Artisan at Work
At Cardamom County we’ve been supporting the fine arts in our community and beyond for many years. For the past few seasons we’ve invited a young man from Odisha to showcase his workmanship at the entrance to our restaurant All Spice. His handicrafts are amazingly detailed drawings carved onto palm leaves and then painted. Continue reading
We have mentioned cricket on more than one occasion, because of its place of importance in the Indian culture. If you are not from here, or at least here, in India, it may be difficult to understand this importance. Now is as good a time as any to begin understanding it. Tunku Varadarajan, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, provides some helpful hints and lessons about the sport, and the country, in an OpEd in today’s New York Times about the one man who has been practically deified in recent times:
India, Where the Gods Live On … and On
…Tendulkar, whom everyone calls Sachin, is the most revered cricketer in India…In fact, it would be entirely accurate to describe him as the most revered contemporary Indian, or even, with only a pinch of hyperbole, the most revered Indian since Mahatma Gandhi held the nation in thrall… Continue reading
Mattanchery
You have heard his name enough times to recognize it, but you may not be sure what for. If this guy is in the room to listen, it is likely to be interesting. Thanks to Bill Moyers for sharing this:
Wendell Berry, a quiet and humble man, has become an outspoken advocate for revolution. Continue reading
Bangalore, Karnataka
Pedal Power! photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor
At Raxa Collective we believe in conservation and what better example than Cardamom County, a plastic-free resort with rich gardens where we harvest fruits, vegetables and even eggs. Kerala is a beautiful state with many places to discover and there’s no better way to experience our neighborhood than with zero carbon transport.
A headline in today’s Hindu that catches our attention:
British businesses in India to contribute £100 million annually towards CSR
British companies are expected to contribute around £100 million per annum to corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in India with new amendments to the Indian Companies Act.
Continue reading
Yesterday, Jake and I were kindly invited by our Assistant Manager Salim to dinner with his clients and family. His wife cooked us beef stew, fish fries, tapioca, appam, and many other things. The other dishes were mouthwatering and flavorful, but everyone was so amazed by her soft, fluffy, sweet and delicious appam! Continue reading
Photograph: Christie’s LTD
Since we are not a site for art criticism, we have not found the words to say so, elegantly, but we see a worthy distinction between art and commerce. In a blog post called “The Circus” we have found a one minute reading assignment to recommend:
A hundred and forty-two million dollars and change is a lot of money, or is it? What would the former possessor have done with the wad if he or she—or a corporate it—hadn’t splurged, at Christie’s in New York, yesterday, on the triptych “Three Studies of Lucian Freud,” by Francis Bacon? Nothing as interesting, certainly. Far larger amounts of money move around the world—numbers falling on one balance sheet, rising on another—night and day, and few notice. Most entail commodities (stuffs, like oil or wheat, sold by metric measure) or abstractions (stocks and bonds, financial instruments). When a tangible, useless object is the occasion, in public, there’s drama, though the stakes are relatively trifling. Continue reading
Las Coloradas, Mexico
Dry Fish
The state of Kerala is known to be the most literate state in India and one is able to understand why after noting the Malayali’s profound love for fish.
Fish is an integral part of Kerala cuisine, including breakfast, indicating the vast diversity of recipes that are available considering it is often eaten twice or thrice a day. The benefits of fish are well publicized, specifically that the Omega 3 fatty acids help in brain development. Continue reading
Southwestern Research Station, AZ
Periyar Tiger Reserve may be famous for its tiger population but it’s also a paradise for elephant lovers. Over 1,300 of the magnificent creatures call the 925 plus sq kms of PTR their home. Also know as “keystone animals”, elephants have a huge impact on the ecosystem they live in. For example when elephants uproot trees with their trunks they create grasslands and savanna and their habit of digging for water during drought causes big water holes that also supports other wildlife in the area. The major threats for elephants have been the illegal ivory trade but due to strict laws the elephants can find themselves safe in the reserve.
Even Macaques get lost in deep thought
It is no secret that the Periyar Tiger Reserve hosts a magnificently large collection of wildlife, that is what attracts tourists around the world — take a hike within the boundaries of the massive sanctuary and you are likely to see some amazing creatures. However, we cannot forget that the boundaries of the reserve are merely human constructs, designed by our minds to protect and preserve the organisms within. Animals abide by no such regulations, boundaries for them are constrained only by the habitats in which they may successfully occupy, thus, spillover is likely.
Little Rann of Kutch
Thanks to this HBR Ideacast we had the opportunity to listen to the author of this book discuss its core message(s). Anyone who has looked at a few Dilbert cartoons can pretty well figure out that its author is not what you may think a typical MBA is. About 10 minutes into the podcast, the most remarkable statement, worthy of your attention, begins:
DAN MCGINN: So you’re saying management really doesn’t matter?
SCOTT ADAMS: I think it’s certainly something you can do wrong. So avoiding doing it wrong is the big thing. And I think if you’re a bit of a psychopath or sociopath, I don’t know the exact definitions of those, you know, if you push people to think that you being happier, and you as the manager making more money, and you as the company making more money is more important than the employees’ own personal life and their health, then you’re a great manager. And you absolutely can do great things. And you’ll probably be able to reproduce that wherever you go. Continue reading
South Indian Classical Dance
Guests at Cardamom County are usually out and about enjoying the Periyar Tiger Reserve, the town or the spice plantations during the day, but in the evening there’s a lot of excitement at Cardamom County, especially as we head in to the holiday season. Continue reading
With news this past weekend of one of the largest tropical storms in recorded human history still fresh, our antennae are up. We believe in looking back in the interest of looking forward. The beginning and ending lines of this article can induce even those most unlikely to visit Sotheby’s next week:
For more than 100 years, nearly every time a ship ran aground off the coast of Cornwall, a man would arrive on the scene to document the wreckage. Continue reading
Sulphur Vent – Solfatara
Solfatara, a shallow volcanic crater in Pozzuoli, near Naples, is a hotbed (no pun intended) of geothermal activity. Upon walking into the depression, hemmed round by steep hills, the smell of rotten eggs greets your nose. The stench comes from the clouds of sulphurous steam pouring forth from vents in the rock. The Romans believed that this steam had healing properties Continue reading
Organikos 