives create social infrastructure that makes engagement easier, more rewarding, and more necessary. The kombucha is correlation, not cause.” Priya enjoys brewing kombucha with her class, teaching fermentation while explaining urban design principles. The next generation understands: it’s not about magic beverages. It’s about designing communities that make cooperation easier than isolation. Celebration Bollywood celebrated Mumbai’s Ballard Fermentation District in a feature-length film Baadh Ke Baad (After the Flood). The hit song from that movie was Sab Milkar Ab (All Together Now). The English translation reads: In the Ballard District we set up shopRefugees who gathered togetherBrewing kombucha non-stopSafe from stormy weather Stay togetherPlay togetherStay together All together nowAll together now One SCOBYOne goalOne peopleOut of the manyOne Local ingredientsLocal microbesLocal knowledgeLocal choice Fermenting togetherGoverning togetherRegular rhythmsCooperationTolerancePeace The Medical Revolution Awaits As democracy evolved through fermentation, an exhausted oncologist in her Stanford University break room was making a discovery that would transform medicine itself. What began as desperate compassion for dying patients would prove that the most sophisticated pharmaceuticals weren’t manufactured in sterile laboratories—they were brewed in living partnerships. We reveal the details in next week’s installment, available only on Booch News. Disclaimer This is a work of speculative fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, assisted by generative A.I. References to real brands and organizations are used in a wholly imaginative context and are not intended to reflect any actual facts or opinions related to them. No assertions or statements in this post should be interpreted as true or factual. Audio Listen to an audio version of this Episode and all future ones via the Booch News channel on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. To hear the songs from this and past episodes, check out the Playlist menu at the top of the Booch News home page. The post Our Fermented Future, Episode 9: The Urban Sociology of Fermentation appeared first on 'Booch News.

pWotD Episode 3133: Tom Stoppard Welcome to popular Wiki of the Day, spotlighting Wikipedia's most visited pages, giving you a peek into what the world is curious about today.With 240,997 views on Saturday, 29 November 2025 our article of the day is Tom Stoppard.Sir Tom Stoppard (born Tomáš Sträussler, 3 July 1937 – 29 November 2025) was a Czech and English playwright and screenwriter. He wrote for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covered the themes of human rights, censorship, and political freedom, often delving into the deeper philosophical bases of society. Stoppard was a playwright of the National Theatre; one of the most internationally performed dramatists of his generation; and critically compared with William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw. He was knighted for his contribution to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 and awarded the Order of Merit in 2000. Born in Czechoslovakia, Stoppard left as a Jewish child refugee, fleeing imminent Nazi occupation. He settled with his family in England after the war, in 1946, having spent the previous three years (1943–1946) in a boarding school in Darjeeling in the Indian Himalayas. After being educated at schools in Nottingham and Yorkshire, Stoppard became a journalist, a drama critic and then, in 1960, a playwright.Stoppard's most prominent plays include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966), Jumpers (1972), Travesties (1974), Night and Day (1978), The Real Thing (1982), Arcadia (1993), The Invention of Love (1997), The Coast of Utopia (2002), Rock 'n' Roll (2006) and Leopoldstadt (2020). He wrote the screenplays for Brazil (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), The Russia House (1990), Billy Bathgate (1991), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Enigma (2001), and Anna Karenina (2012), as well as the BBC/HBO limited series Parade's End (2013). He directed the film Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), adapting his own 1966 play as its screenplay, with Gary Oldman and Tim Roth as the leads.Stoppard received numerous awards and honours including an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Shakespeare In Love, three Laurence Olivier Awards, and five Tony Awards. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph ranked him number 11 in their list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture". It was announced in June 2019 that Stoppard had written a new play, Leopoldstadt, set in the Jewish community of early 20th-century Vienna. The play premiered in January 2020 at Wyndham's Theatre. The play went on to win the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and later the 2023 Tony Award for Best Play.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 03:05 UTC on Sunday, 30 November 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Tom Stoppard on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Bluesky at @wikioftheday.com.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Ruth.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains why Buddha manifested relics. He says that it was explained in the Golden Light Sutra that the Buddha showed a short lifespan to benefit sentient beings. The activity of passing away and leaving relics shows the skillful means of the Buddha. By prostrating, making offerings, and serving the relic, you are able to abandon the eight non-freedoms. You will also meet a virtuous friend, not give up bodhicitta, increase unimaginable merit, and quickly go beyond samsara. Also, each time you see Buddha's relic, it purifies one thousand eons of negative karma.Rinpoche says that one time he went to Chenrezig Institute and noticed that the atmosphere had changed. It had become very peaceful and calm. Then, he realized it was because of the new prayer wheel. This was one of the first prayer wheels in the FPMT organization. Rinpoche says that the prayer wheel inspiration came from Geshe Lama Konchog, who told him where he could find a text that refers to the incredible benefits of prayer wheels. Rinpoche read this text, put it on his head, and declared that he would spread this practice all over the world.Rinpoche talks about Geshe Lama Konchog, who left five-colored relics. He says that these relics are very unusual; they indicate someone who has attained Buddha's five wisdoms. Rinpoche praises the way Geshe Lama Konchog lived austerely and practiced Dharma.Rinpoche also discusses Zina's life story and the emergence of the FPMT organization. He talks about how they first met in Darjeeling and how she passed away while doing a long retreat in Nepal. Rinpoche says that he checked with two lamas, and both asserted that she had gone to a pure realm.From April 10 to May 10, 2004, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave extensive teachings during the Mahamudra Retreat at Buddha House in Australia. While the retreat focused on Mahamudra, Rinpoche also taught on a wide range of Lamrim topics. This retreat marked the beginning of a series of month-long retreats in Australia. Subsequent retreats were held in 2011, 2014, and 2018, hosted by the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo.Find out more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, his teachings and projects at https://fpmt.org/

