Story /poem / interview of the week

The Lure of Landour Bazaar in Mussoorie

By Swapan K Banerjee

Anyone uttering “road to the bazaar” sounds music to my ears. Local bazaars in the places that I have visited have always fascinated me. But the one that beckons me all the time is the Landour Bazaar in Mussoorie, although it now has its share of unmanageable traffic and severe shortage of space.

The mountain road that zigzags through it, rising steep at every other bend, offers not only holes in the walls, but also the shops catering to the need of the natives and the tourists alike.

About Swapan K Banerjee

Swapan K Banerjee is a freelance writer specialising in literary features. Banerjee realised his calling as a writer when the author Ruskin Bond sent his articles and poems to Boston University’s Special Collection Library. His literary write-ups have been featured in several anthologies. Swapan K Banerjee is known for his books Rusty & I: Up-close with Ruskin Bond (RUPA) & People Who Meet People: Interviews with the Stars (Tranquebar).

Travel writers Hugh & Colleen Gantzer

You got us to open doors which we thought had been rusted shut many years ago.

Hugh Gantzer

Relationships matter for me more than poetry that brought you over to Cuttack. Am grateful for your inherent goodness. That is perhaps why you see the 'good' in others.

Jayanta Mahapatra
Poet Jayanta Mahapatra
Author David Davidar

I've seen a copy of your interview, which I think is excellent.

David Davidar

Thank you for your kind email and the lovely poem (published in Poetry Society of India). Always follow your dreams and fight for them with faith.

Paulo Coelho
Author Paulo Coelho
Author Bill Aitken

Your articles as always make for interesting reading. Wish you continued success with your lively interviews. You have the knack of elicitating the deeper layer of a writer’s urges. You remain a fond memory to us all.

Bill Aitken from Mussoorie

Thank you for your nice words!

Acclaim from Nobel Laureate Mme Wislawa Szymborska (1996)
Mme Wislawa Szymborska
Author Ruskin Bond with Swapan K Banerjee at Ivy Cottage

Swapan K Banerjee is a Boswell of sorts - a Boswell not just to one writer, such as a Dr. Johnson, but to many men of letters, musicians and others.

Ruskin Bond

You have a keen eye and a voyager's heart. I like your work. You are so attentive. All power to your pen.

I Allan Sealy
Author I Allan Sealy with Swapan K Banerjee
Swapan K Banerjee at First Mussoorie Writers Festival

Recent Posts

It was at the back of a run-down palace beside a pond. He was sitting on a bench placed among ...
Read more
It often strikes me how a certain strand of memory is triggered by a particular sight or scene or scent ...
Read more
A year or so ago, we were invited to a marriage ceremony at Brahmapur in South Kolkata. Due to a ...
Read more