who am i?

(updated march 2015)

i discovered my love for travel when i started working & suddenly had money that was mine to spend. i didn’t travel much at first, but then in 2008 i took a two month sabbatical from work and travelled all around india. it was a mammoth road / train trip. i traced the ganga from gangotri, went on to haridwar, rishikesh, allahabad, varanasi, kolkata and then watched her empty her water into the bay of bengal at the sunderbans. i then made my way to the south and stayed at chennai, visited temple towns in tamilnadu, meandered my way to goa and then came back home to bombay. it was a round-the-world trip of india. 😀

i was sold – to the excitement, to the thrill and to the joy of personal discovery. two years later, i quit my 9-5 job to chase this passion to write. it wasn’t easy, no one asked me to write for them, and emails to editors got lost in cyber space or i got replies like “you do not fit our requirements.” silence piled up in my inbox.

today, i am a freelance writer and editor. i have written around 12 audio tours for audiocompass.in, published more than 65 articles in national geographic traveller india, lonely planet india, indian express, indian today travel plus, the alternative, talking cranes and unboxed writers.

thanks for stopping by. and do join the conversation.

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if you want to reach me for any assignments, work, help or just chat, send me an email at: not (dot) bhavani @ gmail (dot) com or fill the form below.

copyright
all that appears on this blog is mine, only mine. do not steal anything from here whether a picture or some text or even a word married with another. if you ask me, it might be fine, but if you don’t i will hunt you down and…

the ubiquitous cycle-rickshaw
IMG_4700
sultan battery - the river
IMG_6657
the woody creeper
taj mahal
taj mahal
parangikkai soup in a bowl with coconut milk
frost bitten... 2
the dining room...
IMG_1332
4. never trust a momo
kathgodam station, here we come!
it's raining elephants!
the sun sets over the city
the grand arch high above
the bratty kids...
the temple with its pond... water was flowing onto the pathway, but the faithful still walked across and offered their prayers.
merrytogoaround

55 thoughts on “who am i?”

  2. you are the first source for this place that I read about: Chettinad…I look at maps and can’t find it…so, of course, I must try to go there! Will be in the area at end of January. Wondering how to get there from Chennai….furthur research I guess! thank you so much….

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  3. hi oh kay,

    thats nice to hear. and thanks for commenting… 🙂

    chettinad is a lovely place to visit.. and january should be a nice time given that its not peak summer (though these areas don’t have too much a winter anyway:D) but being peak time for these areas the rates at these hotels are also much higher. almost 3 times what we paid… given we went off-season…

    from chennai you should be able to take a train or bus to trichy / madurai. trichy is closer to the villages (chettinad) and a 2 hour drive at best. or you can also choose to fly to trichy / madurai.
    we took an overnight train from trichy to chennai, its convenient and the hotel you stay at will arrange for a drip . though as you might know, you need to book well in advance (read, right away) to get a confirmed seat! have a lovely trip…

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  21. thanks yawn… like the idea of renewing the life of anything… hats of to that. what are your plans with the painted discs?

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  22. Thanks for the nice comment!!! 🙂 I’ m a reuse fan! Come back again sometime to see some applications that I gave to cds! 🙂

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  23. Love the intro 🙂 Always knew you’d be a writer someday…but the accompanying pictures are a pleasant surprise – very simple, yet powerful in an odd, indescribable way. Didn’t know you were into photography.
    Glad to know that you are following your dream – very few people are lucky enough to find something they absolutely love.

    Liked by 1 person

  24. thanks so much namrata! very kind words there, will remember them always!

    yeah, am glad I’ve found this.. think I always knew I wanted to, took me ten years of chasing something else to figure this out! well always loved to take pictures (at one time considered a course too) but never thought i was great at it… here it’s a huge support to the writing. so its important! 🙂 thanks again 🙂

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  25. Just happened to run into your blog. Its a real interesting blog that you have here. Loved some of your write-ups. Its very subtle . I guess I will be hanging around here a lot. 🙂

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  29. You have me pinned Bhavani! A riveting blog. There’s a charm about your blog that is hard to pin down. Am sure I will keep a close watch on this one here. My find of the day! 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  30. thanks so much deboshri. your praise means a lot to me especially on an otherwise bleak day… so you’ve made my day. thanks! 😀

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  31. I am so glad that you somehow reached my blog and now that I see what I see here, I am inspired!

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  33. Great blog! Bhavani. Waiting for my first sabbatical at the end of this year.
    Your blog is quite an inspiration. Loved going through.
    Cheers 🙂

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  34. all the best with your sabbatical. make the most of it. and whatever you do, it will be great… as thats the definition of a sabbatical 🙂

    thanks for liking the stuff here.. always encouraging..

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  36. It was absolutely nice reading all these comments. Each person brought out one facet of your writing skills.
    I’m really happy for you, Bhavani
    Way to go, Girl!!

    Liked by 1 person

  39. Hi Bhavani
    I always enjoy knowing about people like you- who dared to follow their passion 🙂 And then I love writers too..being one myself 🙂 So I am following you for some inspiration and your lovely posts to read!
    Surbhi

    Liked by 1 person

  46. hey hi..i am new to blogging and just came across your blog 🙂
    you have a great blog 🙂 …
    will go through your posts soon..!!
    Till then,
    Stay bright..!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  53. thanks! 🙂 inspirational or aspirational (if that word even exists!) honest truth is there are times i wonder if this risk is worth it. and then at other times i wouldn’t change my current life and go back to my job for anything!
    all the best with your dreams 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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