Matthieu Ricard est né à 21 ans.C'est en 1967, à Darjeeling, que Matthieu trouve la direction de son existence qu'il décrit comme une naissance.Pourtant, rien ne le destinait à autre chose qu'une brillante carrière scientifique.Fils de philosophe, élevé parmi artistes et penseurs, il étudie la biologie moléculaire et rejoint l'Institut Pasteur, où il travaille aux côtés de François Jacob, prix Nobel de médecine 1965.Mais un film bouleverse sa trajectoire.Matthieu quitte tout pour poser son sac en Inde, où il rencontre celui qui deviendra son premier maître spirituel.Convaincu d'avoir trouvé « la plus haute représentation de la perfection humaine », Matthieu Ricard passera des années à faire l'aller-retour entre l'Inde et l'Institut Pasteur, pour comprendre comment connecter science et spiritualité.À 27 ans, après avoir fini sa thèse, Matthieu décide de prendre un aller simple pour l'Himalaya.C'est dans les montagnes du Népal qu'il réalisera une retraite en solitaire de cinq ans.Aujourd'hui, Matthieu Ricard continue de se consacrer à la traduction de textes bouddhistes et à la photographie. Il est également l'interprète du Dalaï-Lama et a fondé l'association Karuna-Shechen pour partager ses enseignements.Dans cet épisode, on parle de :Comment identifier ses pensées parasites ?Se libérer du chaos extérieur sans se couper du mondeCe que la méditation change vraiment dans le cerveauPourquoi l'altruisme est bien plus pragmatique qu'on ne le penseLe rôle des algorithmes dans nos émotions et nos penséesUn épisode lumineux et ancré dans le réel, qui explore les méthodes pour entraîner son esprit, et comprendre les bases de la philosophie bouddhiste, avec un invité que nous attendions sur GDIY depuis 7 ans.TIMELINE:00:00:00 : Naître à l'âge de 21 ans00:18:15 : Renoncer à ses addictions00:29:56 : Moine bouddhiste, ça veut dire quoi ?00:40:14 : Notre esprit, allié ou ennemi ?00:51:21 : Les médias montrent le pire, jamais la réalité01:03:23 : Faut-il être égoïste pour réussir ?01:16:42 : Quand la science rencontre le Dalaï-Lama01:24:25 : Entraîner sa bienveillance01:33:50 : Être seul sans se sentir seul01:41:24 : La leçon éternelle du Dalaï-Lama01:51:47 : Chanter sa mortLes anciens épisodes de GDIY mentionnés : #479 - Nikola Karabatic - Champion de Handball - 22 titres sur 23 : la légende du sport françaisNous avons parlé de :Documentaire “Le message des Tibétains” (1966), de Arnaud DesjardinsSuivre les infos du monde avec la BBC World ServiceHannah Arendt et la banalité du malLes recommandations de lecture :Lumière, rire du ciel, de Yahne Le ToumelinLa Fabrique du crétin digital, Michel DesmurgetCarnets d'un moine errant, de Matthieu RicardLa Part d'ange en nous, de Steven PinkerLumière, de Matthieu RicardAu cœur de la compassion, de Dilgo KhyentséUn grand MERCI à nos sponsors : SquareSpace : squarespace.com/doitQonto: https://qonto.com/r/2i7tk9 Brevo: brevo.com/doit eToro: https://bit.ly/3GTSh0k Payfit: payfit.com Club Med : clubmed.frCuure : https://cuure.com/product-onelyVous souhaitez sponsoriser Génération Do It Yourself ou nous proposer un partenariat ?Contactez mon label Orso Media via ce formulaire.Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

High in the misty forests of North Bengal and Northeast India, a quiet conservation movement is unfolding around one of the world's most charismatic yet misunderstood mammals — the red panda. In this episode of the Think Wildlife Podcast, host Anish Banerjee speaks with young conservationist Aamir Khan Sohel, whose pioneering work bridges red panda conservation breeding, community-led conservation, and the power of science communication through his initiative, Translating Conservation.Aamir's journey began unconventionally — from engineering to ecology — driven by a desire to use technology to aid conservation. He recounts how he was drawn to the red panda, a species native to the Eastern Himalayas and an important indicator of ecosystem health. Through his project in Darjeeling, he studies red panda behavior, welfare, and reintroduction success within India's first red panda conservation breeding program, initiated at the Darjeeling Zoo in collaboration with the Government of India and international partners.The episode delves into the fascinating world of red panda conservation breeding — how scientists train captive individuals to survive in the wild, teaching them essential behaviors like foraging and predator avoidance before their release into protected areas such as Singalila and Neora Valley National Parks. Aamir explains the scientific and logistical hurdles in bridging captive and wild populations, the reasons behind long gaps between reintroductions, and how welfare-based behavioral studies are improving the outcomes of conservation breeding programs.Beyond the lab and breeding centers, the conversation explores the human dimensions of biodiversity conservation. Aamir's community-led conservation model empowers local residents to become long-term wildlife monitors by combining traditional knowledge with scientific training. These community guardians help track red panda populations across the mountainous terrain, offering valuable insights into how climate change, tourism, and habitat degradation affect this elusive species and the broader Himalayan biodiversity hotspot.He highlights the major threats facing red pandas — including biodiversity loss, habitat fragmentation, bamboo depletion, and the growing menace of feral dogs in high-altitude forests. Climate warming is altering microhabitats and pushing red pandas higher up the mountains, making long-term monitoring even more essential for conservation success.Aamir also introduces Translating Conservation, his innovative science outreach platform that breaks down complex ecological research into accessible content — from simplified articles to comics and animations — ensuring conservation knowledge reaches local communities and the general public. For Aamir, translating conservation is not just about communication but about inclusion — enabling everyone to participate in protecting India's rich biodiversity.From funding challenges to field hardships, his story reflects the persistence and creativity required to conserve one of the most threatened species of the Himalayas. His upcoming research, supported by the University of Adelaide, aims to expand this model of collaborative, community-based conservation across North Bengal and the broader Northeast India landscape.This episode offers a heartfelt and deeply insightful look at how science, empathy, and local stewardship come together to safeguard the red panda — a symbol of balance in fragile mountain ecosystems.About the HostAnish Banerjee is an early career ecologist, with a MSc in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation from Imperial College London. He is the founder of Think Wildlife Foundation and a biodiversity policy analyst at Legal Atlas. He is also the author of the following field guides:Field Guide to the Common Wildlife of India: https://amzn.in/d/2TnNvSEField Guide to the Mammals of Singapore: https://amzn.in/d/gcbq8VG#redpanda #redpandaconservation #redpandaconservationbreeding #northbengal #northeastindia #translatingconservation #biodiversity #biodiversityconservation #biodiversityhotspot #biodiversityloss Get full access to The Think Wildlife Podcast at anishbanerjee.substack.com/subscribe

Podcast: This week on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Donna McLaughlin, Mahamudra teacher in the Karma Kagyu tradition. Donna was first introduced to the Dharma in her teenage years. In 1970, having finished college, she travelled overland to India. After attending retreats in Bodhgaya with S. N. Goenka, she stayed at a Buddhist mission outside Delhi. Several people had already mentioned the name of Kalu Rinpoche to her, but it wasn't until she met Ken McLeod at that mission that she learned how to negotiate the logistical difficulties in getting to Darjeeling. In 1971, she made the journey to Kalu Rinpoche's monastery in Sonada, near Darjeeling. Her meeting with him was a turning point, solidifying her commitment to this branch of Buddhist practice. Along with other practices, Kalu Rinpoche encouraged her to study Mahamudra. Instruction and guidance was difficult to come by in those days and it was only with the 1986 publication of Tashi Namgyal's Mahamudra: The Quintessence of Mind and Meditation, that she appreciated the full scope and range of Mahamudra teaching. In the 1980's, she attended two Mahamudra retreats with Ken McLeod. She then attended four more Mahamudra retreats with Thrangu Rinpoche, a senior scholar and meditation master in the Karma Kagyu tradition. In the course of these retreats, he became her principal teacher. Her transcriptions of the teachings he gave at those retreats were later published under the title Essentials of Mahamudra. In 1990, with Thrangu Rinpoche's blessing, she and Peter Barth, another student of Thrangu Rinpoche, co-taught a Mahamudra study group for four years in Sonoma County, California. In 1996 she joined with Lama Palden, a graduate of the three-year retreat, to establish the Sukhasiddhi Foundation in Marin County, California. There she continued to teach Mahamudra. In 2006, Thrangu Rinpoche suggested she teach under his auspices in Sonoma County as part of the Vajra Vidya or Indestructible Heart Wisdom network. To this day, she continues to teach and guide students in this practice. More information about Donna McLaughlin's work can be found at:   The Practice of Mahamudra website: www.mahamudra-practice.com.

