Sankha Guha http://www.sankhaguha.com Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:21:33 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 STADE DE FRANCE http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/02/stade-de-france/ http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/02/stade-de-france/#comments Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:20:15 +0000 admin http://www.sankhaguha.com/?p=593 Went to Paris to film at the Stade de France for a documentary on the Olympics legacy I am producing for the BBC.

Unlike our Olympic stadium - the Stade converts from football to athletics use by retracting an entire tier of seating – it takes 5 days and involves moving 7000 tons of steel – to reveal the running track and jumping pits. Amazing engineering. Makes you wonder why we didn’t do something similar in London.

Fascinating.

Food poisoning from bistro in Rue de Lappe less charming. Second time I’ve been laid low by different establishments in the same street!

]]> http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/02/stade-de-france/feed/ 0 HYDERABAD REVISITED http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/02/hyderabad-revisited/ http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/02/hyderabad-revisited/#comments Sun, 13 Feb 2011 19:23:53 +0000 admin http://www.sankhaguha.com/?p=586 I was invited to visit Hyderabad in India for the opening of the lavish Taj Faluknama Palace – a former palace of the Nizam.

It was my first time back in this extraordinary place since I was 8 years old. I have clear memories of being stranded in the city when Indian Airlines decided to delay the plane by a couple of days, and then having to make an unholy dash for the airport (little more than a field in those days) when my family received notice the flight was about to take off. They held the plane up until we got there.

The airport has changed somewhat – being the brightest, newest and most shiny airport in India. The story of my second visit to Hyderabad is here:

http://www.sankhaguha.com/hyderabad-empire-state-re-building/

]]> http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/02/hyderabad-revisited/feed/ 0 FIRST NIGHT AT THE NEW WORLD SYMPHONY http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/02/first-night-at-the-new-world-symphony/ http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/02/first-night-at-the-new-world-symphony/#comments Thu, 03 Feb 2011 01:07:51 +0000 admin http://www.sankhaguha.com/?p=567 I am back from Miami. Loved the new Frank Gehry concert hall – invited last Saturday to sit in on rehearsal of Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures At An Exhibition’ with 5 giant screen animation. I know classical music buffs will whinge about the projections detracting from the music. Nonsense. It was AWESOME! As they say over there.

Incidentally – tickets for the actual gala concert in the evening were priced modestly (get the pun? Check out Mussorgsky’s first name) at between $2500 to $100,000 each for the opening night. I wasn’t there…

]]> http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/02/first-night-at-the-new-world-symphony/feed/ 0 OFF TO MIAMI http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/01/miami/ http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/01/miami/#comments Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:25:52 +0000 admin http://www.sankhaguha.com/?p=546 Off to Miami tomorrow – for the opening of Frank Gehry’s New World Center. Will be writing the story for the Independent on Sunday. Any tips on what else to see and do, and where to hang out in Miami greatly appreciated.

]]> http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/01/miami/feed/ 1 FELA AT THE NT http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/01/fela-at-the-nt/ http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/01/fela-at-the-nt/#comments Mon, 24 Jan 2011 03:33:09 +0000 admin http://www.sankhaguha.com/?p=530
Went to last performance of Fela at the National Theatre today. It’s the second time I’ve been – and it just got better.

Tour de force performance from Sahr Ngaujah as Fela Anikulapo Kuti. The best thing I’ve seen on the London stage in a year. It’s back in July at Saddlers Wells – might go again!

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/felalondon/

]]> http://www.sankhaguha.com/2011/01/fela-at-the-nt/feed/ 2