Vivian Maier: An unsolved puzzle
I saw a remarkable film this past weekend. "Finding Vivian Maier." If you get a chance, see it. It's well worth your times. Vivian was an enigma. A puzzle that…
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April 14, 2014
Sad news from Afghanistan
We lost another amazing journalist today. Anja Niedringhaus, 48, an acclaimed photographer for the Associated Press, died instantly after an Afghan policeman opened fire while they were sitting in their car…
April 4, 2014
Death: I've had 13 years to think
I've been immersed in writing about death after spending a week in Varanasi at a home where ailing, elderly Hindus go to end their lives. They want to die there because…
March 25, 2014
With Malice Toward One and All. A legendary writer is silenced
When I first started out in my career as a reporter, most of the journalists I admired were from America or Europe. There were very few English-language journalists in my…
March 20, 2014
The world's biggest election
Get this: Starting on April 7, nearly 815 million Indians will begin casting ballots in this year's parliamentary elections. Yes, 815 million! That's almost 100 million more than there were…
March 5, 2014
Farewell to a friend
My friend and colleague Lateef Mungin died Friday. He was only 41. I was asked to write a tribute for CNN.com. There are some assignments that I dread. But none…
March 3, 2014
Varanasi (aka Benares, aka Kashi)
Varanasi or Benares, as the British called it, is known for a lot of things. It's one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, the oldest, certainly, in…
February 12, 2014
Going to Goa
I'd never been to Goa until last week. My cousin Rahul and his wife Shraya moved to Goa several years ago but I hadn't had a chance to visit them…
February 4, 2014
Beam me up, Scotty
Dreaming of warm, dry winter days, pishi, pani puris on the street, a wedding, speaking Bengali and dear friends. Wishing today were Saturday. Wishing I could be across the…
January 14, 2014