This week I'm in conversation with the spirited Avantika Thapa. She was part of the first cohort of the Coexistence Fellowship, and went through the programme with her partner, Chandra Maya Sharma. Avantika hails from the hills of Darjeeling and has been knowingly and unknowingly linked with nature from a young age. Serendipity and more kind humans along the way helped her find her footing, and she then went on to pursue a PhD and this Fellowship to better study the people and wildlife of the eastern himalayas. Both she and Chandra Maya noted the disparity between the stories they grew up hearing and the realities they now lived among. Avantika is an enthusiastic do-er, and has since not let go of any opportunities to give back to the communities she works with. She has used her voice well in these years and is now a post doctoral consultant with ATREE, based out of Gangtok in Sikkim. Hers is truly an inspiring and motivating story, and I hope like me, you feel a bubbling burning urge to do your bit to make a difference in this world after listening to this episode.The Coexistence Fellowship thanks the University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology (TDU) for creating a home for the Coexistence Fellowship Programme, and the British Asian Trust and Elephant Family for their generous support, also to the Coexistence Consortium for their guidance as their knowledge partner.

We turned “raindrops on roses” into whiskey shots and questionable life choices. This episode covers it all: the music you bump solo vs. with friends, why “day drinking” counts as a team sport, and which billionaire we'd actually let crash the cookout. Nick confesses his crush on Livvy Dunne, Jon explains the fine art of a Darjeeling standpipe (don't Google that at work), and Danny reveals the one instrument he'll never touch—besides himself. Toss in our favorite drinks, mottos, and TV shows, and you've got an episode that's half highlight reel, half HR violation.

“From Darjeeling to the world.” Rooted in the ancient wisdom of the Himalayas, Syang's Kombucha crafts wellness-focused drinks like sparkling teas, kombucha, and functional infusions made from ancient grains, herbs, and Himalayan botanicals. From the high slopes of Darjeeling, where... The post Profile: Syang's Kombucha, West Bengal, India appeared first on 'Booch News.

De beste thee gaat per kiloThee is alleen thee als er Camellia sinensis op staat. Dat is de naam van de theeplant zoals die vooral in China en India, maar ook in Indonesië Kenia, Sri Lanka, Perzië en Turkije wordt verbouwd. Met koffie is echte thee de meest gedronken warme drank op de wereld. Thee werkt bloeddrukverlagend en heeft meer gunstige inhoudsstoffen. Maar het is een sprookje dat er geen cafeïne in een kop thee zit. Het is alleen de helft van wat in een kop koffie zit. De opmars van kruidenthee (zoals Rooibos of Kamille) verwarren de cijfers over theeconsumptie. Maar met een productie van haast 5 miljoen ton echte thee wint de theeplant het duidelijk. Drogen en oxideren van theebladeren levert zwarte thee op, zonder oxidatie ontstaat groene thee. Onder de top variëteiten geldt naast Assam (met een hoog cafeïne-gehalte) vooral Darjeeling, van de voet van de Himalaya, als de “champagne“ onder de theesoorten. Op initiatief van een Berlijnse hoogleraar is veertig jaar geleden de inventieve ‘Teekampagne' opgezet. De teler krijgt een goede prijs, de thee-aanbouw is inmiddels biologisch, en de consument betaalt voor de allerbeste first flush Darjeeling minder dan voor een pakje matige supermarktthee. Hoe dat kan? Een kwestie van vaak thee drinken, de verkoop gaat per kilopak. .Volg de podcast en word gratis lid via mennoenerwin.nl voor meer natuur en wetenschap verhalen. abonneer je daar ook op de nieuwsbrief.We hebben een kleine aanpassing gedaan:Woensdag → nieuwe podcast online die overal te beluisteren is op alle podcast spelers maar ook op substack.Zaterdag een nieuwsbrief NL met een uitgebreider verhaal over het onderwerp van deze week met tips over het onderwerp zowel in het nederlands als het engels.Zondag een engelse nieuwsbrief ENG over het onderwerp van de week.Je kan zelf kiezen wat je in de mailbox krijgt nederlands engels of alleen de podcast ga naar je settings van substack en zet daar uit wat je niet meer wil ontvangen. Je kan ook alles uitzetten. Get full access to Menno en Erwin about Nature and Science at www.mennoenerwin.nl/subscribe

First, we talk to The Indian Express' Sweety Kumari about the devastation that has happened in West Bengal due to heavy rains. Sweety shares details of how the situation unfolded, the impact the rains have had and the rescue operations. Next, we talk to The Indian Express' Sujit Bisoyi about the communal unrest in Odisha's Cuttack where violence broke out while a procession was happening for the immersion of Goddess Durga's idols to mark the end of Durga Puja. (10:46)Lastly, we talk about the promise made by RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav as the Bihar elections approach. (20:04)Hosted by Niharika NandaProduced by Niharika Nanda, Ichha Sharma and Shashank BhargavaEdited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

Social worker Rangu Souriya from Darjeeling has given a new life to thousands of girls and women who were victims of sexual exploitation. Whether it was the middle of the night or a journey through dense forests, Rangu Souriya always stepped forward without worrying about her own safety to rescue these victims and give them a chance at a secure and dignified life.

Social worker Rangu Souriya from Darjeeling has given a new life to thousands of girls and women who were victims of sexual exploitation. Whether it was the middle of the night or a journey through dense forests, Rangu Souriya always stepped forward without worrying about her own safety to rescue these victims and give them a chance at a secure and dignified life. - दार्जिलिंग की सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता रंगू सौरिया ने उन हज़ारों लड़कियों और महिलाओं को नई ज़िंदगी दी है, जो यौन शोषण की शिकार रही हैं। चाहे आधी रात का समय हो या घने जंगलों से होकर गुज़रना पड़े, रंगू सौरिया ने हमेशा अपनी सुरक्षा की परवाह किए बिना इन पीड़िताओं को बचाने और उन्हें एक सुरक्षित व सम्मानजनक जीवन का अवसर देने के लिए आगे बढ़कर काम किया है।

India, Russia in talks to acquire 5 more S-400 air defence systems Surpreme Court to hear plea challenging Sonam Wangchuk's arrest today What is happening in Cuttack? Curfew, internet cut, social media ban in Odisha district over violent clashes 23 killed in Darjeeling landslides; roads and bridges damaged, red alert issued Move fast': Donald Trump sounds alarm as Hamas, Israel head to Egypt for Gaza ceasefire talks Hamas calls for swift hostage-prisoner swap as talks set to begin ICC told to stop 'arranging tournament fixtures' between India-Pakistan after Asia Cup row: 'Proxy for broader tensions' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint.. I'm Nelson John and here are today's top stories. The week began with tragedy in the hills. Relentless rain turned Darjeeling and Kalimpong into death zones — 18 dead, thousands stranded, homes buried in landslides between 2 and 3 a.m. Roads caved in, bridges collapsed, and tourists trapped as five NDRF teams dug through debris. With NH-10 cut off and two steel bridges washed away, rescue ops stretched thin. Politics followed quickly — BJP hit out at Mamata Banerjee for staying at Kolkata's Puja carnival; TMC shot back saying she was monitoring round the clock. Meanwhile, Modi and Shah expressed condolences as the toll rose across Sikkim, Bhutan, and Nepal. Then came fire on the field — India crushed Pakistan by 88 runs at the Women's World Cup in Colombo. No handshakes. No smiles. Just fierce stares and a coin toss controversy that added fuel to the rivalry. Home Minister Amit Shah called it a “perfect strike,” while fans called it payback season. On the global front, India drew new red lines with Washington. S Jaishankar said Delhi won't open agriculture or dairy to US markets, calling current tariffs “unfair.” The message: India will trade, but on its own terms. And in defense, Delhi's doubling down on Russia — set to buy five more S-400 systems, with local manufacturing built in. It's proof India's sticking with what's battle-tested. Finally, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal heads to Doha to push a new trade pact with Qatar — a move that could reset Gulf ties and give India a stronger foothold beyond oil. #DarjeelingFloods #IndiaPakistanRivalry #WomensWorldCup #S400 #IndiaUSRelations #PiyushGoyal #IndiaQatar #Jaishankar #MamataBanerjee #BreakingIndia #GlobalTrade #IndiaNews #TopOfTheMorning Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fluent Fiction - Hindi: Diwali Magic: Journey Through Darjeeling's Tea Gardens Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/hi/episode/2025-10-05-07-38-19-hi Story Transcript:Hi: दरअसल, आसमान में नारंगी रंग की हल्की चमक थी।En: Actually, there was a faint orange glow in the sky.Hi: शरद ऋतु का यह सुबह, रोहन और प्रिया एक बार फिर से बिताने के लिए तैयार थे।En: This autumn morning, Rohan and Priya were once again ready to spend time together.Hi: वे दार्जिलिंग के प्रसिद्ध चाय बागानों की सैर पर निकले थे।En: They had set out to tour the famous tea gardens of Darjeeling.Hi: यह दीवाली की छुट्टियों का एक विशेष हिस्सा था।En: It was a special part of the Diwali holidays.Hi: चारों ओर की ठंडी हवा और चाय की पुष्पगंध से भरी इस यात्रा में दोनों की आंखों में अद्भुत चमक थी।En: In the cold air and the fragrance of tea blossoms surrounding them on this journey, their eyes were shining with wonder.Hi: रोहन के कंधे पर उसका कैमरा लटका था।En: Rohan had his camera slung over his shoulder.Hi: हर पल की तस्वीरें लेना उसे बेहद पसंद था।En: He loved taking pictures of every moment.Hi: उसकी नजर कुछ ऐसा पकड़ने में थी, जो दीवाली के असली सौंदर्य को दर्शा सके।En: He was keen on capturing something that could represent the true beauty of Diwali.Hi: प्रिया उससे कुछ कदम आगे, रास्ते में आने वाले चाय कामदारों से बातचीत करने को उत्सुक थी।En: Priya, a few steps ahead of him, was eager to talk to the tea workers they encountered along the way.Hi: उसे उन्हीं से इस स्थान की सांस्कृतिक धरोहर के बारे में जानना था।En: She wanted to learn about the cultural heritage of the place from them.Hi: लेकिन जैसे ही वे चाय बागान पहुँचे, घने कोहरे ने उन्हें घेर लिया।En: But as soon as they reached the tea gardens, a thick fog enveloped them.Hi: रोहन ने गहरी साँस ली और इंतजार करने का फैसला किया।En: Rohan took a deep breath and decided to wait.Hi: हो सकता है कि कोहरा हटते ही उसे वह दृश्य मिले जिसकी वह तमन्ना कर रहा था।En: Perhaps once the fog cleared, he would get the view he was yearning for.Hi: प्रिया स्थानीय गाइड्स से बातचीत करने की कोशिश कर रही थी, पर भाषा की मुश्किलें उसकी राह में अड़चन बन रहीं थीं।En: Priya was trying to converse with local guides, but language barriers were creating obstacles for her.Hi: उन्होंने अपने मोबाइल पर भाषा अनुवाद एप्प का सहारा लिया और हाथों के इशारों से संवाद शुरू किया।En: They relied on a language translation app on their phone and began communicating through hand gestures.Hi: तभी जादू सा हुआ।En: Then something magical happened.Hi: कोहरा धीरे-धीरे छंटने लगा और सूरज की पहली किरणों ने चाय की पत्तियों को छू लिया।En: The fog slowly began to lift, and the first rays of the sun touched the tea leaves.Hi: उसी दौरान, स्थानीय बच्चे रंग-बिरंगे फुलझड़ियाँ जलाने लगे।En: At the same time, local children started lighting colorful sparklers.Hi: चाय बागान के हरे मैदान पर उन रौशनी की किरणें नाच उठीं।En: The rays of light danced upon the green fields of the tea gardens.Hi: यह दृश्य वाकई दिल को छूने वाला था।En: This scene was truly heartwarming.Hi: रोहन ने उस क्षण को तुरंत अपने कैमरे में कैद कर लिया।En: Rohan quickly captured that moment with his camera.Hi: वह पल पर्वतों के सामने बिखरी दीवाली की उजास के साथ उसकी अब तक की सबसे सुंदर तस्वीर बन गई।En: The moment became his most beautiful picture yet, with the brilliance of Diwali scattered in front of the mountains.Hi: प्रिया भी मुस्कुरा रही थी।En: Priya was also smiling.Hi: परिवारों से इशारे और एप्प की मदद से उसने बहुत कुछ जाना।En: Through gestures and the help of the app, she learned a lot.Hi: उनकी परंपराएं और दीवाली के साथ जुड़ी कहानियाँ समझ पाई।En: She understood their traditions and the stories connected to Diwali.Hi: रोहन और प्रिया दोनों ने ही आज कुछ नया सीखा।En: Both Rohan and Priya learned something new today.Hi: रोहन को यह समझ आया कि केवल फोटो खींचने से ज्यादा, पल जीना भी जरूरी है।En: Rohan realized that more than just taking photos, living the moment is also important.Hi: प्रिया को पता चला कि भाषा की रुकावटें प्यार और जिज्ञासा से दूर की जा सकती हैं।En: Priya discovered that language barriers can be overcome with love and curiosity.Hi: इस तरह की यात्रा ने दोनों को खुद से जुड़ने के साथ ही अप्रतिम यादों का तोहफा भी दिया।En: This journey gave both of them the gift of connecting with themselves while also creating priceless memories.Hi: दीवाली की रोशनी सच में, दो आत्माओं का मिलन थी, जो अंजानी राहों में एक नए अनुभव का जश्न मना रही थीं।En: The lights of Diwali truly were a union of two souls celebrating a new experience in unknown paths. Vocabulary Words:faint: हल्कीglow: चमकblossoms: पुष्पगंधslung: लटकाkeen: उत्सुकcapturing: पकड़नेheritage: धरोहरenveloped: घेर लियाyearning: तमन्नाobstacles: अड़चनgestures: इशारोंsparklers: फुलझड़ियाँbrilliance: उजासintegral: अंगunion: मिलनtraditions: परंपराएंovercome: दूरcuriosity: जिज्ञासाmemories: यादोंexperience: अभ्यासfog: कोहराenchanted: जादूscattered: बिखरीconnected: जुड़ीcommunicating: संवादdiscovery: खोजunspoken: अबोलाcaptured: कैदunderstood: समझ पाईpriceless: अमूल्य

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Fluent Fiction - Hindi: Rediscovering Love and Life Amid Darjeeling's Tea Gardens Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/hi/episode/2025-09-28-22-34-02-hi Story Transcript:Hi: दरअसल, एक शरद ऋतु की ठंडी सुबह थी जब अरव और माया दरजीलिंग की चाय बगानों में पहुँचे।En: Actually, it was a chilly autumn morning when Arav and Maya reached the tea gardens of Darjeeling.Hi: हवा में चाय की हल्की खुशबू और दुर्गा पूजा की चमक-धमक भरी थी।En: The air was filled with a faint aroma of tea and the grandeur of Durga Puja.Hi: अरव एक थके हुए कॉरपोरेट पेशेवर थे, जो प्रकृति के प्रति अपने प्यार को फिर से ढूंढने के लिए यहां आए थे।En: Arav, a weary corporate professional, had come here to rediscover his love for nature.Hi: उनकी पत्नी माया इस यात्रा को यादगार बनाना चाहती थी, खासकर क्योंकि त्योहार की गहमागहमी उनके संबंधों में भी नई रोशनी ला सकती थी।En: His wife Maya wanted to make this trip memorable, especially since the festival's excitement might bring new light to their relationship.Hi: उनके स्थानीय मार्गदर्शक नीलम, अपनी परिवार की आर्थिक जिम्मेदारियों से संघर्ष करते हुए, उन्हें स्थानीय स्थलों के रहस्यों से अवगत कराती थीं।En: Their local guide Neelam, who was struggling with her family's financial responsibilities, was acquainting them with the secrets of local sites.Hi: वे उस दिन एक लंबी पैदल यात्रा के लिए निकले।En: They set out for a long hike that day.Hi: हरी-भरी हवाओं के बीच, अरव ने अपने भीतर एक अनदेखे शांति का एहसास किया।En: Amid the lush breezes, Arav felt an unseen peace within himself.Hi: लेकिन जैसे ही वे ऊंचाई पर पहुँचे, अरव के सीने में दर्द शुरू हो गया।En: But as they reached higher altitudes, Arav began experiencing chest pain.Hi: दुर्गा पूजा के चलते आसपास यातायात की कठिनाई थी।En: Due to Durga Puja, there was traffic difficulty around the area.Hi: नीलम कुछ चिंतित दिखीं, परन्तु उनकी समझदारी और साहस ने उन्हें हारने नहीं दिया।En: Neelam looked a bit worried, but her wisdom and courage did not let her give up.Hi: अरव को दर्द से जूझते देख, माया का दिल पिघल गया।En: Seeing Arav struggling with pain, Maya's heart melted.Hi: माया ने उसकी बांह थामी, और नीलम ने अपनी पहाड़ी जानकारियों और प्राथमिक उपचार के ज्ञान का लाभ उठाते हुए उन्हें सुरक्षित नीचे लाने का काम शुरू किया।En: She held his arm, and Neelam, utilizing her mountain knowledge and first aid skills, started getting them down safely.Hi: अंततः, वे एक सुरक्षित स्थान पर पहुँच गए।En: Eventually, they reached a safe place.Hi: अरव की सेहत का ख्याल रखते हुए माया ने उसके महत्व को समझा।En: Considering Arav's health, Maya realized its importance.Hi: उन्होंने अपने करियर और स्वास्थ्य के बीच संतुलन बनाने की ठानी।En: They decided to strike a balance between their careers and health.Hi: नीलम के संजीवनी प्रयासों के आभारी, अरव और माया ने उसे आर्थिक सहायता की पेशकश की, जिससे नीलम के परिवार को बड़ी राहत मिली।En: Grateful for Neelam's life-saving efforts, Arav and Maya offered her financial assistance, which brought great relief to Neelam's family.Hi: इस अनुभव ने अरव और माया के संबंधों को एक नई दिशा दी।En: This experience gave a new direction to Arav and Maya's relationship.Hi: अरव ने जीवन की असल खुशियों को प्राथमिकता देने का निर्णय लिया, जबकि माया ने उसके आंतरिक संघर्षों को समझा।En: Arav decided to prioritize the true joys of life, while Maya understood his internal struggles.Hi: नीलम को भी, इस दयालुता से ना केवल वित्तीय सहायता, बल्कि एक नई आशा और विश्वास मिला।En: Neelam also received not only financial support from this kindness but a new hope and faith.Hi: इस तरह, दुर्गा पूजा की उस अनोखी छुट्टी ने सभी के जीवन को एक नई दिशा दी, जो उनके दिलों में हमेशा जीवित रहेगी।En: In this way, that unique holiday of Durga Puja gave a new direction to everyone's life, which will remain alive in their hearts forever. Vocabulary Words:chilly: ठंडीfaint: हल्कीaroma: खुशबूgrandeur: चमक-धमकweary: थके हुएmemorable: यादगारexcitement: गहमागहमीrelationship: संबंधोंacquainting: अवगत कराती थींlush: हरी-भरीbreezes: हवाओंaltitudes: ऊंचाईtraffic difficulty: यातायात की कठिनाईcourage: साहसmelted: पिघल गयाarm: बांहpriority: प्राथमिकताunseen: अनदेखेchest pain: सीने में दर्दstrike a balance: संतुलन बनानेfinancial assistance: आर्थिक सहायताrelief: राहतinternal struggles: आंतरिक संघर्षोंfaith: विश्वासunique: अनोखीholiday: छुट्टीhealth: सेहतwisdom: समझदारीcompassion: दयालुताrediscover: ढूंढने

Continuing our Wes Anderson season with "The Darjeerling Limited" as three estranged brothers reunite after their fathers funeral to travel across India in search of their mother in a madcap journey involving a bottle of mace, a poisonous snake and far too much baggage. ---Opening Theme - Coffee DateBeat Provided By https://freebeats.ioProduced By White Hot---

From the great filmmaker and storyteller of our times. Ray a master of his craft of creating images and characters brings to life Jhakki Babu in the moody environs of Darjeeling. हमारे समय के महान फिल्म निर्देशक और कहानीकार, रे, जो छवियों और पात्रों को गढ़ने में माहिर हैं। इस रहस्यपूर्ण कहानी में वे दार्जिलिंग के मनमोहकपरिवेश में झक्की बाबू को जीवंत करते हैं।Listen to Hindi kahaniyan and Urdu Kahaniyan by famous as well as lesser known writers. You will find here stories from everyone from Premchand to Ismat Chughtai ; Suryabala to Mohan Rakesh, Kaleshwar and Mannu Bhandari.

The season of Wes Anderson continues as we talk about one of Wes's least most discussed films in THE DARJEELING LIMITED. Please send any and all feedback to anotherlookpod@gmail.com.  Please follow us on Instagram @anotherlookpod, and rate/review/subscribe where ever you get your podcasts!

Your three favorite podcast hosts are catching a train with three (new) sons in Wes Anderson's world.

This week on the Tower Productions Podcast, we're checking our emotional baggage (and 11 matching Louis Vuitton suitcases) and hopping aboard The Darjeeling Limited — Wes Anderson's oddly tender, deeply symmetrical, and wildly underrated story about three brothers, one train, and a whole lot of unresolved trauma.

[MÉTAMORPHOSE PODCAST] Anne Ghesquière reçoit Ali Rebeihi, journaliste, producteur, écrivain et présentateur de l'émission "Grand bien vous fasse !" sur France Inter et "Bel & bien" sur France 2. Les histoires criminelles racontent-elles autre chose que des crimes ? Comment parler de santé mentale autrement ? Et si le polar devenait un prétexte pour explorer la psyché, nos zones d'ombre, nos blessures d'enfance, nos deuils non faits et nos élans de lumière ? Ali Rebeihi signe une nouvelle incursion dans le roman à suspens, le Cosy Crime : il y met en scène la piquante Tante Alice pour une enquête des plus savoureuses où il mêle tension narrative, humour et psychologie. Un épisode à savourer avec un thé Darjeeling et deux cookies. Son dernier roman Meurtres en chaîne est publié aux éditions Le Masque. Épisode #599Quelques citations du podcast avec Ali Rebeihi :"Le cosy crime, ça permet de dire des choses assez profondes dans un cadre assez douillet.""La lecture permet d'entrer en relation avec les autres dans la vraie vie de façon extraordinaire.""Il y a des choses inexplicables, mystérieuses, c'est ça qui est absolument passionnant et la création littéraire permet d'explorer ce mystère."Thèmes abordés lors du podcast avec Ali Rebeihi :00:00 Introduction03:30 Qu'est-ce que le cosy crime ?06:20 Les sources d'inspiration d'Ali Rebeihi09:15 L'origine de l'émission "Grand bien vous fasse"11:08 La littérature, loupe et microscope13:18 Le pitch de Meurtres en chaîne14:42 Des héroïnes aux personnalités fortes18:06 Une autre vision du couple24:25 Le thème de la mort33:23 La puissance extraordinaire de la lecture37:13 Le kaléidoscope des interprétations39:46 Foi et culpabilité45:09 Confinement et mission de service public48:20 La joie du lien à nos proches après leur mort50:50 Gourmandise et recette des scones55:08 Le "crime routier"57:23 Les psys sont des hommes comme les autres01:01:28 L'activité physique contre l'anxiété01:02:11 Le courage de Nicolas Demorand01:07:07 L'impact des traumas sur nos actions01:13:07 L'intuition et l'art de s'ajuster01:16:58 Les dessous de la télévision et de la radioAvant-propos et précautions à l'écoute du podcast Découvrez Objectif Métamorphose, notre programme en 12 étapes pour partir à la rencontre de soi-même.Recevez chaque semaine l'inspirante newsletter Métamorphose par Anne GhesquièreFaites le TEST gratuit de La Roue Métamorphose avec les 9 piliers de votre vie !Suivez nos RS : Insta, Facebook & TikTokAbonnez-vous gratuitement sur Apple Podcast / Spotify / Deezer / CastBox/ YoutubeSoutenez Métamorphose en rejoignant la Tribu MétamorphosePhoto (c) Audoin Desforges Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

Around the world, scientists and entrepreneurs are pouring billions into researching new ways of storing carbon dioxide. We look at a scheme in India to put CO2 in rocks and research in the UK using kelp. Will either of them be effective?Host Graihagh Jackson dives into the waters off Britain's southern coast to find out more about the magical powers of kelp, while Chhavi Sachdev visits a tea plantation in Darjeeling which is hoping to diversify into carbon sequestration.Contributors: Shrey Agarwal, CEO, Alt Carbon. Dr Steve Smith, Arnell Associate Professor of Greenhouse Gas Removal, Oxford University. Dr Ray Ward, Queen Mary University of London. Carbon sequestration lead, Sussex Kelp Recovery Project. Presenter: Graihagh Jackson Reporter in India: Chhavi Sachdev Producer: Diane Richardson Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound Mix: Tom Brignell Editor: Simon WattsIf you have a question, email us at theclimatequestion@bbc.com or leave a WhatsApp message at + 44 8000 321 721

Voyageuse au long cours et autrice féministe, Lucie Azema s'est rendue en 2016 à Darjeeling, au cœur de l'Himalaya. Dans cette ville perchée entre brume et montagnes, elle a découvert un quotidien fait de déambulations dans les plantations et les salons de thé. Tasse après tasse, le thé est devenu un prétexte aux rencontres, un ancrage dans le tumulte, une porte ouverte sur le monde.Abonnez-vous à notre newsletter pour ne louper aucun épisode ➡️Retrouvez Les Baladeurs sur :Les OthersSpotifyApple PodcastsDeezerYouTubeAushaEn RSS

In der zweiten Staffel der Videospieladaption kämpfen sich Pedro Pascal und Bella Ramsey weiterhin durch die Postapokalypse. Wir feiern den Geburtstag von Schauspieler Adrien Brody mit einem Film über Brüder. Und für das Y-Kollektiv geht eine Reporterin der Frage nach: „Kann ich mich auf eine Geburt vorbereiten?“. Hier entlang geht's zu den Links unserer Werbepartner: https://detektor.fm/werbepartner/was-laeuft-heute >> Artikel zum Nachlesen: https://detektor.fm/kultur/was-laeuft-heute-the-last-of-us-darjeeling-limited-y-kollektiv-geburt-kann-man-sich-vorbereiten

In der zweiten Staffel der Videospieladaption kämpfen sich Pedro Pascal und Bella Ramsey weiterhin durch die Postapokalypse. Wir feiern den Geburtstag von Schauspieler Adrien Brody mit einem Film über Brüder. Und für das Y-Kollektiv geht eine Reporterin der Frage nach: „Kann ich mich auf eine Geburt vorbereiten?“. Hier entlang geht's zu den Links unserer Werbepartner: https://detektor.fm/werbepartner/was-laeuft-heute >> Artikel zum Nachlesen: https://detektor.fm/kultur/was-laeuft-heute-the-last-of-us-darjeeling-limited-y-kollektiv-geburt-kann-man-sich-vorbereiten

"The toy train is the unsung workhorse of the Himalayan mountain railway and is synonymous with the heritage of Darjeeling. I felt it needed its own little celebration and hence, hearing its whistle in the field recording, I thought it would make an ideal instrument. Isolating its whistle I did a bit of pitch shifting to create the chords of the fanfare. The whole piece is solely composed from the original field recording with no other instruments or sounds added. Hooray for the toy train, a sonic hero." Toy train, Darjeeling reimagined by Moray Newlands. ——————— This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world's most famous sights. Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage

Toy train at Darjeeling, recording happens onboard train. Stereo 48kHz 24bit. UNESCO listing: Mountain Railways of India Recorded by Erick Ruiz Arellano. ——————— This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world's most famous sights. Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage

This is a very special episode that takes a look into a region famous for tea production for over a hundred years, Darjeeling. Alex took a recent three week tour of some old tea estates and some interesting cooperatives out on the border between India and Nepal. They toured many estates all around Darjeeling, from the Calcutta to the Nepali boarder. Alex recounts his meeting with the father of Moonlight White tea, an Indian Gentleman by the name of Rajah Banerjee. While we currently don't sell any Indian teas not he One River Tea Website, there is one special cooperative mentioned toward the end of the episode that we look forward to cooperating with in the future, that's the Fall Orthodox in the Sample Freebie we got from out in Sitong.In the meantime, for all you Indian tea connoisseurs, we highly recommend checking out Ketlee Teas, thats ketlee.in we have a great respect for the main force behind the project Susmit Pratik, Alex mentioned that he saw some tea from the Okayti Estate on offer, which is in Alex's opinion the most legitimate of the old estates.

What does tea have to do with human behaviour? A lot more than you might think.  On this epusoed, I'm exploring one of the world's most popular drinks and what we can learn from it.SummaryMy guest is Giles Oakley, a professional tea taster, entrepreneur, and long-time friend. Giles began his career at Tetley before co-founding Two Spoons Tea, a company dedicated to celebrating tea as the hero crop it is.Over the course of our conversation, Giles introduces me—and you—to the rich history and intricate science behind tea. From its origins in Camellia sinensis to the skill of blending, he reveals why tea is far more complex than we often think.Giles takes us behind the scenes of tea tasting and blending, offering fascinating insights into how colour, flavour, and texture are meticulously evaluated. We even do a live tea tasting during the episode! Along the way, Giles shares incredible stories, from the history of tea pillows to the traditions of tea production in Kenya and Darjeeling. His passion for elevating tea is contagious, and it shines through in the ethos of his company.Whether you're a casual tea drinker or a full-on enthusiast, this episode has something for you.Learn about the art of crafting consistent tea blends, the delicate balance of tradition and innovation, and the personal philosophy that drives Giles' business. And of course, don't forget to grab a cup of your favourite brew while you listen—it's the perfect pairing.Guest BiographyGiles Oakley is a professional tea taster and co-founder of Two Spoons Tea, a company devoted to celebrating tea as a hero crop.After starting his career at Tetley in 1998, Giles spent over 20 years in the tea industry, travelling the world and mastering the art of tea tasting and blending. With expertise honed in places like Kenya, India, and Malawi, Giles eventually decided to step away from corporate life and create his own tea brand.Two Spoons Tea focuses on high-quality, ethically sourced blends that honour the social and cultural importance of tea. Giles and his business partner Mark, are committed to using their tea-tasting expertise to provide customers with exceptional, sustainably sourced products.Their ethos revolves around making tea fun, accessible, and memorable while maintaining the highest standards of quality.AI Generated Timestamped Summary[00:00:00] Introduction to tea as a topic and Giles Oakley as the guest[00:01:00] Giles' journey into the tea trade and the importance of tea in daily life[00:03:00] Tea's global impact and its complex journey from bush to cup[00:06:00] How blending creates consistency in tea flavours[00:08:00] The art and science of tea tasting, including blindfolded tastings[00:11:00] Why tea is an underrated hero crop and its social significance[00:19:00] Starting Two Spoons Tea and building a company ethos[00:23:00] The difference between tea bags and tea pillows[00:27:00] Balancing tradition and innovation in the tea industry[00:32:00] Tea as a personal and cultural experience[00:43:00] Myths about tea, including caffeine content and hydration benefits[00:46:00] Ethical Tea Partnership and ensuring supply chain integrity[00:48:00] Giles' most memorable cups of teaLinksTwo Spoons Tea websiteTwo Spoons Tea InstagramEthical Tea PartnershipCamellia sinensis plantEpisodes of the show featuring Professor Charles Spence on Sensory Perception and Sensehacking

Vishal Agarwal was born in India, and did his schooling in Darjeeling. He noted that this city exports some of the best tea in the world! Prior to his current venture, he was the chief marketing officer for Choi. Outside of tech, he is an avid tennis lover and follows cricket and basketball closely. Though, he admits, now that he has a 2.5 year old child, his time is mostly dedicated to him.In attempting to solve the problem of "splitting the check", Vishal discovered that restaurants had a real problem with having multiple tablets for the many order and delivery services - like GrubHub, DoorDash, etc. When he saw this problem proliferate, he validated that people were willing to pay for a solution.This is the creation story of Checkmate.SponsorsSpeakeasyQA WolfSnapTradeLinkshttps://www.itsacheckmate.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishalagarwal82/ Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/code-story/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I want us to be brothers again, like we used to be… Joe & Adam board Wes Anderson's Darjeeling Limited (2007), starring Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman. They consider style over substance; Joe shares his theory why some Wes works, and other Wes doesn't, and they chat his acting troupe a bit. Adam also gets sidetracked by Tarantino and Joe gets Covid. Send us your suggestions for films to moviesyouforgotyouforgot@gmail.com; and follow Adam on Letterboxd, he is @errorofways. He. Will. Follow. You. Back.

Full Text of ReadingsThursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 434The Saint of the day is Saint Teresa of CalcuttaSaint Teresa of Calcutta's Story Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the tiny woman recognized throughout the world for her work among the poorest of the poor, was beatified October 19, 2003. Among those present were hundreds of Missionaries of Charity, the order she founded in 1950, as a diocesan religious community. Today the congregation also includes contemplative sisters and brothers, and an order of priests. Born to Albanian parents in what is now Skopje, Macedonia, Gonxha (Agnes) Bojaxhiu was the youngest of the three children who survived. For a time, the family lived comfortably, and her father's construction business thrived. But life changed overnight following his unexpected death. During her years in public school, Agnes participated in a Catholic sodality and showed a strong interest in the foreign missions. At age 18, she entered the Loreto Sisters of Dublin. It was 1928 when she said goodbye to her mother for the final time and made her way to a new land and a new life. The following year she was sent to the Loreto novitiate in Darjeeling, India. There she chose the name Teresa and prepared for a life of service. She was assigned to a high school for girls in Calcutta, where she taught history and geography to the daughters of the wealthy. But she could not escape the realities around her—the poverty, the suffering, the overwhelming numbers of destitute people. In 1946, while riding a train to Darjeeling to make a retreat, Sister Teresa heard what she later explained as “a call within a call. The message was clear. I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them.” She also heard a call to give up her life with the Sisters of Loreto and instead, to “follow Christ into the slums to serve him among the poorest of the poor.” hbspt.cta.load(465210, '2c4bdf51-357c-46ab-88c4-984923a66037', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); After receiving permission to leave Loreto, establish a new religious community, and undertake her new work, Sister Teresa took a nursing course for several months. She returned to Calcutta, where she lived in the slums and opened a school for poor children. Dressed in a white sari and sandals–the ordinary dress of an Indian woman–she soon began getting to know her neighbors—especially the poor and sick—and getting to know their needs through visits. The work was exhausting, but she was not alone for long. Volunteers who came to join her in the work, some of them former students, became the core of the Missionaries of Charity. Others helped by donating food, clothing, supplies, and the use of buildings. In 1952, the city of Calcutta gave Mother Teresa a former hostel, which became a home for the dying and the destitute. As the order expanded, services were also offered to orphans, abandoned children, alcoholics, the aging, and street people. For the next four decades, Mother Teresa worked tirelessly on behalf of the poor. Her love knew no bounds. Nor did her energy, as she crisscrossed the globe pleading for support and inviting others to see the face of Jesus in the poorest of the poor. In 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. On September 5, 1997, God called her home. Blessed Teresa was canonized by Pope Francis on September 4, 2016. Reflection Mother Teresa's beatification, just over six years after her death, was part of an expedited process put into effect by Pope John Paul II. Like so many others around the world, he found her love for the Eucharist, for prayer, and for the poor a model for all to emulate. Learn more about Mother Teresa! Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

Anne Ghesquière reçoit dans Métamorphose Matthieu Ricard, moine bouddhiste, auteur de nombreux livres inspirants de photos, mais aussi de philosophie et de sagesse. Il est l'interprète français du dalaï-lama depuis 20 ans et photographie ses maîtres spirituels, les monastères, l'art et la nature. Son nouveau livre témoignage parle de sa vie, de ses rencontres et de l'éveil. Tout est parti de petits carnets colorés accumulés au fil du temps qui nous parlent de lieux, de paysages rudes et poétiques, ils nous racontent les hommes et les femmes, des héros ordinaires et des maîtres inspirants… Ils sont une invitation à voyager au plus profond de nous-même. Mais surtout, ces carnets incarnent le chemin que mon invité a choisi d'emprunter, il y a maintenant plus de 50 ans. Ce 12 juin 1967, après avoir rejoint Darjeeling à la frontière du Tibet, celui qui n'est plus tout à fait chercheur et pas encore moine, rencontre son premier maître spirituel. Il a alors 21 ans... {REDIFFUSION} du podcast ***Best-Of*** #249 paru le 16 décembre 2021Avant-propos et précautions à l'écoute du podcast À réécouter :#54 Matthieu Ricard : S'émerveiller, un chemin de vastitude intérieure#180 Matthieu Ricard & Ilios Kotsou : Folles histoires du sage Nasredin #431 Matthieu Ricard : La puissance des liensRecevez un mercredi sur deux la newsletter Métamorphose avec des infos inédites sur le podcast et les inspirations d'AnneFaites le TEST gratuit de La Roue Métamorphose avec 9 piliers de votre vie !Suivez nos RS : Insta, Facebook & TikTokAbonnez-vous sur Apple Podcast / Spotify / Deezer / CastBox/ YoutubeSoutenez Métamorphose en rejoignant la Tribu MétamorphoseThèmes abordés lors du podcast avec Matthieu Ricard : Les différentes vocations individuelles dans le mondeLa place du Dalaï Lama dans la vie de Matthieu RicardDéfinir l'amour altruisteTrouver les moyens d'être dans la compassion Le dialogue entre les philosophes et les moinesQuelques citations du podcast avec Matthieu Ricard :"Si vous avez un but inspirant, chaque pas est une joie en forme d'effort.""Les préoccupations mondaines, du gain, de la perte, du plaisir, de la peine, de la gloire, de la renommée, ce sont des jeux d'enfant finalement.""La compassion, l'amour altruiste est au cœur de la voie du bouddhiste.""L'idée est de se transformer soi-même pour mieux être au service des autres."Photo DR Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

Kate Adie introduces stories from Haiti, Chad, the Netherlands, Palau and Mexico. Haiti remains mired in crisis, with the capital in the grip of gang violence - more than 350,000 people have been displaced. Will Grant reports from Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic, where he has witnessed the growing desperation among people flocking to find food and supplies and escape the violence.It's nearly a year since civil war erupted in Sudan between rival military forces - more than a million have fled to neighbouring countries, including Chad. Mercy Jumar covered the refugee crisis there last year and now returns to the border town of Adre.Despite his dramatic win in the 2023 elections, Dutch far-right populist Geert Wilders has abandoned his bid to become the next prime minister. After weeks of negotiations to try to form a coalition, he realised he couldn't convince other parties to serve under him. Anna Holligan explains what happened.Western Pacific watchers have continued to warn that China is trying to gain more of a footing with the ocean's island nations that control large swathes of it. Frey Lindsay reports from Palau in the Western Pacific, which has long-standing ties to the US, but is increasingly being courted by China.From Parma ham to Cheddar cheese, Darjeeling tea to Islay whiskey, there are many fabulous foods and delicious drinks from around the world that help put towns, cities and regions on the map. But, often these places have a reputation for more than just one thing. As Proinsias O'Coinn discovered when he travelled to a world-famous town in Mexico.